Fake Wax Seals

Wax seals give a great, finished, old-timey look to add to letters, journals, etc.  Here is the first method I did with polymer clay:

This is how to do it with hot glue:



Nik The Booksmith very kindly answered my plea of Polymer clay conundrums!

New Fern Journal

This is a new Booksmith journal I created around the theme of ferns, and includes the first story of Fernie's World, a new series. It is also a Traveler's Notebook and comes with:

*4 inserts/notebooks: one lined, one drawing paper, one "eco-printed" green dyed paper, and a Junk Journal insert with a combination of lined, ink-stained, fern-imprinted, ledger and music paper. Paper is all 32 lb. paper and is fountain pen/rollerball friendly.

*The first chapter of Fernie's World is included as a booklet 

*An ephemera packet: cards, fabric, lace, washi tape, music paper

*Gold fountain pen, ink cartridges & ink blotter page

To construct the journal, I combined The Adventures in Booksmithing course along with The Hollow Back Binding course. To learn how to make your own Booksmith tomes and a whole lot more, here's a link to her FABULOUS online classes: Nik The Booksmith's Booksmithing courses.  Here's a link to her Nik The Booksmith YouTube channel for more tutorials and inspiration.

To learn how to make your own Traveler's Notebooks, here's a link to my Ledger & Lace Teachable classroom for a free course.

Here's a video flip-thru of the journal: 



Here's the story:

Here's Nik The Booksmith's Fern journal of AWESOMENESS:

FERNIE'S WORLD

Chapter 1

Fanny was unintentional in her pursuit of ferns. It was her nature--and curiosity of Nature, that led her into the woods with her father, a botanist, and her older brother, William. Her father was more intent on the measuring and preserving of botanical specimens with their proper Latin names, and William was more interested in the artistic rendering of the landscape. Initially it was to stay out of the way so that Papa wouldn't leave her behind with Nurse and her younger siblings. She was not to touch any of the plants with which he was working, and she was not to stand in William's view. 

On a hot, sunny day by Queen's Brook, as Papa collected and William sketched, Fanny grew weary from the heat. "Fanny," said Papa, "Fill the water flask for us, please," as he handed her his field flask. She followed the path down to the creek and filled it. At six years old, she was happy that she could be helpful in such serious, scientific endeavors, if only to bring water. She took a long drink, refilled the flask, and brought it back. "Here, Papa." 

Papa took a drink and handed it to William. She was delighted that they could forgo the social propriety of cups, and be "heathen Barbarians" as her mother called them when they were out in the Wilds of Nature. As Papa wiped his brow, he said, "What did you notice at the creek?" 

She knew he was asking a botanical question, but she was more impressed with the frogs that had jumped into the water with several "Plops!" at her approach.  "I saw several Amphibia of the Animalia kingdom," she answered. 

Papa laughed. He looked down affectionately at his daughter with her damp forehead and flushed cheeks.  "Perhaps you will find something of botanical interest in the shade by the brook," he suggested. 

As she settled on a large boulder with a mossy patch, she noticed that flowers weren't growing in this part of the landscape. In fact, it was cooler and darker and somehow greener. She brushed her hand through the lush moss and gently rested her cheek against it. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the earthy fragrance about her. No flowers here with their wafting, sweet scents. 

She opened her eyes and stared intently across the creek, waiting patiently for the frogs to reappear. As she did, she took notice of the ferns; how beautiful and abundant they were!  She felt a slight breeze and watched as it rustled through the ferns to make them sway and dance.  How delightful!  

"Papa!" She called out, forgetting to be quiet for the frogs. "What is the botanical name for ferns?"

Papa smiled and called back, "Pteridophyta!"  

She sat up and ran back to her father with gleaming eyes.  "I suppose," he said, smiling and reaching into his field satchel, "You will be in want of a proper sketchbook."   

And so it began. 

New Pride & Prejudice Journals

Classics Booksmith Challenge

This is my Booksmith tome for the Nik the Booksmith Classics Challenge:

To learn how to make your own Booksmith journals, check out Nik's Teachable courses.

To see all the other journals for the challenge (and be blown away by their talent)! click HERE for the playlist.

HAPPY New Year!

Video flip of planners and journals I'm using this year:

Things mentioned in video:

Nik The Booksmith Planner Kit:

Mel Robbins on YouTube

5 Second Rule

5 Second Journal

TED Talk

Stalogy notebook in A5

Stalogy A6

Chic Sparrow, Mr. Darcy

Anniversary Journal

Latest journal:

Spine:

Back:

 And video!

I did end up writing the bear stories down. For the purposes of this blog, I changed the names. Also, I've unintentionally made it sound like it was Sally who had the glowing, yellow eyes--not the bear!  

Here are all the people mentioned in the video:

Nik The Booksmith
Tracie Fox
Wendy's Journal Adventure

My First Booksmith Tome: Verna's Journal

One day last April, I made an unplanned trip to the recycling center. It's on the way to the post office, so I thought I'd swing by even tho I didn't have all that much stuff to drop off. This part of the story is important because if I had gone another time, I would have missed everything!

I chucked the paper in the paper bin and as I was walking toward the container bin, I noticed PAPER in there. In my judgey-ness, I thought, "How hard is it to sort things into the proper bin?!"  As I got closer, I realized that it wasn't just paper, it was cards: birthday, holidays, and just because. Mixed in with the coffee grounds and a wad of gum, was a family photo album and calendar made with family photos, and a beautiful (empty) silver picture frame. They were all addressed to "Verna," and were from 2013 to the present.

They were obviously special to Verna and I thought, "Who would just throw away someone's memorabilia?"  So I pulled everything out and put it in a box and took it home. As I sifted thru everything, I could tell that this was a woman who was well-loved. There were photos of her laughing and one in particular, where she was holding up a huge jar of peanut butter.

The great thing was that I had addresses of Verna's friends and family. The one person who sent the most cards was her daughter Peggy, who lives out of state. So I did a little Facebook detective work and found her. I sent her a message and told her that I found her mother's mementos, and gave her my phone number.

A few days later, she called me. It turns out that her mother had just passed away. My heart just hurt for her. I said something like, "I know what it's like to lose your mother when you love her. There is no pain like it. I'm a little further along than you, but it is the hardest thing."  So we had a lovely talk and I was able to send her a package for Mother's Day, the first without Verna.

I sent Peggy the photos, but I kept the cards and told her I wanted to make a junk journal with them, if that was OK with her. She said her mother's service wouldn't be for a few months, so I had time before she would be back in Virginia.

Well, I finally met Peggy this week!  We met at the Silver Diner and I gave her Part One of the journal. There were so many cards that if I had put everything together, the journal would have had a 6-inch spine!  So for the first bit, I gave her all the cards from Verna's friends.  I had gotten this Weight-Watcher's binder in Verna's favourite colour and did a fabric-paper collage on the front to hide the logo.

It also has a pocket. See the card?

Here's the inside:

As Peggy went thru some of the cards, she updated me and told me that a few had passed away since Verna had died.  I felt like I got to know not just Verna, but her friends, as well. One of her friends, Dixie, had sent the most cards besides Peggy. She was one of the ones who passed away. "Oh, not Dixie," I said. So I never met her, but I feel like I did from all the sweet things she wrote to Verna.

PART TWO:
 I didn't actually plan to have 2 parts, but I'm so glad I did!  I created a journal for her with the rest of cards from her, and more photos of Verna. I drilled holes into the cover, so that I could attach the picture frame, and kept them plugged up with little picture-hanging nails while I painted it.

This is the only photo I took, but I managed to grab some screenshots from the video!

Front:

The famous curved spine of Nik The Booksmith:

Back:

I made this as a travelers notebook with a hidden spine. First insert, inside:

The first insert has a pocket and I used one of Mum's buttons as the fastener for the ribbon. I made
 this with the intention of using as a guest book at Verna's memorial service if Peggy needed one. 

 Inside the first insert:

What a cool lady Verna is!  

The quote on the first page is from the Baptist Hymnal:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you 

richly in all wisdom; teaching and

admonishing one another in psalms and 

hymns and spiritual songs, singing 

with the grace in your hearts to the Lord."

~Colossians 3:16

When I first decided to make a journal for Peggy, I had no idea how I was going to do it. But then Nik The Booksmith's course came out, and I was able to create something heirloom-worthy!  

Here's the flip thru:

I did the flip-thru right before I went to meet Peggy and her two grandkids. It was so great going thru it with her as she told me more stories about Verna and Verna's friends. Her 5 YO ("almost 6!") grandson actually read the Dick and Jane pages. Such a smart boy!  And both kids had a very enthusiastic response to all the pictures of cakes and candies!  

I am SO GRATEFUL that I went to the recycling bin on the "wrong" day and that Verna's things were in the "wrong" bin. Had I gone on another day or had they been put in the "right" bin, I would not have found them and would never have met Peggy or been able to salvage Verna's memories.  Peggy is one of the sweetest, kindest people you could ever want to meet and I happy to have her as my friend.  :-)

Even tho I never met Verna, I feel like I know her. She was the same age as Mum, and had the same sort of active life that Mum had, including having volunteer work.  I could tell from all the cards from her friends, that she was well-loved and cherished by so many. And now, you can get to know her, too.

The World of Junk Journals

It's such a cliche to apologize for a neglected blog; but apologies! I know that some of my MANY subscribers don't follow me on Twitter or YouTube.  And by "MANY"  I mean, essentially, Mari.  Hi Mari!  ;-)  So I thought I'd do a bit of an update-ish.

Originally for this blog post, I was going to slap up a video and call it a day. But it has gotten more and more involved as I started writing about my love of journals. For the past couple years, I've been into Travelers Notebooks and most recently, Junk Journals. I love the vintage vibe of old paper, photographs, letters, lace, doilies and other ephemera.  However, within the JJ community, there are different subcategories. Some journalers get very "cute" with their journals. They use scrapbook paper and stickers and bright colours.

There's also a segment of the population where it's called a "journal" with no space to actually journal; just lots of pictures and tuck spots and bobbles. And what's the deal with the obsession with Jane Austen?  I'm kidding, but it's a thing in the JJ world.

Rosemary Morris calls her journals, "Trashy Junk Journals."  She creates themes with different "trash,"  here's one she did with Tea. I've been saving all my dog-themed stuff (empty treat boxes, etc.).  Cheryl at DelyGirl1961  is another artist who creates beautiful journals. She also has some FABULOUS tutorials.

Digital downloads are a popular,  print-your-own JJ option. Here are a few:

Nik The Booksmith
Ephemera's Vintage Garden
Tsunami Rose.
Calico Cottage
ArtyMaze

So there are lots of different kinds of journals. You can do a search on YouTube for Junk Journals and fall down the rabbit hold with me. The ones I like have the vintagey look with tea (or coffee) stained pages, with room to write. The three artists I'm featuring here all have a few things in common; vintage vibe, often using real ephemera, a love of nature, sewing and collaging, and room for journaling. They are all very innovative in their creations and go beyond just making a journal.

First up, Nazy (short for Nazareth) at Amity Bloom.  She is one of the kindest, sweetest gals on YouTube. It has been such a JOY watching her work evolve. From her first try at sewing to seeing her BEAUTIFUL fabric collages, this is one gal to watch:

Nik The Booksmith  creates journals with themes. Go binge-watch her videos. She has a Carpetbagger series and all sorts of stories that go along with her journals. And she's hysterically funny!  Here's her latest:

My other favourite is Jibid in the U.K. This morning's video is what sparked this blog post. Her work is exquisite. That envelope collage and the poem and all the sewing and embroidery and the pressed flowers!  And-and-and!  All in one journal. 

Now, do you see why I haven't been blogging so much?  Too busy watching videos. Also, I am in the midst of  a HUGE re-organization. I've moved my art studio out of the kitchen and will spending the long weekend working on the new "Le Studio." Also, I'm excavating my sewing machine. And I've some new Magnolia May vids in the works. All fun stuff!  Til next time . . . .  :-)