Mini Journals from Cereal Boxes

Yesterday, my daughter Amanda and I had a "mom and me" art afternoon. Amanda is a writer, and needs journals for her story ideas and "morning pages." She had told me a while back about making journals out of cardboard cereal boxes, so I had been saving them. I googled a few blog posts and got the general idea about how to make them.

We started with a basic cereal box, and cut the largest panel. That was folded in half, and made the cover. Amanda's journal (on the left) has vintage images from some "imperfect" old magazines that Susan Morgan Hoth gifted me with. She created a collage of vintage images on the inside and outside, and added washi tape at the edges and across the middle for a decorative effect.

Mine has vintage Graphics Fairy images that I combined in a Photoshop collage. I also added washi tape at the edges. Unlike Amanda's collage, mine was one sheet of 8.5x11 paper that I covered the box with.

We folded paper and cut it to size, poked holes with an awl, and hand stitched it to the spine of the book with waxed linen thread. I used cardstock since I plan to use mine as an art journal; Amanda used white computer printer paper for hers since she will be writing in it, and wanted more pages and less weight per page.

The journal, when finished, is about 8.5" high x 5.5" wide, but the size depends on the size of the box. The bigger the box, the bigger the journal. It is a little flimsy--the cardboard is not very thick or strong, so if you want a firmer book you can double the cardboard.

If you are adventurous, instead of folding the cardboard in half to make the book, you can score two lines in the cardboard  near the middle (cut a little with an exacto knife but don't go completely through) so that a spine is created. That will allow more pages to be inserted, giving you a fatter book.

Amanda did not add a closure, but I puttered with a couple ideas. I tried--unsuccessfully--a button closure and a wrapped silk cord--and finally settled on punching two holes, adding grommets, and looping elastic through it so the journal could be quickly and easily opened and closed. I wished I had some colorful elastic--the white is a little harsh, so I may try painting or dying the elastic to match.

These journals were quick and easy to make, so guess what I will be making more of  today?

ATC Blues for Paper Traders

 

I joined a new Yahoo trade group recently, called Paper Traders. It's always a little scary entering new territory, with new people and new rhythms, but I really missed trading ATCs, and some of my old groups fizzled.

I have really made a shift in my artwork in recent years--I started out as an art quilter in 2006 when I bumbled onto a Quilting Arts Magazine in a bookstore. Since I had always loved sewing, art, and was for many years a fabric designer, I was hooked. I made a lot of art quilts, journal quilts, quilted postcards, quilted ATCs and various fiber projects. However, after living with neck and shoulder damage for overdoing my fiber work (from cutting through thick layers of cloth and batting with a dull rotary cutter, and painting directly on fabric using too much arm & shoulder pressure) I gradually switched to paper.

For me, paper is actually a lot easier to handle, it doesn't shift like fabric, usually doesn't bleed or fray, and you can still stitch through it if you want.

This trade required, in addition to the predominant use of the color blue, three layers. I was a little baffled because I never really consciously thought about how many layers I was or wasn't using. When the creative bug strikes, I go with the flow and what happens, happens. So, I had to really think about layers.

These pieces (I made 6...3 to trade and 3 to keep) started with a good quality heavy Japanese watercolor paper. I applied molding paste through a swirly Retro Café Art stencil, and when dry, painted the whole thing with shimmery Lumiere acrylic paint. I used a turquoise, then wiped on some indigo Lumiere. After the paint dried, I cut 6 atcs. I added layers of paper strips: vintage magazine text, French antique handwriting, and Chinese newsprint.

Embellishment was added in layers: first a brass Chinese "coin", attached with a brad. Next I added gold dots with dimensional paint. Each card got a tiny inspirational word, which was printed on clear Avery mailing labels. Last, I wanted more texture, so I punched a hole and added a blue grommet.