Wednesday, March 31, 2010

OK, so, I have been experiencing.....

cRaFT eNVy!

Yes indeed-de-doo I have.

I mean..all the great sites....the painting, the calligraphy, the photography, the sewn journals..the sketches..all of it.

And, if money were no object (yeeeaah, like that's ever going to happen..) I would take each and every class that catches my prolific crafting eye..

But, alas, I have no hen to lay the golden eggs..and, ewe... they'd be covered in..ahh..henpoo,

So I stalk...I Google, I YouTube, I blog-hop, I search, I clip magazines, I ask and most of all, I dream..

..of time

..of supplies

..of talent

..of learning

..of great teachers

And, I have been very fortunate to find almost no-cost ways to learn from the best....their BLOGS :-)

So, this month, it's learning how to create beautiful hand-made journals.

I am trying to use all available supplies (no running to Hobby Lobby to buy the 'latestgreatest" ) and hopefully, ending up with something that I can use, enjoy, share and keep.

On one completely WondERfuL blog, http://marthalever.blogspot.com/ (Art Du Jour) the "lovely & talented" Martha Lever {Hi Martha! Waving furiously from my cubicle at work..} showed a great new tool {at least I *think* I saw it there} that will make your plain, old (new) perfect pages look worn and raggedldeley (my word)..

Love to have it..

...but in the mean time, a sharp pair of scissors, a newspaper on my lap for the scrapings, a patient and accommodating Mr. B, and a re-run of NCIS on TV, I managed to rough-up 24 manila folders into 48 lovely pre-signatures (6 signatures made up of 4 folders each) just awaiting their final dressing of ephemera, scraps, fabric and fun!

So, ta-da..

before...

after...

sideways after....

It certainly does "Plump-them-up" huh?!

Here's an older lunch-bag-one I made a while back...



..and, when I was still in my "neat" phase...(I would totally grunge it up now, heehee)


So, there you have it...and please, take a moment to visit some of my "faves" on my sidebar..you won't be disappointed :-)

-me

9 comments:

A Wild Thing said...

I love them...I so wish I had the time to do one more thing...yeah right!!! I'm checkin' them out, maybe for some ideas for my trash...I mean neat stuff!

The Feathered Nest said...

Hey sweet Colleen!!! I just LOVE the look of these folders! And I'm sitting here at my computer trying to pronounce "raggedldeley" (which I think I've been able to do!) I love this look...maybe we could just open the car door ever so slightly and hold them against the pavement on the way to the grocery store? Nah....I'm off to look at your blog link ~ hope all is well with you dear friend!!!! hugs and love, Dawn

Laurie said...

Yeah don't tell yourself you're not talented! Beautiful journal work Colleen!Diane at Pinecones and roses also does journaling. Mine just never turn out!

Mellodee said...

Nice work! Most crafters just make me feel inadequate, but I love to look..... :)

Pearl said...

Wow Colleen you are craftdilicous! My gosh you really are a wizard,(the amazing Mrs. B)Love, love, love your work, and now I have to try this one. But I'm really thinkin that "The Feathered Nest" has the best plan so I'm reaving up my enigine now as we speak. Not my body, my car silly. Thanks for the fun idea and you look marvelous darling! Pearl

diane b said...

It all looks loads of fun. You are very talented and I'm blowed if I know where you get the time for all your crafty work when you still go to work. Clever..amazingl Mrs B

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh, Colleen, you have mastered the fine art of rubbing two pennies together to create three. Perhaps you've noticed that I rarely post anything new that I've purchased - only things I make with already-on-hand or cheap supplies. I love all the time I have now that I'm retired, but the teensy fixed income is a wee bit of a challenge.
Your art is LOVELY!!! Can we have more please? :)

Hugs,
Zuzu

Breezy said...

Those look wonderful! I am constantly amazed at your creativity!
I am still trying to find "my talent".

Diane and Kelly said...

Hi Colleen,
So many crafts....so little time.

It's true, there a zillion wonderful craft ideas out there right now. i like to try the ones that don't require lots of time or money because I don't have lots of either!

Kelly
Second Hand Chicks

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