handmade art journals

as promised! The book in the center is my first one, it’s about 2/3 full of arty journal goodness. The other two are still works in progress. The left-most book is a daily book, my first layer on those pages is generally hidden journalling. The right-most book is Steampunk-inspired. I’m modeling the insides after a Victorian ladies scrapbook, full of recipes and dress patterns and travel notes.

All books are handmade by me, using a book structure I learned through Effy Wild’s Book of Days online classes.

A perfect end to a busy day

Busy as always here. Typical Sunday stuff, with everyone running around in different directions. We did manage to catch dinner together which was a nice change. Then everyone disappeared on me! 

Believe me when I say I took advantage of the situation. I cleared the kitchen table, put down some paper to protect it, and got out my new molding paste and some stencils. Love love love the effect! I worked on two art journal covers and before I knew it almost three hours had gone by. I was ready to work on some more layers but I figured I would overwork what I had. We will see what we have in the morning, and maybe share some pictures.

Until tomorrow!

A Writing Collaboration

I have always loved telling stories. Over the last few years, I have participated in a November writing romp called National Novel Writing Month(NaNoWriMo). Basically, you try to put together a 50,000 word novel in a month. I’ve participated 5 times and finished 4 novels. I’ve loved the momentum and discipline of it, although I think only two of those novels might be worth further work.  The emphasis of the exercise is definitely on process not product, there just isn’t enough time for fine writing and revision.

NaNoWriMo also offers an April session called Camp NaNoWriMo which offers another chance to work on new pieces of writing, or to do revisions. I was planning on revising a steampunk novel I completed for NaNo two years ago and was asking my daughter her opinion about how to handle the rewrite. We tossed ideas around for a few minutes, and then I said, “Maybe I should just start over, tell a new tale.”

Em said, “We should write that bad romance novel we’ve always talked about.”

I carefully considered her suggestion…for about two seconds…and agreed. We are planning a truly terrible and cliched romance novel!

Is it wise to add another item to our already crowded to-do list? Only time will tell. I think we will enjoy it though. Creativity is always a great stress reliever for both of us. A little laughter and silliness never hurt anyone.

This might not be such a crazy idea after all.

Starting Over

Here I go again. I’ve been limping along for a long time, and the time is long past to commit to a path and just stick to it. So here it is, my creative life and times; the good, the bad, the ugly, the silly, the fun. I will tell the story of my adventures as I try to figure what I am doing with the rest of my life post-children. A pseudo empty-nest experiment, if you will.

I  dedicate this blog, and my work out in the world to all the creative ones who are looking to find a way home to themselves.  I’ll go on ahead and tell you what I see, maybe we can hang out for awhile together.

The trail beckons. I’m packed and ready to go. See you out there!