inspiration monday.....and a giveaway!!

welcome to my cyber-celebration....

the doors to my new online class, "life stuff" open today!!

  woo hoo!!

to get things started,

i'd like to share a little sneak-peek of what's going on in the classroom:

first, we'll take some large sheets of watercolor paper.....

and tear it up.

then we'll fold it in half......

and we'll create some whimsical artwork using all our favorite supplies.....

(i'm providing this "life stuff" design to get you started, 
and there's lots of video instruction devoted to 
creating the front and back cover artwork, as well as making the journal!)

and then we'll sew everything together!

⬆front                                                               ⬇back

but the celebration doesn't stop there, because
i'm giving away this life stuff journal!
it's filled with yummy blank watercolor pages.....
and lots of love, hugs, and gratitude for all of the wonderful ways
you inspire me through your heartfelt notes, comments, and visits to my blog!
thank you SO much, dear bloggy sweeties!!

***

this giveaway is for a blank watercolor "life stuff" journal!  to participate,

all you have to do is leave a comment (just one, please!) on this post by 
wednesday, october 31st at 10:00 p.m. (EST)!  
once the comments are closed on wednesday, i'll randomly choose a name 
and announce it on thursday, november 1st!
please make sure your comment either links back to 
your blog, or you leave your e-mail so i can contact you if your name is chosen!
(this giveaway is open to all those who are 18 years of age or older.)

***

and.....if you'd like to learn how to create your very own coptic journal,

  please join us in class!

{this class is hosted by creative workshops.  all those who are registered will receive an invitation to the class,  and all of the videos and printouts will be available right away.    the class is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can work at your own pace and you'll have access to the class whenever you want.  this class will be offered for at least one year (and most likely much longer), so you'll have plenty of time to finish viewing all of the videos.  for registration, please click here!}

**edited:  comments are now closed.  thanks SO much for participating!!

stitchy fingers

i've had the itch to stitch the past few days!


{you can find more information and 
photos of these blank journals in my etsy shop here!}

journal sale!!

i'm doing a little reorganizing, rearranging, and general tidying-up in my etsy shop, and thought this would be the perfect time to put a few things on sale!  

and after chasing some dust bunnies around for a while, i decided to put these on sale, too!!  

if you're looking for a nice gift for that someone who has everything.....

or maybe just want to treat yourself......

now's the perfect time......take advantage of 30% off!!!

(dust bunnies not included)

more information about these journals can be found in my shop here!

in the journaling bin

i have a small plastic bin filled with journaling supplies......it's a great way to keep things organized for when inspiration strikes! here's a few of the goodies inside:

*office-supply-style date and signature stamps

*handmade blank journal

*assorted rubber stamps in favorite font styles

*decorative tapes

*stickers, blank labels, and my favorite glasses

*scissors, ruler, pencil, uniball signo pen, and my beloved microns

you can also tuck in your favorite scrap papers, watercolor pencils, paintbrushes, acrylic paints, glue sticks, tape runners, paint pens, paper punches......and on and on!!

five hundred hugs and a giveaway!!!

i'm celebrating today......in a five-hundred-blog-posts kind of way!!

five hundred posts!! woo hoo!!!

i've got my party shoes on, along with a fun hat and a cute noisemaker....

but wait, a party just isn't a party without a door prize, right?!

so i wanted to create something a little "five hundred" special .

it all started with this fun teal and black doodle paper

by elsie flannigan.....

and i couldn't resist adding a few of my own doodles using my white uniball signo pen!

then i covered a couple of davey boards with it......

after that, i found myself pawing through my party-paper-stash, and started folding all kinds of fun things to write on.....graph paper, plain paper, ledger paper, lined paper, colorful decorative paper.....and i even found some kraft envelopes.....for tucking in all of those other important papers that are top, top secret!

once it was all folded, i poked some holes in the boards and the papers, took six needles and some waxed linen thread and did some coptic-stitching.....just to bring all of those delicious papers together in proper party fashion.....

and just to make sure that everything is tucked neatly inside and won't wander off,

i added an elastic band to the side to keep it closed!

and presto.......a five-hundred-blogpost-doodle-journal-door-prize!!

so let's get this party started!!!

grab a balloon and a piece of chocolate cake (before i eat it all)!

and to make sure your name gets in the party hat for the door prize,

just leave a comment on this post by midnight thursday

(one comment per person, and please make sure i can contact you!).

i'll use the random integer to choose a name and announce it on friday!!

{important note: even with hats, noisemakers, and door prizes,

YOU are what makes this celebration so special!!!

my heart is filled with thankfulness that i have met so many

fabulous artists and sweet, sweet people over

these past five hundred posts.......

it truly is one of the most unexpected,

and greatest gifts that i've received!!

thank you for hanging in there with me, encouraging me,

and inspiring me.....

i give you five-hundred-times-ten bloggy hugs!!! }

edited midnight thursday: comments are now closed......

thank you SO much for joining my party!

winner to be announced friday!

pretty in pink

there was a time when the first color i reached for in the crayon box was blue-violet. everything in my world was blue-violet. and then one day my eyes were opened to orange....any shade of orange. i love orange......especially with this color infusion of hot pink!

this dynamic duo looks great in little diamonds.....

or as dots on steroids....

or all folded up neatly, with just a peek to lure you inside for more.

it's orange, it's pink.

it's a dreamsicle, with a cotton candy chaser.

(the only thing missing are the chocolate chips.)

this journal is available in my shop here.

happy jacket

sometimes when i'm standing in the paper aisle over at one of my favorite paper haunts (and i'm trying to ignore the increased rapid beating of my heart and sudden clamminess on the palms of my hands due to the excitement of being in said paper aisle), i ask myself,

"if i were a blank journal, what would i want to be covered with?"

because paper on a blank journal is really kind of like wearing your favorite jacket. you know....that feeling that you look really good in that jacket.....

and it makes you happy.

so, i hope this little doodle journal feels really good in this new jacket.....

and i hope it feels happy.....

because it sure makes me happy!

more info and photos here in my shop

purple hearts

i was cruising the aisles of one of my favorite art stores the other day,

and this paper caught my eye. how could i possibly resist those charming little clusters of purple hearts.....

especially when i knew how sweet they would look alongside six rows of delightful little chain stitching!

more photos and information about this journal here.

hello, blue birdie

i read recently that the blue bird is a symbol of happiness.....and i'm wondering if the person who wrote that was looking at this paper at the time......

because it has doodle-happy written all over it.....

and you can write all kinds of doodle-happy inside, too!

have a fantastic weekend!!!

you can read more about this birdie journal here in my etsy shop

right on the button

i enjoy creating so many different things that it seems my greatest challenge these days is trying to find projects that combine all of my loves.......my love of paper, my love of fabric, my love of sewing, my love, my love.....

and sometimes i wonder if that's why i enjoy creating journals so much. i get to tear paper, slop some glue around, attach eyelets to the covers, and my most favorite part.....sew it all together....

and every once in a while i add a trinket or two.....

so usually when i'm done,

i feel like maybe i've hit my challenge

right on the button!

you can read more information about this journal here

crickets, be gone with you

my poor little etsy shop has been severely neglected. so much so, that when you enter, all you hear are the crickets that have set up camp....and the noise is starting to irritate the guests. so, yesterday i had a binding party in my studio and created several books. maybe this vintage-style parisian journal will chase those crickets away.....

or this one with sweet little red birdies and green birdcages.....

or this "book of me", covered with linen book cloth and a chipboard

die-cut on the front.

i also made another one of these, and several more of these.....

buh-bye crickets.....

a journal and a dancing mango

when i saw this paper, my memory reminded me of a time when my favorite outfit was a pair of stonewashed blue jeans and a beautiful brown suede fitted jacket.....you know, the kind with big leather patches sewn on the elbow section of the sleeves (which kinda indicates how far i'm going back in time!). for whatever reason, these denim blues and brown flourishes really spoke to me. isn't it amazing how one little piece of paper can provide such a random slice of joyful nostalgia?!

and speaking of random, the number 45 was chosen for the giveaway...... which means that darlene over at a dancing mango will be receiving a set of holly jolly note cards!! congratulations darlene! i'll be contacting you shortly for your address!

and thanks SO much to everyone who participated! your sweet comments and support mean more to me than i could ever express!!

i hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

little birdie

"you must loooove the little birdies to give them THIS to perch on"

as said by steve martin in the movie "roxanne"

the other day i was running errands and had just enough time to stop in michael's.....just to see if there was anything new.....or heaven forbid maybe something that i don't already have (highly unlikely, but always possible, i suppose). as i was running through the paper aisle, i must have left shopping-cart-skid-marks on the floor when i spied this!! and there were lots of fun coordinating papers to go with it, too, so i immediately thought of creating a journal......to give those sweet little birdies something to perch on....

you can see more photos and information for this journal here

catching up

i've traded in my doodle pens for a glue brush today.....trying to get caught up on some new covers and blank journals. there's something about the mindless act of sloshing creamy glue around on paper that i just love (either that, or maybe it's just that the fumes start to quickly take effect, causing me to love just about anything! yippee!). there's nothing more satisfying than having lots of yummy journal covers finished and ready for sewing.....and then realizing that i got all that done just in time for my mid-afternoon chocolate break!! woo hoo!

heart songs

i feel like when it comes to the creative side of my life, i walk around with a flickering light bulb over my head most of the time. and then, every once in a while, that light bulb will burn bright, and i'll combine several of my favorite things to create the obvious....

....a blank doodle journal! the cover is an original doodle (not a print) finished on a piece of hand painted paper, and the journal is sewn using a 6-needle coptic binding method. there's lots of blank paper inside, along with some fun decorative papers in polka-dot and black-and-white gingham (i could never have enough of it!) . this journal was not only fun to create, but i must admit i think it's one of my absolute favorites.

thank you, mister light bulb.

you can find more information and photos here.

i just love a sale....

i'm having a sale in my etsy shop....and i'm sharing the news with you first! these five blank journals will be reduced in price on saturday evening....but if you have your eye on one, just give me a shout-out by leaving a comment, etsy convo or e-mail right away letting me know which one you'd like, and i'll put a reserved listing on it for you! this will insure that you get the journal you want....at a great price! buy one for yourself or get a jump-start on your holiday shopping (or both!)!

you can read more information about each journal here!

be happy

happiness is.....sleeping late on a saturday morning.....receiving flowers just because....cooking fish without overcooking it....date night.....the sound of the ocean....my family.....time spent being creative....saying "i love you".....hearing "i love you".....opening a new box of crayons.....answered prayer....hugs from great friends.....listening to frogs sing right after a rainstorm.....being part of such a wonderfully creative blogland neighborhood (and having such great bloggy neighbors!!).....a bike ride after dinner.....hearing my kids laugh....seeing things with new perspective......feeling healthy.....a piece of dark chocolate (or two) around 3:00 in the afternoon.....living a full, very blessed life......

what's on your list of "all things happiness"?

you can learn more about this journal here in my etsy shop

edited: my sweet friend laura over at prairiepeasant just notified me that one of my journals is featured in the etsy newsletter here.....oh, yes....happiness all over the place.....yes, yes!! :)

back to the books

i've been so excited by my stamp carving lately that i've missed sharing some of my new journals with you!  this first one is a revisit to some of my favorite "circles on blue" fabric...you can see the first book using this fabric here.

and, this journal may not look like much....but, that's because it's been left blank intentionally! created especially with the artist in mind, this blank journal is filled with 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper, and the covers were finished with arches textwove paper...perfect for most wet and dry media.  and, the binding is a 4-needle coptic stitch, so the book will lay completely flat while you're creating your next masterpiece!  you can see more photos and information about both of these books here in my etsy shop!

also, there's still time to put your name in the hat for my give-away...click here to leave a comment before thursday, midnight!

online journal class - week four

would you believe that the cover of this journal started out as a paper bag?!  this is the fourth project in my online journal class with sue bleiweiss.  the wrap-around construction is similar to that of our project from week one, but this time instead of using fabric for the cover, sue taught us a technique using a brown paper bag.  and it seems that not all paper bags are alike...i used a lunch sack because it's a little lighter in weight, but i think that next time i'll use some of that brown craft paper on a roll (the type that's used to wrap packages).  it's much heavier in weight and it would be interesting to see the difference in the two journals.
for the inside cover, i used a piece of decorative paper that has a collage of postage stamps all over it.  i also wrapped a smaller piece of handmade paper around each of the three signatures, just to give it a little interest.  just like my other projects with sue, this was a fun book to put together.  i'll keep you posted on my next journal!