Thursday, February 25, 2010

My Snow Project



Everyone has been hit with snow... even Texas! I say that not even knowing if Texas normally gets snow.
We here in NC haven't been hit the hardest, but since we're not at all used to it... it feels hard!

Often I was snowed in or it was just too damn cold to leave the house. And yeah, I could've made a m. ranae bag or wallet or something... but deep inside I needed a personal craft to help pass the time.

I've been feeling the need to journal more... or write more poems... or document my adventures... or all of the above. And I was super-duper close to buying a journal made by someone else on Etsy. But after looking at the journals the DIYer in me said "you can totally make that yourself." So I put down the credit card and instead, picked up some paper.

I decided to make a mixed-paper journal, similar to the ones I saw online. But I made my pages bigger (8"x5") and I put more pages in it (which I later decided was a little too much). I used a lot of the paper items I had on hand (I'm a packrat, you know). And I used a junk piece of pvc plastic (sign materials) to make the cover. It was all pulled together with large binder rings.

Below is a look inside my new journal and a little insight to why the pages are mixed.


I used cards & other smaller bits of paper that had meaning or were beautiful in some way. It will make for a short journal entry, a drawing or maybe a haiku.



I used many different colored papers & scrapbook papers. Many were picked at random and I hope that when I get to those pages the colors or design will inspire my writing.



This picture shows a page with "blue" written on it... again that's a springboard for my writing. The other page is a piece of file folder, cut to fit the book. Honestly, that was just added for fun.



This is a great page! It's part of an old calendar. I put mailing decals on it so I'd have somewhere to write.



This is my version of one of the ideas I saw online. It's an envelope. I put three or four envelopes throughout the book... this one has a photo inside. Again the photo is to help springboard my writing.



Top view of the whole book. As you can see... lots & lots of different paper.



And... the cover. I just picked a piece of scrapbook paper that I liked.

Overall, it took a few days of work to put it all together. But it's a beautiful project that has brought me much pride. As of this post I've only written in it once, but I'm really, really excited for writing the book will inspire.

Want to make your own? Write me and I'll gladly guide you!