A Thrifty Finds Update

March 6, 2016June 15, 2022 ~ Patty Radish ~ 5 Comments

Although I am still working on de-cluttering my spaces, the occasional trip to my favorite thrift store is a must, because there are some things I can never have enough of…

…like awesome vintage children’s books!

Some of these have seen better days, so I will be happy to make journals out of them, but some I may have to hold on to, just too cute!My art room is slowly filling up with vintage wooden cigar boxes. I love how they look mixed in with my kooky, kitsch decor.

There is a chance that I will someday be able to pass up vintage playing cards for 25 cents, but not any time soon I imagine!

But this! Oh my goodness, I think I’m in love! To think I almost passed this up because of the color.

You see, over the years I have had too many vintage cases sit around empty, so making the decision to bring this home was a bit iffy…until I figured out what it would be perfect for…and I will be sharing that project next time!

Until then,

Thank you for stopping in,

Have a beautiful day,

~Patty

Throw Back Thursday 3.3

March 3, 2016 ~ Patty Radish ~ 7 Comments

I have been wanting to do one of these TBT’s for a long time. But, because of the type of scheduling I do for my blog posts, this is the first Thursday I’ve landed on in a long time.

This is going to be a pretty photo heavy blog post, so I hope you have a beverage at hand!

My first keepsake journal! I read some of my old journaling in it, I spend a lot of time talking about how much I love it!

The majority of it is sewn together, this was my “sewing” phase, and an excellent way to use up scraps! What you will see inside is the flotsam and jetsam that I pulled out of drawers and envelopes that I had collected over the years.

Let’s get started…

My favorite postcard ever! It was sent to me back in the ’90s from my brother when he lived in Ireland. I made a pocket out of velum so that you could see the whole card.

On the left is a handmade postcard and a pocket made from a paint swatch with some journaling tucked inside.

The page on the right is a piece of the freezer paper I use to protect my desk when I’m painting. I love the effect of an instant background. I made a pocket to store things too!

On the left is a postcard from my mother-in-law from Italy.

Another postcard and a journaling pocket. If you look closely, you can see some of the stitching on the pages.

More journaling. That envelope on the right is one I took apart and glued back together inside out. I stamped the word “safe” onto a piece of paper and glued it into the window.

If you’ve noticed the aqua rub ons and faux stamps, I thought the eclectic mix of colors and styles in this journal could use a little cohesiveness, so I added them throughout, and I needed to use them up!

More postcards and journaling…with pockets…

On the left, there is a photo of my first article in Art Journaling magazine and in the pocket is a friend’s doodle. She doodles a lot and I always keep them. I sewed some fabric onto it and journaled inside.

On the right is a pocket with an anniversary card from my husband and some journaling in an envelope.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and I hope I gave you a few good ideas for using up some random crap! It all seems random until you put it all together in one place.

Once again,

Thank you for visiting,

Have a great day,

~Patty

Wilhold Keepsake Journal Love

February 29, 2016June 12, 2018 ~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

In a previous post, I spoke at length about finding a Wilhold sewing box just like my mother used to have, which you can read here.

Isn’t she lovely!

It didn’t take long to figure out the perfect project for her to hold.

My Keepsake Stitched Journal project!

A tray of stitchery goodness!

With plenty of room for embellishments at the bottom!

My journal is made up of projects collected through the years made by my great grandmother, myself, and my daughter, with trims and embellishments from my mother and grandmother. Five generations of stitching love in one place!

In this photo, from bottom left going clockwise, an embroidery my daughter did when she was about 10, an embroidery I started when she was a baby, handkerchiefs from my mom, and lastly, the cover made from a quilt by my great grandmother. My grandmother’s contribution will be in the form of bits of jewelry, she was a bit of a glam girl, maybe some photos of her too!

My first finished page. I made the pages from linen sandwiched with thin quilt batting. Then closed it off with a blanket stitch all around. The linen is gorgeous to work with and makes a beautiful background for lots of stitching.

The above is an embroidery that I made many years ago that has had too many incarnations to remember. It’s nice to finally have a home for it.

A page in progress.

I have no intentions of rushing through this project, I want it to be just so. I hope to pass it along to my daughter some day, because I know she will love it.

I’ll be sharing my progress over the next few months. I’m open to any suggestions on resources or ideas, so be sure to let me know of any you might have in the comments. They will be very much appreciated!

As always,

Thanks for dropping by,

Have a great day,

~Patty

My Quote/Collage Journal

February 26, 2016February 25, 2016 ~ Patty Radish ~ 12 Comments

Lately, I have been seeing quite a few art journaling pages on instagram that have been using favorite quotes as journal prompts. So, when I found this half finished list journal on my shelf a couple of weeks back, I thought it would be a perfect choice for my newest collage journal. And, since I was getting a late start for February, and having just received a Flow magazine filled with quote cards, I’d say it was providence that brought these elements together.

Some of these pages already had the “bones” of the collage in place, all I had to do is find a quote thats spoke to me and decorate. How fun is that!

I haven’t used journaling prompts before, I hadn’t felt I needed them, but some of these Flow cards made me think outside of my own head a bit, which is great, because I need the vacation!

This one may actually look familiar to some, just a reshuffle.

There is a definite theme of “Home” and “Simplicity” in my quote choices. Even my images, that’s an image of a burrow from a vintage science book on the left.

This tag is one of those things that floated around my room until it found a home. It’s made from the remnants of a painted page I cut down for a journal in my shoppe. With just a little cutting and decorating, it’s a great addition, and another excuse not to throw something away!

Adding tags that stick up from the page is a new obsession. Truth be told, I have been including these tags in my journal kits for a while now, and am just now getting around to using them myself.

I have been taking a break from my shoppe for this very reason, I come up with what I think is a good idea, but then not take the time to try it out. It has really been fun spending more time in my journals finding the things I love again!

Because the quote cards are such a large part of the collage, just a line or two of journaling is needed, or none at all, not all the quotes need commentary.

The red piece on the left is another scrap piece from my journal makings. I like the balance of adding grunginess to the newish looking scrapbook paper and elements.

So, that’s it for now. I have shared many of the pages in this journal as a list journal, but I still have almost half of it to work on, so I share those when they are finished.

Until then,

Thank you for stopping in,

Have a great weekend,

~Patty

Gratitude Travelers Notebook Update

February 23, 2016February 23, 2016 ~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

This is one of those projects that, the more I work on it, the more I love it! I’ve not really used photos in my journals too much until now, and they really make a difference in my pages!

Week five: Getting things done and preparing to visit my daughter. Gratitude list on the left and journaling on the right.

A photo, washi tape, and a postage stamp. It’s nice keeping the decor simple, this is one project I don’t want to shove to the wayside because I over complicated it.

Week six: The aftermath of traveling, and not washing my hands as much as I should…illness.

A couple of bright spots here and there, some happy mail arrivals. I’m rarely under the weather to the point of not wanting to do anything but stare at the TV…or the wall.

As you can see, Wednesday was a bit rough.

Ah, week seven: Feeling better and finally getting things done!

Spring is in the air. The tree frogs are singing and the birds are hooking up and vying for the choice nesting spots. I’m getting back on the de-clutter/redecorating track at last! Yay!

I’m hoping that once I get my house in order I will start working on some journals for the shoppe. I’m on month four of taking a break, and I’m ready to get back to it. More on that later.

Once again, thank you for the visit,

Have a great day,

~Patty