Greetings Readers!

I've surfaced :) At least for a moment...

The other day I HAD to cut AND glue AND fold AND stitch AND paint AND stamp...SO, I finally have the visual journal I've been working in into a book form! Yes, I admit it...until now I've simply been working on the pages with no cover or binding of any kind ;-)

But first - LOOK!- a cloudy sky over the Blue Cottage - clouds that RAIN fell from and more promised! Yes, REAL WEATHER again in southern California ...you have no idea how AMAZING this is, unless of course you live in southern California :)

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this JOURNAL is non-perishable
At least I hope it's non-perishable :)
And, yes, that is ME in the photo on the cover - I was three or four and the photo was taken on the beach in Santa Barbara, California. To transfer this photo to my cover I made a photocopy of the original photo and used clear caulking as my transfer medium.
The covers of the journal are made from a recycled US Priority Mail box that I cut to size and coated with a few layers of gesso before I began painting, gluing, etc. to give it a bit more strength and allowing it to take a beating!

The inside of the covers were gessoed, painted and collaged creating a weathered and worn look and feel.

Some pages are completed - other's not so much :)

Inside of back cover...gessoed, painted and collaged.

The journal fanned out (I made 4 signatures with 6 pages each).

Front and Back of journal - sewn in coptic stitch using various colors of waxed linen thread.
This journal was made completely from items I had on hand or items I could recycle.