Collage Journals

Garden Inspired Journaling Pages

~ Patty Radish ~ Leave a comment

Hi Friends, I’m back!

I took a short break to focus on organizing our home, a little family time, and some much needed time in nature. There’s always so much to do, it’s difficult to fit it all into one day…and before you know it a month has gone by. Oops!

A cookbook divider with a handwritten recipe.

But, I’m happy to say that I’ve at least set some time aside to be creative. I still have quite a few of these ring bound journals sitting on a shelf, and I thought it would be fun to dust a couple of them off and see what inspires me.

A photo at a garden center I took years ago.

At the end of the month we will be getting new siding and windows on our 60+ year old house, so I’m not doing anything in the garden this year. It feels strange not to be obsessing over a garden, but I can enjoy a bit of gardening in my journals…and enjoy a break!

Saving a page disaster.

This has been the year of the Dragonfly in our area and I wanted to include them in some of my journal spreads. So I looked for a cool digital on Etsy and found some really cute ones. Here’s the link if you’re interested: Store4Fun This page has been sitting unfinished with those paint scrapes for years, it’s amazing what a few paper scraps and paint dots can do.

Muted tones with black paint rings.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your summer. I know it’s pretty hot here in the Northern Hemisphere right now. It’s going to get up to 109 F. here in a couple of days, but I’ll be in North Dakota for two weeks getting a break from it. I made a special journal for my trip with lots of trees, wild flowers, birds, bugs, and a few fairies for fun. I may actually share some pages while I’m on my trip, I’ll see how things go.

Until next time,

Thank you for the visit,

Stay cool,

~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

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

Inspiration Can Be Exhausting!

~ Patty Radish ~ 8 Comments

Trying new things is what pushes my style forward more than anything else. Sometimes using the same technique over a period of time can start to feel stale, then I get bored and have to walk away for a while.

Then a new style or project inspiration comes along that really excites me, and I’m off and running and there’s not enough time in the day!

I should appreciate the down times more, I’d probably get more sleep!

Have you ever had an idea that kept you up at night? You can’t wait for the morning, and then when morning arrives you’re too tired to work on anything. It happens to me all the time, actually it’s been happening to me a lot lately. I’m no ‘Spring Chicken’ I need my sleep!

But what’s the alternative?

Just about everything gets worked around my creating, not the other way around, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I have tried to picture myself pottering around the house, cleaning and generally taking care of things, like I probably should…and then all I want to do is hide under the covers…(with my art supplies)

Jumping from one project to another.

Sometimes I’m so inspired that I find myself in the middle of 4 or 5 projects at once and that can get pretty messy. Not to mention the amount of clutter that it can produce in my home, and in my head.

I’m pretty sure this falls under the heading of “First World Problems”!

So when I have exhausted myself, and I have run out of space, I tidy and organize my projects, then try to come up with a plan (easier said than done). The main point is not to give up out of frustration, accept the facts of how my brain works, and stop the judgement.

I’m seeing a pattern here.

I’m in organizing mode at the moment. All my projects are staged and ready to work on…now I’ obsessed with organizing…here we go again! Lol!

I need a nap! zzzzz

As always,

Thank you for stopping in,

Have a great week,

~Patty

Junk Journal January: Week 3

~ Patty Radish ~ 3 Comments

I was hoping to share this yesterday, but there wasn’t enough time in the day.

So, here we go…

Day 15: “Opposites”

Like many of the prompts, I had a lot of fun with this one, squares and circles, dark and light, black and white, colors and neutrals.

I have been sharing these pages on Instagram, and it’s funny, the pages I like best don’t get many likes. I used to let that bother me, but I have trust issues with the IG’s. Let me know in the comments your feelings about Instagram, I’m still disappointed in the changes that keep happening.

Day 16: “Flow”

Oh my, this did not come out the way I had originally planned it! This is a technique that I love to play with, drippy watercolor. I had it in my mind that I would be “In the ‘Flow” doing something I love, but it just turned into a mess! I used the dictionary paper pieces to cover what I had pulled up then popped on some butterflies and flowers and called it good. The beautiful quote by Washington Irving fixes it up a bit though.

Day 17: “Whimsical”

This was fun! I used a piece of watercolored paper for the background so it would blend into the previous pages a bit, fussy cut some beautiful daisies from one of my favorite Etsy shops LoveJunkJournals by Tracie Fox, and added critters with people balloons. So Fun!

Day 18: “Borders”

Another one I really enjoyed putting together, it feels whimsical too. I cut the frames out from some scrapbook paper, glued vintage looking paper on to the backs, and slipped in the characters. They look like they are trying to escape from their frames.

Day 19: “Interactive”

There is a lot of collage here, so it may be difficult to see what’s going on. On the left, there is an envelope, with a window, and an opening towards the edge of the page. On the right is an envelope that I’d sewn into the journal when I made it. I’m using these to store my printed journal pages in.

The next page…

Another envelope, but with the opening at the top.

Day 20: “Nature”

Using some simple pieces I have on hand, tissue paper, digitals, scrapbook paper, scrap text pieces, and a beautiful quote from Lao Tzu.

Day 21 “Peeking Out”

A little lady peeking out from a pocket and a circle punch peeking from a notch in a page. I folded the small page in half and punched out the notch, fitted the double sided punched piece into the notch and glued it. It doesn’t really have any use other than a way to turn the page.

The other side, see that tab came in handy! 

Another week of ‘Junk Journal January’ in the bag so to speak. I’m finishing up week 4 and will be sharing that this weekend, fingers crossed, so I hope to see you then!

Until Next Time,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty