Getting on with stuff

The Make Do and Mend bag is nearly mended, and since I'm working between Xmas and New Year, it should be done for January. Last weekend I made progress on my quilt project. It's all sandwiched and ready to start tying with star stitches. It definitely won't be finished this year, but I can see it getting done before summer.

And here's what the art journal is looking like:

Hopefully you can make out the changes to the background. I used the top of a spray creme canister to press cloth soaked with watercolour, making a soft floral print. It's clearer in this picture. I really like how it turned out, but it makes me even more reluctant to get rid of the random bits of junk I've collected.

My process for these pages is sort of reversed from what I've been doing. It started with finding the advert on the left page. I read a tip in a book on graphic design for dummies that recommended copying layouts that you find appealing. So I flipped through some magazines looking for ideas, and one that stood out was a 3 by 3 grid of pictures on one page with a half page of text on the other. I knew I wanted to stretch myself by working with snippets of text on these pages, so when I saw this advertisement, it gave me the layout as well. I'm only using a few small images, and the next step is to finally add some decorative boarders. I'm enjoying decorating these pages, but I haven't been working on them regularly. Some of that is because I've had a bit of a cold, but I also feel a general lack of motivation. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself about it, and just work when I feel like it would be relaxing.