I feel so blessed this mother’s day.  I now have another son, Randy’s son Tyler.  He and his fiancee gave me such great Mother’s Day gifts.  This is a fabric covered sewing box.  It’s perfect because I am working on a fabric journal cover and I can keep all my stuff in there.

And they also gave me this cool mug!!!!  And a sweet little book called “I Prayed for You Today.”

My two boys called me early this morning to wish me a happy Mother’s Day.  They are so good to me.  Every day!  I’m a very blessed mama!!!

Yesterday I spent the entire day making a journal.  I found these great vintage looking pages at Sausan Designs.   When I saw them I wanted to make a journal with them.  There are 5 different pages and they’re all old and used looking.  Aren’t they great?  I printed them out and glued them onto manilla folders.  Then cut the folder down to the page size.

I used some game boards I got at the thrift store for the covers.  Yes, I put the covers on upside down.     I sewed the signatures onto some sturdy, stuff fabric.  Then I used black duct tape to attach the covers to that fabric and pull it all together.

I reinforced the attachment by putting the duct tape inside each of the covers as well.

I’m really into making books right now.  I may never buy a journal again.  Hopefully, I’ll learn to get the covers on right side up eventually!

This month’s challenge from Michelle Ward at the GPP Steet Team is to work in a size out of your comfort zone.  She suggests we either work much larger or much smaller than we normally do, just to get out of the norm and challenge ourselves.  Since I normally work in a larger sized journal, I decided to make a tiny one.

I used a scrap of cowhide for the cover.  I made the pages from some pages I had torn out of a novel.  The larger book is the journal I’m currently working in, so you can see that it is much larger than the little one I made.

I have been wanting, for years, to add beads to the stitching on the spine of a book, so I took this opportunity to do that.  The coloring isn’t good in the photo but the stones are red coral and turquoise.

This is the first page in the journal.  I wrote like two sentences because it’s so small!!

This is one of the spreads.  I prepared the backgrounds similarly to the way I prepare backgrounds in my regular journal.  I glued papers down then used a credit card to pull dark brown and titan buff paint over the page.  I found it very hard to work so small.  The results weren’t bad, but I didn’t enjoy the small size.  It was indeed a challenge for me.  But I’m glad I took the challenge and did work outside my comfort zone.  I need to be shaken up from time to time.  Otherwise, I find myself using the same supplies, the same techniques over and over, and that is so boring!

I finally took a picture of the journal I bound.  I learned how by watching Rice Freeman Zachary’s video here.

I used a comp book for the cover.  I removed the paper by cutting the threads.  Then I folded watercolor paper into 5 signatures with 4 pages in each one.  The next part is where Rice’s video was so helpful.  You have to plan out where your sewing stitiches will be and she has a great trick using grid paper.  Mine isn’t perfect but it’s much better than I expected for my first try.  I painted the cover black and glued on a page from Frida Kahlo’s diary.  I want to make more!!!

Mister had no concept of junking when I met him. He’s been to a few garage sales, but he NEVER took anything out of a dumpster, for sure! Since he met me he has learned that I find value in many things he previously considered trash.

During a January snow storm, he went to pick up some dinner one night. On his way home he saw a vintage wooden magazine rack discarded in the alley. Bless his heart, he got out in the snow storm to retrieve it and bring it home to me! When he came in with it, I said, “PLEEEASE tell me you got this in the alley!” He was so proud of himself, and I fell a little deeper in love with him. He told me he thought it would be good to keep my journaling stuff in.  Is he a keeper, or what?

I forgot to take a before picture of it, and I’m painting it now, so will post after pics when I’m done.

Tonight we passed a lovely old wooden chair in the alley and all I had to do was look at him, and he went with me to get it and drag it home. Here it is:

I can’t wait to get started painting it!  I am making myself finish the magazine rack before I start on this, though.  I’m going to paint it red to match the furniture on our front porch, and sit it out there.  We already have a lawn couch and a table.

I bound my first book!!  I put watercolor paper in a comp book cover and sewed it with stab binding (I think that’s what it’s called).  If you want to learn how, go to youtube and search for ricefz.  She has a good vid to learn the binding technique.  So now, I’m hooked and want to do more!!  I want to do one with a leather cover and put beads on the threads on the spine.

We are planning a trip in Apr to go to TX and see my kids.  I am so excited!!  I miss them, and I miss Texas.  I’m looking forward to some really good Mexican food.  Seems the further away you get from the Mexican border, the worse the Mexican food gets.