Here above you see the front (left) and back (right) of my home- made journal that I took to artfest. I made it from a Smith & Hawken furniture guide that looks like this one on the right. I recently found out that Smith & Hawken is closing it doors. Even though I only went there every few years, I was disappointed with the news that it won't be there any longer, so popped in for one last time. On the visit where I picked up this catalog, I bought these lights (below) for our outdoor dining area. Cool, huh? Ya, but also ridiculously expensive (on sale for $159.00 a strand). I love the way they look, so unique and industrial, and I justified the expense because a. we eat outside all the time and b. they will stand the test of time outdoors much better than the cheaper, green plastic light strands (supposedly). (The big light is from Pottery Barn. It was an exterior light on sale, so I don't know if they have it any more, I'd check online if interested.)
Anyway, back to the journal. The catalog is almost 7" wide by 13 1/2" tall and folds out accordion style with 5 sections in all front and back. Like this:
I found it to be just the right size for a little weekend or specific event journal. I just cut and glued and painted and sewed enough to cover up what it was originally. Here's how it looked when I left:
The top photo is one side opened up (the inside)
and this photo below is the outside opened up:
Here are all the pages now, after using it over the weekend:
above, the first two folds, below, the 3rd fold and the inside of the back cover. I couldn't resist using my sons's drawing.
I just used it for class notes or directions or phone numbers or anything else that weekend where I needed to grab a piece of paper and make a quick note. It worked out great. It's large size made it findable on a moment's notice, and the amount of pages were perfect too; I really wasn't in need of a lot of open writing space obviously. I also like knowing that any information from the weekend I might want will be easily found, as opposed to searching through one of my other journals, now that I'm back home.
Just thought I'd share in case you want to get your hands on some of the catalogs now that they are probably going to end up in the trash!
and you were even nice enough to bring one along for me to create in as well ..... except I didn't get to that yet. maybe I will use it for wedding stuff. miss you, your unending creative enthusiasm and wonderful friendship. xoC
Posted by: charlotte | July 21, 2009 at 01:26 PM
i'm new to art journaling... and i'm curious... on the pages above - are you using the old images or do you use copies of them? your work is so pretty.
Posted by: Keli | July 21, 2009 at 01:58 PM
Keli- on the pages above, all you see are copies. photocopies of ephemera like the hand holding flowers, of fabric, like the crochet at the top, and of photos like the little girl. Where you see stitching, that is actually fabric that I stitched on. Thanks and keep playing at journaling, there is no wrong way to do it. pam
Posted by: pam | July 21, 2009 at 02:18 PM
It is so fun to see some of my favorite stores in my home town of Portland in your journal...isn't Flutter the Best!!! I go there for fashion shows and cool 1920's jazz guitar music....
Posted by: deirdra doan | July 21, 2009 at 05:40 PM
beaUtiFul, summer happiness!
Posted by: Dede Warren | July 21, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Very cool, Pam. I just received your giftwrap from Papaya today. I love it! There is SO much detail. The little owl is my fav!
Posted by: patti mullican | July 21, 2009 at 08:40 PM
LOVE the way you transformed the catelog! I've been painting & collaging over Anthropologie catelogs--they have such intriguing lay-outs--then filing them away. Now, I'm gonna get them out start using them!! Wonderful idea.
EL
Posted by: Ellen Lingle | July 21, 2009 at 09:19 PM
AWESOME, Pam! I love it! Your creativity continues to amaze me. So pretty!
Sheila
Posted by: Sheila at Halo Hill | July 21, 2009 at 10:16 PM
wonderful!!!
i miss you so much!!!
Posted by: Kim | July 22, 2009 at 01:16 AM
Can you share how you glue the paper down and is the catalog that shinny paper? I have found that is hard to find the right glue to work with on journals. It looks lovely! ALso your flickr favorites I visited and love - all the colors of your favorites seem to have the same hue - do you find you switch out favorite colors or do you find yourself drawn to the same tints? love your blog!
Posted by: shawn | July 22, 2009 at 04:40 AM
It's very lovely :)
Posted by: andrea | July 22, 2009 at 05:23 AM
What a wonderful idea!!! and so lovely!
Posted by: A pocket full of posies... | July 22, 2009 at 08:39 AM
Pam, You're amazing. Love the journal, such an inspiration!!!
Posted by: Julie Jacobs | July 22, 2009 at 11:26 AM
You are so amazing. (Thought before reading comment above mine).
Posted by: taylor | July 22, 2009 at 08:33 PM
thanks for sharing this great idea...I'm looking forward to picking up a few copies of the catalog to practice in! (I made sure to call ahead to see if the store had any left.)
Posted by: Janet | July 23, 2009 at 02:20 PM
Love this Pam. I am sad about Smith and Hawken, but they have always been pricey! I am going to start repurposing some old catalogs this way. Someone mentioned Anthropologie, I often keep them and Free people catalogs for inpiration~ They use a good quality paper too. Fun!
Posted by: susiebelle | July 23, 2009 at 06:17 PM
I love your home made journal. I'ts amazing and soo beautiful.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Ragnhild, Wallas Verden | July 24, 2009 at 02:44 PM
Pam - i just love this idea of reusing an old catalog and making a beautiful journal out of it. I will be trying this soon. Thank you for posting the idea.
Posted by: Marci Glenn | July 26, 2009 at 09:36 AM
oh my goodness. i just discovered your blog. i feel so inspired. love all this stuff. gonna get a cup of tea and sift through archives!
Posted by: amy | July 26, 2009 at 04:41 PM
Very pretty and I wish we had creative catalogs like that here...
Posted by: Gina | July 31, 2009 at 01:04 AM