Altered Journal Swap Reveal

My journals are on the way to my swap partners, so I think it's time for the full reveal.  I made little dresses for both journals out of lace, and adhered them to a chipboard dress form.  I considered stitching dresses like I've done in the past, but I was afraid that I would run out of time.  The colors for the journals were very different; I'm not sure which one I like better!

My swap partner Marian likes pinks and aquas, so here's the journal I made for her:

Here's the inside cover:

After covering the page with paper and a lace border, I made a pocket out of a linen piece and a corner of a vintage hankie.  I added a few antique papers as a surprise.

The inside back cover and the back cover were pretty simple -- just pretty papers:

All wrapped up and ready to go:

with a few extra trims just for fun!

My other swap partner, Jill, likes neutrals, so here's the journal I made for her:

Here's the inside front cover, along with a few antique surprises in the pocket:

Again, I left the back inside cover and the back cover pretty simple:

Wrapped and ready:

Extra trims for Jill:

This was a fun swap -- I love making journals!  I'll post pics soon of the journals that I received from my swap partners.  Have a great week!  :)

Altered Journal Swap Sneak Peeks

I'm hard at work on the journals for my altered journal swap, so I thought I'd share a few sneak peeks.  If you are my swap partners -- no peeking!  Avert your eyes!

This swap has been really fun.  I will be sure to share full photos after I get these journals in the mail.  I had the same basic idea for both journals, but my swap partners wanted different colors: one is into neutrals, and the other is more of a pink and aqua gal.  So, I got to create two very different looks.

Back soon with the full reveal!  Hope you're having a great week!

A Special Baby Journal

This week I've been hard at work on this little altered journal.  A friend of mine is about to have a baby girl, and so I decided to make her a journal for a baby shower present.  This is the most elaborate/complicated journal I've ever done, and it was quite a process!  I started by wrapping a composition book with burlap.  I'm not sure why I chose to do that, to be honest, but I wanted a fabric starting point (not paper).  I think the burlap is good starting layer to work with, but a couple of things to note: it frays (a lot!) and it's kind of see-through.

After that, I started on the front cover, and layered an old doily with a tatted lace edge, paper, another doily, several layers of trim, and some chipboard until I got to this point:

Then I went to work on the inside covers.  Here's the front inside cover:

I covered the page with my all-time favorite scrapbooking paper.  Then I used another small rectangular doily, added part of a hanky to it, and glued it down on three sides to make a pocket.  Then I added some trims to the edge of the page.

For the back inside cover, I kept things a bit more simple with just paper and trims.

Then I finished up by adding paper and trims to the back cover.

At this point, I think I'm done, though it's hard to know when to say when.  I feel like it may need a few more things here or there.....    Anyway, the shower is tomorrow so I need to be finished with it soon!

Hope you have a great weekend!  I'll be back on Monday with an exciting giveaway!  Also, it's not too late to join the 25 Days of Christmas Stitchalong -- the more the merrier!!