October 7, 2011

Divas at Sea

I am traveling a lot this year.  As soon as I arrive home from Spain/Portugal, I'll join my dear friend, Tanya, on a Caribbean cruise.  (I'll have just enough time to do laundry!)  This is a maiden voyage for both of us and, of course, we're both excited and raring to go.

It is impossible for me to travel without a journal.  I made one for myself and one for Tanya as a surprise for her birthday which is coming up soon.

I had a few odd sized books from the Dollar Store and decided to use these as the substrate for the journal.  Pages were separated from the books, sanded, gesso applied.
 
Each page was painted with water color paints, water color pencils, and/or water soluble crayons. I made pairs out of assorted sized pages and painted them to match; script rubber stamped with acrylic paint. Dates were inkjet printed and adhered to pages with gel medium.
I made a simple stencil out of card stock and stenciled the palm tree on a couple of pages using stamp pads.  The book is held together with rattail ties - the ends of which were dotted with Smooch accent ink.  (Holes punched with Cinch machine.)  I drew/painted a cruise ship on the front cover and added our names.  (Both journals are virtually the same.)

I had no real plan for these journals when I started out.  I considered using a pastel palette, but I'm so not a pastel girl!  I just worked intuitively and let it "happen".  I'm very pleased with the result.




Go to Pink Saturday for more inspiration!

29 comments:

  1. THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!...WHO KNEWW!!!! i just love your creation and the way you created it! in a word...GENIUS!!!
    thanks for sharing!!!! hugs...andrea -- family and doxies (heaven and earth)

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  2. I love this idea! great creativity!
    thanks for sharing-miriam

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  3. I love this and so will your friend! Ya'll have a great time...and DON'T behave.

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  4. so happy you get to travel ! I love it myself
    YOur journals are wonderful !
    (())

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  5. Happy Pink Saturday Pat
    Fabulous artwork.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  6. Love how you turn dollar store finds into works of art. Lucky you doing all that traveling. Hope you remembered to make lots of photos of pottery in Portugal. Can't wait to hear about your trips. Love your journal and your friend is a lucky gal, wait till she sees what you've made for her.

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

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  7. My hubby and I want to visit Spain and Portugal some day. What a fun trip! The journals are really adorable.

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  8. Before I lost my husband, cruises were the only vacation we took. We went on several and enjoyed them. Trust you will as well.

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  9. Happy Pink Saturday Pat, Awesome journals. Bon Voyage you lucky lady! Linda

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  10. A sweet journal. I hope you and your friend enjoy the cruise. I have been on one . Enjoy..so much to do on board

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  11. A great idea from using old books for your new journals. Happy travels!#80twistedvines

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  12. How fantastic Pat!!! Great idea for travel journals! You always come up with such imaginative creations! Happy Pink Saturday!

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  13. Oh Pat, What a great Idea! She is gonna be so thrilled with your thoughtful creations. Have Fun and Bon Voyage

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  14. Pat, What fun you are having. Can't wait to hear about all of your adventures. ♥

    Hugs,
    Stephanie ♥

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  15. It is cold and riany today! A sea cruise sounds fab! Your journals are so remarkable! They are amazing and one of a kind! Enjoy your latest adventure! Anne

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  16. This is wonderful and you are so creative and clever!
    As you know, as I have said it enough, I want to try all these neat things, but am just timid to try! lol! I think I will try this and I have a few cute childrens books from when the grands were small to try with....

    Bon Voyage! Have a safe and fun time! I look forward to your return!
    Jil

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  17. Very clever artful idea! Inspiring.

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  18. Hi Pat


    These are too darn cute. Love that you used dollar store books. What is gesso, I've heard of it, but am not sure what it is...

    Enjoy your weekend!
    Leann

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  19. What fun you must be having, Pat, in all of your travels. I hope you had/have a wonderful time! Love what you are doing with the journal books. You are one of my inspirations!
    Happy Pink Saturday!

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  20. Loved viewing your art studio slides. Thank you for visiting my "Spooky" post. Humor - with a humorous husband who does improv and a dry sense of humor in my family, I'd surely be lost without it!

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  21. Hi Pat, Great idea for journals, the Dollar Tree never disappoints! Have fun traveling, Hugs Marilou

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  22. Hi there Pat - I've just caught up with my blogger list and so pleased to have seen this post...these little books are totally awesome...your friend, I'm sure, will be thrilled with her journal.

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  23. oh BEAUTIFUL! happy and safe travels to you. xo

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  24. Those are amazing!! What a wonderful idea!!! I may have to try that (of course, it would be #63 on my very long list!!).
    You are so clever!!
    xxDaniella

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  25. Hi Pat, Your Journals are beautiful. I have made journals but nothing as unique as yours. Still, I think they are pretty. I will post them soon.

    I always enjoy your creative posts.
    XO, Jeanne

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  26. These journals are simply wonderful!

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  27. Marvelous journals for a marvelous trip. Thanks for showing some of the steps. The different sized pages are such a good idea--adds a lot of fun to the project.
    best, nadia

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  28. Love the use of the different shaped book pages in the same journal. And here I have been risking life and limb with the exacto knife to get variety in my pages.
    You may have just saved my life with your art...LOL

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