Saturday, February 14, 2015

My Valentine gift to you

We are in the middle of the NBA All Stars weekend, but I had to take time to wish you a lovely Valentine's Day.  It's time I share this visual journal with you.  Be aware this is an extremely LONG post, even longer than my usual ones.  I'll try to keep my comments to a minimum, so you can peruse this quickly.  Feel free to ask questions in your comments, though.  I'll drop by YOUR BLOG and give you the answer.

You might remember the front cover of this visual journal from a review I wrote back in 2013.

At that time, I explained I used felt for the covers and dyed some of the felt per the book's instructions.

I never got a good picture of the "Lover" definition on the heart on the back, though, mostly because my camera wouldn't take close-ups properly.

This is the inside back.  I dyed tyvek and cut a piece of the fabric I used on the outside for the pen/pencil holder.

Over the colored tyvek, I added a dyed hand wipe (not baby wipe) that I had quilted.  On the hand wipe, I added a tyvek heart.  The entire assembly was then sewed to the front so the recipient has a place to add ephemera or notes.

I think I'm most proud of the spine, because I have NO feed dogs that I can drop for free motion stitching.  This was made the "old fashioned way" of twisting and turning the fabric in order to make each letter.

There are a total of 96 pages in the book.  Unlike the other scrappy journals I have created, this one is all about love.  It is also the least decorated of all the journals I've made.  This journal is designed for someone who likes to doodle and create her/his own designs.  The owner of this journal will not be interested in lots of added art, preferring to draw her/his own.  This is for the journaler who wants the plainest (and most redundant) scrappy journal I own. 

Now onto the contents of this scrappy journal in page order (I hope you can see how I create these journals from scraps, leftovers, as well as new product and materials). 

The inside front and page 1.
































 

















Page 96 and inside back cover.

I can assure you, it took me a whole lot longer to scan and enter these into Blogger than it took me to scroll through the pages.  I hope you enjoy them, and if you like what you see, I'll scan a few more next month when I have the covers finished.  Thanks for looking, because, sadly, this is the only Valentine you'll get from me this year!

Don't forget.  Today is the final day to leave a comment on my "Grow Your Blog" giveaway.  I will close the drawing at 10:00 pm CST (see my right sidebar under Wichita) and announce the two winners in the morning (2/16).

19 thoughtful remarks:

Divers and Sundry said...

I love your hearts and flowers to start my Valentine's Day off in the right mood :) Happy Valentine's Day!

Nancy said...

Love your LOVE journal! Oh hey, you have a Shrute buck in there! There are so many interesting elements, and the spine turned out nicely. Journals are just so satisfying, aren't they?

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Wow! A lot of work went in that huge journal! The "love" lettering came out fantastic! As a side note, my new machine came with build in letter embroidery that you can only do in one size but still pretty cool.

Cappuccinoandartjournal.blogspot.com said...

Wow!!!!! What a beauty. My question -- will you make me one like that? (just kidding....well...sorta kidding....) Seriously I LOVE it Valentine's Day, after all). Thanks for sharing.

froebelsternchen said...

This is simply AMAZING Elizabeth! WOW!!!!!!!

Halle said...

That's serious dedication to a theme! Pink, red and hearts...what could be better for Valentine's Day!

Jo Murray said...

What a treat to see it all...THANK YOU. Love the stitching.

massofhair said...

Amazing journal Elizabeth, definitely from your heart :-) xxx

TwinkleToes2day said...

What an absolute delight to see all your fabulous work that's gone into this treasure book. I enjoyed seeing the pages, thank you so much for sharing it Elizabeth ((hugs))

Cheri the Quilting Nanny said...

I wish I could make a journal as you have! But I am to much an over organizer...it wouldn't look as unique as yours. I enjoyed looking at every page you had! But I am not a lost cause! I just discovered Fabric Lace books and got so inspired by them I am making my own Fabric Lace MEMORY book...for my grand daughters! I really lovin' it! You can see my last 3 blog posts about it! An altered book by any other name is still ..an altered book!

susanne said...


very beautiful .. I love the sweetly sewn hearts throughout your book. happy valentines day!

susanne said...


very beautiful .. I love the sweetly sewn hearts throughout your book. happy valentines day!

Dreaming of Vintage said...

This is awesome Elizabeth!

Dawn said...

I LOVE this project Elizabeth, beautifully done sweetie. It's bright, cheerful and lots of fun as always. Thank-you so much for your visit today, it really feels good to be back. It may take me a while to get fully back into the swing of things but I'm sure I'll get there. Massive hugs x x x x x

Elizabeth Edwards said...

oh, i hope this is ok to write here. i could not find your email address. it tells me you are a no reply commentor. blogger can be such a pain in the rump. my email address is: elizardbreathspeaks@gmail.com

i am super excited!! i love your winnie the pooh and tigger decor above. tigger is my fave. he is too awesome!! he is so so happy and excited always and forever. ( :

please let me know if you need more info. thanks!! big big hugs to you & Bleubeard.

johanna said...

what time and effort to scan all These pages, wow! a great result, worth it all!

i almost forgot bloghopping over all that pinterest Thing...

Karla B said...

Gorgeous my friend!Love each page I have seen!

~*~Patty S said...

and what a fabulous Valentine this is dear E!!!
Your colors and stitches and bits of this and that are magical.
Great variety of graph papers and using the luggage tag from Continental works so well on the page...super being like your mother quote too!
Lots to L♥ve...
oxo

pearshapedcrafting said...

Oh Elizabeth! You really do make such beautiful books! I love all the sewing and this has just reminded me that i really do mean to have a go at including some machine sewing in my projects! There…I've said it ….no going back…Thank you for the inspiration!! Hugs, Chrisx