Composition Journaling!

I love journals though I'm less inclined to use them in the same way as I used to.



Remember the days when everything went in there? All the highs and lows, the doomed romance, the glorious elation?

I think I was a little bit relieved a number of years ago when a flooded basement took my journals and turned them into smeared pages of dribbled flair pens, a mixed bag of colors now muddied and barely legible.

It's not that if anyone read them I would be mortified by evil deeds. My life was pretty routine.But it all seemed so dramatic at the time! And I fear the only thing more colorful than the smeared pages would have been the purple prose, the agonies of life!

Now I use my journals for other things -- lists, copying a quick recipe, writing a poem, logging the books I read, capturing a fragment of an idea.

All my composition book journals reflect the whimsy of The Marmelade Gypsy -- bright colors, a little bit girly, perhaps, pretty, vintage.

Each is collaged onto a standard composition book using a variety of papers, naturals, images and embellishments.

They, too, will be added to the Gypsy Caravan for the November sale.

For those in the mid-Michigan area, dates are November 20-22. Just in time for the Christmas rush!

I'm looking forward to hanging out with beautiful jewelry, lovely pottery, cozy mittens, cat toys, wooden pens, a wonderful calendar and all the people to make them!

Time is flying!

Nature's Blessings Swap -- The Finished Book

Recently I wrote about Karla's "Nature's Blessings" swap here. You may remember, I had a great deal of angst as to whether or not my pages would stack up. Well,my book arrived -- and I'm not sure they do!

Karla did the cover art (and also included one of her famous doodle pages) and put together the books, using the pages provided by six different swappers.

The idea was to have some pages that were fully decorated...



And some that gave the recipient room to write or draw or a spot to store treasures.



Here are some more of the pages I received.



Not everyone's was signed -- or if it was, it was very discreet. (I think I signed mine but now I'm not sure!)



But what you are seeing here represents Lisa Phillippi, Jill Sibbab (lilyclaire by jill) Rondamum, Diana Kelly, Karla and two mystery artists! Whomever you are, I love every single page by all of you!

 

Thank you!

Karla is offering an inexpensive tutorial ($15) on how to put together not only a book that is "built" like this one, but also several other versions of art journals.



Most of them are, like this one, "new sew." All are beautiful.



If this is your "thing," check it out. Karla has wonderful descriptions and downloadables that will make your project extra easy and extra fun!

Enjoy!

Finding Our Way Home

Are you travel-weary, having joined us for a wedding and more in the past few posts? Well, I have to just finish up! Our last day was our travel day, but it wasn't without an important mission and delightful surprise. It started off with a delicious breakfast at Luna Bakery in the Cedar/Fairmount area of Cleveland Heights.

 

 With crepes and treats like this, what wasn't to love?

And the conversation wasn't bad, either!



After bidding Jane and Kevin farewell, we headed to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Cleveland. The sun was out as we passed Playhouse Square. Someday I'll tour all those terrific theatres!

Our purpose was two-fold. First, we enjoyed a lovely service with an inspiring sermon in an environment that was simply beautiful, a rival to many of the fine churches I've seen.

 

But the main reason for our trip was to see the organist/music director, Todd Wilson.



In his youth, Rick was a boy soprano at Toledo's Trinity Church. One of his fellow choristers was a boy named Todd Wilson who also played the organ. Years later, Rick heard him as a soloist on a Christmas selection on public radio and after some Inspector Googling found it was the same guy he hadn't seen since he was nine years old. They've aged.

 But not much else had changed. It was clear that these two had a remarkable shared history of diligent music instruction, tough love from a tough taskmaster -- and they both grew up to love music and continue to pursue it.



For Rick, his classical guitar is a passionate hobby. For Todd, it is a profession, as he not only is music director at Trinity but organmaster for Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra. The day we met he had to run.

He was off to play a silent movie in Youngstown! Meanwhile, we enjoyed a few more minutes at this beautiful church before heading toward home.



It was a gorgeous day so rather than taking the turnpike, we chose to follow the Lake Erie shore on the old road and our trip took us through the town of Vermillion, Ohio. It was there that we discovered the Old Prague restaurant. This Czechoslovakian restaurant came complete with a keyboardist who offered music from that country. She was very chatty!

Shall I tell you we belonged to the "clean plate club" -- or can you see it yourself?!



Then it was back in the car, back on the road and home. I have to say, for those of you who have been so kind to follow our journey over these few posts, thank you. It was a special time for us -- time to relax with each other, to see old friends and meet new ones, rekindle long-past relationships and share in the joy of love with family. It's a trip we won't forget.