As I open this editor page to start a post, I’m chuckling because my LAST post says “maybe I’ll start blogging again more regularly.” Emphasis was clearly on the MAYBE.
I will make no promises about any sort of regular posting, because I seem to instantly rebel against myself when I do that. So maybe I’ll post andmaybe I won’t.
I’m posting today because I’m finally getting around to fulfilling one of my artistic goals, which is to start offering some of the things I make for sale. I will be posting a batch of handmade journals on my Instagram page on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, but I thought I’d post about them here, too, since Instagram is not forever and maybe my website will be.
This set of books is the Map Your Dreams collection. The inspiration was a pile of discarded library books, a huge roll of packing tape, and a roll of black and white map paper that I have had for years and never quite known what to do with.
I made the first book for my current art journal. And then I made another and added page embellishments. And then suddenly I had a huge piece of the paper spread out to paint for covers for 6 more books. As I painted and cut and stitched, I was thinking about maps and how l often I wish I had a map for my life – and at the same time acknowledging that I would probably rebel against the map anyway (because that’s how I roll). I thought about what I would want in a journal and how I might see other people using the books I was making. I continue to think about little extras I could share with ideas and inspiration for using these books.
While all of the books are similar, they have their differences – the biggest is stuffed full of nothing but watercolor paper. Three are almost identical, with the same quantities of a variety of interesting papers.
I decided not to embellish the pages of more than the one book that I will be giving away, but I will be sending along plenty of collage pieces to get you started if that’s your thing. Each book will come with a packet that contains leftover cover paper, a length of the original unpainted map paper, sticker paper that I stamped with some of my own hand carved stamps, and a travel map of Iowa that you can cut up and use for collage. Or you can come visit me if you’d like. I circled my home town on the map.
One of the books is available as a giveaway, going on now (May 30, 2021) through Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 5:00pm CDT. The other 6 books will be available for purchase starting at 4:00pm CDT on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
See the post below for all of the details. If you are reading this post on my website, you can earn a special bonus 10 entries by commenting ON THIS POST on my website with an emoji of your choice. This is a super secret bonus that isn’t mentioned on Instagram.
Hopefully it won’t be so long before I post again.
