Art Journaling

Finishing Up My April-May Memory Journal

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

This was a last minute idea I had before hubby and I took a trip to the “westside” to visit family for a few days. I made a journal and gathered a few supplies hoping I would have time in the evenings to work on it. Most of what I did on the trip was gather and organize memories, then finished it up at home, which worked out perfectly.

This journal spans from about a month and a half, and because it became so thick and full it was difficult to choose which page spreads to share, but here are some favorites…

One of the first things I had to do was go to Daiso, one of my favorite stores. The tags on the left are from some little mesh bags I found, I never seem to have enough of them. Above them is a little art sticker from a local artist I picked up at Pike Place Market, and on the right a cute business card from a day at an arts and crafts fair. It’s tucked not glued so I can reference it later.

These are all from different days of our trip. Decorating these pages in chronological order was making this too much of a chore, so I decided to mix things up and just have fun with color and decor.

A pocket for my journaling page. That blue napkin on the right is from the Mother’s Day dinner at our son’s in-law’s house. What an awesome way to spend the day, chatting with my friend in-law while her husband cooked us dinner!

I tried to stick with what I had packed for the trip to work with even when we got home. I find that I am more likely to finish up projects when I limit my supplies. I can really go off the rails if I have too many options.

I printed up a few photos of flowers I had taken during a walk when my daughter and grandson were visiting. I print them up on copy paper, that way they don’t bulk up my journals and they make perfect backgrounds.

I made a tuck spot out of one of my “stash busting” clusters. That little art piece is from a little set I got at Daiso. A super quick page spread!

A little stacked cluster with some mini envelopes from Daiso to hold some of the business cards I collected on our trip. I didn’t want to lose the info on them, so this was a perfect fix. I got two of the business cards there on the right so I could use one of them as decor.

Also, you may notice that I’m inking the edges of just about everything lately. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but I’m having a lot of fun with it.

A card from a friend I received in April. I used some of the decor from the envelope to decorate its new little home. And just a cluster with some fussy cut flowers on the right. As you can see, I’m having a lot of fun with color by not sticking strictly to any order. Just get things in the journal!

Using the envelope from one of my birthday cards to hold some journaling. The card was too thick, and cute, to put in this journal, so I’ll be framing it instead. On the right is a collage of some memories of our trip to Pike Place Market. Kell’s is our favorite Seattle pub, such a fun day!

At the end of the month I remembered about 20 things I forgot to journal about, so I just made a list and printed it out. I use these journals to document things I might want to include in our photo albums later, so I try to add as many memories as I can…

…which is why this one got a new “journal girdle”!

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

Sad News

~ Patty Radish ~ 15 Comments

First, I would like to apologize for the unexpected absence. I seem to be apologizing a lot lately.

This year has been a struggle knowing that our little dog Lily was very ill and that we knew we would be losing her in a matter of months, it has really taken the wind out of my sails. I have been trying to do “all the things” while caring for her along with all the other obligations of life, and art has had to take a backseat.

Journal pages from March.

We lost her on May 1st in the sweetest way possible even though she had been struggling for a week or so. I’m telling you this because I still don’t know where this whole social media thing is going to end up. I have gone back and forth so many times about whether or not to keep making videos or blog postings, I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

I would love to pretend that everything is “just fine”, but I feel as if I’m stuck in a place I don’t want to be. Being honest with you about where I’m at is the first step towards finding my new normal as far as post sharing going forward.

I know that this is a very different post that I usually write, and I hope you don’t mind, but I just wanted to let you know that if you don’t hear for me for a while again, why.

A photo of Lily spending the day at the park with family walking around smelling everything she could. Losing her wasn’t like losing a family member or a best friend, it was like losing a very beloved pet that showed unconditional love.

I’ll leave it at that.

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

Checking In

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

Hey Friends, just a quick post to let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth.

I have been keeping busy organizing and using up several years worth of ephemera.

I usually just organize then loose interest, but this time I am actually putting it to use.

…and I have almost filled up a journal at this point!

Let me know in the comments how you are doing and what you’re up to.

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

Not Sure What I Was Thinkin’

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

It sounded like fun at first blush, but at about 24 hours in I was questioning the whole thing. In case you don’t know what my latest project has been, it’s the “Dollar Tree Junk Journal” Challenge hosted by Jessica at The Paper Terrace . I know I can be honest with you here because most of you have been with me for a long time, so you may or may not be surprised by my impulsiveness.

This is how it went down…

I got a notification on YouTube from one of my favorite creators, Kathleen at Be Again Books , and she was sharing a journal she had made for this challenge. Seriously, I dropped everything and ran to my Dollar Tree. It took me over an hour to find my supplies…who spends more than 15 minutes at the Dollar Tree!? …a clear warning sign completely missed by your’s truly!

It gets better…not really.

I get all my stuff home and it just lays there staring at me…I stare back, there seems to be a stand off. Luckily there is a $20 maximum you can spend, so that guilt is eased a bit. So I dive straight in with less than high hopes, much less confidence…and a lot of cheap supplies (come on, it’s the dollar store!).

Late to the party!

Not only have I purchased a bunch of crazy a#% supplies, the challenge is already a week in! Any sane person would have done their homework. Not me! I’m grabbing my car keys and running out the front door while Kathleen’s video is still playing in the background!

So I dig in…again.

Luckily, I decided to share a video of my purchases with somewhat of a plan going forward. I say luckily because I got so frustrated that I almost quit. I thought “I’m going to delete the video, donate my dollar store finds, and move on”…I had a plan! But, when I went to delete the video, I saw followers and comments and likes…oh my!

Okay, I’ll admit I’m a pushover (on too many levels to cover here).

A changing perspective.

Through the frustration of trying to work with such a limited selection of supplies, I had lost the real reason I had started this project in the first place, to be a part of something along with other creators. Sure, this challenge lived up to it’s definition, but I wasn’t working alone. Everybody was having their ups and downs with it, but they kept going. Most of us jumping from one channel to the next getting tips, ideas, and inspiration, and leaving ‘likes’ and comments along the way. In other words, the best thing about this whole project is the community, the journal was secondary.

Lesson learned, but next time I’m doing my homework!

(go to my channel if you want to see my progress, the link is in the sidebar)

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Talk to you soon,

~Patty

Is Organizing a Creative Pursuit?

~ Patty Radish ~ 9 Comments

Lately, my favorite thing to do is put on an inspiring YouTube channel, grab some supplies, and work on a small project. This was my intention, until this happened…

Where it all started.

I was working on this page spread last week and I needed something small to fill in that space in the corner. So I grabbed that little tag, gathered a few small decor pieces, and there you go. But..(there’s always a but!), I thought “Why not have several of these on hand so I don’t have to get out ‘all the things’ every time I need a small embellishment?”.

That’s what I get for thinking!

Making large tags too.

Of course it turned into a whole thing. Gathering supplies, organizing supplies, and creating a containment unit for said supplies. I am now the proud owner of a “Tag Makings” box…sitting on top of and next to several other “_____ Makings” boxes.

Instant page…well, sort of.

I may be in need of assistance here. I have been spending most of the last few weeks organizing craft/art supplies into boxes. Not as much “making” going on as I would have liked because I am too busy organizing. This wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t have other obligations…like a dog on diuretics that needs a wee every hour! But I digress…

The collection.

I now have loads of tags that may or may not save me time in the long run…but I’m organized!

As always,

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a great week,

~Patty