Scrappy Journal

I took Mary Ann Moss's Remains Of The Day on-class. It is an EXCELLENT class with PDF's, video's, class blog, yahoo group, & flickr group. You can find info about the class & her other classes on her blog .

http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/

In this class the pages are from paper scraps that gather in your stash & can't bear to get rid of. They are then sewn on or together to make the signatures. There are places for journaling, tucking in receipts or goodies from your day, pockets & anything else you want to add.

The cover has a paper base with the fabric being a kind of slipcover. The idea for the cover is to again use the fabric scraps in your stash. Then sew it down "guerrilla" style. A Mary Ann Moss phrase.

My pics are in the reverse order that I wanted. Oh well. This one below has my first "ticket" from my new POGO printer, a Christmas present from Sam. Plus some fabric & painted paper scraps.

This is one of my favorites. The butterfly is a note card.

This has a clear pocket.

This is my first page. Mary Ann had a pic of herself on her first page. I did the same thing!! I found this in an old Smithsonian mag.

Here is my cover. All wrapped up & cozy.
I had made some journals inspired by Mary Ann's. But they just didn't have "it". Now I understand her methods. She has the amazing ability to make order out of chaos. I think a lot like her but am unable to break it in to steps like she does.

She's my Art Hero!!!

Handmade Journal - Guerrilla Style

This was inspired by Dawn at http://on-the-banks-of-bay-creek.blogspot.com/ check out her flicker site as well. There you will find the pics of her visual journal volume 10. I loved looking at that journal she made (as well as her other art). Dawn referenced Mary Ann Moss http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341bf79853ef011571f2345a970b And I found that Dispatch From LA is a great place to wander around! She gives classes on her techniques. I just found her so haven't taken any classes yet.

This one went together so fast for me. So maybe next time I will remember to take pics along the way!

For a base I used the "fabric" that I made ironing those pesky plastic grocery bags together. I learned how to do this on Threadbangers on YouTube. I started by gathering some papers I had in my stash & on my art table. That determined the size. I sewed paper towels to the inside of the front & back. Then I sewed the denim strip on the outside spine. (from my 15 yr old jeans that just got to thin to wear) Then the next black strip is from one of my husbands ties. The white is the plastic. I added ribbons to it. Took it outside and spray painted with a couple of stencils & then flipped over the stencils to use all of the paint!

The next step was to sew in 2 signatures of my papers. Folded each paper really well, assembled about 6 pages each & sewed them down the middle using a straight stitch.

This is my kind of sewing - guerrilla sewing (to quote Mary Ann Moss). Next time I will neaten up the edges. Oh and I added a pipe cleaner to the front edge to help keep it straight.

This is becoming a visual journal of sorts. I have added stickers off of fruit, tags off of a backpack for my grandson, labels off of a shirt. And I used Sarah Whitmires technique of claiming my journal on the first page. I am not questioning myself . I find a picture or anything else that catches my eye and glue, staple & stick it on the pages.