A little drawing....

It's been a while since I have posted a drawing. I have lacked the motivation, desire, as I have been fighting through grief. So, I finally felt like doing a little drawing a week or so ago, and I am happy with how it turned out. It's a pencil drawing with a little color pencil on the eyes, I like to do that with my pencil drawings, to add a bit of color to the eyes, I like that contrast. I also am not good at drawing flowers and thought it would be fun to go back to my mixed media roots and add the poppies for a pop of color and fun. I love her. I think she is one of my better pencil drawings in a good while. Motivates me to continue on. 

2025 Journal Complete

Tonight, I finished up my 2025 journal. I'm fairly happy with this year's look. All except the ribbon. It's pretty, but it's too stretchy so it doesn't hold the journal closed very well. It just keeps stretching and loosening. So frustrating. But I like the retro papers and how it turned out over all. 

This is the front, sparkly retro papers. I was gifted this paper, so I was happy to be able to use it in this journal cover. 

 Below is how it all started. I start with a composition book, its cheap, I take it apart, removing the paper from the cover. I cut the cover in two.  Then I divide the papers up into sections for however pages I need for the year, each month usually 2 days to a page. Adding the month tabs on top, a calendar page for birthday reminders and appointments etc. I sew each section down the center to keep them together. I then go through the year and cover each page with a paper etc. like I have shown you in past posts. Now we are here, the binding. I use a good piece of cardboard and cut it to the size of my stack of journal sections. Cover edges with masking tape so that it is sturdier, as I am going to be using the hemp string to lay through the center of each section and then tie to the cardboard to hold in place. I also notch the designated number of notches for the number of sections I have. That way the string with settle into that notch and stay in place.

I decide on my papers for my cover inside and out and for the spine. All papers are mod podged in, sometimes I have to ruff up the front of the composition covers to make sure the papers stick better. I cannot do the spine of course until all are attached and front covers on. 

This is a picture of how I find the center of the section and lay the string down it and then pull it to the spine section and tie it and hot glue each tie to make sure they do not come undone as you see below. Cutting off excess string. 

Then I add a piece of heavier card stock to the back of the pretty paper I'm putting on the spine to cover this to make it sturdier and also to allow me to hot glue it to this mess of string without it showing the bumps through the spin paper. You have to do it in sections when dealing with hot glue. Overlap the paper onto the covers to make a nice-looking book. So there it is, 2025 all bound! I now will start a new book, making my sections, sewing the sections, I better get busy, the new year is just a few days away!! Thanks for stopping by!

Final Pages of 2025 Journal

Finishing up the last pages a little ahead of time. I had found some quotes that I wanted to use and they were fitting my moods. Also celebrated grandson Dominics 11th birthday. He is our first grandson.  Growing up so fast. 

I love this paper, also off of Etsy. Most all of my papers are. I used my cricut to print on the old cards instead of doing the regular cut out on vinyl. Cutting out the moths a bit to fit the cards in is a trick I like to use from time to time. I added some iridescent ink on the moths to give them some sparkle. 

This paper is yummy, I love distressed stuff. A bit of a pep talk with these quotes. Surrender and Faith go hand in hand.

This is one of my favorite pages of this section. The little girl with the wings and look on her face is priceless. I like the quote that I put with it..."If you could see the way God looks at you, you'd never question your worth again." I love that. 

Layering papers and some fun with a vinyl image of berries on the branch. Matching the art work I found on pinterest. 

More layering with a vintage looking set. Yes I used another moth, apparently its my thing, moths, butterflies, dragonflies..lol

This page I hope you can see. It's stunning in real life. I love the boat on the water with the stars, adding more vinyl stars across the page as if they just keep going.. More quotes that mean a lot to me. Quotes that speak to me on those days. 

This is a very vibrant page, yes...a butterfly!  I have been trying to be more in tune with my savior. I want to always do HIS will, to trust more, have more faith. So a lot of my quotes are reminders and instructions for me. 

I love this paper combo the floral and the plaid. So stunning. Using my sprocket to print off a few picture quotes to change things up. 

This page was inspired by my daughters outfit for her friends birthday party.  Going off the orange from her shirt I picked these fun papers out along with this angel girl with the same colors.