Good Grief - June!

For all of the Peanuts lovers out there... Good Grief Charlie Brown it's JUNE! Even though I had  to put my annuals in the garage due to frost warnings over the weekend it truly is June 1st.

Elsa is happy for warmer temperatures again for her afternoon nap. Our son Micah is home from school and started his summer job today. His school year ended on a high note and, while he is happy to be home, I know he will be anxious to go back in late August. It is so nice to have him around and he seems to have accepted that straight A's at a quality school in a demanding program is NOT going to happen. I am loving his new relaxed mood and feel lighter as a result myself.

My quilting room is still eluding me and I'm not even going to bother setting goals for June. Tom and I will be spending our annual week in Vegas this month, there is lots of planting to get done and our daughter Megan arrives for a visit at month end. I have 3 Junk Journals to make for swaps this month - above you can see my paper dying experiments using Koolaid and Glimmer Mist sprays. I think I captured the soft vintage look I was going for. And, when those summer temperatures arrive to stay the lake will be calling my name.

My Fauxbonichi habit is still going strong too... I've expanded to 2 pages per day so that I can write more and follow along with some of the daily prompts in the Fauxbonichi Journalers Facebook group. I'm loving the color prompt days we have where we are given the photo for inspiration as shown above - it's like picking fabrics for a quilt but finishing it right NOW! My creative mo-jo hasn't gone dormant - it's just coming through in different ways. Maybe not setting any quilting goals will get me sewing... fingers crossed!

WIP Wednesday: Junk Journals

I have 2 online swaps that I'm participating in this month at Junk Journal Junkies Facebook group so instead of sewing with fabric I've been sewing with paper the last week. And playing with scissors, glue, Mod Podge and lots of other fun stuff!

First up is my Mini Envelope Travel Journal. We were required to use a folded 6x9 manila envelope as our journal cover and have one signature (stitched in bundle of papers) for this swap. I'm waiting for some travel charms to arrive to decorate the ends of my binding waxed linen thread but the rest of the journal is done.

Birds eye view...

And a peek inside. I used a mix of scrapbook paper, regular paper and some items I cut using my Silhouette Cameo. We were required to create pockets and tuck spots to store extra items. I will be paired up with a partner at the end of the week... I will send her this journal and she will send me the one she has made.

The theme of the second swap was Junky/Scrap Journal. This journal had to be larger with 3 sewn signatures and we were to use pages from catalogs/magazines, junk mail, plain writing paper and off-cuts from other projects. It was challenging to think out of the box and really get junky!

For my cover I used a USPS small Priority Mail box turned inside out and collaged the exterior with tissue paper from a package, off cuts from my Cameo and scraps. I cut the title from a glossy mailer and used a pen to outline the letters. I dug into my vintage buttons to embellish the binding threads and make the paper clips.

The spine of this journal is just under 2" and it has over 100 pages (counting front & back) in it. I die cut my tags from pretty Kleenex boxes, packing material and glossy junk mail. I also used some tags from clothing as bases for collages. We were allowed to use only stamps and scraps for embellishments inside the journal.

This journal will also be mailed to a partner. It is so much fun to learn by doing and also by seeing techniques and items that our swap partner uses in her journal.

Now it's time to get busy in my Quilting Room and see if I can finish anything before May arrives Friday. Real life is weighing on my mind so I am once again seeking crafty therapy.

September Reads

I'm pretty shocked at all the reading I did in September and I guess that must have been the "therapy" I needed most to adapt to my empty nest. I set aside a pile of my TBR (To Be Read) and my Re-Read books and mowed right through them!

Only one of them earned a 4 star rating and that was Room by Emma Donoghue. I highly recommend it and am passing it along to my daughter Megan who I think will enjoy it too. It is written from the point of view of a very young boy and, while dark in subject matter from an adult point of view, is fascinating from his. A book unlike any other I have read.

As you can see my bookshelves have had a makeover and are looking trimmer in the book department. No more double stacks of paperbacks! And I freed up some space to store some of my paper crafting supplies since this room has turned into my Junk Journal/Smashbook Studio. Here is a peek inside a Junk Journal I recently made for a swap.

My partner requested vintage and said she loved Paris so I used Pinterest to search for Paris themed items to print, cut and distress to make them look old. On the right is a paper lunch bag filled with cards to journal on. Here is the cover made from a cereal box cut and covered with paper and cardstock tags.

These are so much fun to make! I guess it's clear that my free time in September was spent with pretty paper and books instead of pretty fabric. I'm linking up to the Bibliophile Files at sarah did it!.

A New Attitude

One of the perks of being an empty nester is having fewer obligations on my time. My husband is an "out and about" kind of guy while I LOVE being a homebody. Fortunately we have learned over the years to make this work - he has lots of "out and about" friends and hobbies while I relish my online groups, creative hobbies and quiet time at home. Not to say that I'm a total hermit but I am happiest when I have plenty of time to putter around the house.

So, now that I've had a little time to settle into our new life... miss the kids...worry a bit over the kids... find out that they are both thriving so far (Woot Woot!) it's time to move ahead and this cover page I made for my planner last week pretty much sums my New Attitude.

You all know how much I love fabric, but I have always been a collector of paper as well. Notebooks, journals, Post It Notes, cute refrigerator pads, to-do lists and scrapbook paper just to name a few. On the flip side, paper is also my #1 nemesis when it comes to organizing & filing important papers. Funny how that works!

I'm choosing to embrace the fun side of my paper addiction with some new (to me) takes on paper - Smashbooking and Junk Journals. When I first heard of Smashbooks I was immediately intrigued by the reference of the UnScrapbook because I was never able to get into that craft. It just seemed too formal somehow. After watching the video HERE I was hooked! It's a lot like like scrap quilting - kind of messy, informal, creative and just plain fun. The first page of each book really sums it up well.

After joining a few Facebook groups and buying the above Smashbooks to get started I happened across Junk Journals. These are like Smashbooks without the premade book because you make your own out of papers you have laying around. If you Google Junk Journals or search for them on Pinterest you will see what I'm talking about.

One of the Facebook groups I've joined is called 365/30 Lists for Planners and each month one of the members posts a list of 30 prompts. I have a section in my ARC planner where I'm keeping them for now and I am really enjoying this sheer play time. This month I'm choosing to play with paper and fonts. In the future I plan to dig out my untouched scrapbooking supplies, play with watercolors and even try some journaling.

I've also joined a Junk Journal swap. I'm excited because there are lots of newbies like me so I think it will be a great way to jump in with a deadline to spur me on. Don't worry that this is going to turn into a scrapbooking blog... but I'll share some of my projects periodically. Quilting is still #1!