Art Journaling

A Redecorated Journal

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

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.

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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!

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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!

~ Patty Radish ~ 5 Comments

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!

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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!

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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…

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…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…

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

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…

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

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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…

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…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

Mini Art Journal Makings

~ Patty Radish ~ 7 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I was planning a trip to visit my daughter and was looking for an easier way to bring art making supplies. Without bringing my whole studio! I decided to go micro-mini. Luckily for all concerned, not with my wardrobe…if you know what I mean!

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I searched for anything I could find that was tiny to see how much I could ft into this travel case. Success was mine…I could barely lift it!

I’ve kept it packed so that all I have to do is grab it and go. Sometimes I just want to sit in front of the T.V. and play…and that’s exactly what I do!

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I’ve continued to work on them since arriving back home and had some fun embellishing them with every wayward, or unwanted, paperclip in my stash…so much fun!

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This is a page spread I worked on while visiting my daughter. We stayed super busy, so I only got a couple done.

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Limiting the bits and pieces I can use really helps me think outside the box, or travel case if you will. I love the challenge of making the randomness come together cohesively!

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Those page tabs are from the recent Planner Society Kit Club offerings. I love all that fuss at the top of my pages!

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I’m trying to get used to stamping in my journals. I have a boat load of stamps and ink pads, but I get extremely frustrated at how lame I am at stamping! Practice, practice, practice…grrr!

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This is my favorite part of art journaling, using something that has been bouncing around my studio for years! I have refused to get rid of that tiny paper clip, hoping that someday I would find the the perfect home for it…Bingo!

So, there you have it. Much ado about some mini-ness!

Thank you so much for stopping in,

Have a wonderful week,

~Patty

The Challenge of a Painted Page

~ Patty Radish ~ 5 Comments

The painted pages in my journals have always been a bit of a challenge. Working with all the color, the empty space, but not wanting to cover up the good bits, then there’s the sheer size of the pages in this journal..

IMG_9660But, as I said in a previous post, these big pages are a great way to use some my larger ephemera pieces. I ‘ll be journaling on the painted surface, I love the way that looks, the ink pulls some black out into the rest of the page.

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I thought these daisy postage stamps echoed the background quite well and pulled some color into the circle. She looks like she’s balancing a huge ball on her shouldes, she’s certainly dressed for it!

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This is a riot of color, but I have been waiting for the perfect place to use that ’60’s desert image for a long time, it almost blends into the background. I echoed the houndstooth of her jacket with houndstooth paper punch outs. I pulled all the main colors into the bottom righthand corner by using that scrapbook piece like a mini journal page, a nice way to use smaller pieces with out cluttering up the rest of the page.

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As you can tell, I have relied heavily on black and white. I played around with tans and browns, but they muted the colors too much, the black and white seems to anchor the colors. The idea behind the placement of that flower was to pull those two images together and repeat the flowers in the background.

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I have been looking for the perfect home for this postage stamp for months! I pick it up to use every time I work on a project, I love it here! This black and white paper from an issue of Flow magazine is amazing! It has a mid century vibe to it, I use it a lot!

My large journal is coming along quite nicely, it has definitely been an awesome place to use larger ephemera pieces in, yet still leaving room for journaling.

I’m hoping to have some large ephemera packs in my shoppe by the end of the week, so look out for those.

Until then,

Thank for stopping by,

Have a great day,

~Patty