Handmade art booklet and journal

I came across my stash of unused card blanks from the days when I taught and published card making ideas and in the back of my mind was that I should sell them off to acquire some extra space.

Having this phobia about not gettting rid of anything, as I know I will always need it when it is gone, I pulled a few out and tested them to see how they took medium e.g. makers pens, watercolour etc and they seemed to hold up pretty good. So I folded some new blanks and glued them together, back to back as pages of a book.

I now have a neat little art book that I can carry anywhere, as the double glued pages make them quite sturdy, and I can add more pages as I wish.  This little book also fans out and stands up to make a dispay.

I have decided that this one will be for any whimsical birds that land on the pages. Here are two of the birds that have come to roost.

Another project that I have been working on for a while, is making a completely recycled journal/art book, as inspired by the lovely Jennibellie's blog. I know I have mentioned her before, but she is so generous with her time and instructions so her blog is well worth going to have a visit.  She is also doing a video on how to recycle those Christmas cards into a journal.

The cover of my art journal is a herbal tea packet covered in a paper bag. The pages are all made from cereal packaging and because I draw more than I paint I kept the pages neutral by covering them all in enevelope paper. The cutting, folding and covering of the pages took a long time. I then sewed the pages into the spine.  I have purposely kept it all neutral as I don't know yet what I have going to put in it, as I usually like to have a theme going.

Am linking this with Artists in Blogland show and tell week.

Have a fabulous weekend folks, I'm off to glue more cards together!