Little Bits of Collage

These little bits collages have won my heart lately. 

I don't know what it is about taking pieces of paper 

that I have painted and stamped 

and ripped into little bits - and then glue back together again

. . . . but I keep seeming to want to do it.  

These little creations (measuring about 2&1/2 inches each way) are a work in process, 

but don't worry I will share the finished products with you when I am done.

Bowl Making

Yesterday I spent much of my day working on bowl making.  

I started them many months ago, and they have waited patiently for my return.   

I managed to finish 2, and prepped four more. 

These bowls are made from egg carton pulp 

that is covered with layers of tea bag paper and paint 

before being decorated. 

The final coat is a layer of encaustic wax. 

I have a plan for this one.....

but this one will just happen as I go along. 

I was planning to work on these today, but the day was sunny.....

and the mountains called me. 

Maybe I will work on them tomorrow.....

Junk Style Journals

I finally have a few of these junk style journals put together. 

It took a bit of time, since I decorated 

many of the pages that are going into these books. 

Once the pages were decorated, I sewed an assortment of pages into signatures.  

I made flexible but sturdy covers that I decorated, and stitched the spine so that it can hold the pages.  

These journals are designed to be refillable. 

Stitched together pages can be secured into the cover, 

and can be replaced with new pages whenever needed. 

I made a couple of small sized books

which hold the sewn together signature of decorated pages.

These are the larger sized journal,

and they too hold one signature of decorated pages that can be replaced when needed.  

On the inside cover the books have a pocket

to hold bits and pieces that can be glued onto the pages. 

The pages are decorated in a variety of ways, 

or are pages out of old books.

And when closed these journals have an elastic that wraps around and secures them.  

I still have a couple of other different but similar journals that are in the works..... 

hopefully I can share them with you soon. 

eenie, meenie, miney, moe...

I have so many things started in my little studio. 

It seems I am good at starting things right now, but not finishing them. 

I have these half made paper bowls, just waiting for me to play with them ....

I also have some pretty papers sewn onto plain paper.....

and some metal pieces stamped with leaves.... 

this needed to happen before our leaves were gone for the year 

and while I was at it I thought I better stamp some rocks

and then this piece of fabric caught my eye....

and although I am not sure why,

 a roll of wire decided to join in the fun. 

So, I have given myself strict instructions....

no new projects can get started before I finish some of these. 

I know myself better than to say I have to finish ALL of them :) 

I hope to share a finished project soon!

Work & Play

Finding a balance of work and play is important to me, 

and sometimes difficult to do. 

We own a small rustic styled shack on a few acres of land on the shores of this lake, 

and have spent many family hours there. 

But the shack was in desperate need of some work, 

so my hubby has been spending some time giving it some well deserved TLC.

I joined him this past weekend, and helped him where I could. 

I also spent some time at my outdoor table creating in my 

'For the Love of Play' journal.

While I was there I finished the page on the right (I think it is finished....) 

The other pages I am showing here I have worked on during the past couple of weeks. 

It was a perfect blend of work & play.

Old Year - New Year

 

Well, even though I wasn't ready for it, 

2015 became the OLD YEAR.  

It doesn't seem so long ago that I started this journal

and I expected to finish it in 2015.

I worked in it happily through out the year

and shared it here, here, here and here.

But it became obvious that I wouldn't finish it by the end of 2015.

And I decided it would be okay 

if I completed 1/2 of it before the new year rolled in. 

So on December 30 I glued some bits down

and drew a bit.

I added some paint and thought it was done.

Decided it was not finished 

so added some bits.

Then removed some and added others

until it was finished. 

December 31 found me busy on the middle page of the book

which I managed to finish in time for the year to wind down

and a new one to begin. 

This colourful earred bunny is now waiting patiently

to see what will be added to the NEW YEAR page.

I look forward to continued fun in this little book in 2016.