Secret Journey Journal and Some Beautiful Trim

What happens when you find an old map that your brother wrapped your Christmas gift in, you are thinking about what to make for the next Artist Tribe project and The Police are singing about Spirits in the Material World and their Secret Journey in the background?

Well, this. This happens. 

Naturally. 

What else could possibly have happened? Please don't answer that question. 

So I got this idea for a map of my spiritual journey. So many spiritual artifacts are ensconced in precious boxes covered with beautiful design. I had just the thing. My old iPhone box. I can never throw them away as they are so well made. I found the bottom right away. It took weeks for me to find the top, but that is another story....

So the map was cut into pages the size that could fit in the box. 

 Gwen Lafleur's compass stencil was the obvious choice for this project. I wanted to use a color close to indigo, but alas, in my enthusiasm for pink I have neglected variations of blue. What I had, I didn't have much of. I decided to mix it with black. It actually looks like I used black, but I am happy with the way it came out. 

While pouncing the color onto the page I became transported by memories and stopped paying close attention to what I was doing. The images are not crystal clear as one might imagine, but I decided that gave it a weathered effect that was perfect for this project and moved on. 

Usually, I use a slightly harder cardboard for the cover, but I decided to actually cover the cover. For this I chose a stunning paper from Gwen's collection. I thought the black and gold suited the project perfectly. The cover cardboard was cut to the exact size of the papers, the cover 1/4 inch larger on all sides. 

Adhere the cardboard to the paper. I used gel medium. 

Trim the corners. 

 Glue them down. 

For the interior cover (also called endpapers for those in the know) I used this beautiful peacock print paper also from Gwen's shop. It looks so regal. 

Before I bound the book, I cut a piece of Dresden trim and adhered to the cover using gel medium. Lucky me, the Dresden trim was the exact size to get both front and back pieces from. 

I bound the book using the Coptic Stitch. If you are unfamiliar with the process I would recommend watching a tutorial or two on YouTube. It does take some attention, but is fairly easy to do and looks great. 

Once the book was bound, I added bits and pieces of print in different languages - Chinese that came from Gwen's shop, Japanese and Russian from an instagram friend, French from a biography about the Marquese d' Sevenge who I was researching last spring, some Italian in the hand of Leonardo D'Vinci (though I have seen it written that he wrote backwards and is suspected to have dyslexia) and Korean (some word from a favorite KPop band, Shinee.) These all reflect travels of mine, with the exception of the Russian and that simply reflects friendship.

If I hadn't already decided to make it difficult enough, I chose to do all the text in code. I love a good puzzle. I used the code pig pen if you care to have a go at it. 

I carefully assigned meaning to each page spread and made a guide to help me keep on track. I then went through buckets of old pictures, scanning them, resizing them and using an app to make them all black and white. Some looked great when outlined or cartoonized, others were better with simple black and white. I printed them out like contact paper, cut them out and adhered them to the appropriate pages. 

Thanks to Artist Tribe member Jill McDowell, for inspiring me to see things within the stencils. I found visual hints on each page to keep the meaning coming. 

Let me be real here, a book like this isn't done quickly. It's really introspective, so I decided to begin and allow myself to continue as I go. Maybe you will see the completion post someday.

A beautiful book deserves a beautiful box, nes pa? Here's how I turned my iPhone box into a treasure box. 

Gwen sent me this beautiful piece of sari material. These will be available in her shop before long, so make sure you check in. I love this piece and it was precisely the size I needed to cover the lid! 


After folding the material over the box to make sure it would fit I added gel medium to the lid and pressed it on the fabric along one of the lines. Next, I adhered the long edges. Trim the excess on the ends and stick the sides down.  

Silk is lovely, but it frays in an ecstatic, energetic sort of way. I added gell medium around the edges to make sure they did not fray. 

Let's talk about Gwen's trim for a minute. This stuff makes you drool. With so much trim to choose from how does one begin? My box side is 2" high, so I chose a trim that is 1.5" and it works perfectly. I'm guessing that will help you narrow your choices down a little bit. 

I gave a liberal coat of gel medium on the backside of the trim and carefully adhered it to the box. Clothespins placed at the corners helped to keep it secure while drying. 

So here is the rub. Iphone boxes are snug. Really snug. So I couldn't get into the box very well once I had covered it. No problem, I wanted to do something to the bottom anyway. I glued a piece of the fabric I used in my Kuchi patch brooch to the bottom of the box. 

Then I used hot glue to add sari yarn around the edge of the box. This provides a place to grip and also keeps the box from closing completely. As you can see a piece of sari yarn is used to tie the box to complete the look. 

I just don't know when to leave good enough alone. I wanted to create a secret compartment for my box. I traced the inside of the iPhone tray and cut out a piece of craft foam that size. 

I covered it in the same fabric as the bottom and then attached sari yarn all the way around. Using a button making kit from a sewing supply store, I covered a button with the last scraps of that beautiful sari scrap and sewed it to the middle of the cushion. 

Placing a gemstone bracelet there makes it look like there is nothing else to be seen here. Well, let me dream that is what it looks like. 

The reveal.

The holes in the bottom of the box are wonderful for hiding things. Currently, I have the pig pen code. No, I haven't memorized it. I also have a stick of Japanese amber incense which makes the whole thing smell lovely. I am sensitive to scent and have trouble with most incense due to an allergy to jasmine, but this works for me. You could use a drop of essential oil, some lavendar flowers or a piece of your favorite soap. 

I'm sure to add more to this "secret" compartment, but I'm not going to share that with you. After all, it's a secret! 

Be sure to check out the materials I used from Gwen's shop:

Gwen's Stencil Girl Stencils - Ornamental Collection - Ornamental Compass 

Black and gold paper is from the Irresistible India Mixed Media Happy Pack

Gwen's essentials - German Dresden - Borders Assorted Patterns

Chinese paper from Exotic Orient Deluxe Collage & Embellishment Pack

Irresistible India Embellished Trims by the yard - Mirrored Gold Embellished Trim 

Sari Ribbon from Darn Good Yarn in Twisted Sister 

And this month Gwen's having a special on trim. Go wild. This stuff is gorgeous. 

International Women's Day

International Women's Day journal page. The prompt I was working on was "primary". The librarian in automatically thinks of primary documents. So I chose two from the National Archives - one of suffragettes marching on Bastille Day (they ended up in jail) and the amendment to grant women the right to vote. Keep marching. No accepting backsliding. Thanks to the women who came before and paved our way. 

#internationalwomensday #strongwomen#adaywithoutwomen #wearred#wearredforwomen#artmarks30daychallenge #artjournal#artjournaling #artjournaleveryday#artjournalmixedmedia

Average No More

Life changing events are not always large. They can be small, seemingly insignificant things that would have no effect on others. They can be something another would forget within the hour. 

In High School I found out that my GPA was in the middle of my class. I don't mean approximately. 

Smack dab in the middle

As in I was the average student. With an odd number of students in my class I could not even cry that it was the other middle who was actually the average one. Add to that blow hearing that the guidance counselors had used my standardized test (was it the Idaho or Iowa back then?) to show all the guidance counselors how to interpret the data. 

The shame. 

I had always been a kid who followed the beat of my own heart. I wasn't following a drummer, after all. A dear friend at the time sighed when she heard this factoid of information. She intimated that my life would be plagued by the need to prove myself NOT AVERAGE. At the time I didn't necessarily agree with her assertion, but reflection does indicate that she was prophetic. 

Haunted by the fear of being average, I have challenged myself, pushed through and done things that looking back, I can't believe were possible for me. Still, the fear remained, always taunting me with the fact that accolades have not been forthcoming and comparing myself to my contemporaries. What in the world do I have to show for myself?

Yesterday in a flash of inspiration I found my answer. I have to change my thinking. No longer will I repeat those words in my head 

"You are average." 

From Yesterday those words have been replace by something so much better. 

"You are archetypal."

"You are the prototype."

"You are universal consciousness."

My daughter's kind voice added:

"You are a classic."

I am not average. Those who know me best would tend to agree, I think. I am wonderfully unique. The word that has plagued me all these years has lost its power. I am archetypal. I will have the last word. 

Background Knowledge

I recently came to the conclusion that I need to add more layers to my work...that I just don't push forward as far as I really want to go. I wrote a blog post about it. 

Well, this week I started trying Morning Pages again. It is an exercise that comes from The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. To be completely honest, I have never read the book. Those around me have, however, and I have gained some knowledge symbiotically. (Some day I will read the book.)

But I digress. Writing helped me realize that not only do I not push myself far enough, I haven't finished anything in quite a while. Some time ago I satisfied myself with creating backgrounds as a way of getting some art in during very busy patches. There are many very busy patches. 

The time has come, however to reach beyond and start finishing the beginnings. Taking a good hard look at the journals I have been beginning has been enlightening. Part of this issue is not knowing where I am going with any of them. So I assigned themes to each of the ones I have been working in and found a surge in activity. Even the backgrounds are coming together more fluidly. 

So instead of limiting me in a negative way, the themes are helping me to be free. Before I was hesitant and noncommittal. Now I forge forward adding with abandon. Well, with as much abandon as one can forge with when paint, gesso and gel medium are drying. 

Some of the themes are also demanding that color be evaluated rather than flinging the same bright colors on the pages willy nilly. I loved those vibrant pages, but they will be tamed and toned down and reined in so that they bring more life and illumination to the whole. 

Fun. Fun. Fun. 

Background knowledge informs my work. 

Assigning Meaning

I enjoy making connections. Whether they are connections between people, ideas or things the connectivity of life excites and intrigues me. Sometimes I think I would have been a good detective. Being a librarian, however, I get to do plenty of sleuthing, finding and scoring in the search for information. 

That search for connection is part of my career path, part of my leisure and simply, part of me. 

I connect the dots.

Sometimes the dots are pretty faint. Sometimes you can barely see them. No matter. I can find connectedness when none is plainly in sight. 

Some years ago I read a book that made me pause. It made me wonder if my search for meaning and interconnectedness was a good thing after all. The book Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee. Frost and Steketee make many observations about hoarders that were at once fascinating and terrifying. Although I read the book years ago, several things stay with me: 

1. Hoarders are experts at creating meaning even when there is no meaning discernable to the average person. The problem is that they are then unable to rank the meaning or value of items. They cannot distinguish so they keep everything.

2. It was striking how many of the hoarders were, or had been, librarians. It seems like I am in danger. It makes sense. As librarians we are trained to look for connections, for meaning. To assign meaning when we are cataloging. To find resources for any occasion, no matter how random. 

3. The authors state that people who they studied hadn't always been hoarders. A loss, a stressful time, a shock could all send a perfectly reasonable person into a spiral of hoarding. 

I don't want to give up the joy of making connections or of assigning meaning in my life. It brings much depth and beauty to my life. However, I do want to cultivate a more meditative sense of meaning. Rather than focusing on the ownership of that meaning, I am practicing an ability to notice the meaning, make the connections as let it go by me. Sometimes I create and let it go out in the world to touch others, sometimes I give it away, sometimes I do keep the end product. I am becoming more mindful about curating the materials I keep and letting others go. 

In art and life allowing the flow to be uninterrupted makes for less friction and more joy. That's part one. Now I have to go fill another garbage bag.