Nautre Notes Collage Journal.....

"I love to think of nature as as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in."

~George Washington Carver~(Click on any photo to enlarge for detail viewing)

Yesterday I had a little play time in the studio and I made a little nature journal out of some of Ooops supplies. Ooops supplies are things that I have been experimenting with that might not have turned out exactly like I wanted them to for a certain project. I usually just tuck them away until I find another use for them.In this case I was interrupted while coffee dying some paper, fabric, and lace. I laid the wet items on a wire table and forgot about them. When I came back they had dried with a waffle pattern on them like the table. This was too rustic looking for the project I was doing so I set them aside until yesterday.

This muslin fabric coffee dyed cover has tattered uneven edges to give it an old look. I wanted this to look like an old worn field journal. I stitched it on the sewing machine with a dark brown thread using a decorative feather stitch.Pressed under a small piece of clear acetate are a few dried flowers. It is framed out with strips of coffee dyed paper and lace, old brown buttons, and walnut ink lettering. The cover is embellished with a little red bird printed out on ledger paper (another Ooops) as well as a corner cluster of one of my little fiber and wire nests, a velvet leaf, wire trendels, moss, and a sprig of berries. The spine is tied with a piece of natural twine and accented with a snippet of golden colored ribbon. The pages were cut with a decal edged scissor, stacked, and sewn to the spine of the book using a straight stitch on the sewing machine. When you open the journal you get a whiff of coffee scent.

I intentionally kept this journal very simple in design, leaving room for some creativity for the journal recipient. Each set of pages contains photo corners, a matted rubber stamped journal block, and vintage bird image printed out on manila paper. I included a cutting template for use with nature photos or for sizing mini pieces of artwork. I combined collage and a nature photo as an example of what the journal could be used for. I really wanted this to be an interactive journal and to encourage the recipient to exercise their creative muscles and imagination. The journal block could be used to list the species and traits of the species in the photo or to tell a bit about the photo such as how the mama Blue Jay dived bombed me as I tried to capture her little one on camera. Cards of pressed flowers from your garden and planting details would also be wonderful entries. Simple nature inspired photos, like the one shown above of the rose from my garden, and favorite quotes would be nice as well.

I know I have given you these in an earlier post but if you did not get them, here is the bird collage sheet I used for this project. This is a sheet I made up of birds that were featured in a vintage bird book I own. To save to your computer, right click on the image, click on "Save Image" or "Save Image As" and it will be saved to your computer.

I hope you are inspired to make a journal of your own. If you do, I'd love to see your version!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy