Remains of the Day Journal Cover

It's only January 5th and I've already learned some new techniques and finished two items! This is a journal cover I just completed after seeing Pam's Journal in progress here. My cover is much lacier than I was aiming for, partly because I had to keep adding bits to cover the mistakes I was making.

I had my cover wrong side up which meant the bottom edge of my lace was on the top and my inside pocket ended up upside down! But luckily, this guerilla style sewing is very forgiving and you can hide a lot of mishaps by adding things on top. And whenever I'm in doubt about when a project is 'done', my motto is to add some buttons and call it quits.

The Remains of the Day class is here, in case you want to join in on the fun. Mary Ann Moss the class creator is vacationing in Mexico until January 16th so you might have to wait until she returns to join the class.

I made it sound like this journal project was completed but I've only done the cover so far. Now comes the fun of making and assembling the inside pages. Wish me luck!

So happy with this!

Here is my first creation after joining KC Willis Collage Camp that I posted about a few days ago. I love how it came out, however, after seeing it in this photograph, I'm going to make a couple of adjustments. For a non-artist like me, it feels great to put together something that makes me this happy.

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PostScript - January 7
I did a bit of tweaking and am happy with the changes.

KC Willis Fans

I am a BIG fan of KC Willis. Above is an example of her work.

She has online workshops where she teaches the basics of her techniques and inspires you to new creative heights. www.collagecamp.ning.com.

After Collage Camp there's Mixed Media Mania where you take what you learned at Collage Camp and in these workshops she teaches Altars and Shrines, Altered Books and Works on Paper. Fun stuff. www.mixedmediamania.ning.com.

And for those of you already making art and wanting to know how you take it to the next level and get yourself a regional or national audience, next week starts the super exciting Marketing Mindset. www.marketingmindset.ning.com. Check out the Main Page and take advantage of the Intro Price which will only last until January 8th.

And if video workshops aren't your thing...how about KC Willis Live!. You can take a multi-day class with her in her very sweet Victorian studio house in Longmont, Colorado. Check out the details at www.studioretreats.ning.com.
This is on my List of Things I Must Do.

Happy Holidays!

I made the little doll dress ornaments. What a lot of fun I had playing with the bits of ribbon, lace, glitter and glue.
Best wishes for Happy Holidays and all the best in the New Year!

Mates for Casey's Bathing Beauties

I've had this photograph for years - came across it in an album of photos from an auction. Just for fun, I couldn't resist scanning it in after seeing Casey's bathing beauties here (scroll down a bit to see the bathing suit pictures). Do you think they're a match?

Imagine

I'm participating in Lisa's Imagine - Creative Writing Thursdays. After looking at this lovely photo, she said to write whatever came to mind. so here goes:

Look at those curls! They used to be called ringlets and maybe they still are but you don't see them anymore except in old photographs or movies. I can remember when the first curling irons came out, I was about 10 years old and my parents engaged the teenage daughters of a friend to babysit my younger sister and I for the evening.

The teenage girls loved my long, thick hair that had a bit of a natural wave. They saw the potential for wonderful, tumbling ringlets. Their new curling iron took a very long time to heat up but finally it was hot enough to start the process. After much discussion and trial and error about exactly how to hold the iron and how many curls to make and how long to keep the hot iron in my hair so that the ringets would hold, their efforts were successful and I emerged with a few of the coveted curls.

I don't remember how they turned out exactly but I did enjoy being the center of attention with the two girls. However, my mother was less than happy with my new hairdo. Instead of gasping in admiration, she was furious!

Her belief was that if you had some natural curl in your hair, tampering with nature via a hot iron or a permanent (perm was we call them now) would destroy the natural curl and make your hair straight!

There, that's what this picture reminded me of. It was fun to bring a distant memory into the present. Thanks, Lisa for the opportunity.

Let's talk about storage ...

I know everyone is talking about Christmas and decorating and I'm out of sync but I have to talk about storage.

I keep bringing more vintage finds and craft supplies into my attic crafting space and it's a challenge to find space to store them partly because of the very low slanted walls. I can only fit 2-tiered book shelves and low cupboards along sides of the room.

But have a look at all of these storage boxes, cabinets and suitcases:

And guess what' inside them all?

NOTHING, they're empty! Because I'm afraid I'll forget what is inside them if I fill them up. Labels? That's sounds simple enough but I like to have things out in the open and easier to grab. I don't want to have to move piles of boxes or suitcases to get at my stuff.
... feel free to make suggestions if you think of a solution.