Dear Liza,
Since there is a garden, there must be a garden journal. For a few years, I made mine from scratch, delighting in learning a new process. Last year, I re-used a found day planner. This year, I looked in the box of books that we are giving away.
I found a book I bought years ago, called “Film Listography,” by Lisa Nola and Jon Stich. I enjoyed it very much, but I haven’t touched the book in about ten years, so I was ready to re-use it. To start the transformation of the cover, I laid down a leafy page from a magazine, then dabbed on some acrylic paint.
This softened the colors so they would be a background for the words. I love how they look all summery together! (And the bugs add a teensy creep factor).
For the back cover, a page from the PAM magazine and a holiday napkin from Ruthie Inman go together for a proper autumnal ending to the book. I used a technique Ruthie taught me to get a nice soft edge on the napkin image. It’s just a little water and a gentle tug.
It still looked a bit empty, so I hunted up a gardening quote I like and gave it the “ransom note” treatment. I added few more flowers and a bit of paint. You think maybe it’s too much?
But I made it for me, and I like it!
Inside the journal, there will be some decisions everyday about how to manipulate the interesting images that are already in the book and include my own news and art. I can’t show you much of the unaltered art, because of the “no use without written permission” rule.
I am really looking forward to a garden-filled, artsy summer.
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 