Scrap Journaling

A Holiday Mini Journal

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

I’ve been pretty absent from this olde blog for a while now…I’ve been too busy making! Making Christmas gifts, making things for my shoppe, and making plans!

But, I thought I would take a wee break and share something  that I’m pretty happy about…

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My 2015 Holiday mini journal! You see, every year I toss around the idea about whether or not to make a Holiday journal. Sometimes I make one, and sometimes I don’t. This year, it was a yes.

I knew I wanted to go small, so I set about looking through my art room for a likely candidate. I had completely forgotten about this little book, it was literally falling part at the seams!

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It’s probably from the 30’s, the pages are so super delicate! I am going to adhere these pieces to card stock to preserve them before I use them.

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In my book, the Holidays start with Thanksgiving, so what a great way to begin this journal. Luckily, I took a few photos over the weekend to start out. It had snowed, so it was a beautiful drive!

As if I didn’t have enough to do, I decided to work on two list challenges this month. I figured there may be days I don’t do anything Holiday related to journal about, and thought It would be nice to mix things up a bit.

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It had snowed at my daughter’s house and her yard looked gorgeous! This was my grandson’s first thanksgiving, I managed to get one photo of him not moving.

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On the last day of our visit, my daughter and I made Christmas cards. Something that has become a Thanksgiving tradition for us.

That is what I love most about this time of the year, enjoying all the family traditions, old and new! It’s just getting harder to fit them all in to one month!

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I have lots of fun stuff to play with, so I bought this cute box from Michael’s to store it all in. I didn’t decorate it this way, but I sure am inspired by it! It looks like a cross between a Victorian and Mid-Century Christmas to me, I may have to run with it!

I will probably be posting primarily Christmas related posts this month. I have so many plans that that is all I will be doing! So, consider yourself forewarned!

Until next time,

Have a great day,

Talk to you soon,

~Patty

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

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

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.

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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!

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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!

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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

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

Blondie and Dagwood Art Journal

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

I have been having such a good time working in this journal lately. Absolutely a labor of love! There is something about adding your own personal touches and words that bring a journal to life.

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This is the same journal I shared about in my last blog post. Isn’t it a great color! I’m not sure what the title has to do with the pack of cute dogs running through the book, but…

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Some great paper ready and waiting for some journaling to happen. I love having lined paper to work on, instant journaling space, and again with the awesome green! Is that vintage playing card a hoot or what? I love the big red guy, but those skirts are to die for!

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I usually try to have some sort of message or quote on pages with no journaling. I decided to just have fun with my ephemera on this one!

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It’s funny, that rabbit is like so many other pieces I shuffle around every week. “Nope, not quite right” until they become like friends finding a home. There seems to be some sort of emergency!

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The black and white ephemera is a great way to calm down an extremely loud back ground! And I personally feel that if I was strapped into one of those girdle contraptions, I would want to kill more than bugs!

I am definitely not one of those people that pine for the “Good olde days”! Girdles, high heels, “Putting your face on” just to go to the market, no thanks! Although, I do miss decent manners, that could make a come back in my book!

Well, that’s about it for now. As usual…

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a fantastic Sunday,

~Patty