Kit Pondering, Art Journaling and more...

Okay, so I'm looking for a kit club to subscribe to. My favorite kits have been the SiStv collections, because they always included things that you couldn't find anywhere else - you know like imported felt flowers, bits of vintage fabric, thrift store stuff, etc. They haven't made many kits lately tho, so I'm looking for somewhere else to get kits, at least for now. Here's what I've found so far...

Studio Calico. Beautiful kits and a lively, active online community, which I love. The only downside is that they don't seem to include unusual/odd items. They seem to be exclusively scrapbooking supplies. Still - they are beautiful kits, so I may go that way.

Cocoa Daisy. Amy Tan is their guest designer this month, and when I saw the beautiful things she's been creating and posting in the SiS gallery, I had to check them out. The gallery seems to be filled with things that lean a little more towards untraditional, which fits my style. I don't know what their online community is like, but it looks friendly.

Does anyone have experience with either of these kit clubs? And if so, what is your opinion?

Also, if you have any other unique and funky kits that you have found - I'd love to hear about them. If they have an online community it would be a plus. It's fun to be able to get excited about the kits with other people. Not that this would replace SiS of course - just in addition to it.

Anyhoo, on to the creative projects. Last night I went crazy working on my homework for Dina's Masterful Art Journaling class. WOW - that class is DEFINITELY worth the money. The first lesson alone has about 7 different projects, and they all are fun and thought-provoking at the same-time. I finished all but one of them last night. I didn't take pics yet, because it's just backgrounds that will be built on in the next lesson. I will share as soon as they are finished.

I do want to share the art journal I created in the Collage Couture class at SiSversary - WOW this one was FUN! We were given a piece of plain, natural canvas, with fabric stitched to the inside. Then we created the journal in class. Here's how mine turned out...
The texture comes from a paper towel, stuck on with gel medium! So Cool - I NEVER would have thought you could do that! It becomes really stiff and durable once it dries because of the gel medium. Other supplies I used (some in class and some when I got home) include acrylic paint, drywall tape, stamps, book pages, sharpie, spray ink and gaffer tape. I bound it with a strip of fabric that I got from my secret sister Andrea.

Here's how the inside looks...
the striped fabric was already sewn onto the canvas, but I glued on the houndstooth with regular old craft glue.

And this is the back cover...
I can hardly wait to fill it up! Yeayyy!!!


Oh, and I also wanted to share a pic of my Project 52 ATC ribbon which is now completely full!!! Yeayyyyy! As it turns out, the ribbon holds EXACTLY 26 weeks of cards, which is perfect because I can add one more ribbon and that will be the full year! I am loving this process!!!

I guess that's it for today. I've got so much to share, but it will have to wait til tomorrow! I hope you have a fabulous Friday filled with fun and inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments - they truly make my day!