(click to make photo larger)

Another Journal Page...

This past fall I started a project with Mrs. Staggs. The project ended a while ago, but I had a few more pages left in my big journal. My intention was (and is) to end the journal at the end of the year. It turned out to be more of a scrapbook that a journal although it actually is a record of fall into winter, 2008.

This page is composed of photos of my dolls and prints of artwork that I have done. I already had this holiday themed background paper which is a riot of color and print. There are some purchased stickers, cardboard buttons and ribbons there, too.

I would like to print off the appropriate blog pages and insert them into the journal and perhaps write a little something at the bottom of the page. This will be a good winter project.

Speaking of winter, we have a storm coming our way tomorrow. We haven't had a white Christmas in many years but perhaps we will this year. It usually doesn't snow in our area very much until late January and then it snows through March!

Enjoy your day!

Another page...

Although, Sketchbook Wednesday with Mrs. Staggs in Merryville has ended, I have decided to continue on and fill a few more pages. As you can see in the bottom photo, it is a good thing that the journal has ties attached or it would never stay closed! (Don't forget to click on the photos to see them larger.)

I made another paper doll from a photo of a doll I actually made from cloth recently. Then I added embellishments. It is mounted on a commercial paper with a Thanksgiving scene. Those acorns I cut from felt, but the leaves are made of leaves from silk flowers.

What will you be doing for Thanksgiving? Although I like the concept of Thanksgiving, it always makes me nervous to eat so much when I know so much of the world goes hungry. If you can, I hope that you donate to a food bank. As for giving thanks, I am guessing most of us do that every day....or at least I hope so.

We have varied plans for the weekend. Hopefully, I will remember to take photos.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! Enjoy the day!

"Making Do" for Mrs. Staggs...

I think today is the last day for sketchbook Wednesday with Mrs. Staggs. Her prompt was "makin'do." You can click on the photo to make it larger.

As it turns out, a very sweet person (CLF ) and I were having a correspondence about this subject after a recent post of mine. She reminded me of the expression on the page above and I thought it was perfect to use on the page.

For 20 years I didn't own a dryer. I chose to hang clothes outside or in a very large basement where we had clothes lines. This was personal choice based on a really short lived idea from the 70's. I would be "saving energy." Imagine that?

I canned or froze vegetables that I grew in a large garden, made my kids clothes and my own, made and sold shopping bags and aprons,, had a string of part-time jobs so I could stay home with my kids and create things, too.

Doesn't that seem that quaint? We never went to Disney World because I thought we should see the real world as my parents had thought for me. We played board games, I cooked from scratch, we "made do."

It is a different world now, but I still live the same way as I always have. I have a dryer though, still recycle everything, avoid "fast food", etc. I never used paper diapers on real babies, but everybody does now. And, yes, I still have a clothesline.

I am not afraid of the future with its economic instability on the horizon. My late mother was a child during the Depression. Making Do in New England is a way of life passed down through generations, probably from the time of the Pilgrims. There are plenty of other people like me in New England. We don't live quite like Tasha Tudor (whom I adored) but I think many people live quite simply here.

On the other hand, I traveled extensively in and out of the country, showed art in galleries, wrote rock and restaurant reviews for an entertainment newspaper, and had an interesting journey in life despite "makin'do." I think a lot about entropy and that has changed the way I make do in some respects.

I have a few pages left in my sketchbook, so I think I will continue on with it. I am very excited that I met deadlines and that I stayed with it! There were a few times I was stumped and other times where I was frustrated.

What I did: I painted the borders, scanned it, added text and printed it. The ribbon is velvet and the button is chipboard.

Enjoy your day! If you "make do" just once today, you will have make a small impact on the world.

Edith Ackley Baby pattern holiday dolls

decorated birdhouses

a doll repair

bottle cap pin cushions
(original design by Very Big Jen)

This and that...

This is what I have been working on lately. As always, I am trying my best to keep up with the mundane stuff like housework and laundry.

I made the Edith Ackley pattern doll as a Santa. Then decided I needed an angel.

The birdhouses have multiplied so quickly that I didn't keep up with photos. Have made at least a dozen more since I took this photo. I am selling them at Christmas boutique trunk shows around here. They seem to be getting more lavish all the time. I have recently started making them decorated for Christmas.

See a little lady card behind the St. Anthony card? That is a card by Christine LeFever. She is featured in a magazine with these cards and you can read about it here. My friend gave me the St. Anthony card recently. It is from Italy and beautifully printed with gold embossing on it.

Of course, I am working on Christmas cards, holiday ATC cards which I include in my Christmas cards, Mrs. Staggs' sketchbook assignments, and other surprise stuff I cannot show here because my family checks this blog from time to time!

Johnny Appleseed was an apple head doll whose head had deteriorated leaving only his hat! A fellow doll club member needed someone to replace the head with a cloth head. After making and adding the head, I repaired the doll and added some props. He is kind of cute!

The bottle cap pin cushions are very popular on the Internet. They were originally designed by Big Jen. They are featured in a really nice book as well as a super fun tutorial. I notice that people who sell these on line don't always give credit where it is due.

What have you been up to? Anybody out there making hand made gifts this year? Considering the economy, I think hand made is a better idea than ever. But, in actuality, I have always made gifts by hand. It is a family tradition. Families who lived through the Great Depression passed this down through generations and it is not a new concept in my neck of the woods. Yankee thriftiness is alive and well in New England!

Many thanks to the readers who comment in my blog and to those who send me nice e-mails about my blog. I suppose I should comment within the comments area, but I always forget. I really love hearing from people.

Enjoy your day!

Sketchbook Wednesday with Mrs. Staggs...

Bet you think I forgot about Sketchbook Wednesday... but I didn't!

Mrs. Staggs prompted with " The wind blows. The rain falls." It has been such a lovely fall here that I decided to go with lighter theme than I might have if we had gloomy or stormy weather lately.

What I used: sketches of a character I have been drawing a few years and also a print of a page I used for an earlier page. I used glitter and foil paper, too. I anchored the page to the journal with little cardboard buttons covered with glitter. (Yes, I made a mess with the glitter and had to drag out the vacuum.)

What I did: I cut windows to show the little characters and attached the drawings underneath.

I have to admit I had a hard time coming up with this one, but I like the way it turned out. Can't wait to see what others did.

Sketchbook Wednesday..."by candlelight"

Mrs. Staggs creates some challenging challenges. The first thing I thought of was birthday candles. Some might think of: Jack O'lanterns, romance, power outages, candles for religious observances and rituals, or candles used in days of yore to provide lighting.

But, when a "first thought/impression" pops in my head, it stays there. I love birthday cakes and candles. I love the glow they create, the wonder in the birthday person's eyes, and the promise of secret wishes that might come true.

What I used: papers from my stash, glue sticks, my original painted papers & birthday art, brads. There is also glitter which never photographs well and some velveteen orange paper on the left side with stitching on it.

(Don't forget to click on the photos to make them larger.)

What I learned: less is more is always true. I wanted to avoid a traditional birthday party color palette and use graphic symbols. I wanted to stay in the same color zone as another page I am displaying today. I learned that I like cutting and pasting better than drawing right now.

When I had the materials out for another project a few weeks ago, I made the page below. My friend and I had traded decorated envelopes. I copied mine in the scanner, printed it, and used it for a Halloween page. The supplies I used are in front of the page.

When the Wednesday sketchbook journal is filled, it will represent an entire autumn. There are ten pages left in it, which will take it through the holiday season. I am really happy that I have stuck with this. I lack discipline and it has forced me to think-- and create.

I am putting all my journal pages here.

Hats off to Mrs. Staggs!

Starry Night, Sketchbook Wednesday with Mrs. Staggs

Last week Mrs. Staggs suggested that we make a page with the prompt "starry night." She also suggested we add an element of mystery.

Above is my page. It consists of an envelope with a book inside. At first glance it is not obvious there is a book inside. That is my mysterious element. However, there is a clue---I added some stars to the ribbon and yarns that are attached to the book.

As the book opens, it reveals daylight to a very dark starry night. It is not obvious that the book is about a starry night until the last page.

How I did it:

I painted the picture on the cover in watercolors on water color paper and scanned the painting.

I digitally altered the colors to create progressively darker images and printed them off. I cut away a square on the ages revealing a tiny star. The last page has glittered stars which are much more sparkly than this photo.

What I used:

a mailing envelope attached with brads to the journal

velvet and textured collage paper for covering the envelope

ribbon and yarn from my stash to embellish the book

digitally altered images from my original painting

What I learned:

It is more difficult to photograph pages than make them! It is impossible for me to capture glitter with my camera or scanner.

Meeting deadlines requires discipline. I used to meet deadlines every day of my life in the work force. Now I have trouble getting even small tasks done on time. This commitment to the journal is a journey in discipline for me.

Disclaimer:

I have been making paper art for decades. I went back to school to learn graphic design just before computer graphics became the gold standard. I learned how to cut and paste and do everything by hand....not too useful info today for graphic design. I love using my useless skills in useful ways!

To Mrs. Staggs:

Sometimes something clicks ...your sketchbook idea clicked for me. I have seen zillions of sketchbook challenges on line and had no desire to participate in any but yours. Mrs. Staggs you gently sparked my imagination. Thank you!