Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sketchbook


In my last post, I mentioned the sketchbook project I’m working on, thanks to the prompting of Mrs. Staggs at A Happy Miscellany. The intent behind this venture is to create a personal book, with elements of a journal, an art pad, & a scrapbook- something akin to the Fairyopolis books, with interactive elements & pleasing images. Each person chooses her own theme, & Mrs. Staggs will help spark ideas by showcasing her own work, as well as offering weekly prompts.

I have decided to blend the real & the fanciful elements of meg’s garden, my personal corner of the world & in many ways, my alter ego (or maybe my authentic self); I am a city girl, spending my days in an office in front of a computer, squeezing in time for old fashioned pursuits & ideals- a modern woman with vintage yearnings.

So, here is my first entry~ creating my own book & decorating the cover; I started with an inexpensive binder

 

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covering it with paper

 

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and fabric

 

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I added some trim to blend & cover the seams

 

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and then built a “garden” from a variety of elements

 

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pre-made papercuts & trimmings from a autumn floral stem

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This fence just called to me

 

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and every garden needs butterflies

Tahoe Trip

 

In the nameplate area, I was going to hand write “meg’s garden”, practicing it several times, with different pens, but the final execution wasn’t too successful;

 

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so now, we punt~ I pulled out another papercut to put over the handwriting. This is one of my favorite terms~ I have a little sign hanging on the wall of my cubicle at work that says “La Dolce Vita”, to remind myself that I’m working for a purpose.

 

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The cover is finally done,

 

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except for a bit of sealing and the brain-storm I had this morning;

I want to hang a tiny “meg’s garden” sign somewhere~ maybe hanging on the fence, or on a post in the field~ what do you think?

 

Now, I need to finish up my first pages~ I know what I want to do, have most of the elements, but need quiet time to put it all together; make sure you drop by next week to see what’s next! 

 

 

11 comments:

Lena said...

Meg, it's truly wonderful! What an inspired bit of creativity. I especially like the dimensional look of it, and I think a little sign hanging on the fence will be charming.

Thank you so much for participating. I really feel inspired by seeing the work of you and the other ladies, and that's going to help me work towards learning more about paper crafting.

I can't wait to see what you do next!

ShabbyInTheCity said...

Really precious Meg! I love your ideas :) That fence is perfect...can't wait to open the book and see inside!

Anonymous said...

So pretty & I LOVE "a modern woman with vintage yearnings." ;)

Dory said...

It's BEAUTIFUL Meg! What a fabulous idea! :o)

brsmaryland said...

I love the cover of your book! The fence is great. It is definitely a garden I'd like to spend some time looking around.

mumof3boyz said...

Simply Beautiful. I think Meg's Garden hanging somewhere would just complete it. I wish I had just an ounce of the talent that you have.

VENTL8R said...

Holy sheepdip, Batman!! That's GORGEOUS!!!! Always knew you were the crafty type, but that is truly remarkable!

Anonymous said...

That is beautiful! Being an avid gardener myself, I certainly appreciate your theme. A treasure.
Brenda

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

Love it! So fun and creative.

Tina Leavy said...

what a lovely journal! very pretty.
hi..want to invite you to join the seed exchange event over at my blog. hope you'll join in.
Tina
p.s. have a good week.

Dana said...

Meg,
I've been a bit busy with Ike and all, sorry it's been a while. I LOVE the cover! You are so creative...