Supply Findings

Lately, I have been doing my utmost to support my fellow online shops, in other words, going nuts with shopping! Well, for me anyway.

Some of this stuff is too cute to keep to myself, so check it out…

IMG_1504

Some ridiculously cute playing cards! I love these things! As a matter of fact, when I went to her shop to grab her url, I started shopping again! Shame on me, I should at least wait until I’m finished writing this blog post!

You can find more of these at FoundAlchemyArt for a great price! But, save some for me!

IMG_1510

Some vintage Asian ephemera. Listed as Chinese vocabulary cards, Japanese vocabulary cards, and Chinese/Japanese character cards. So super cute!

You can find them at Collage Stuff. Great selection and prices!

IMG_1519

And free goodies are always welcome! CARDS!

That quote card is going straight into my Vision Board journal!

IMG_1512

This is just the tip of the iceberg of how many stamps I ordered from this shop! The selection was awesome, she is a true stamp-a-holic, and has great customer service! They are listed in her shop with the coolest titles too. How she managed to organize these in the categories she did is nothing short of amazing! I know, I’ve done it, just on a much smaller scale.

Her shop is called PreciousOwl.

IMG_1527

A memory page I put together all this fun stuff. I’ve been falling a bit behind with my “Collage a Day” challenge, but these new goodies should light a fire under me bum!

Please go check out these shops, you won’t be disappointed!

Thanks for stopping by,

Have a great day,

~Patty

They Say “If It Works, Don’t Fix It”, but if it doesn’t…

Yes folks, it’s another re-constructed journal!

I have been having a rough couple of days on more than one level, and needed a safe place to vent. But, because I’m not a huge fan of letting off steam publicly, i.e.; online, I choose to work it out with pen and paper.

IMG_0741

This journal was a little useless, being from a project that I had completely lost interest in. So, last night I tore out all the old project remnants, and replaced them with new journaling pieces. Some of the pages didn’t survive the reconstruction process, but most did.

I began to rummage around my art room, gathering all the lost souls I could find. You can spot some of them at the top of the page. Bling junk!

IMG_0730

Then, I grabbed my pen and and started writing! I wrote and decorated, decorated and wrote. Soon, I was adding inspirational quotes and sayings. And I must say, feeling much better about things!

First, for getting a few things off my chest. Then, for giving myself permission to do so!

IMG_0726

It didn’t take long for this journal to become a comfortable place to land. To be honest, I had hoped that I wouldn’t need a “venting” journal anymore, but sometimes things just pile up.

My introverted side pegs out pretty easily when I spend too much energy outside myself.IMG_0723

  I think that some of the “projects” I get myself involved in makes me a little too stressed, then I hurry through my pages just to get them done. Not my style!

So, I’m going to put a lot of outside projects, and interactions, on hold for a while, just to regroup.

IMG_0729This blog is my heart and soul, so I won’t be wandering too far from here!

IMG_0734Because, we all need a comfy place to call our own!

Have a great day!

~Patty

A Redecorated Journal

I have had an off/on relationship with this journal for quite a few years now. There are parts that I loved, but it lacked a cohesiveness that I just couldn’t put my finger on. Probably due to the fact that I thought I could just dump a bunch of unwanted ephemera into it, and believe everything would be just fine. But, it wasn’t! When this journal started to go off track, onto the shelf it went.

IMG_0571

This may look familiar to some of you that have been following my blog(s) for a while. And the differences may not be immediately noticeable, but they’re there.

After watching Florence Antonette‘s Traveler’s Notebook series on continuous loop, I found the cohesiveness that I was looking for!  My first thought was to buy some Midoris and try her style, but on closer inspection, I realized that I had a lot of the same elements she was using, in this journal. So, the restructuring began, and couldn’t be happier with it!

IMG_0572

First, I striped away all the old journaling, this poor journal had become the complaint department, mostly because I didn’t know what else to do with it. I also removed anything that just didn’t fit the aesthetic, luckily that was at a minimum.

IMG_0573I replaced the journal pieces, then began filling it with washi tape, more postage stamps, and ink stamping. Now, I wish I had taken some before and afters, there really is a difference!

IMG_0575I love how the stamping subtly blends the journal piece into the background, exactly what I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, but was to critical about my stamping abilities to try. I guess it took a “lost cause” project to give me the courage to throw caution to the wind!

I am happy to say that this journal is still a work in progress, so I have lots more excuses to buy more postal goodies! Win! I’ll be sure to share it’s progress again soon!

As always, thank you for the visit,

Have a wonderful day,

~Patty

A Happy Mail Surprise!

I received this lovely Happy Mail last month, but it has been a crazy couple of months, so I’m just getting around to sharing it! I love getting things in the mail, especially when they are so wonderfully thought out, as to fit my style!

Vintage beauty and colorful kitsch, need I say more? Of course I do!

IMG_0099

These are from the wonderful Jenny. They were all lovingly wrapped in kraft paper with their sources written on them and accompanied by several thoughtful notes and letters! Treasures indeed! Thank you Jenny, I can’t wait to use them! That whole “Why didn’t somebody tell me 2 years ago, Pyrex ovenware is 30% to 50% off!” rocks my world! I totally feel her pain!

I may leave the children’s cookbook as is and use it as an art journal!

Those stickers already have a special place in a particular journal I plan to share very soon!

IMG_0101

IMG_0102

These two groups are from my sweet friend Iryna in Belarus. She always sends me a beautifully eclectic collection of ephemera from her country along with a thoughtful handwritten letter! As I look through all of this loveliness, I think of where I might use each piece.

And because I have decided that I must stop hoarding my mail goodies, and start using them…

IMG_0398

…I made a sort of commemorative page in my “Big” journal! This was so much fun! I will definitely have to do this more often!

As you can see, I stayed with a red food theme, with the exception of the ladybug and the rose of course! See the radishes? Iryna usually tries to include them in her mailings, Love!

I love the little girl peeking from behind the strawberries!

Do you have a special way that you store your letters? I’m not sure how to go about it. If you have any ideas on the subject, I sure would like to know about it!

Once again, thanks so much for stopping by,

Have a great day, it’s Friday!

~Patty

And Then There Was One…

This post was supposed to be written yesterday, announcing the new Mini Journals in my shoppe, but I just didn’t have time…

…I was too busy wrapping and sending them off!!!

I made 10, and within 12 hours, sold 9 of them!

So, what should I write about?

Well, after the giveaway and shoppe makings, I managed to keep one for myself…

IMG_0389

 I wasn’t quite happy with the messy layering I had done, so I covered most of it up with this vintage book image.

IMG_0385

I thought this might be an awesome opportunity to work in it along with the people that have purchased them from me. So, once in a while I’ll be sharing some of my page spreads.

Some of the pages may seem too pretty to cover up…

IMG_0386

…but others are perfect! I love those vintage illustrations, but the rest of the page is text. I’ve been using this mini journal to document the surprise visit from my daughter and grandson. He ate banana for the first time today and I thought that monkey eating a banana was a nice touch.

It’s time to back to my visit, I just wanted to check in and let you know that as soon as my loved ones head back home I will be starting on a new batch of mini journals for the shoppe. In the meantime, there are still a few list journals and “regular” sized journals left in my shoppe, some marked down even!

Thank you so much for supporting my shoppe!

Have a great day,

~Patty