That's Pinteresting!: Paper Crafting Edition

I've been browsing my Paper Crafting board on Pinterest, looking for some simple projects to complete.  As I've mentioned in the past, I justify all the time I spend "pinning" by making sure I go through my boards periodically and actually USE some of my pins!

For my first project, I used the business card design created by Ellie Snow of Mint to create some cards for my Living Stones Women's Ministry.  When I tell people about the group, I find myself scribbling down my email and blog address on a scrap of paper.  It makes much more sense to have cards with me that I can share with people who are interested.

I had to determine the information to include, as well as the font and the spacing.  After printing them out (eight to a page) on white cardstock, I cut them to size, then adhered different styles of tape to the middle.  Then I used a regular hole punch to punch the semi-circles on the sides, and tied baker's twine around the middle, tying it right at the center.

Here are some of my favorite decorative tapes for this project:

Another paper crafting project from my Pinterest pins involved making magnetic bookmarks.  I've made a zillion bookmarks in a zillion different styles, but I never grow tired of trying something new.

The design for these comes from Lisa at A Cuppa Tea With Me.  I cut pretty pieces of double-sided scrapbooking paper to 8 inches by 3 inches.  I stitched all around the edges (an optional step--I just love the look of stitched paper), and folded the paper in two.

On the inside, I used two squares of Dymo self-adhesive magnetic tape.  When the bookmark is closed around a page, the two pieces of magnet catch and hold in place!

Having double-sided paper isn't strictly necessary, but it makes the bookmark look that much nicer no matter how you look at it.

For my third paper crafting project, I created yet another little notebook--something else I can't get enough of!

I used a design from Carolyn of Homework.  She used business envelope liners for all of her inside scratch pages, but I thought my handwritten notes might not show up well on them.  I included a business envelope liner page at the front and the back only, and used scrap computer paper from my husband's home office for the rest of the  pages.     

Each page got two small holes punched at the top, and baker's twine threaded through the holes tie all the pages to one another and to the back cover.

Double-sided scrapbook paper makes for a prettier project with these, too, as well as color-coordinated baker's twine to tie all the pages together.

 

Stay tuned for more projects from my Paper Crafting Pinterest board. There are sure to be more!

 

A Look Into My Art Journal

After finishing my first Art Journal Round Robin (AJRR) last year, I found myself with empty pages at the back of the book.  I didn't want to retire it to my art room shelves until those final spreads were complete! 

I decided to use that book for my regular art journaling this month.  Even though many, many months have passed since it's been used, I figure that lapse isn't going to look like much when I'm looking back over my art journals when I'm 81!

I sat down and collaged all four spreads in the same sitting.

I had a stack of images that I had clipped mainly from old issues of Somerset Studio.  I don't have enough shelf space to keep too many whole magazines, so I file articles I want to reference again, and add the pretty pictures to my collage fodder drawer.

That means, of course, that the beauty of these pages is due entirely to images that are not of my own creation!

But as many before me have noted, there is great therapy, and I would argue a degree of artistry involved in combining and arranging the images in new and meaningful ways.

I found again, as I have discovered before, that it helps to pull a stack of a large but limited number of pictures, rather than trying to rifle through my whole collection at the same time.

I pulled pictures that were "speaking to me" at that moment, and then as I started going through them, I began regrouping those that seemed to go together by color or theme or style.

From there, the spreads came together, and I went back in the days following the collage process to add some pen work and journaling.

There are still eight spreads left in the book, and while it is expanding as all delicious art journals do, there appears to be plenty of space to allow more collaging on those remaining pages.

I'll be back with more journal peeks when there is more to share!

A Gallery of Postage Stamp People

I've been slow to share my latest Postage Stamp People collages.  I've continued to have great fun pairing portrait-style postage stamps with vintage photographs to create new, quirky characters.

First, there is a casual Queen Elizabeth, relaxing on a spring afternoon by the river:

Next, a dapper Francisco Franco, looking every bit as uptight as I'm sure he truly was:

And how about an adorable Ralph Bunche, fishing on the dock down by the harbor:

And, perhaps you recall FDR as a cigarette girl?  Here he is looking like a relaxed James Dean-style character, looking out over the open road:

Did you hear about Abe's marriage to Rachel Carson?  Yeah, no one saw that coming.

But don't worry about Rachel.  She enjoyed plenty of wild times in her single years:

We knew George Washington couldn't tell a lie about the old cherry tree, but did you know about his years in the priesthood?

And, finally, a peek at Ben Franklin during his younger years, looking relaxed and confident in his boyhood:

I can't quite get enough of these quirky characters!

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You can see my first Postage Stamp People here.

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If you haven't seen my birthday list of 41 Ways to Keep It Fresh, please check it out here.  If you like the ideas and want to share them, please feel free to put a link in one of your blog posts!