Video of cardboard journal No. 1

Here is the video of the cardboard journal that I have been sharing.  Enjoy!

 

Cardboard Journal - 13

 

This is the end of this journal.  Never fear, there are more journals and art to come.  I am pretty hooked on making this type of journal.  I have a DO list of projects to work on but I keep making journal after journal.  Deadlines are coming so I best get busy on other things.  I will.  I am having too much fun with creating in these box journals though.

Cardboard Journal - 12

 

This spread is another of my favorites for many reasons.  I love how the previous spread shares the composition.  The colors all go together.  It really is a happy accident that they do.  The metal piece pointing to the man’s head is a found object.  It is a woman’s hair clip that I found at the grocery store parking lot.  I love the size of the woman on the right compared to the man on the left.  The line quality achieved with the sewing machine stitching gives interest as does the blue masking tape down the center of the fold causing my eye to jump back and forth with the other similar shades of that color.  The K from the previous spread also adds interest to the total composition.

Cardboard Journal - 11

 This might be my favorite spread in the whole journal.  It was one of the first pages that I worked on using the packing tape transfer.  It is also the first time that I discovered that gluing on something to the backside of the shows through to the side that will be seen.  Love that.  I pronounce the name of the woman as KiKi but spelling KyKi.

Cardboard Journal - 10

 When I am working on a tiny book like this I do not have an outcome in mind other than it will be shabby chic.   I do not work on one spread at a time until completion.  I work on the whole book.  I find something interesting and I adhere it to a page.  The composition leads me.  This one led me to a narrative about the woman.  i thought she looked like she was an aristocrat of some sort….perhaps a society matron.  The fork, the plant and her look suggested to me that she has to have everything just so or as I said “precise”.  It is ingrained in her and hence the word “baggage” as she has to carry her precision with her always.

Cardboard Journal - 09

 There is a lot of hand stitching, machine stitching, fabric, and bookbinding thread in this journal.

Cardboard Journal - 08

 

So as promised turning the page provides another partial tree.  I really like how that happy accident occurred.

Cardboard Journal - 07

This spread is special to me because of the tree and it leads to tomorrow’s spread which I absolutely love. Stay tuned.
 

Cardboard Journal - 06

 This is a good example of the previous spread appearing in the next spread once the page is turned. Recognize the little boy on the left from yesterday.  I really Ike the silhouetted man in the background facing the same way as the Asian man in the foreground.

Cardboard Journal - 05

 

One thing I really like about this journal is that the pages are different sizes allowing either upcoming pages or past pages to show somewhat as you go through the book.

Cardboard Journal - 04

 Yesterday I chatted about ironing the Amazon box cardboard after soaking it.  I had let it dry for about an hour before ironing.  Well, I have a concern and that is the odor that is given off by the ironing.  I am thinking that I am ironing the glue.  I do not know if it is toxic or not but I got the exhaust fan going and opened the kitchen window.  Just wanted you to know.  Ventilation is the key I am sure.

Also I talked about removing the gloss from the packing tape transfers.  I have another suggestion for making it matte.  Take a sanding block or fine sandpaper and give it a go on the shiny part of the transfer if you do not want a gloss look.  I tried it and it works.

Cardboard Journal - 03

 Barbara Streisand sings a song called Ladies Who Lunch.  The song is my inspiration for this piece.  In the background on the left I used some map papers that the artist Kathy Ross gave me.  The background papers on the right are home-made sanded magazine papers plus some found magazine papers that I liked.

The question came up in comments about removing the shine from the packing tape transfer.  I have adhered all my packing tape transfers with glue stick.  So putting anything wet over the transfer could cause the transfer to lift and pull away from the substrate.  With that said, one could adhere the packing tape transfer with PVA glue or some other glue of choice that won’t lift when the image is dry. Then a coat of matte medium can be put over the top of the transfer.  That should blunt the shiny image.  Try it and see if it works well for you. Let me know.

Cardboard Box Journal - 02

 

I subscribe to The NY Times Sunday edition weekly.  I think it is the third Sunday of the month that The NY Times Style Magazine is published.  Not only does this magazine have great articles frequently on contemporary artists but the images are great for transferring.  The ink is perfect in fact.  I cut or tear out an image and then put a piece of packing tape over the image.  I burnish it down really well and then soak the taped image in warm water for five or ten minutes.  The image transfers amazingly to the tape.  This woman in turquoise  was captured with this method.  Laying the image over a pattern frequently makes for a wonderful new image as the pattern underneath may show through.

Ok, yesterday morning I spent time soaking a torn apart Amazon mailing box.  It is corrugated and I originally thought using corrugated would not work for the substrate of this type of journal.  Guess what?  It does and I made yet another journal to work in.  The three layers soak off of each other easily….just peel away after about ten minutes in warm water.  Even the corrugated part can be used.  I ironed the corrugated portion of the box after it had some time to dry partially and it flatten easily.    Here are some photos of the process.

Drying wet cardboard separated into the three layers, top, bottom and middle corrugated.

Dry papers waiting to be turned into a journal.

Wet corrugated paper waiting for ironing.

Cardboard Journal - 14

 I know this is out of order.  No. 14 should come much later.  However, I forgot to scan this spread and when I finished scanning the journal I found that I had missed this one.  I want to present the spreads in order of where they appear in the book.

Scanning each spread has proven to be difficult because there is so much this and that sticking out of the closed journal.  So I have had to PhotoShop each spread. If you look at yesterday’s images you will get the idea of how the perimeter of each spread might look.  PhotoShopping took off the ribbons, and string, and what-nots.  

Yesterday, in the comments, there seems to be some confusion on what a stationery box might be.  It is a box that holds notecards that one might send to friends.  You break down the box so it is flat and then soak it in warm water.  After about five or ten minutes you can start dissecting the wet layers or peel the layers back so you can have the substrate pages for the journal after those wet layers dry.  Some tear irregularly.  Some are very forgiving.  That is part of the fun of this method of creating a journal.  You use whatever results to make the journal.

Yesterday I mentioned that one might not want to use a corrugated box.  I am going to dissect an Amazon delivery box today and see how it works.

Cardboard Box Journal - 01

 

I recently took an online class by Colleen Attara on creating tiny journals out of cardboard boxes.  These boxes are like stationery boxes, not corrugated cardboard.  One might be able to use portions of a corrugated box.  I would have to try and see how it works.  However, stationery boxes work well.  You flatten the box and soak it in warm water.  Then you take the wet cardboard out of the water and peel back the layers to make the pages of the book.  The book is shabby chic in appearance but I must say I had so much fun creating that I am now on my fourth book.  Colleen’s workshop is one of the best online workshops I have ever taken. 

Interior shot of the book with embellishments.

First spread in the journal.  I will share all spreads over the next many days.

Hidden under the car photo is a surprise.  Sorry I can not show it here.

la moment - 16

 

This is the last piece in this book of small collages.  This book sat for a long time before the idea of adding tiny collages to each page of punched holes and parts of a French letter came to me. I am a firm believer that the art leads me.  Sometimes that might take time.  It was not forced but percolation was needed.

la moment - 15

 

Who would have thought that all the little scraps of paper would come in handy.  You know the ones that many would throw away.  I am just loving miniature.

la moment - 14

 

I imagine this woman has a wealth of stories to tell.  The trouble with getting older, well one of the things, is that unless you keep adding new friends everyone has heard all your old stories.  Or you have to keep making new history and creating more narratives as you age.

la moment - 13

 

Ephemera is everywhere.  The yellow part of this collage came from a chocolate bar.

la moment - 12

 

I changed up the orientation of my ephemeral papers this time.  Works for me.

la moment - 11

 Just having too much fun filling this journal.  I am running out of vintage photos.  So have to find some more.  I suppose I could print them off the internet in a pinch.

moment la - 10

 

The woman from yesterday and the one from today sure do look alike.  They certainly were dressed in a similar fashion....perhaps of the time.

moment la - 09

 

Today's collage and tomorrow's collage were two women in one photo.  They look to be twins.  Not sure.

Moment la - 07

 

To make the teabag paper with holes I sit on my front porch with a burning incense stick.  It is meditative.

Moment la - 06

 I just love a black and white photograph with color added to the surrounding ephemera.  The contrast is outstanding.

Moment la - 05

 

The fashion of the 40s was amazing.  Hair styles were so chic.  Lots more fabric than in many of today’s women’s wear.

Moment la - 04

 

Many years ago I typed letters on a WORD document and printed those letters on tissue paper.  I found some of that tissue paper the other day.  Love that look.

Moment la - 03

 

The paper for the over of this book came from The Netherlands.  It is produced in a “factory” that has a windmill.  I first learned about the paper when I attended a workshop in the Shetland Islands a few years ago.  Now I have to remember the name of the paper.

Moment la - 02

 

I like the elements….writing from a French letter, the collage and the holes pierced in the paper.

Moment la - Cover and 01

 The collages in this book number 7.  They are all the same size as you see here.  The cursive writing is from some French letters I found in an antique store.  I cut them to line size.

December 2022 ATC - School Photo Series - 07

 

Happy New Year!  2023!  This is the last of the School Days Photo Series for now.  I have more photos similar to the ones I have been using but I am working on other things right now.