Geological Journal and ARTifacts...

Hi everyone and welcome! The amazing Seth Apter is challenging all creatives out there to document your personal art journeys through 2017 in some form of journal, sharing it with him and fellow travellers throughout the year. Here is his introduction to the project 'ARTifacts'. I've decided to join in with the fun and have created a new journal to hold those all important memories - here's what it the cover looks like; I've shared a proper walk-through video on my Facebook page (there's a link below).

I've called it a 'geology journal' because it has a look of stone from the layered Tim Holtz Distress Paints, stamping using Seth's own stamp range from Impression Obsession and Ranger Archival Inks through a new stencil designed by Seth for Stencil Girl Products. Having layered  die cuts using Seth's Robo Ring set from Spellbinders, I've added a combination of natural elements that bring back memories of January 2017 for me. These include the gorgeous gemstones in the centre from a range called Quarry supplied by Emerald Creek - you need to check these out as they are perfect for all mixed media projects! Of course all good journal covers need a starting point right? And in my humble opinion I've got the best here - Eileen Hull's new Journal die from Sizzix will be released this spring and is already available to pre-order in the UK here and in the US here.

I wanted to make some quick and easy pages to fit inside this Midori / Travelers Notebook size journal and have come up with a fast way of using rolls of paper to do just that. This roll of parcel paper is around 50cm/20" wide but you can use smaller width rolls if you want to and of any type of material too! (wallpaper, wrapping paper, greaseproof paper, etc) - by folding and cutting it lengthwise down the middle I created two long strips.

I cut each strip in to 19cm/7.5" chunks and folded them down the middle. Build up a number of these to create 'signatures' (like mini books).

For this journal I wanted to document 12 months of the year so made my three signatures 8 pages in total. You can choose how many pages you want and of what thickness depending on your choice of paper.

For speed I machine sewed the signatures together a couple of times on the longest stitch length. You can also hand stitch or even staple yours together depending on the look you're going for (and patience/skill levels!)

Finally I measured the required page width on the first page of the signature (in this case 11cm/4.5") and, using a ruler, tore the first page to leave a rough edge. Keeping the ruler in place I then tore the remaining pages in the same manner. Work through to the middle pages then flip your signatures over and repeat until all the pages are torn to the desired width. And that's a signature complete!

And here's a reminder of what the journal cover looks like;

And in case you missed the link on Facebook here is the video of the completed journal;

Hope you've enjoyed seeing the first instalment of my ARTifacts journal journey. I'll be back to share how the pages are coming along over the next few months as more is added.

Take care of yourselves and have fun! Jenny xx