Altered Art Journaling

I started altering an old children's book I had called "The Wainscott Weasel". I'm experimenting with painting over text and adding different textures:












See more of my art journaling here.  Have you ever altered a book?

Upcycled Journal Tutorial

This tutorial shows you how to make an upcycled journal. I use the same basic method of bookbinding I described in my bookbinding tutorial. I didn't make a new journal for this tutorial, but I'm using photos from my Upcycled Swan Flyaway Journal as an example. 

      

Supplies:
*Item you want to upcycle - book, magazine, VHS tape, etc.
*Paper for the inside of journal - you can use whatever paper you like, computer paper or sketch book paper works great
*Decorative or colored paper
*PVA Glue
*Binder's thread
*Needle
*Scissors
*Bone folder
*Binder's board (optional)

For more information on where to get supplies, click here.

1.) First, you'll need to find the item you want to upcycle. For example, you can use an old children's book, an old record cover or a VHS tape. In the example above, I used an old children's book I had called "Swan Flyaway". Save the inside pages of the book in case you want to use them for a different craft. I saved the inside pages to use in my art journal.

2.) This tutorial is for a closed spine journal so you want to make sure you have a spine on the side of the journal. If you're using an old book or VHS tape, you already have the cover of your journal so you don't have to do anything else with the cover.

If you have a flat material or something that doesn't have a spine already, you'll have a couple more steps. Cut binder's board in to three pieces for the front, back cover and spine of the book as described in Part 3 of my bookbinding tutorial. Then cover the binder's board with whatever material you're using. For example, if you're using a vintage magazine page as your cover, you'd want to cut the binder's board in three pieces the size of magazine page and then glue the magazine page over all three pieces to form a book cover.

3.) Now you'll want to make the text block or inside of the book. You'll need paper, thread, a needle, bone folder and glue for this step. Make sure to use paper that, when folded, is a little bit smaller as your cover. I explain in detail how to make the pages and sew the text block together here. 

4.) So now you have your text block and cover and you just need to put everything together. Put glue on the first and last pages of the text block so the outside of the text block is covered in glue. Open the cover and press the text block down inside the cover so it fits together as a journal. Use a piece of decorative or colored paper to cover the front and back inside pages of the journal. You'll want to choose a piece of paper that goes well with the cover of your journal. For my Swan Flyaway journal, I found decorative paper that I thought looked nice with the  colors of the cover. Use a bone folder to press the decorative paper down so it's nice and smooth.

5.) Put wax paper in between the inside covers and text block so they don't stick together. Press the book down together so it fits nicely. Now wrap the whole thing in wax paper and let it sit between two heavy books or presses. You might want to put a weight on top. Let this dry overnight. Once it's dry, you have a completed journal! 

Let me know if you like this tutorial. If you try it out, I'd love to see how it turns out!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale

Happy Black Friday! From today (Black Friday) through November 26 (Cyber Monday), you can get 20% off any purchase in Move the Needle if you use the coupon code "HOLIDAY2012" at checkout. You can use this code in my Etsy or Storenvy.

Are you planning to shop on Black Friday/Cyber Monday?

Thanksgiving Inspiration

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are some last minute Thanksgiving ideas:

Make a rustic table cloth with an old table cloth and burlap.



Do fall inspired nail art such as pumpkin, autumn leaves or turkeys.

Give yourself a DIY spa treatment with Thanksgiving food such as an apple hair mask, pumpkin face mask and brown sugar scrub. Find recipes here and here.

Make a turkey out of candy such as Nutter Butter cookies and candy corn This is perfect for children.

What are you thankful for?

Updated Thanksgiving Items

It's almost Thanksgiving! Here are some Thanksgiving items I updated the photos for in my shop:



Watercolor Pumpkin Harvest Thanksgiving Card




Pumpkin Harvest Coptic Stitch Journal




Autumn Leaves Thanksgiving Card



Autumn Acorns Greeting Card



 For more Thanksgiving items, check out the Thanksgiving section. Do you shop for Thanksgiving?

Sales Down

I've been looking at my shop stats on Etsy lately and I've noticed my views and sales have been down in late 2012. I only made a few sales at the beginning of this year, but none after that. This is my chart from Google Analytics. You can see the chart is down a little at the end:

I know my views for specific items have been down since Etsy changed how the search works, but usually it's not down for my overall shop. Are sales down for anyone else?

Art Journaling Goal

I use this website called 43Things where I make goals and keep track of how I am doing on them. I recently went through some of my old goals and marked the ones I have completed. This is a journal entry on the site I made about one of my goals to journal more. I thought I'd post it here because it might help someone:



"Art journaling made journaling more fun for me. "

How I did it: I've kept journals throughout my life, but I never really liked just writing in my journal. I started an art journal in 2008 and I've had at least one journal a year since then (usually more). Being able to do more than just write made journaling a better experience for me. I like that I can write, paint, glue stuff in, cut things out, etc. It helped me express myself more and I love journaling now.

Lessons & tips: If you start a journal, try to be consistent. Pick a time like every day or every week and stick to it even if you're not really in the mood to journal. If you get bored with your journal, experiment and try doing something else (like if you usually free write, create lists or art journal).

Resources: Going on Flickr.com and looking at art journaling photos. Also, googling "journaling prompts" or "art journaling prompts" to get inspired.

It took me 1 year.

It made me

You can see some of my art journaling pages here. To get more art journaling tips, sign up for my newsletter on the right side of this page.

Storenvy Updates

Storenvy is a website kind of like Etsy. I opened a shop there a while ago, but decided to import all  my items from Etsy with updated photos:

I also updated my policies and changed the layout a little bit. You can get 20% off your purchase if you enter the coupon code "BLOG" at checkout, just for blog readers.

Have you heard of Storenvy?

Politics Inspiration

Happy Election Day! These photos are politics related images that inspire me:

Are you planning to vote?

Election Day Treasuries

My Vote Card was featured in these four treasuries: 

Are you planning on voting?

Election Day Items in My Shop

Election Day 2012 is coming up. Here is an election day card I have in my shop that encourages people to vote:



I had some more Election Day cards, but they didn't sell because they were made specifically for 2008 (I had the date of the Election 2008 inside the card) so I couldn't relist them. Are you excited for Election Day?

Personal Halloween Photos

Here are some photos I took on Halloween:



These are some Halloween decorations and a candle I lit in my house.



I made a bunch of pumpkin themed food for Halloween. This was a photo I took while making pumpkin bread.



I made a pumpin soup using a cooking pumpkin instead. These are some photos in the process of making the soup. For the recipe, I cut a pumpkin i half and cooked it and then used it in the soup.









I forgot to take a photo of the soup when they were done, but these are the pumpkin seeds I roasted from the pumpkin.

How did you celebrate Halloween?

World Vegan Day

Happy World Vegan Day! World Vegan is an annual event celebrated on November 1st by vegans around the world. Here's some animal related items in my shop:

Rounded Animal Postage Greeting Card



Wavy Blue and Gold Greeting Card




Heart Shaped Zebra Print Mini Greeting Card



 To see my favorite vegan channels on YouTube, click here. For food related posts and recipes, see the food label.