Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

How to Make Floating Pockets with No Glue for Junk Journals

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

USEFUL RECYCLE HACK! Cute Mini Composition Book Idea! Recycled Folio!

T Stands for the 13th Anniversary of T Day

 

Erika from BioArtGirl was my swap partner for the 13th T Day Anniversary. Erika had me at the Kitty Love Stamp and she also included a Historic Main Street Railroad Station stamp.

On the back of the envelope she stamped this nervous feline

Inside, this gorgeous card with two of my favorite things. Ink (my beloved black cat now with me in spirit and any black cat I see real or in print is Ink) and a cup of tea. The sentiment on the card: May your cup overflow with Hope.

The inside sentiment was a belated T Day anniversary wish (sometime in July) and a birthday wish.  She also included a fun tag with having coffee/tea at the beach. I love the googly eyes on the teacup. She also tucked in an Ink bookmark. His paws are cut out so his paws hang over the top of the page and his body hangs on the back of the page. There was also an Ink silhouette.

Thank you, Erika, for going through so much trouble with an injured shoulder. I hope you're feeling better.

Thank you to our hosts, Elizabeth and Bleubeard for hosting T Day. 13 years. Here's to many more T Days.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

No Glue Giftwrap

A Journal Page

 

playing around with ideas for a new project.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. We enjoyed a new to us series Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol

2. Because I had been sick, we postponed St. Patrick's Day corned beef dinner. I made corned beef, 2 loaves of sweet Irish soda bread, and we watched The Quiet Man.

3. Fun trip to the Dollar Store for Easter goodies for the Great Nieces and Great Nephew

4. I finally sorted a box of scrap and fodder for journaling.

5. I completed another tutorial on painting fun birds

How was your week?

More from the Junk Journal

Warning: Image Heavy

Pages 17 was a weekend day so there was no prompt. Penguins with a snowman built by the Young One when she was 5 years old and photocopied. "Are we having fun?"

The prompt for day 23 was sketchy, but I swapped that for day 18. I sketched the polar bear from a sticker and cut out the letter for No. As in replying to the penguins and snowman on the first page. Are we having fun? No

The prompt for the 19th was Clips and layers. An envelope from Finnbadger provided the backdrop. The large penguin was a thank you note from the grandniece and grandnephew. The envelope wrap holds a penguin sticker and is clipped to the penguin card.

On January 20, Lindsay showed us how to make a simple pop-up. The Eldest had sent me a clips of Harvey, the mailman, from the cartoon, Hey, Arnold. This was my inspiration.

The prompt for the 21st was Negative Space. Lindsay used packing tape to adhere some flowers. I used snowflake embellishments. With the packing tape, the snowflakes can be seen from both sides.

The January 22  prompt was Colors. White is a color. Snowflakes are Winter dandelions.

I swapped the prompt Sketchy on the 23rd. The 18th was a weekend day so my own composition. I had the pretty birch tree paper and a cardinal that I wanted to use. Cardinals make me think of my parents and a female cardinal had recently visited the bird feeder. Mr. Google provided me with a cardinal quote. "My cardinal song is a call to you, To tell you that I miss you, too." - Elle Bee

Maps was the January 26 prompt. I track a polar bear named Bobbie though the app, Fahlo. Bobbie is an old broad like me. According to her bio on the postcard, she's 22 years old and has raised 6 cubs.

The map is an image of her tracking signals.

The theme for the 27th was pockets. "Where does a polar bear keep his paws when they are cold?"

"In his pawkets" 🤣I just slay me.

A Christmas card with black-capped chickadees (the state bird of Massachusetts) and the remnants from the birch tree paper, provided this gem. The prompt was supposed to be stamps, but I swapped that for the 31 which was a Sunday and didn't have a prompt.

One chickadee asks, "What's the best thing about Winter?"

The other chickadee replies, "When it's over."

Fabric was the prompt for January 29. I don't really sew and didn't have any fabric. I did find some felt from craft stuff the Young One left behind when she moved. I fabricated a little penguin with googly eyes.

"I am wicked cold, but being very brave." I saw the saying on a tee-shirt. The wording on the tee-shirt was I am very cold, but I substituted "wicked" a quintessential Boston expression.

On Friday, a notecard arrived from Nan. Perfect timing because everything she sent was perfect for the January 30 prompt of Mixed Up Media and Mediums. Nan hand lettered and watercolored the card. She used the cute little girl dressed in red stamp. On the back of the envelope she had used washi tape which I used to adhere the card like a flap so I could still read her note.

She also included some painted and decorated snowflakes which I turned into a tag. The envelope made the perfect pocket.

I used the stamp prompt from the 28th for the 31st. I had a polar bear stamp. I stamped him 2 times and cut them both out. Pasted one down and then used mounting tape to make him "3D". As of the last day of January there are only 140 days left until the Summer Solstice.

More From the Junk Journal

The prompt for Jan. 7 was Tags and Tickets. I didn't have any tickets so used the round images as tickets. 

The images for the tags came from a welcome sign I made as one of my first calligraphy projects. I photocopies the snow people and cut them out.

The poem on the pocket: (The Young One helped me complete the rhyme)

Some like it hot

Some like the snow

Some look forward to baseball

Some go where the coffee flows

The theme for January 14 was monochromatic, but the white really needed something to break it up.

Inside the pocket was a poem the Eldest wrote when she was 7 years old. I had calligraphed it and used it as a Christmas card one year. So I photocopied it and made a tassle.

Her poem:

Winter is...

Frost on cars

Ruined plans of going places.

On Mondays afternoon Ice skating

Zoos are closed

Extra days off

Nobody outside at times

Icicles clinking when you take them off

Cold, frozen, windy, days

Extra days in June

I added:

Is it August, yet?

January 15th's prompt was to use packaging. I cut a circle out of a plastic clamshell package that held the Crop-a-Dile I bought. I used it along with a photograph of the girlies and their snowman friend to make a snow globe. The date on the photograph was March 17, 1997

Since I'm behind in the journal, I didn't really think of a way to put space between the "glass globe" so the sparkles would move.

The prompt for January 16 was window. Because the book pages are thin, I couldn't cut a hole in the page as I already glued two pages together. So I hunted around for a clipart image of a window. I found one with a calico cat. I used the image and colored the cat black. Purrfect. Ink loved to watch the snow.

There weren't any prompts for Jan. 24  and 25 because there is no journal class on the weekends. I used this weekend's storm as a two page spread. On the left, a list of storm prep and last minute store items, mostly snacks and especially chocolate. On the right over a picture of the backyard, The Snow Gnome measuring stick with a snow total of 17.5 inches. I think I need to add the countdown until the Summer Solstice.

More from the Junk Journal.

On January 6, Lindsay showed how to make streamer with bits of paper or fabric, a bulb pin or a safety pin, and a button. The cardinal stamp was from the Holiday Cheer stamps issued by USPS for the 2025 holiday season. It came from Finnbadger's cat card envelope

The house card was formerly an Amazon giftcard holder. It sits in a paper pocket. The tree was from an insert from St. Jude's Children's Hospital which I cut out. On the back some notes about the streamer. The tree is held to the house with the green paper clip.

When I hear someone say Let It Snow, I usually add at Someone else's house. 

The gift card envelope opened up. A sticker with 3 bears dressed for Winter. The bears asking Are we having fun yet?

Lindsay demonstrated how to easily make an envelope from a square sheet of paper. I used a piece of origami paper. The prompt for January 9 was washi tape. Lindsay covered her entire page with washi tape. I was too cheap so just covered the inner flap of the envelope.

This page is part of the spread you saw for T Day. The "Warm" came from the top of the snowman card. 2OLOTR (Two Old Ladies on The Road) need a warm destination. Inside the envelope, the Two Old Ladies on a warm, Summer day taken at Nubble Light in York, Maine.

There are no prompts for the January weekends as the group doesn't meet on the weekends. I decided I wanted to use my journal every day during the month of January. 

The pages for January 10 and 11 formed a spread. I thought of the Rankin and Bass production, A  Christmas Without a Santa Claus which introduced us to two characters, Mr. Heat Miser and his brother, Mr. Ice. I grabbed a screen shot of them from a YouTube clip and cut them out along with a thermometer which was colored in for each of them. Googly eyes added a bit of fun, too

My cousin and I tease each other about the weather. He loves snow and cold. I do not.

If you're humming their respective songs, you can find the lyrics on the back of Mr. Heat Miser and under the card flap for Mr. Ice.

T Stands for Dream Without Limits

From my January Journal, the prompt for the day was Note to Self and Postcard. A marshmallow snowman from a Christmas card relaxes in a hot tub of hot chocolate. The note to self: Open your heart and dream without limits.

Under the snowman card is a postcard of Ogunquit Beach, Ogunquit, Maine. The view is from the ocean looking towards the Norseman Resort. Two Old Ladies On The Road are anxious for warm weather and running away to Ogunquit.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

took some time to admire the thoughtful card sent by Finnbadger from Envelope 100. He sent the card because it reminded him of me, Ink, Calli, and Quill. Embiggen the card and you can see all three cats.

I also joined Lindsay Ostrom's Facebook group working on a January junk journal. I've really been enjoying the group even though I've gone my own way. My journal with a Winter theme is more scrapbooky, scrapbookish...more like a scrapbook than a collaged and painted art journal.

I like the idea that under flaps, you can have room for some personal journaling

While at the annual, family gathering, gifts for the grand-nieces were wrapped in snowman paper. Before the paper was tossed out, I asked if I could have some. At the time, I wasn't sure what I would use it for. As I began working in the journal, it occurred to me that I could punch the snowmen out and use them as page numbers or dates in the journal.

On January 2nd, Lindsay demonstrated how to make paper beads from strips of paper. I stuck a couple of strips of paper as borders on this page and rolled the ends to make the beads.

January 3rd was the Full Wolf Moon. I like the background for the page and the silhouette of the wolf against a full moon. I like the moon dangling from a string. I'm not sure I'm that crazy about the yellow banner.

The cool thing about the junk journal is the pages don't have to be complete. You can always go back and add more or take something out. This idea needs to percolate more

Having worked in a hospital laboratory for 6 years, I'm a firm believer in the full moon. The crazies come out of the woodwork. It's like a virus. Three days coming, three days with you, and three days leaving. It happens at the New Moon, too, which is a full moon we can't see. So the back of the wolf tag the wolf is howling: The crazies are OUUUT

While gathering ephemera for the journal, I went through some school papers the girlies created.  I photocopied this  poem the Young One wrote when she was 6 years old. 

Finnbadger has a beautiful, circle, return address stamp with a cardinal in the center. I fussy cut the cardinal and colored it in. I also colored in the snowman's carrot to make it stand out more. The cardinal poised on the tip of the snowman's nose is asking: Is it July, yet?

The journal prompt for January 5 was Tuck Spot. Lindsay demonstrated making pockets by folding pages in triangles or rectangles. The tag was a gift card to me from The Young One. The snowflake on the front fit the theme and with a little bit of a trim, it fit into the pocket. 

Since I'm not a fan of Winter and tend to hibernate, I saw a craft about making a polar bear bookmark. He fit into the second pocket. On his back, I wrote the instructions for folding pockets. With the white dots, he looks like he's peeking out from his cave. Wake me when Winter is over seemed to be a fitting sentiment for the page.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Marked the New Year with the annual family gathering. The two, little grand-nieces will soon be joined by another baby girl in March.

2. I texted with Nan about the junk journaling group. She's a good source for inspiration

3. I misplaced a card for the junk journal. Tore the place apart looking for it. Found it!

4. We got a new trash company and pick up day. They pick up trash and recycling the same time every week instead of recycling every other week. This week, I got the trash and recycle out without falling on the ice

5. After a nearly three week hiatus because of the holidays and vacation, Teague and I are back to weekly visits.

How was your week?

Gluing Tool

 

In the junk journaling group, we're doing a lot of gluing. While watching videos of various junk journals, I came across the Sili Glue Brush. The tips are silicone with a hard shaped plastic end. The tools were meant for woodworkers to get glue into tight joints.

I thought it would be good to spread glue on paper and other ephemera without the nasty cleanup of washing out brushes or throwing them away.

Cleanup is very easy with this tool. Just rinse under water or if glue dries to the tip, you just peel it off. (I was one of the kids that enjoyed spreading Elmer's glue on the palm of my hand, waiting for it to dry, and then trying to peel off the "skin" in one piece)

The downside of the tool is the wide tip is a lot narrower than I hoped. It's great for gluing small bits, but not so great for larger sheets. I think a silicone spatula or basting brush would work better.

Any of you mixed media artist out there have any other tips for gluing? 

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Curve-creased origami artists Erik & Martin Demaine (father-son team)

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Stolen from Jean at Pushing the Envelope

Envelope with a Twist

Monet and Me

are procraftinating. That's doing some sort of a craft instead of what you should be doing like cleaning the studio.

We decided to try to make the little birds from Saturday's happy, little, time waster. The project called for using paper that is decorated on both sides. I had some cardstock, but it was a little too difficult to work with.

I decided to use  some colorful, glossy pages from a garden catalog which would otherwise be relegated to the recycle bin. I trimmed the image so there was no white border and then cute it into strips. 1 inch, 1/2 inch. The length of the strip was about 5 or 6 inches. I didn't measure things. 

 I did try a shorter strip but it wasn't long enough for me to tie into a knot. The magazine paper was fragile so I had to be careful about pulling the knot taut. I got a little ham-fisted and tore the paper.

The birds turned out cute. On some I cut swallowtails and on a couple I just cute the tail into a fringe. I didn't think the Sharpie marker eye showed up well enough. I had some googly eyes, gems, and other embellishments that I thought would work for the eyes.

I have a friend who retired and moved into a new home in Arizona to be closer to her daughter. I thought I would use the birds to make a card for a new home.