4.4.12 ... handmade recycled paper art books

i have mentioned these before, but, as a refresher, i have something i have named my good things books. they are small. in them, i have a daily entry with three good things that happened that day. it is not a diary, but more of an art happy book. i include sketches and the entries are always in different colors and styles. so each day is individual. the entries are short and sweet. some days it is hard to come up with three good things, like on the day you had to say good bye to your beloved pet. but you can always find three small acts of happiness and when you look back over these little books, you will see your life in a nutshell, but with a positive spin. it is truly something and i cannot recommend this habit too highly. the idea for these books came to me because i had saved a newspaper article from the 1980s and the gist of it was: what would you do if you could do anything you wanted if you knew you had three days to live? and then it posed the question: what are you waiting for? you should spend each day as if you only have three days to live and you will live a life better suited to you and your happiness. 

life is shorter than you think.

anyway --- i used to hunt down small, pretty journal style books with unlined paper. and these are ridiculously vanquished all of a sudden over the past few years. plus, the handful i manage to find are overpriced and made in china which defies the purpose of my books as they are good thing themed and i do not find china produced paper products in my life to be a good thing. so i started making my own. at first i made groovy covers with plain white paper (recycled, naturally) inside. but then i started mixing up the papers and adding touches from discarded library books and whatever. and when i write in them i write around the images and type. it is a lot of fun. very inspirational. and, of course, the feeling you get from creating your very own book makes it more of a good things book than it already is. here is my latest along with scout's version - a personal sketch book. i hope these will bring you some inspiration and you will join the daily good things habit along with me. 

life is hard. it helps. a lot.

my miniature abe helps prop open my book for you.

a sample page with three days of my good things.

i have a vintage map of los angeles. i found it years ago and i love it. it is tattered and worn and i sometimes use it as background in my etsy shop photos. since we are new here, i decided to make a copy of the section where we live and use it as a cover. i used my textured card stock and love the effect. by the way, whenever you see new paper in my creations - which is rare - it is because i found it in a thrift store or fine paper wholesale store in the ridiculously marked down bin because it is the last ream they have type of thing. hence, the rarity. but i do love those finds. this beautiful white paper is one of them.

sometimes i use pretty magazine clippings.

i often use discarded library book images.

scout has this thrift found music notation book with awesome quotes. i added the 'button' - an image from a french magazine i have had for over 15 years.

the last page and inside back cover.

now we start to spy scout's book.

here is her cover. 

she used a piece of artwork i had saved. she was 3 years old. inside the cover is another watercolor. she laminated these together. the pigeons are from a magazine. i clipped this years ago. she LOVES pigeons. so she had to add that. isn't this a brilliant cover design?

scout is now designing and producing one-of-a-kind art journal books based on this one. she will be offering them in her etsy shop, seventeenagain.etsy.com so be sure to throw an eye.

this is the back cover. you can see that her pages are eclectic also.

and there you have it. a little bit of life from our world to yours.

thanks for stopping by. until next time. happiness to you. from me. with heart. 

ox joon

Posted via email from just joon

one example of a calling card & envelope designs

Hello. Today I was preparing a letter packet to go out the door. I made some calling cards using watercolors. This is one example. {phone# and address removed} I had fun making those. The envelope is one style I use often. Something unique about this one is that the snoopy and abe lincoln stamps are on paint samples that have raised elements. The three small hearts to the left of the address and the one up in the return address are signatures of my envelopes. The confetti of hearts on the back is something I have only done a few times. The little monkey is a bit I found in my stash. We printed up a bunch of these years ago. Scout drew him when she was 9. I really prefer to have the stamps on before I take photos but we had to go and the sun would be down by the time we got home so I was in a rush. I always use a collection of real stamps because I love the mosaic-y collage effect they provide. And it's good practice for my math skills. :)

We have always been partial to snoopy but ever since we got our beagle, chip, we are even more so.

This is along the 'top' of the back of the envelope and the abe quote ~ one of my favorite stamps ever ~ is centered on the bottom.

I hope the recipient will enjoy seeing this in her mail box. Until tomorrow ~ sweet dreams. It's a great day for America, everybody. Yes it is.

Posted via email from just joon

Favorite Things Continued

So here are the first photos of our room. It is not totally set up but this is a fine beginning as far as I am concerned. Here are more of my favorite things & their stories...

My Song & Dance Princess Framed Art Piece. You can see close up photos of this self portrait in my flying housewife listing HERE. This has been in every bedroom ~ all 13 ~ since I brought it home from my classroom. I made this collage in a matter of minutes as an example for my students for our Friday Funday Project. It was based on the book Song & Dance Man. It's holding up exceptionally well considering its construction materials & journeys.

My white rocker ~ I found this at a thrift store for $12. I thought that was a bit pricey. :) The seat needed re-caning. Evan brought it to a woman who quoted us a price of $96 or so. He tried not to laugh ~ not at her, mind you, but because he knew what my reaction would be. Years later, he bought the materials, taught himself and did it for me. It's perfect!

Of course the handmade bookcase and some of our book collection, including our precious journals. And there's more...

How groovy is this Abe Lincoln framed poster from the 1960s? This is an original and I found it a few years ago in Northampton, MA. I adore Abe and, let's be frank, a paisley hat? Does it get any better? I think not. Also here: my George & Martha hippos (Pittsburgh), my kitty cat clock (San Francisco), my $4 vintage glass lamp with my just acquired in Arlington pre-move, $4 mid-century shade, German hotel ashtray, one of my collection of sterling crosses, vintage beaded coin purse, a funky painted tile & the ever hilarious, What's Up Doc? video.

I also spy my square deck of cards in my square Westinghouse glass case, the 30+ year old Miniature Sendak Nutshell Library, one of my lovely new candles from Shelley, my Edward Gorey special edition from Jon Cody, and my Italian leather ~ brought back from Italy ~ art journals from Dusty.

You can always find new treasures and here is my most recent favorite thing, my vintage rolling table for my adorable and much revered old school kitchen sized TV with built in VCR. May it live forever. And now we can roll Dave that much closer at the end of a long day. And, on that cheery note, I end this edition of favorite things. More to come soon on this blog station. :)

PS. I update my flickr page often. To view more of my favorite things, family photos & new creations, click on the photo slide show above.