Eclectic Mix

I get pretty excited when my neighbor's crocuses start blooming. To finally have some actual color other than blue sky makes my heart sing!  

I love all the seasons....and I especially love the excitement and anticipation in the transitions! So much joy!

I love the bud stage as much as I love the fully open blooms!

Debbie got her joy journal today. This layered fern cyanotype was one of my favorites. Paper type and exposure length can give such different results for coloring and I really like this deep aqua.The back was one of my very first experiments from a couple years ago. 

The belly band is part of a vintage piece of clothing...or something that I took apart years ago.

  

It's such a pretty textile....and it's about time I used some of it!

I added a layer of interfacing and a fused piece of fabric to the back to give it strength and stiffness making it easier to slide on and off. The button is just for looks.

Debbie's journal is full of her little treasures....as well as some of Connie's art (a mutual friend of ours) and the snippets from my Ounce of Joy giveaway. It was fun trying to make everything work together. There was lots of blue and white...with pops of color here and there. 

Speaking of pops of color....there was a little surprise color hidden in this spread.  Most of these things came from Debbie. 

The bird pocket was from one of her postcards and the tag was cut from some heavy card stock. I attached her Stitcher sticker to the front of the notecard that she used to write me a note that she included with her papers. There's a little surprise on the back.

When I sent my Ounce of Joy snippets I wrapped them in a couple of pieces of tissue so they would stay distributed in the envelope. If they piled up in one corner it wouldn't fit through the guide slot and would have cost more than one stamp. 

Debbie's snippets were wrapped in this colorful tissue...and that is exactly how I got them back....still wrapped in the tissue. I glued a piece of it on the back of the card and I love how you can still read the note she wrote to me. And now it's now going back to her. 

Several full circle moments in this book.

Here's how I used some of my snippets...

and I cut out her little teapot to tuck in the pocket

Did I tell you that Cherie sent me more clothing tags to use in other people's journals? I attached one to a little painted cyanotype in the front pocket. And you can see the piece of grandma Dorothy's tatting there on the joy calling card! 

Here are the new tags from Cherie! 

Who even knew this was a thing!

Here are a few more pages...not all...but you get the idea.

This was fun to make...and I hope Debbie enjoys this eclectic mix!