Black and White ROYGBIV Journal Done

I didn't feel good enough to sew let alone handling the rotary cutter, so I worked on the black and white ROYGBIV journal.  

It is "done" for now but there are quite a few blank pages that can be filled going forward as items of interest present themselves.

DH likes this bird and I must say that cutting out so many letters for my Abecedarium project has greatly improved my fussy cutting skills.

I chanced upon a $2 thrifted book filled with black and white photographs taken by Frank M. Hohenberger, the unofficial photographer laureate of Indiana.  

I've used quite a few of his photos in this journal - they're timeless and haunting.  The quotes came from all over but they absolutely belonged with these photographs.

The spiral-bound now-altered book itself was my 2018 quilt log.  Every so often a bit of multicolor ink shows around the edges.  

Who else has stood and gazed into the basin of a large civic fountain?  I know I have.

The gray scrapbook paper backgrounds came from an early 2023 purchase.

Finally I have found a grand way to use them.

Having lived in Indiana for many years when our boys were babies, toddlers, and lower elementary school students, we saw many buildings like this one.  

I've had the typewriter sticker for a long time - and this page tickles me.

Exploring was the beyond-perfect word for this photograph.

Black and white logos cut from advertising and packaging.

The final page (left) bears a vellum pocket made from paper rescued from one of Young Man's long ago Kiwi Crate kits.

The inside back cover (right) features the thrifted book's cover photo.

And in my stash of abandoned old thrifted/rescued photos, I found these two that now live inside the vellum pocket.

The back of the car photo bears the inscription "Pop's car 1946" so the time period is exactly right.

* * * 

There are two more ROYGBIV journals planned - one in warm neutrals and the other in blues.  I've started assessing what I have for the warm neutrals version so time will tell how that evolves.  

(by using the ROYGBIV label below, you can scroll through all of this project's previous posts)

p.s. All of us are recovering slowly - our energy comes and goes as does our ability to concentrate - darn summer colds!

Quiltdivajulie

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"It is better to something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything." 

Winston Churchill

ROYGBIV Journal in Purples

The purple ROYGBIV journal has been completed. 

The introduction post for this multi-volume series is HERE and you can see all previous posts by using the ROYGBIV journals label in the sidebar.

Inside front cover and first page.

I had such fun sifting through my bits and pieces of purple . . . 

An unused envelope became a decorated pocket with a decorated paint chip tucked inside.

Another unused envelope contains a play money "bill" backed with a magazine cut out.

Vintage rick rack and the inspection slip from a box of masks . . . 

And a quote I dearly love embellished with a bit of vintage lace.

Part of the cover of my maternal grandmother's embroidery booklet (one of many she left behind).

A label turned into a pocket . . .

As was this magazine cut out . . .

This panda panel from a box of tissues holds more play money.

And another embellished envelope fills the final page of the journal.

And when the flap is opened, more goodies are revealed.

The back cover's florals came from yet another magazine page.

* * *

Next up in the series will be the black and white edition (with only blue and then warm neutrals still in the pipeline).

Quiltdivajulie

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"Be eccentric now - don't wait for old age to wear purple!"

Regina Brett

PINK - the Journal

My evening playtime sessions have resulted in the first "finished" color-themed journal in my ROYGBIV series. 

(see my initial November 2023 reference on the blog HERE) 

It's been a challenging week and I needed some PINK to soothe myself, so it was the first color I chose to play with.

It felt so good to turn this former daily quilt log into something filled with color.

(I've been saving bits and pieces since I hatched this idea last November and then searched the house for enough other papers to add color on the remaining pages)

I just HAD to add the tiny buttons.

A bit of Little Man's Camp Sefton work/play and a page from an old Chihuly book that we never look at  anymore.  

(you'll see pages from that book in the subsequent journals in the series - red, blue, yellow, orange, white, green, etc.)

Old vintage papers from a long ago Etsy order, paint chips, and fabric scraps.

There are plenty of plain-ish pink pages where I can continue to add more bits of pink as I find them (packaging bits, greeting cards, wrapping paper, junk mail, fabric scraps, postage stamps, etc.).

And the six or seven lined "Notes" pages were left as-is so I can write in quotations focusing on pink as I find them.

(you didn't think I would could make a journal without adding quotes, did you?)

Here is the finished front cover with the journal's closure ribbon.

(I may need to shop for some of the ROYGBIV ribbon colors as this series progresses - or I might use strips of fabric . . . )

And this is the journal's back cover featuring a too-perfect-not-to-use greeting card (that folds over onto the interior back cover surface).

* * *

I do love PINK - and sharing this "finish" on Valentine's Day turned out to be an unexpected happy bonus.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink."

Lilly Pulitzer

ROYGBIV Series Complete

All eight of my ROYGBIV journals are assembled and "done" . . . subject to adding more found bits over time.

The photos below feature my final two journals - "warm neutrals" and "the blues."

Warm neutral cover.

Who else remembers taking typing class in high school?  

A fragment from one of my mother's Simplicity patterns and a vintage button card.

An old recipe and an old postcard with fabulous penmanship on the reverse side (the Kraft envelope is one my DIL used to send a card my way).

Lace fragment from my collegiate summer in Finland and one of my grandmother's crocheted doilies embellished with a vintage button.

Random bits of papers - graph, rice, map, magazine, tea-dyed learn-to-print, and vintage book.

I added flat lace trim to seven or eight of the pages - the color palette pretty much demanded it.

On to the "the blues" journal.

For some reason the juxtaposition of the underwater bookplate and the blue skies phrase tickled me.

Blueberries from a Pete the Cat book turned into a pocket for the Chihuly tag, a bit of scrapbook paper, and a magazine illustration.

A group of interestingly random pieces.

Two pockets  containing a vintage game card and the LOL postcard sent from Nann's stash.

I love including vintage seed packets in these journals.

* * *

Technically these eight volumes are more "glue book" than journal, but I'm not big on using the technically correct terminology (any more than I 'm a fan of popular genre or style labels for my quilts).

These books were originally the annual calendar journals I kept next to the sewing machine during my earlier years of quilt making.  Instead of letting them sit ignored while taking up valuable shelf space, I've given them new life as "altered books" . . . so I call them my ROYGBIV journals for the sake of simplicity.

This has been a super fun project that has allowed me to use a whole lot of little bits of all sorts.  Much better to use these little bits instead of accumulating and storing!

And, if you're interested in seeing the earlier volume reveal posts, just click on the ROYGBIV label below.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We can only connect the dots we collect . . . Your connections are the thread that you weave into the cloth that becomes your story that only you can tell."

Amanda Powell

ROYGBIV Series - the RED Journal

The RED journal in my ROYGBIV series has been assembled.

And another of my old daily quilt journals has been transformed with a lot of little bits and pieces that now have forever homes.

This is the back - a page from a magazine trimmed to fit and wrap around to the inside a ways.

Inside the front cover I tucked a folded note into the pocket that tells a bit about the project and includes my signature and date.

My favorite Friends used book store had a half-price sale last week which made the children's books a whopping twenty-five cents each.

I curated quite a large stack of them specifically for this red journal but also for the black/white, blue, purple, and yellow-orange editions.

I found Clifford the Big Red Dog, Pete the Cat with his red tennis shoes, Santa Claus, and so many more childhood favorites that you'll see in the photos below.  

I even found a home for this vintage newspaper piece from the 50s (who knows why it was saved for so long).

Llama Llama RED Pajama has been one of Little Man's favorites forever (not so much now but oh, when he was younger we could read it a dozen times in a row and he'd say "Again!').

And who could forget Elmo?

Animal crackers anyone?  

The envelope contains a couple of game cards, one of LM's drawings featuring a lot of red, and a red teabag envelope.

Little RED Riding Hood?  Of course!

And even the Hershey's Kisses Candy Cane flavor is represented.

I'd never read this book but with the red barn as a central character, who could leave it in the bin?

Yes indeed - color makes me happy and so does reducing my paper stash while making something that brings me joy.

* * *

I know some of you really don't get my newfound interest in collage and journal/bookmaking, but the desire to indulge in these art forms has been present for a very long time (witness this post from 2011). 

I'm grateful that last year's 100 Day Challenge allowed me to dive in head first even though I didn't actually make anything for that Challenge.  This year's 100 Days of Tea has gotten as far as Day 11 but at the same time I have already decided to change my focus entirely (not to worry, the tea tags will still be made - just not in this time frame).

(photo above shows the back of one tea tag with notes for its front and the front of the next tea tag colored using Brusho crystals - you can also see how I will organize/display them using binder rings)

So what am I going to do instead?

I plan to create a Doodle a Day in my 5.5" x 8.5" sketchbook that can then be revisited during the June-July ICAD event when I'll pick and choose 61 of the doodles to embellish with colors.

The end goal is to get over my "I can't draw" phobia as it relates to my journals - I really want to make more of my own collage papers going forward, so all of this will hopefully fit together down the road.

Quiltdivajulie

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Rubricate:  (verb) to mark or color with red.