Board Book Journal

 In 2020, I pivoted from leading monthly creative circles in a downtown art studio, to offering them virtually! I invited my friend Linda to co-facilitate, and we enjoyed thinking up inexpensive projects we could share with our group!

Linda's a big fan of using found materials, including junk mail and other 'throw aways' for booklets and pages. 

After one of our early sessions, I painted a cover for the journal in which I was already working, using a sturdy paper bag as the base. My youngest granddaughter grabbed a bag, and came out to the picnic table to paint along, making hers for a spiral bound notebook.

I glued the bag onto a board book, ~ 7×7" which has 5 double spread pages. Here are some examples of altered board books:

• For collage, you can glue directly to the page! Here's a fun tutorial! 
• Use your own designs - try making gelli prints! (Now I need a gelli plate in my Atelier!)
• Write your intention for the book using Sharpie or paint
• On Instagram, Anouk suggested running painted tape (or a strip of tissue paper) along the crease of each spread, as reinforcement and to prevent cracking.

• If you want to paint the pages, lightly sand, and use gesso and let it dry. 
• Use a spatula, sponges, or a credit card to apply paint 
• Use light layers of paint, and embellish with stamps, stencils light collage 
• You can add tabs, lace, our other embellishments... 
• Gild the edges with metallic paint

Balance of the Light and Dark

Here's the board book's center page spread. I prepped the pages with gesso and paint (including gold on both the cover and the page), then used my older granddaughter's craft paint and a light layer of gloss mod podge.

My SoulCollage facilitator training begins Sunday the 4th - and I want to pick up a board book, to use to chart my journey! 

Though the focus of the training is more on how to lead experiences, I know I'll make some cards as well, and am excited to see what wants to happen on the accompanying pages! 

Journal for card conversations

On our Birthday adventure on the 31st, I found this lovely petit binder to use for this year's 'Meet the Card' conversations.  I added the green dividers, one for each suit, and a few for additional info. 

On this third day of our Blog Challenge,

Is there something you'd like to learn or take up this year?

Or something you're moving on from?

I'd love to hear about them!