Magpie Journal Cover

I just joined a magpie journal swap on swap-bot.  I ended up using the altered journal that I put in my shop.  While I was working on my journal, I leaned over it to pick something up and accidentally bent the front cover.  I decided I'd make a felt cover to hide the damage. 

I used some donut printed felt that I got a long time ago from Hobby Lobby.  I cut out a name label from stiff, brown felt and embroidered the word, "magpie," on it.  I think it looks much better.    

"Bob's Burgers" Crafts

My BFF, Naomi, loves "Bob's Burgers."  It's our Easter tradition to exchange giant Easter eggs full of goodies each year.  For one of the items, I had a plain journal that I got at Target for $1.  I decided it was too boring, so I altered it into a "Bob's Burgers" themed journal.

I lined the edge of each page with a different print of washi tape like I do with most of my altered journals.  I also added baker's twine as a tie closure.

On each page, I glued a cutout from one of two free comic books I got from Free Comic Book Day.  

I really enjoyed making the altered journal, so I made another for a stuffed bubble mailer swap.  That one was just distressed and had a tie.  Then I made another distressed journal for my shop.  I haven't listed it yet, but I will soon.  It says "Schemes" on the front and has a tie as well.  It has round Chinese tapestry stickers on each page in lieu of the washi tape.  

I'm also participating in a mashup swap with Naomi.  She chose "Bob's Burgers" and "Star Wars" as her themes.  The first thing I thought of was Tina Belcher as Princess Leia.  I was looking on Pinterest for ideas.  I had always thought I'd make a doll of some sort.  I saw some BB/SW mashup embroidery and decided that's what I'd do.  I drew my own pattern freehand, but I'm not sure if it's my final draft or not.

I'm wondering if I should get rid of her bangs and redo her buns.  Plus, I don't think her cheek/neck connection is right.  Her hair clip is on the wrong side because the pattern is in reverse.  I probably will redo her hair.  

Another Peek Inside the Book--It's Magical!

I found out who my partner is for the altered composition book journal swap and learned that she likes Harry Potter.  I followed an online tutorial on how to draw a cute HP.  Here's my drawing:

She's going to get sick of my drawings.  

Inside the Book

Here are a few pages in the altered composition book that I've been working on. First, some "King of the Hill" pop art. I used Distress Inks for the background and the stamps were hand carved by my friend, Met.

The next two pages are drawings of food that I've incorporated with song lyrics.

And finally, I found this rubber stamp in the cheap bin at JoAnn yesterday which fits with the theme of this project very well. It cost a whopping $1.19. I'm stamping it on sticker paper, cutting out the images, and sticking them to the bottom right corner of every blank page that I'm leaving for my partner to journal.

I've got a lot more pages to decorate, so I'm sure I'll be sharing more in the future. Have a beautiful weekend!

Altered Composition Book Project

I'm currently participating in a swap on swap-bot where we take an 80 page composition book, cover the front and back covers, decorate every 3rd page, and leave the rest of the pages blank for our partners to use to journal in. I'm having a great time working on this project. My front cover looks like this:

I got the taxi scrapbook paper at Joann and the collage images from the wonderful Sandy at onecrabapple on Etsy. Whenever I alter a plain notebook, I love sprucing up the sides of the pages with washi tape. This notebook had 80 pages and I was bound and determined for each page to have a different pattern of washi. I actually have enough washi where I was able to do this. This is how it turned out:

Yesterday I found some space themed stencils at Target for $1.78 on clearance. I decided to use a couple of them for my first decorated page in the altered comp book. I used Distress Ink and regular metallic stamping ink. I love the way it turned out.

I've got to decorate 25 pages in all. I'll probably add some drawings, collages, and pockets. What would you like to see?