What?? A clean work desk!!

Our little kitchen fire this weekend got me thinking about how quickly accidents happen and what a giant fire hazard I had going on at my work desk. I didn’t take a before photo…I really should have but I just dove in head first to cleaning. I got my main work area totally cleaned up and a good dent on the “standing workspace”.

Of course, whenever I get it cleared off it calls to me to create.20150211_7438

I completed journal page #2 in my new journal which I have nicknamed my Gypsy journal due to the title of the book. I didn’t like the spelling of it though so I changed it. My book, my rules.

I was a really good girl and cleaned up all of my materials when I was done with my journal page including washing up my glass paint palette which happens to be a vintage art deco style pickle & olive tray. I picked it up at Goodwill last week and only after cleaning the price sticker off did I notice that one handle was broke. I couldn’t take it back at that point so I decided to repurpose it. It works really quite nice having 3 different wells to work from. And it’s stylish too. 20150211_7440

The cold wind howling outside made this journal page possible.

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T Tuesday: disaster edition

T stands for Tuesday_200As always on Tuesday…I’m linking up with T stands for Tuesday where we share a virtual beverage and talk about whatever comes to mind. IMG_0202

This week I was hoping to share all kinds of fun things that I had created with you like my new journal…

But instead I have a tale. A true story from Sunday.

So grab your cuppa and sit a spell.

Sunday morning I put a turkey in the oven…one of the four I purchased when they were on sale at Thanksgiving.  It looked and smelled delightful when I pulled it out of the oven. It was perfectly cooked…I had out done myself on this one.

Mini-me was helping with all the sides. We had gravy heating on the stove while I was carving the turkey. She was heating green beans in the microwave and making instant mashed potatoes ( I know…but those are the kind she loves and since she was making them). The plastic splatter cover from the microwave was set over a burner…that was never on…and when we turned around it had melted in and was on fire.

I quickly grabbed the plastic and tossed it into the sink at which time the melted plastic on the burner continued to flame even higher.  I made a judgement call and grabbed the fire extinguisher and shot it. Only then did I realize that horrendous mess we had.

I threw open windows, the smoke alarm was going off. Mini-me was in tears in her room. Our entire meal had to be thrown away due to the toxic nature of the chemical flame retardant.

On the bright side…my kitchen is the cleanest it’s been since we moved in thanks to Mr. G. He is a cleaning master. I took the kids out to eat (since I had thrown away our food) after getting everything off the counters cleaned up while he cleaned up the rest including taking apart the stove to get all the chemicals out from the nooks and crannies.

How’s that for excitement!?!?

He jokingly told me next time I wanted him to clean,  to just ask. :)

Today I’m staying home watching the freezing rain and snow fall outside. It’s going to be a skating rink out there.

What are you doing today?

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So go explore

I really couldn’t wait to starting using my newly prepped journal. I grabbed it an opened it randomly to a page and applied some gesso. so go explore endview

See…a very random selection. In fact, I don’t ever start from the front of a journal. Something about doing that intimidates me. It’s as if I feel like that first page is going to set the tone for the whole book.  This is way less pressure. so go explore journal page

The background may look familiar to some of you as I did a painting a while back using the same technique.

Once I got the background colors down and dried, I felt like writing.  Not my usual thing but you have to go with it when it strikes.

” The road of our lives is paved with so many possibilities. Things unimaginable to us.  We make choices. Turns. Detours. What is around the next corner? It could be a brick wall or it could be the greatest opportunity you will ever find. You will never know unless you put one foot in front of the other. Be open to new things, experiences and people. Not all of them will be good but they will shape you into a better person if you let them. Either by learning from your mistakes or by teaching you how incredible you were meant to be. So go explore….”

Wowsers…I usually don’t get deep with my journals but when the mood strikes I must give in and go with it.

I’m linking up with Inspire me Monday this week.

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Tutorial: Journal prep of a vintage book

Since I was starting a new journal I thought I’d share with you my process for prepping the book.  First find yourself an old book that appeals to you. For me it was the size of this book. Not too small or too big… Just call me Goldilocks.journal prep5

Look inside to see what kind of binding you have.journal prep1

This inside cover gave me a really good indication that I had a sewn binding but I had to make sure.journal prep4

Yep…sewn binding. Perfect! Now we’re ready for the thinning of pages without leaving chunks of torn pages along the inner spine. Removing pages reduces bulk since the altering of a book whether journal style or a themed altered book adds lots of bulk!

I find the center of each signature (as seen in the above photo) and remove the page from each side.journal prep3Like this. I go back and carefully pick out all of the torn fragments. It will appear as if nothing has changed until you look at the page numbers. You’ll have a definite gap which would make reading the story a real challenge at this point.

I remove at least one page from each signature, sometimes more. You can always go back and remove more. journal prep7

Here you can see the gaps along the spine and how the book is more narrow going toward the outer edge. This is exactly what you want. journal prep8

You have a nice stack of pages for your altering pleasure when you are done.

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Dress pattern ball

After Christmas I decided to really change up the fireplace mantel from my standard color scheme. I usually stick with warm colors but was definitely ready for a change.

After a month of feeling as if something was missing I decided to make a decorative ball to set on top of my stoneware pitcher.

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I used a 2.5 inch foam ball as my base. I cut a dress pattern into roughly 2 inch squares.

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I stacked 2 in a crisscross manner then put a pencil into the center. I then dipped the tips into white glue and pressed the tip into the foam ball. I continued this until the entire ball was covered. 20150205_7433

I think it looks a bit like a dried hydrangea sitting on top.

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Inspired by Pinterest

As I’ve said many many times…I spend a lot of time on Pinterest. I’m often inspired by the images I see. I’m not one to completely copycat but tweak the design a little for my own use. Sometimes it’s color combos that make me run downstairs to create. Other times it’s the curve of a line, interesting texture or a simple splat of ink that has my mind whirling.

Before a stomach bug took me out of commission for a couple of days, I was inspired by this image and my new found interest obsession in weaving, to create this card.

woven text with heart

Actually I made a couple cards since I had strips cut.

The cards in turn inspired me to create this journal page.

letyourheartguideyou4

The Yogi tea tag was a serendipitous find in my stash.

Would you like to be inspired too? You could always

Follow Me on Pinterest

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T Tuesday: too sick for tea edition

T stands for Tuesday_200I’ve picked up a stomach bug.  A sleeve of soda crackers is my friend. sick teaOf course, I can’t just sit still on the couch and watch TV…I’m passing time making paper flowers at the same time.

Now I’m just hoping I don’t pass it along to the rest of the family.

What are you doing today?

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