Cottage of Memories: Circle Journal Among Friends

like i need another project - that really should be the title of this post.

but how could i say no ?

to the likes of Michelle, Alex, Nikki, Stephanie, Amy, Cheryl, Emily, and so many more.

i'm not really even sure how it all started, but I'm glad it did. a circle journal among friends who met through Artfest (plus a couple of super talented girls who haven't gone yet, but some day !) who would have thought ? and what better time to start my very first circle journal ?

so it was a no brainer for me that my theme would be 'sisterhood'. it came to me very easily and the ideas started flowing. the part i love is that every one has a different theme. nature, dreams, inspiration, etc. and i can hardly wait to work in everyones book.

so for my artfest sisters and everyone else out there - here is the beginning of my journal. ready to be mailed of to michelle - the first person in my rotation. i can hardly wait for the pages to be filled up with yummy ephemera and paint and glue and gel medium and sewing and and and . . . the list goes on.

the cover

back of the cover / old sheet music title page

first page you see - a little poem / ode to sisterhood i found on the internet

the sign in pages - since there are 17 of us, i made a fold out page. (Alex and Cheryl - i'll be sending you your own tags / envelopes with the pages for the book)

i am hoping that all participants embellish the envelopes and the distressed tags that are in the envelope. to make the envelopes, i just took a small sample, opened it up and traced it onto vintage paper. then glued them back together. easy !

for the inside pages, i just took some water color paper i had left over from artfest '08 that never got used and loosly tore pages. some of them are folded, but that's okay. they'll be decorated, so i'm not worried. i was actually glad to be able to be 'imperfect' with this book, as i usually like things very organized and, well, perfect. but i'm learning to accept my imperfections and go with the flow !

these pages were originally my cover and back - but i didn't like how they turned out. i was trying to make a row of houses with vintage paper - like a neighborhood - to show how much i'd love these women to be my neighbors. so instead of trashing it, it became a page in the book. the vintage sheet music has a song - beautiful angels, so i wrote -'you are all beautiful angels and i am blessed to know you. will you be my neighbor ?' i also sewed on a piece of vintage lace like a banner. me likey.

for the back page and cover, i just used some scraps of ephemera and collaged it. painted over a bit with gesso and pink acrylic paint.

one of my all time favorite finds in the ephemera world, is a vintage catalog for clothing from the mail order company Bellas Hess & Co, New York City. it contains all kinds of beautiful vintage photos of ladies, men and children 'modeling' the items you could order. (not only clothes, but hats, shoes, hankies, shoe buckles, etc.) these two ladies looked like sisters / friends who were sharing a secret, so i had to include them. i am trying to get past 'saving' all of my stash and use it. it was very freeing.

i also listed a few attributes of sisterhood next to them.

so, there it is - my little circle journal. i've been on vacation all week and we didn't go anywhere - just stayed home, so i could become immersed in glue and gesso and vintage yummy-ness.

but now, out to the yard. it needs some TLC.

blessings for a beautiful day, jill