To journal or not to journal?

Journals. I love to make them, I love to watch YouTube videos of other people making them. I love paper, fabric, trims, ephemera, any and all materials that can be used, and the whole creative process that goes into making journals. So why, then, haven't I used a journal? What is a journal, really? Is it a diary, a record of events, a planner, a place to store dreams? I write elaborate TO DO lists daily, but I throw them out when they are so crossed out and scribbled on that I can't make sense of what I wrote on them in the first place. Those lists would be the closest thing I have that would chronicle my days, but I don't keep them.


As I recently celebrated a milestone birthday,  I was moved to think back . . . which I seem to do more often lately . . . and I found myself wondering where did my fleeting memories come from? When was that particular event that just came to me from out of the blue?  What evoked the memory? Today I have been daydreaming and recalling the past.


The sound of the blade of the snowplow scraping the pavement on the street jolts me away from my dreamy thoughts and I lose track of the faint memory I was enjoying and look down at the blank page on my legal pad with only the heading "To Do" and today's date written  in large cursive letters and numbers. Yes, I have such important TO DO lists that they require a legal pad! Ha, ha!


So, will today be the day I start to journal? Why? Why not? Actually, I just remembered that I did journal once. I was quite faithful about it, too. If you read my blog post, http://studioemmy.blogspot.com/2018/01/good-gravy.html, you saw the cubby holes I was cleaning out in my studio. Well, one of the finds inside one of the cubbies was a handful of little handmade pages for a journal. Those pages were from my first foray into the world of paper crafting. As I pulled them out, I was transported back to 2012. I inhaled and a long emotional breath escaped from deep inside my chest. I remembered vividly how enraptured I was back then when I discovered YouTube videos by crafters who made show and tell or tutorial videos. It was February and that has always been a good month for me to be creative. I'm usually inside because of the snow and cold and find myself sewing and knitting . . . and since then . . . papercrafting.

Before I knew much about papercrafting, I made these little pages.
Words like chipboard, cardstock, photo mats, pop dots, and pocket pages were all foreign to me.
I found a list I had written with definitions of terms I needed to learn.
My love of pretty paper was finally finding a creative outlet.

I pulled those pages back out this morning and realized I never used them because the original little journal I made had gotten pretty fat; and I just never made new covers to start a second one where I could add the extra pages and continue my journaling. But that is so me. I had learned the process, but not the lesson. Shaking my head and feeling somewhat disappointed in myself, I reached over to my little gallery shelf, where I display things I've made, and picked up my first papercrafting project. It was what people call a junk journal, which is simply an unplanned and random collection of stuff that represents you, your thoughts, events in your life, dreams, and really whatever you want to incorporate into it. I had only a few supplies back then, such as pretty papers, ribbons, rubber stamps, ink and some decorative paper punches and as I learned techniques, I would make a page and I would write about things. Thoughts, events, challenges, successes, dreams. Hmmmmm. Guess what?  I was journaling!

February 2012
My first little journal . . . a junk journal . . . a name I still really don't like.
My life isn't junk and my work isn't either!.

A view from above.
I copied ideas from photos and videos I found online.
It was fun and being an amateur was quite freeing, as I think back on the experience.
I just dove in and made stuff using the supplies I had on hand.

A couple of my favorite pages.
The envelope holds a tag with memories written on it.
The dress form, buttons, and the word "sew" represent my interest in sewing and making clothes.

I had absolutely no idea how to make a binding.
I came up with a creative use of ribbons and embroidery floss.
It worked and I still love it.
It makes me smile.
:-)

 Since I got married, almost 14 years ago, my life has changed dramatically from my single days. There's a lot more to recall now because each day involves not just myself but also my husband. Each day, week, month, year, and now years, is filled with memory making. In fact, recently when recalling something we'd done together, I remarked to my husband that I wish I had kept better records. I wished I had documented things that we'd done together. Not just the big things, but the little things . . . the things that get lost in my memory banks.


I truly think that I misunderstood the whole purpose of journaling. I believe that I thought I had to write deep meaningful and imaginative essays in a journal. I guess I figured I wasn't up to the task, and that what I had to write wouldn't be interesting. I think in the back of my mind I imagined that the kind of journal worth writing would be the kind that one distant day, my descendants would discover in a trunk in the attic. It would be tied up with beautiful ribbons and smell like old paper and ink and reveal deep inspiring thoughts that would cause them to weep. Oh my glory! This is true. This is the reason I have not journaled! This is the lesson.


To top it off, I recalled how much I have enjoyed reading my parents' diaries. The stuff they wrote about was not poetic, nor did they reveal tightly held secrets on those pages. Their diaries told about their days, just like what I did in my first little junk journal. My father was more inclined to write about his work as a farmer. He recorded the purchase of tractors, combines, the sale of 20-ton loads of hay, and the funny daily entry all winter long that simply stated "graded pot", which was his abbreviation for potatoes. My mother wrote more from an emotional standpoint, but still nothing secretive. She recorded what time she got up, where she went, who she visited and where she stayed for weeks at a time to help out an ailing friend or relative . . . and it seems she was always going somewhere . . . that she stayed up until 4 a.m. playing cards and went out for rides cross-lots in the horse-drawn cutter when there was a lot of snow. That is what she wrote before she got married. After she was married she wrote less frequently, but one of my favorites is when she recorded that she had put the water in the reservoir on the cast iron cook stove in the summer kitchen to heat it up for the next day's laundry. :-) Their lives look different to me now when I can get a little glimpse into their days. They didn't write in their diaries for me, though. They wrote in them for themselves and left them behind when they passed away.


So, what shall I do? I have today. This day. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Today. I will journal. I won't just make pretty journals as gifts or to display on my gallery shelf, I will use them. I'll write in them, stuff them with unrelated things. Things that mean something to me, such as my messy To Do lists, receipts from a big purchase or a trip, a recipe, a photo of us doing something together, a funny little story. These journals will be mine. They will be for me. And I will enjoy looking back a year from now, five years from now and enjoy the memories. And, should my descendants discover them one day, they might weep or laugh or just smile as they read the pages.

The mini album / journal that I started about 3 weeks ago is finished!
I put it aside for a couple weeks, but then I was inspired to finish it this week because I did not want it to be forgotten while I jumped into another project. I made myself use only materials I had on hand, much like my first journal. I will start using it right away to record my 2018 gardening journey.

I tried some new-to-me techniques on this project.
I added the little brad with the ring on it to the binding and made a dangle charm in a garden-theme.
I included a little bottle filled with milkweed seeds and fluff from last year's garden.
I plan to make a short YouTube video to show the details of this project.
Stay tuned! 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post. As always, your questions and comments are welcome. And, until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.


Emmy

Let It Snow!

If you've ever read some of my other blog posts, you might recall that I LOVE SNOW DAYS! Yes, I  love them. I love the day before, too, when I am excited about the anticipation of a snow day. The day after is a little bit like when all the Christmas presents have been opened and the excitement has passed; but for now, let me have my snow day.

Even though we're now 13 days into the new year, we still have our Christmas decorations up. We both love the house decorated for Christmas and we have collected so many beautiful and meaningful decorations over the years that we enjoy looking at them . . . especially on a "snow day", like today when the rooms are brightly lit by the reflection of the snow on the ground. (Technically,  it's really NOT a bona-fide snow day, but I'll choose to ignore that fact. There's a lot of ice and snow outside our door, and there's shoveling to do, so to me that constitutes a snow day.)

In anticipation of today,  I decided to make something I've been mulling around in my head for a week or so. To help make the transition from Christmas decor, I usually start putting out some of my snowmen and blue and white decorations in January. The change in the color scheme represents the change to the long winter ahead.

Since I am on a mission to use the supplies I have on hand and not buy more unless I need them . . . Please don't ask me to describe "need" to you . . . I shopped my stash and pulled some things out that I thought would work together to make a banner for our living room mantle.

I gathered my supplies.

Left to right: Stencils, blank corrugated cards, ribbon, hole punch, clear glue, gesso, pearlized acrylic paint, Diamond Dust  (which is actually finely ground glass), paper, and scissors.

I had four sheets of this in my stash. It was so pretty that I could never bring myself to cut into it! But, I finally did, but only one sheet!

A closer view of some of my supplies.

I covertly worked at my TV table on Thursday night, tracing and cutting out the letters I'd chosen from my stencil set. I do things secretly because I like to surprise my husband when I create something. He is very supportive of my crafting ideas and activities. He is my biggest fan, my cheerleader, and by default, my design consultant; which he does quite well. It's always nice to have another pair of eyes to look at something and some input, even a non-crafter.

 So, yesterday morning, with the prep work of the letter cutting complete, I started my project. I qued up my audio book, cut and glued, painted and glittered, while waiting for the snow to start falling, which was after record warmth and rain that caused flooding, ice jams, wet basements, and a myriad of other related not-so-fun events for local homeowners. In 24 hours, we went from this . . .

Friday morning.
 After the temperature soared to 60 degrees, the Tonawanda Creek spilled over its' banks. Thankfully, we live uphill from the creek.

to this . . .

Saturday morning.
What a change in only 24 hours! 

But inside where I was warm, dry and safe, I crafted. Here's how the afternoon and evening progressed in captioned photographs:

With all the little bottles of paint that I own, you would think that I would have some plain white paint!  But, no . . . I don't! 

I cut the corrugated cards in half, so I could get two flags from each card. After gluing the letters and snowflakes to the cards, I used gesso and acrylic paint to create the look of snow. While the gesso and paint were still wet, I covered the entire card with Diamond Dust.

After shaking the loose Diamond Dust off the surface, I put the flags aside to dry.

I waited for the gesso, paint, and Diamond Dust to dry overnight. I assembled the banner this morning. 

It is hard to see the sparkles in the "snow, but if you click on the photo and enlarge it, you can see the sparkle.

It really does sparkle!
(No pun intended!)

I think you can see some sparkles in the "snow" in this photo.

Let It Snow
I'm very happy with how it turned out and, as usual, I learned a few things about construction and materials while making it.

Had I been able to run to the store yesterday, I may have broken my own rule and purchased snowflakes that I imagine are on sale just about everywhere, but I persevered and used those hard-to-cut-out paper snowflakes! Between the weather and the fact I have been restricted from driving the past six weeks (post surgery) I wasn't going to go anywhere in the car!

I put the banner together this morning and waited...and waited...and waited for my husband to make his way downstairs. I thought he'd never come down! When he had finished his morning coffee that I had carried up to him earlier....which bought me more time to fiddle around trying to hang the banner... he descended the stairs. It is actually good that I had that extra time because I kept feeding the ribbon the wrong way, getting it twisted around the fragile snowflakes, and putting knots in the end only to discover it needed more slack. Have you ever tried to untangle a tight little knot in organza ribbon before your second cup of coffee?

But I like how it turned out, and it really does serve to help me visually and mentally transition to January. My husband likes it, too. :-) He said it reminds him of one of our favorite movies, Frozen, which would be good to watch today while we are having a "snow day"!

Whether you are inside or outside today, dealing with snow or not, I hope you are enjoying yourself. These unplanned days when we are required to slow down and break away from the normal routine are what I tend to remember most fondly. Doing something other than the ordinary day-to-day activities we all must face is a gift. It is refreshing to break away from the familiar and the sameness of a typical day. Make today a day that, when you look back on it, you will feel a smile start to form on your lips. There's time tomorrow to resume the usual, expected-of-you stuff.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today. It is my sincere wish that you will be making some memories this winter, and that they will make you smile in the future when they cross your mind. ♡ And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy

The smell of dirt.

Dirt. I like how it smells. I usually start noticing the earthy (no pun intended) odor wafting through the air in late March when the snow melts and the wet soil is exposed.

As I watered one of my three houseplants this morning, I got a whiff of wet dirt. It smelled so good! While recuperating from surgery the past several weeks, my exposure to most household activities has been diminished. But today, in early January, it felt like the first day of spring, just because I smelled dirt. I am discovering I can do a little more each day. Today the "little more" included carrying a small  plant to the kitchen for watering and...this is a real biggie...walking up the stairs. I hadn't seen the second floor of our house since the morning of November 30th, when we left for the hospital. 40 days! Things look about the same as when I left and I can't wait to sit down at my sewing machine soon. There are some small projects that I'm sure I can maneuver under the needle.

Now that I've had the little glimmer of hope that thoughts of spring conjure up, I think I'll take a glance at some of the gardening catalogs that have been arriving in the mail. I won't place any orders, but I might make some notes and pull a few pages out for future reference. It will be interesting to see . . .  when spring really arrives here in Alexander . . . what is pushing up through the dirt in my perennial garden. It will be its' first real springtime!

For now, I need to settle back into winter mode. After all, winter began only 15 days ago! We have a ways to go until spring.

Much of the snow that fell last week has melted in our warm 30° temperature today. But between the railing posts, you can see my perennial garden under a protective blanket of snow. It will be a few months before we will be having our morning coffee on the deck and enjoying the view of the garden. But I don't mind because I actually like the time for rest, reflection and planning that winter gives us.

Now that I'm starting to feel better and want to do more things, I still need to be mindful of the doctors advice to take it easy and not push myself too much. They say that the rest of my healing will require about 4 more months . . . just in time to dig some dirt in my garden . . . not just smell it!

I hope you are enjoying winter days and the prospect that spring will return. In fact, you've probably noticed the days are getting longer. Five minutes more of daylight tacked on the start of the day and ten more at the end make a big difference!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post. As always, your questions and comments are welcome.  And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy

Good Gravy!

Good gravy! I'm not sure when I started using this expression so much, but I must say it at least once a day. Today I woke up very early and after a couple cups of coffee, I went into my studio to work on some projects. When I came to a stopping point, because I needed to wait for some ink to dry, I looked up at my cubby hole shelves and decided to clean them out a little. It was originally designed as a closet organizer to hold shoes, but when I saw it at the store, I knew it was just what I needed for all the miscellaneous clutter that was accumulating on my work table. It has turned out to be very useful, but also a good place to stash things and forget about them.

So, as I made my way through one cubby, then another and another, I made a few surprising discoveries. I fully expected that the stuff in there would be in a jumble and pretty much unrelated to each other, but I didn't expect to find something I had absolutely no memory of buying. It definately was an impulse item and probably ended up in my cart because it was marked down so much. I also discovered a few little books I was making, but had lost track of, and a 6" x 6" pad of really cool scrapbooking paper designed by a well-known artist. In fact, while I was watching YouTube videos this past week, I came across some things he had designed and thought to myself that I'd like to buy some of his specialty papers. Good gravy!

15 rather deep cubbies that were supposed to function as an organizational tool have ended up cluttered and full of miscellaneous crafty things. The pile of ribbons,  feathers, adhesive tape guns and cutting tools is part of the supply cache I need for my current project. 

My best finds of the day!
Clockwise: Three little books I'd lost track of that I'd love to finish, a Prima 6"x 6" Frank Garcia designer paper pad, and a metal corrugator that I have no recollection of buying!

Only $3.99! I mean how could I resist such a bargain? It was originally $19.99. I am pretty sure I didn't plan to make jewelry with it, but I have used metal in my albums and tags. Now I have a "new" toy to play with while I'm snowed in. I love shopping in my own stash!

These little chipboard books are only 4" x 4".
They are going to be so cute when they're finished! 

"The Archivist" 6" x 6" paper pad designed by Frank Garcia for Prima Marketing.
I have admired his work on YouTube and don't even recall putting this in my shopping cart, most likely at Hobby Lobby. Maybe it was on the day that I fell into the display of embossing folders while at the store. I couldn't get out of the store fast enough...after filling out a lengthy accident report with the manager. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Actually, I imagine each of my readers has a stash of things they put away for some reason. It could be skincare, makeup, garden tools, kitchen gadgets, paint brushes, clothes . . . just about anything! If you find yourself hibernating like I am during the brutally cold weather that has most of us hunkering down inside this week, perhaps you'll take some time to make a few discoveries, too. I have a box ready to donate and several other things have been put in the recycling and trash bins. It's a good feeling.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I hope you are staying warm, that you and those you love are safe, and that your new year is off to a good start. And until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy