Friday, March 15, 2013

Tearing Apart My Journal...

Hi everyone - happy Friday!  I know I mentioned in an earlier post that my Dylusions journal just wasn't working for my Book of Days.  The paper simply isn't heavy enough to stand up to so many wet layers.  It's a beautiful journal though, so I don't want to waste it.  What I did was tear off the cover, and the few pages that were finished, leaving the journal looking like this...
Not bad, right?  When I decide what to use it for, I will make a new cover and tape it right on top, over the red bookcloth tape.  It will be good as new!

In the meantime, I painted the cover  and finished off the part of the journal that I tore out, creating a completed Book of Days 2013, Volume II.  

 Here's the front...
 I did some layers of collage (you can see Jessica's retro flowers stencil peeking out there), and then painted the horse on top with acrylic paint.  I used turquoise duct tape to recreate a spine, and pasted the last two pages in the back together to form a back cover...

 The duct tape turned out a little sloppy, but it works just fine...

 So, there it is - a very slim BOD Vol. II that covers February 18 thru March 4, 2013...

I figure if something isn't working for me, why suffer through?  Now I am starting BOD 2013 Volume III, with a 9 x 12 Strathmore Mixed Media journal that my awesome sister Renee gave me for Christmas (thanks Renee xo!).  The pages are super thick and it's working great!  I will share more details about that next time!

Have a super awesome weekend and thanks so much for visiting!

7 comments:

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Wowwwwwwwww! LOVING this Michelle!!! That horse is AMAZING!!!

dawn said...

I agree the horse is amazing and soooo pretty!! Glad you make the journal work for you, what a great idea to tear it apart. I'm loving all the blue too!

AWESOME AWESOME stencil page below, looooove it so much!!!
Happy Weekend

Dawn Zichko said...

It's funny how when one decides something isn't working how quickly we can shift gears once a decision is made. I abandoned the altered-book journal because it was limiting me in ways I hadn't realized. So I'm happy in my 3-ring binder space again.

So glad you made the switch to something more workable for your creative soul!

phinner said...

This is a great post Michelle! I like how you were able to resolve your issue with this journal. I am having trouble working in mine too...I know its the spine.

I too like the Visual Journals, but again, don't like the spiral binding. Maybe I need to consider working on single sheets and binding them myself...You're making me think!!! THANKS!

Michelle LaPoint Rydell said...

Phin, I know what you mean about the binding. I was inspired by Roben Marie to take the binding off and work on each page singly. (She has a video about it on her blog) I will rebind it at the end. In the meantime, I put 3 rings in the holes to keep it together. So far, it's working great, and it allows you to paint all the way to the edge of the page - over the holes!

Anonymous said...

Strathmore is simply the best paper for art journaling. I am so glad i finally just bought one! Love working in it.
I need to check out Roben's video. I hate spirals too .... i do have a hard bound strathmore waiting but i am not sure it is going to lay flat.

Unknown said...

That horse is SO COOL!!! I want to make something like that too (wishful thinking teehee). You are so talented!