Living Thing

Subtitle: The Box

"I have been collecting junk for "some day." I don't really have a vision for it other than I'd love to see your take on how to put it together. I would love to treat it (this journal) as a living thing where I could write little things or add tiny bits as I continue to collect additional joy." Emily Finnerud 

I put my 13th joy journal in the mail to Debbie C. just yesterday...and I'm looking forward to sharing more about it.  Here's a glimpse at her cover....I especially love the vintage belly band.

I have a new set of papers junk (using the term affectionately) from my goddaughter Emily...and at least one more set of papers coming in the mail from Julie! Emily's journal may end up being my biggest challenge so far....so I've been watching junk journal YouTube videos to help me think outside of the box. 

Emily included food labels and other packaging as well as a whole pile of fortune cookie fortunes. There are some practice painting doodles which I'll tell you more about in another post and lots of seemingly random kitchen and household stuff.....all meaningful to Emily in some way....or at least interesting to her. For whatever reason...she saved these things. THIS will be another unconventional materials challenge! Maybe I need my own show...I could call it Project Joy! Make it work! (Project Runway fans will get that!)

Like with Cherie's pile...there's not a lot of base papers to work with to create the actual book...but I know for sure it can't be scrapbook paper or gelli prints for this one. 

I knew I would find just the right materials in my stash....and knew I will figure it out. But then just today I had a visit with Patty down the street...and because she had interest I talked through my challenge and told her what I thought I was looking for. She had JUST what I needed to propel me forward to make this living thing for Emily. (more later on that) I'm excited about this one! I think I say that every time....and I really mean it every time.

Emily literally included a Ramen Noodle box. Now I'm thinking outside of the box as I figure out what to actually do with the box! I've got this! And it's a good distraction and counterbalance to the chaotic and scarry world.

Out of the Box

Do you remember the collage I made for my son Nate out of Paul's discarded CD inserts? I've been using more out of the box inserts recently in some of the joy journals.

As Dotty makes her way through her blue and white journal (she's almost 1/2 way) she has come across some text pages that I assumed were lyrics from an album insert. 

I put this Dancing title in her book...and positioned it just right. It has pocket on the other side and there is at least one other smaller page from the blue paper too.

When she was writing to me about it...I wanted to figure out where it came from. 

This page was in Linda's journal....and there might be a some of this in the other blue and white journals. Several of the sheets were blue and white.

Paul told me the papers were also from his CD packaging purge. He kept the CD's....he just got rid of all the cases and inserts. These are from a Phil Spector -Mono (1958-1969) 4 CD set.  Paul knew I would love the boxes...AND the fabulous inserts with the song lyrics. He was right.

I've been using the boxes....but hadn't tapped into the papers until recently. I'm actually using the boxes at my puzzle table right at this moment. I just emptied the boxtop today. 

The song lyric pages are amazing. There are on quality paper in several earthy colors...and the title graphics and images are so playful.

These are just a few samples...I have quite a pile!

I'm going to smile every time I use these out of the box papers...and think of Dotty who got me wondering about them.

They would fold up into fabulous zines for collage journal.

Assembler

I'm officially finished with Susan's journal and I enjoyed working with her soft color palette. I'll get it in the mail early this week....it's heading to Scotland. Here's her pile of papers....and I added a few of my own.

And here's a sneak peak at the cover.

I also made good progress on Diane's today....hers is an explosion of color. I feel like a kid in a candy store!

I'm also mulling over Cherie's stash as it sits on a tray in the dining room. It's a sentimental collection of this and that including a flower doodle from her dad. It will be fun coming up with the base papers to support all these little treasures. 

Each pile of papers and ephemera is so different and interesting. Cherie's may be the most unusual so far. Does anyone watch Project Runway? I feel like this is my Unconventional Materials Challenge...and I'll make it work! (That's a Project Runway line!)

For most of these journals I'm trying to provide a blank(ish) canvas for more creative play for the recipient...not much art from me. They are really more of an assemblage...so that makes me an assembler. I've often thought that is what I'm best at...assembling things.

But not everybody wants to add their own art. Cherie wants more of a finished journal without blank pages. I can do that too. That will be fun...and a chance for me to add more from my vast stash.

This large square quilled tree card poses a challenge because it's so thick....but I think I have an idea of how to use it.

I have fond memories of quilling  when I was younger! 

And I'm smitten with these clothing tags...especially Johnny Cotton and Pooh!

And how cool is this! I think it might be from a handkerchief?

It will be fun to assemble all of these things into a joy journal for Cherie.

Begin Again

To complete the art group circle....I'm making an altered art journal and junk/joy journal for Tracie. I've already done this for Becky and Brenda...now it's Tracie's turn. To save on postage, Becky brought a big pile of ephemera from Tracie. It's a mixture of Tracie's art....her grandson's art...some vintage papers....and bits of this and that. I can work with this!

All three of them bought the same art journal that I used for mine. These journals have nice medium weight paper that is easy to tear, but strong enough to stitch and paint on. 

And the spine bends well to get the pages under the sewing machine. 

It's time to begin again....the hardest part is tearing that first page.

I use a metal ruler to tear the pages....it works really well.

I don't do a lot of planning ahead...just a couple page pairings at a time. I do try and create some sort of flow from one set of pages to the next. It's kind of like curating a collage wall. 

These additions are just meant to be starting off points for Tracie to fill the pages with her own art and ephemera....to inspire more art play. 

And just like that...I've begun.

And I love how the orange slice mirrors the center of the flowers.

Little moments like this make me smile.

Once I get rolling...it's hard to stop. If I was younger...I could do this for a living.

Tracie and her husband Loon are coming to Portland mid September...and my goal is to have her two journals done to hand to Tracie in person. I won't post much...because I want them to be mostly a surprise...but I will share a few favorite pages here and there. 

I'm quite fond of this simple rainbow page....which likely was done by Anders...her grandson. He's quite an artist.

I cut out three sides...and I love the way it lands perfectly on the page. Whatever Tracie chooses to do on the next page will peek through around the edges. 

This is the perfect project to ease me back into a daily art practice. It's time to begin again! 

Junk Journals

Junk journals are kind of a thing these days in the art journal world. They're handmade books created from recycled and found materials and used for journaling and creative expression. They can be any size and assembled however you want....it's just a matter of curating a collection of papers...and stitching them together.

I shared this photo in a post back in February....and this is just one layer of a whole big pile of ephemera Becky sent me to make her some junk journals. And I'm also modifying an art journal like the one I've been working in....ripping down pages and stitching in her stuff. She doesn't sew....so that part has always held her back.

Becky's pile included some of her own art and coloring....vintage and precious papers and memorabilia. There's stationary from her childhood....gelli prints...and even a few things that were originally from my stash that now have found their way back to my studio.

I've put together two junk journals so far...and have enough for another one or two. 

The first journal is small and simple. I used a card from her stash for the cover and reinforced the spine with a piece of fused fabric. I've made a lot of books....but this is actually my first junk journal so I'm learning as I go along. I have no idea if it's what she had in mind. 

It's a mix of things...and there are lots of places for her to embellish....add more art....doodle....or write memories and quotes.

Here are a few spreads from the journal....ready for Becky to add her touch.

It starts with a Mother's Day card from her daughter Emily....mother of Max.

This page hold the famous quote: Where the hell is my pickle fork? I can't have anything nice with you kids. That was the inspiration for my "chuckle" Tiny Pages Art Exchange card I did for her back in July.

And how can you not love this 1958 Super-Service Station receipt for $5.40.

Becky saved this winning score sheet.....

and this note is actually from Margie. 

Yes....my Margie!

I probably got a letter on this stationary when we were young.

And the last page is the inside of Emily's card...which is just so precious. 

Dear Mom,

Thank you 

for having 

Band-aids.

From Emily

There are more pages....but you get the idea. I'll share the second one tomorrow. 

Joy Stuff

 "Our purpose is hidden in our joy, our inspiration, our excitement. As we act on what shows up in our life our purpose shows up." James King

Yes! 

This project showed up in my life at just the right time....and was hidden in my joy. 

Speaking of joy....looked what showed up at my door yesterday. Cinnamon was literally on my grocery list...and Becky had me covered.

And it came with Tasty Tips for Joy. My favorites were: 

Understand what connects us is far more important than what separates us. 

Through cooking, we discovered real strength comes from welcoming others in. Through cooking we discovered the JOY found in caring about others. 

Thanks Becky!

And....Becky shopped her stash for a couple projects I'm going to do for her. 

This is just the top layer...there's a whole lot of goodies in this stack of ephemera and you'll have to stay tuned for what's to come. It may take me awhile...but I'm excited about getting my hands on this joy stuff. 

Mastersheet

Here's a view of our back yard from the street with some subtle pops of color....and the white seven-sons-flower tree blooms glowing in the late afternoon light. 

My shared art projects are on their way to Becky, Tracie, and Brenda....and I hope they arrive by the end of the week. This time our goal was to create a "mastersheet"....sometimes called a "masterboard." Basically it's just a large collage or art piece that gets cut up to make smaller parts. It can include recycled art, gelli prints, ephemera, postage stamps, magazine and catalog cutouts, book pages, music......anything goes!    

Once we finished our mastersheets....we were to cut them into pieces so each of us would have something from everyone's original sheet. They could be any size.....bookmarks, ATC's (artist trading cards the size of baseball cards), or postcards....the size did matter.

For my mastersheet I used cutouts from a home depot catalog,  pages from a vintage 1941 Time Book ledger, a piece of old sheet music, and various other ephemera including some very cool Asian pages from Roseanne.

I absolutely love this "Time Book" ledger from Liz! She has several from her husband's family business....Mackenzie Manufacturing. The handwriting is incredible....and it's interesting to note that hourly rates for workers ranged from .35 to .90 an hour.  It may seem wrong to cut it up...but if I don't use it....it may end up in a landfill.  So I will use it sparingly and spread it around in my collage artwork for others to enjoy. 

Even the blank pages are cool!

I used a very limited pallett of just blue and neutrals....then just kept cutting and pasting.  I will admit....I wasn't so sure when I started....but I just kept going. I worked on the back of a large calendar page....and used matte medium as my glue under and over the paper pieces.

One of the techniques I've seen used is to cover the whole thing with a light coat of watered down gesso to unify the piece.  I was cautious......but I did see how it softens the hard lines and darker colors.  I took the photo in the evening which is never a good idea.....it looked much better in the light of day....but I didn't take a second photo.

Then, using a viewfinder to help me decide placement...

I cut my mastersheet into four 4 x 6 postcards....and I was ready for the next step. Stay tuned for my final results.

Here's what they looked like on the back.

Mosaic Stamps

Here's the second page of Adam's post of simple affirmations for 2021.

I've been thinking lately about my own affirmations for the new year. They may just stay quietly in my head....and then again maybe I'll write them down.  I'm not good at that kind of thing....but I'm feeling I want to be a bit more intentional in 2021.  

https://www.instagram.com/adamjk/

 I have dozens of ideas rolling around in my head for our 4 x 6 exchange...but after visiting the most recent exhibition at Gallery Twist in Lexington I was inspired to do something with stamps for round 7.  I kept it simple using a tried and true punched mosaic technique. I've used it many times with photographs or other papers where I glue images down in a grid of some sort then punch them into squares and rearrange them to form a mosaic type piece. 

My favorite punched mosaic project using my own photographs can be seen here in this post: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2016/05/mosaic-mirror.html

I will admit that I'm not sure I love the technique with stamps...I think I like them better whole....but now I know. I have a nice assortment of vintage stamps from a friend of Connie's....and it was time to use to use some.

I glued them down onto lightweight cardstock and punched out squares using my large punch.

I repeated the process over and over and I made enough sheets in one evening to punch up squares for all three cards.  I put the first two together over these last few weeks.

The first card was for Brenda. I glued the mosaic squares together on another substrate before attaching them to the card.  This allowed me tidy up the edges and cut it perfectly leaving that skinny little border I seem to like. And artist I admire always said things look better with a border or a frame. I've never forgotten and I still follow her advice most of the time.  

But I still thought it needed something so I auditioned all kinds of overlays and landed on some skinny linked circles cut from the inside of security envelopes.  Stamps and security envelopes seemed like a good pairing.

Take a look at all the interesting patterns and colors inside these envelopes....and they come in the mail every single day.

Brenda's card ended up being pretty thick because there were so many layers involved....so for Becky's I glued the mosaic squares right onto the card trimming up the edges as I went along. I did lose the ability to get a little border.....there's no way I could have gotten it straight all the way around. But...maybe straight is overrated.

When I punch the squares there are always little leftovers that can be used as filler. This piece was used to fill in the gap at the end of the first row.  I glued it on then trimmed it up from the back.

This is how that row came out on the front.

As I glue on the squares I use this little paperweight to hold them down for a few minutes until the glue really grabs....and it's fun to look at.

Once again I knew I wanted something for an overlay....and I wanted it to be different.

I settled on some leafy cutouts from some of my painted papers....and I couldn't help myself from adding a border of stitching.  I just like a border.

Here is a link to the stamp artist at Gallery Twist: 

https://www.gallerytwist.com/marion-carlson-ill2020

And the best part is I have all the mosaic squares I need to finish my card next week. Our 4 x 6 exchange is just a delight and keeps me being creative even when I don't think I have time. That sounds like an affirmation...."make time to create even especially when you don't think you have time."