In last Monday's post, I told you about the Altered Journal Swap I participated in recently. It really was so much fun and I was grateful to be able to use some of my stash of composition books which I've been hoarding for a while.
The first journal, shown above, is the one I made for
Mary. She told me she likes blues and greens, ribbons, as well as bird and vintage themes.
Perfect! Because I like all of those things too!
My inspiration for this journal came from this vintage bird image which I had.
I was taking an online class taught by
Jeanne Oliver while I was creating these journals, so I was able to incorporate a lot of the techniques I learned.
This is the back cover of the journal.
The second journal I created was for
Patty. She told me she is a "color-loving red girl" who likes vintage ephemera. This too was great, because I love the color red also. Although I don't have any red in this house, my crafting room at our cottage is decorated in reds. I think red is such a happy color.
I grabbed my bin of red papers and proceeded to collage the cover of the composition book. Then I remembered I had this vintage image from a collage sheet I bought from
Lisa's Altered Art quite a while ago and decided it would work nicely as a focal point for the cover.
Back cover of journal.
I really had a lot of fun with this swap. I got to use supplies that I already had in my studio. I got to work with colors that I love. And I got to practice new art techniques that I had learned. What could be better that all that?
I had the luck of the Irish when I found out I was the winner of Dina Wakely's generous giveaway last week. She had a simple giveaway (the kind where all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog) and I won an entire set of all 10 of her cling stamps which she sells through Stampington!!! I have taken a class or two from Dina and she is such a talented mixed media artist, so I was thrilled to win her stamps. I can't wait to play with them. Thanks SO much Dina...I love them!
We seem to be having an early Spring here in the midwest. The unseasonable 80-degree temperatures have caused all my flower bulbs to push their way up through the soil and bloom. This is so unusual for mid-March weather. I keep thinking this is too good to be true. Even my magnolia tree is blooming - at least a month early. It's a glorious site!
I made myself a pot roast the other day (Mmmm...) and decided to have some fun and do a color story with the photo for some Saturday Color Inspiration. This is what I came up with. 
I spent a couple hours at Barnes & Noble pouring over magazines today, in addition to my daily walk at the mall, looking for some inspiration. Those two places never fail to give me an unlimited supply of ideas. Here are a few of my favorites from the day:
Here's some more photos of the big snowfall we had here on Thursday night/Friday morning.
The snow was really quite pretty, but oh was it difficult to shovel! The snow was so wet and heavy that the snow plow kept dying. I finally had to just shovel the snow in layers a little at a time.
On yesterday's post I mentioned that the snowflakes were huge. I never seem to be able to get a good shot of falling snow, but I think you can get the idea with this photo.
I grabbed my bin of red papers and proceeded to collage the cover of the composition book. Then I remembered I had this vintage image from a collage sheet I bought from Lisa's Altered Art quite a while ago and decided it would work nicely as a focal point for the cover.
