Time to share the rest of my September Daily Album!
I got lazy from this point on. I decided to stop photoshopping the side by side "before" and "afters." From now on, you'll see the "before" pages above and the "after" pages below.
On the right, you can see that I cut the page down and used a scallop border punch on both sides.
On the right you can see that I ripped off the bottom of the small green page (which is actually Prima packaging stamped with a cool Label Tulip stamp).
On the right, I was *thrilled* to use these city tags for my journaling. They're by KI Memories and I've had them for years. I was holding on to them for the perfect project and I guess this was it! It's funny, in creating this album I really vacillated between using leftovers and junk — the "less good" stuff — and stuff I loved. I couldn't make up my mind about what to do! Because on the one hand, the album is so haphazard and simple, so I thought it was silly to use my best stuff. On the other hand, what good is the stuff unless you use it?
The page on the right is one of my favorites. I simply printed the comments from my blog post that day. It makes me smile every time I look at it. Also, I used gel medium to attach the foam letters because the adhesive had dried out.
I used watercolor crayons to color the "gardening tag" on the right hand page bright pink. It helps to obscure the design. The numbers are cut from patterned paper and then matted with white cardstock.
On the left is a technique I am definitely going to use again! I peeled the patterned paper away from the green cardstock. But, I did a bad job and left some of the white core of the patterned paper behind. (Mostly around the edges.) I created a collage of photos in Photoshop and then printed them directly onto the cardstock/white core from the patterned paper. I love the way it turned out. On the right, I cut the page down and flipped it over. Truth told, I kind of hate it. But, I was in a rush, and it's done. So that's life.
It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but the numbers on the right are stapled on. They weren't sticking well, so I just stapled them on. I used Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher. I like the tiny staples. They look better than the regular large staples.
I did another flip on the page on the right. The hot air balloons are now on the other side of the "9.25" page.
The page on the left may well be my most favorite page in the book. It's the hot air balloon paper (3 pictures up) upside down and covered in masking tape. The inking technique with the white splotches is one I'm teaching in Technique-a-Palooza.
I'm loving my new Cuttlebug! All the butterflies on the left were cut and then embossed with the Cuttlebug. I rubbed an ink pad over the raised areas of the embossing in order to emphasize the texture.
It's easy to see the "before" and "after" on the left page. I used my favorite vinyl stickers to do my journaling. All the photos are 2×3 inches. On the right is a flyer from the diner where we had brunch.
Above on the left, you can see the patterned paper I backed the restaurant flyer with. Above on the right, I pulled all of the circles off of the page on the below left and glued them to a new page.
On the right, you can see that I once again cut the page down. I used a border punch on the edge. It wasn't easy to get through the photo and everything with the punch. I find that standing up when punching really helps give you enough leverage to get through things like photos.
I love, love, love the way the page on the right turned out. I washed over the sticker letters with some gesso. I was sure to wash over the edge of the page and the photo to really make it all feel integrated.
It's hard to see in the photo, but the sparkly flowers and brackets are all stapled in place. I have always liked the mixture of soft and hard – glitter and industrial.
And that's it!
So, what did I learn? What will I do differently next time? I've put together a little list:
- I loved having pre-painted pages. The painted pages were some of my favorites. I've never been a person to pre-paint pages, but it really does make everything go so much more quickly. Plus, I like the way it unified the album, both in feeling and color.
- I hated having all the journaling tags already in place. I feel like I did a lot of obscuring of journaling tags or peeling them up. I'd rather have them around to use, but not already glued down.
- I'd like to make a kit. This is kind of related to the note above. I think I'd make a fairly plain journal and then pull together a kit of coordinating journaling tags, alphas, paper scraps, etc.
- Knowing I was going to post it made it different. Of course, that's true of almost everything I do. But because this was the nitty gritty of daily life, it made me super conscious of it. Next time, I'll probably make a book just for me, or find a way to keep the journaling private or something like that.
Thanks for stopping by!
love the outcome- really cool!
love the outcome- really cool!
love the outcome- really cool!
love the outcome- really cool!
Love it, Julie! So creative and amazing!
Love it, Julie! So creative and amazing!
Love it, Julie! So creative and amazing!
Love it, Julie! So creative and amazing!
could spend the whole day on your blog!! love your work!! :))
could spend the whole day on your blog!! love your work!! :))
could spend the whole day on your blog!! love your work!! :))
could spend the whole day on your blog!! love your work!! :))
Awesome stuff!
I also worked on one for the month of September and found the same problem with wanting the journaling to be more private. I introduced little envelopes made of wax paper (from the kitchen) to some of the pages and stuck the private stuff in them!
Awesome stuff!
I also worked on one for the month of September and found the same problem with wanting the journaling to be more private. I introduced little envelopes made of wax paper (from the kitchen) to some of the pages and stuck the private stuff in them!
Awesome stuff!
I also worked on one for the month of September and found the same problem with wanting the journaling to be more private. I introduced little envelopes made of wax paper (from the kitchen) to some of the pages and stuck the private stuff in them!
Awesome stuff!
I also worked on one for the month of September and found the same problem with wanting the journaling to be more private. I introduced little envelopes made of wax paper (from the kitchen) to some of the pages and stuck the private stuff in them!
Inspiring! I appreciate your comments at the end on the process and thoughts on what you might do differently. I am working on an album/ journal for Aug, but find that my pre designed pages are somewhat inhibiting….I like seeing how you sometimes ended up with a completely different look.
Inspiring! I appreciate your comments at the end on the process and thoughts on what you might do differently. I am working on an album/ journal for Aug, but find that my pre designed pages are somewhat inhibiting….I like seeing how you sometimes ended up with a completely different look.
Inspiring! I appreciate your comments at the end on the process and thoughts on what you might do differently. I am working on an album/ journal for Aug, but find that my pre designed pages are somewhat inhibiting….I like seeing how you sometimes ended up with a completely different look.
Inspiring! I appreciate your comments at the end on the process and thoughts on what you might do differently. I am working on an album/ journal for Aug, but find that my pre designed pages are somewhat inhibiting….I like seeing how you sometimes ended up with a completely different look.
Beautiful, as usual. I am always aware of my desire to “doctor” my journal of my true thoughts… I think it’s important to be real sometimes though. I also agree with the post above. I find it fun to create pockets/hidden spots for journaling.
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Beautiful, as usual. I am always aware of my desire to “doctor” my journal of my true thoughts… I think it’s important to be real sometimes though. I also agree with the post above. I find it fun to create pockets/hidden spots for journaling.
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Beautiful, as usual. I am always aware of my desire to “doctor” my journal of my true thoughts… I think it’s important to be real sometimes though. I also agree with the post above. I find it fun to create pockets/hidden spots for journaling.
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Beautiful, as usual. I am always aware of my desire to “doctor” my journal of my true thoughts… I think it’s important to be real sometimes though. I also agree with the post above. I find it fun to create pockets/hidden spots for journaling.
Thanks again for the inspiration!