YIKES! i forgot to post this project!

and it's a shame, since it's kind of a good one!

see, what happened was: i made something FOR someone, and held off posting till they recieved it...and then...they got it, but there were some date-based things i had to post first...and then...ok this is embarrassing: by then i had forgotten that i hadn't done it!

on the plus side, i wasn't sure WHAT i was gonna do today until i suddenly remembered. so i guess...ummmm...WOOHOO for short-term memory loss (when it very occasionally works in your favor) !!!

ok, so the item in question: it's a "three beautiful things" journal i made for someone who, when i was talking about my year of 3BTing said that they were EVEN LESS JOURNALLY than me... (an appreciable feat!) ...BUT...liked the little books i made, and jokingly opined that they thought they WOULD be inspired to 3BT if they had one of those!

which of course is exactly the combination of flattery and challenge that's virtually guaranteed to spur me into action! (eventually.) (it took me a few weeks to actually get around to MAKING said book, of course!) i asked for a few hints as to colors and themes...and then perused some of this person's own stunning artwork, and came up with THIS:

(patterned paper: sassafrass, plus vintage dictionary page; rub-on owl: hambly; grungeboard swirl (painted & diamond glazed): tim holtz; clear stickers: heidi swapp; flowers & leaves: prima; sequins: doodlebug; pearls & gems: kaiser; brass snap: we r memory keepers; other: vintage lace, colorbox inks, acrylic paints, bookring from staples, foam tape)

now if you're seeing brown, and olive, and burnt orange, and an owl and thinking, "oh my gosh! that looks SO familiar!" then i suspect you've already guessed that the recipient of said volume was none other than my lovely friend and fellow CAARDVARK miss tanis! (the only thing i could not manage to work onto the cover was a TREE...but there's one on the title page!)

as with all of my little books, i used scraps and bulk cardstock to make most of the pages and they are of various colors (with maybe an occasional pattern thrown in), but just blank. but in this case, i could not resist adding in a FUN page or two; pages from various old books trimmed to size, and so forth, just to change things up and maybe make a starting point for altering or journaling or adding on to. not that tanis needs MY HELP--nooooooo sirree bob!!!!! more like *I* could not resist sharing some of my vintage bits and bobs with her!

here's a page with a canadian theme, from a 1970's school book:

here's a page from an old betty crocker cookbook that's covered with cakes! (& before you ask, "hey lauren! what on earth is tanis s'posed to make out of a page covered with cakes?!" i will admit that i have NO IDEA...but hey!...it's a page that's covered with cakes!!!!! at the very least, it oughtta make her *smile*, right?! it TOTALLY makes *me* smile! (ok, and also...it makes me want some cake!) (sorry, tanis!)

here's one of my favorites, it's a page from a spanish workbook, that i trimmed to fit:

and i guess that's about all i have to say about this project, except that it was very, VERY fun to make and i hope you have enjoyed seeing it!