My mental exercise yesterday goes hand in hand with today's crafty show and tell post. Since I hate to throw away magazines, necessity has forced me to come up with a plan to save the bits I like while also getting rid of clutter. Now instead of magazines, I have boxes of pages torn from those publications. Random images go into some boxes and interior design and pattern images go into others. (notice I use the plural to describe how many boxes of paper I have saved)
I bought inexpensive sketch pads and with my trusty glue stick I began to collage my favorite images down. Color might be the theme of one 2 page spread. The next 2 pages might be united by room or pattern. On some pages I put images together because I liked them juxtapositioned next to one another. It's my book so I can do anything I like.
Sometimes I write notes to myself; notes to remind me why I like a certain cabinet or a particular style of decoration. Sometimes I draw a piece of the picture that I like. It's my book so I can fill it anyway I choose, can't I?
I like some sparse rooms and I like some rooms filled to the bursting with art and artifacts. It's just a book so I can clutter anytime I feel like it.
I love architectural designs so I tear out any I find.
And smart ideas.
And designs for gardens I will never grow.
And sometimes I just glue things down for the sheer joy of having a glue stick all of my own!
You don't have to be an artist or even artistic to enjoy making your own idea book. So get to work tearing up your magazines.
That is a very interesting way to do it Stevie. I may try this myself.
ReplyDeleteI loved the line "And sometimes I just glue things down for the sheer joy of having a glue stick all of my own!" Would that we all find that joy. I often see things that I think that I would like to try. I never quite get around to them, and they are lost in the vast recycle bin of my mind. A book is a good idea, Stevie. Even if I never get to my projects, there is the sheer joy of the glue stick.
ReplyDeleteIn case I never told you, I love your enthusiasm and joy.
Thanks for giving us a look! It's like a Stevie Design Magazine! You should start a website or soemthing! :) A few years ago I uncluttered my magazine collection and turned 12 feet of magazines into a neatly organized drop file cart. It felt wonderful! Not sure what our garbage man thought!
ReplyDeleteOH my, I have done this for years with my garden journal. I paste all kinds of "stuff" into my journal.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea to put things non gardening into a book of their own.
I love redoing the house. My DB hates anything moved. I haven't moved rooms around for a ocuple of years. He is thrilled. One of these notebooks could ease my urges to move things.
This is definitely how I have curbed my spending habits. I always see things I want but don't need. I just cut out the photo. I don't purchase unless the urge stays with me for a long time. It is amazing how it is usually an impulse purchase urge instead of a need or a real want.
You always amaze me. You take something that in my house looks most distinctly like a junk pile and transform it into an object of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI have a "tear out" file from my fave magazines, but you have taken it to the next level! Fun!!
ReplyDeleteYour art makes me happy, whether it's watercolor or faces or these amazing magazine collages. Loving it!
ReplyDeleteFascinating conglomerations! I have done this too. I gave up on pasting though and just throw things into files. Funny how even years later you can look at something and *still* like it. True taste never goes out of style!
ReplyDeleteOh Stevie is there anything more disheartening than finding a glue stick that has been lost and when you open it, you see its all shrivelled and dried up? And can't glue worth a darn? So sad....
ReplyDeleteWell what do you know, I see that Debby "Sticky Fingers" has left an interesting comment here.... tee hee!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness how do you find the time to do all you do? I get lost in reading blogs and my magaziens go unopened and my house undusted, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice idea --I tear pages out and throw them in a file or box and never look at them again. Organized like this I might get some enjoyment out of them.
Oooo very juicy images in your idea book. I'm feeling inspired.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am definitly not organized - or crafty....would love to have someone come and organize all my old magazines!
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