Junk Journaling

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

Trying to Keep Up

~ Patty Radish ~ 6 Comments

I’ve been busy with all the projects that have been floating around in my brain, and my desk, for quite a while. I have too many ideas and not enough time…or maybe energy?

But there’s lots to do, and I’m slowly getting things done. Slowly being the operative word!

Making journals into fodder.

My latest ephemera packs have been half finished for a couple of years. They started out as a way to use some of my very early art journals for my shoppe. You see, I had to go through my journals when we downsized to a smaller home a few years ago. Some of my journals were not hard to let go of, but I also couldn’t just toss them out either. So I took them apart, played around with them, and turned them into things I could share (sell, let’s be honest)).

The little gypsy is from a tag journal from many moons ago that can be a journal spot, and I made some pages from another journal into tags. I added some gesso and strategic paper pieces to cover my journaling, but most of them are double sided and have some creative potential.

A bit on the grungy side.

I had fun putting it all together, rusty paperclips with fabric clusters, coffee dyed coin envelopes, dyed vintage lace, more journals spots from one of my early index card journals (that makes three journals used up!), old book pages, tea dyed journal papers, and more. This ephemera pack is pretty muted in tone, but as you know, I’ve always loved playing with different styles and colors.

Keeping organized.

These packs have a lot more handmade items than my old style of ephemera packs which were filled with mostly “found” items. I have a lot of ideas I want to use in the future, so I made this ‘Idea Book’ for notes, resources, and creations. I have made something like this in the past, but this feels more like a journal, more hands on and useful.

So much inspiration!

There are so many awesome ideas out there, added with a few of my own, that there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day for all of them, but I’m giving it my best effort. I decided to include a few photos of my latest ephemera pack into this journal for reference along with some fun ideas for projects.

(I made a video of this journal, the link is in the sidebar if you would like to learn a little more about it.)

Another trip to the vet.

The biggest reason I am having a hard time keeping up with all the things right now is our lil’ fur baby Lily is reaching that time of life where things are starting to fail and I want to spend as much quality time with her as I can. It’s going to be pretty rough when we loose her, she’s my little bestie, so I hope I can keep up when we do. Meanwhile we are doing what we can to make her comfortable and happy!

Until next time,

Sending Joy and Love to you and yours,

Thank you for the visit,

~Patty

Junk Journal January: I Quit!

~ Patty Radish ~ 8 Comments

This probably seems a bit strange to quit when I’m almost at the end of this challenge, Day 26, but I need to move on. I did a page spread a day during the Holidays, even when I was under the weather, so I have been ‘at it’ for two months now and I need to get other things done. I’m going to try to finish up this journal using the prompts, but not every day. There are five left.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had nothing but fun doing this challenge, I just hit a bit of a slump creatively (at least for this project) and want to work on something else. But since I have finished four more pages, I thought I would share them with you.

Day 23: “Texture”

A scrunched up doily, a paper cluster, some layered paper pieces painted with gesso, a bird holding some dried weeds, and some dollops of pink paint. This page spread brings to mind a bit of the reason why working in this journal has become a bit daunting…it’s massive! I realize I am the one who decided to add all the layers, but I think next time I do one of these challenges, I’ll make two journals.

Day 24: “Fabric”

In my attempt to cut down on pages in this journal, and to help keep it closed, I made this quilted cover. These are so easy, and so much fun, to make. Although I used an old quilt for this one, these are just as easy to make with two pieces of fabric and some batting…and a little decor. I want to make a video of how I create these. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to share the instructions here too, I could do both then share a link to the video.

Day 25: “Ombre”

This one had me thinking. I looked up ‘ombre’ online to get some inspiration, but it was mostly hair styles. I had been experimenting with watercolor on tissue a few months ago, so this background piece was ready to go. I looked around my stash for ephemera that might match the colors as they graduated across the pages, and this is what I came up with. I still think it looks a bit of a mess, but it was fun to try.

Day 26: “Translucent”

This is one of my favorite pages. I kind hit the ‘easy button’ with this one, stickers and envelopes, but I love the mix of neutrals and color. I needed a couple more tuck spots for my journaling pages, although I’m not sure I want to fill that pocket on the right, I like seeing all the layers.

The biggest reason I have decided to take a break from art journaling every day is because I am working on some new ephemera packs for my shoppe. I’ve had a lot of success with my “curated” ephemera packs. In case you haven’t been to my shoppe in a while, my curated packs are filled with bits of ephemera I create, not just images cut from books and gathered with other ‘made’ items. They are pretty popular and don’t stay in my shoppe for long. I will also be selling journals that are stitched and not ring bound pretty soon, I might even try putting some of my hand stitched covers in there. This has become one of my favorite creative projects, and when it comes to creativity, you have to go with what ever makes your heart sing…so I am!

It has been fun having an excuse to come on here more often and catch up with you and I hope I can keep that up with other projects. I will share the last pages of this journal as soon as I get them finished.

Until Then,

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

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

Junk Journal January: Week 2

~ Patty Radish ~ 8 Comments

Some of the prompts at this point started to throw me. If you’re following me along on Instagram, I’m all over the place. Jumping from ‘catching up’ to the present and back again. As a matter of fact, I wanted to write this blog post last week, but “Garden” wasn’t even started…that’s ‘Day 13’. But, I’m pretty well caught up now.

Day 8: “Neutral”

Some of my favorite neutral images on one page spread. I have been holding on to some of these images for years. It’s alway a good feeling when precious ephemera finds a home. This is the backside of “Stitched” and I wanted to use that paperclip somehow, so I made that old photo into a cabinet card and dangled it.

Day 9: “Foliage”

The background images on these pages are some favorites, but a bit dull. I stenciled over them with some bright greens to liven things up a bit and added the usual suspects…postage stamps and butterflies. I have found Butterfly heaven in one of my new favorite Etsy shops TheJunkJournalStudio There’s a lot of fussy cutting involved, but boy is it worth it!

Day 10: “Layered”

I started with layering some tissue paper bits, brushed on some watered down gesso to push some of the color into the background, then added some neutral paper pieces to help pop the bird, butterflies and flowers. That’s definitely some layers.

Day 11: “Eclectic”

I threw everything onto this page spread. This one is at the end of the journal because I wanted to use that tea dyed envelope, and I couldn’t make it work anywhere else. It was a lot of fun just playing with odds and ends here, I’ll have to do this more often.

Day 12: “Torn Edges”

This is a technique I’ve added recently, inking the paper edges. I used to think it was more work than it was worth, but I have a lot of colored ink pads that I need to use before they dry up, and I thought this would be fun.

Day 13: “Garden”

This did not turn out the way I had planned. I totally made a mess out of the stenciling, flowers and butterflies to the rescue!

Moving along…

Day 14: “Pattern”

Of course the first thing I think of is a sewing pattern. Oh, the hours spent pinning tissue paper to fabric to cut and sew, I loved it! I used some images from a vintage sewing book, pieces of an old quilt, then drew in some hexes with pencil. I really had fun with this one.

Well, I hope you are enjoying my travels with “Junk Journal January 2024”! I go back and forth about how I feel about prompts and daily page spreads. Next time I may try to do one page each, or make 2 journals. I can barely close this one already!

I’m hoping to post ‘Week 3’ next week Wednesday since I’ve finally been able to catch up

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty