3 Journal Pages and 3 Tutorials

Hello blogland, I'm soooo glad I've got a few mins to post I've been meaning to for days. I've done lots of journal pages so I've included three pictures:

These are a sneak peak of my new journal, I did a video a little while ago of this journal (how I made it and creating the first page) so will upload that soon, I've just had/have so many others on the go

Then this one is from the weekly journal:

I'm planning on doing a video flip of this once I've created the book (covers that I made from packaging are currently drying). Boy I just seem mad about making videos at the moment, and believe me my list of ones I want to do is looooooooooooooooong lol speaking of here are the final two how to make a mini book from recycled greeting cards videos:

And then this one on how to make beads from aluminium foil completes the series:

Finally I've just realised I've gone over 200 followers mark on this blog: THANK YOU all so much. This is the kind of thing worthy of a giveaway but as I've already got one going it'll be a little silly to do two together, so here's a reminder of the one already happening for this journal (and a couple of kits) below:

That's all for now folks, much love Jennibellie x

2 More Mini Book Tutorials

Hi lovely people, a short post from me just to let you know I've uploaded two more recycled mini book tutorials below:

I'm really pleased everyone seems to like them. Every morning I wake up to sooooo many new cool comments on these videos (time difference means they mostly get watched as I sleep lol) it's so awesome! Happy weekend everyone :) x

Doodle Journal Page & First Mini Book Tutorial

Hi guys, happy Wednesday! Firstly I just want to thank you everyone who left a kind & helpful comment on my last blog post, it's so wonderful that I know many kind people 1000s of miles away that I have never actually met. I love our art community!
Here's another page from the said 'sad' journal from that post, I couldn't be bothered to do much more than spray and doodle! Even so I'm beginning to feel a bit more myself with each page, and each day, that goes by.

I uploaded the first of the mini books from recycled greetings card tutorials last night. My editing program kept crashing when it was trying to pull over 11GB of video on 5 different mini books from various places so I decided to split the video down and make 5 individual ones. It not only makes the editing a lot easier, but also the converting & uploading process a lot quicker and hopefully means I wont bore anyone with 20 minutes of mini book making. A few minutes per mini book seems a lot more reasonable, and allows everyone to watch only the ones you want to see. So here's the first, a simple Japanese Stab Bound Style.

All of these mini's take only minutes to make, and I only spent minutes on them so don't expect too much from these videos: they are all super simple creations, I just thought it would be fun to make a bunch of different books to fit inside the larger art journals. Next videos are going be up over the next few days. Much love & warm wishes, Jennibellie xx

I'm Not Okay

I don't usually blog about feelings, but my mood is dominating my creativity at the moment. I don't know what is wrong with me, I have nothing to complain of - I should be as happy as Larry...but I'm not. We've all been there right?

I decided to try and funnel these feelings into a singular place & so I bound this quick journal with a double page spread for each day for a week. This above is yesterdays page, and I'm hoping a week is enough to rid myself of this mood via journaling. Yesterdays helped for about 10 minutes and that was it, but I have real difficulty with the 'allowing' part of feeling anything other than perfectly fine in my emotions. But I was once told it is okay not to be okay and if you accept that your head sorts itself out a lot quicker. So that's why I allowed bad feelings to dominate this page and I'm hoping that by doing this it will mean todays spread will help for 20 minutes and tomorrows half an hour and so on...

Finally I usually include my recent videos in my blog posts so to stick with tradition here is the Journals from Greetings Cards Tutorials I've recently put up on Youtube:

Part I

Part II

Thanks to everyone who has left lovely comments etc I'm so glad they are liked :) I'm off to finish the mini books tutorial I'll be uploading next and possibly do the next page of that journal. I hope your creative instinct is feeling a little happier than mine right now, much love Jennibellie xxx

Making a Journal from Greetings Cards Tutorials are Done!

I feel like the title not only needs a capital 'D', but the whole 'DONE' in capitals. My oh my these videos have taken soooooo much effort, I didn't realise.

The journals are VERY simple in principle and to create so I had no idea the videos would take me so much longer than usual, but they are done now. Whoop!!

So if you want to know how to make one of these art books from your recycling I will be uploading the tutorials on my youtube channel tonight.

The tutorial will be in two parts, so the second half might have to be uploaded tomorrow, as we have notoriously bad internet connection around here on Friday evenings...but the three steps in the first video are enough to keep you going I'm sure :)

If you do head over please hit the 'like' on the video or leave me a comment so I know that they were worth all that effort :)

After these go up I have two more video tutorials I am going to show you, one is on 5 different mini books to make to put into the pockets of this journal, then the final one is the making of those chunky beads you can see on the spine. But it might be a few days, or more, before I get these up as I feel my eyes need a break from the editing machine lol

Dont forget the yellow journal is in this giveaway, linking with Paint Party Friday, Studio Sneak Peek and Artists in Blogland so I can see what everyone else is up to, much love Jennibellie xxx

New Recycled Greeting Card Journal

Happy hump day everyone :) thought I would just do a quick post showing the newest journal edition of the christmas card chronicles I am working on. This one I made today:

Along with the yellow journal I showed in the last post it's now the fourth I have made and still have about 1,000 christmas cards to go lol by the time I have used up all this years I'll probably need to come up with a new journal idea for making next years lot.

For this one I used a mermaid sketch I did a while ago and the handmade blue beads on the spine are a further look at the beads tutorial I will be doing once the journal video tutorials are up. However unlike the other journals I left the cards uncovered on the inside (as you can see in the top picture) so I can work in it as I go along, rather than already having a base.

Hopefully next post I will have the first of the tutorials ready, and will show you the other journals I have made with this christmas card concept. Thanks for visiting, Jennibellie xx

My YouTube Giveaway Video

Yay I did manage to record it and get it uploaded today, so here it is with all info for the subscriber giveaway and the current tutorials I'm working on :)

JIP...(Journals in Progress).....& I guess VIP (Videos in progress)

Ah second week of January?! Eek! I am still here I promise! I've had a couple of mentions from my lovely blogging friends that they are missing me a bit online. I'm still here, working away on making some journals and on the video tutorial that I promised before new year - of making journals from your left over greetings cards.

The journal above is made from large xmas cards, though nothing to do with the tutorial. I am also still keeping updated with all of your wonderful blogs, though as 90% of the time I'm on my iphone, which I do not trust to enough to leave comments (after one rather disastrous attempt) I guess you wouldn't know that. So I resolve to spend more time on the 'proper' computer and blog about my works in progress as well as my completed pieces. Here's the current state of the journal from the tutorials, it will look similar yellow one below once done:

The tutorial videos will be split as follows:

* Journal itself; two parts by the look of it as I'm editing like crazy but still over the time limit I want, so: Part I will probably be making the signatures and pockets, II covers, binding and decorating.

* Then for each of the pockets I am making mini books, each made from one card. This will be another video showing 5 ways to stitch, cut and slot or simply fold these mini books.

* Then on the journals I have also been using some homemade chunky beads (which you can see dangling in the pic below) so I will also do a fourth video tutorial on this.

Whoop, it feels like I have done nothing but talk at a camera and edit, edit, edit this past week! lol but I love it! and am hoping to get the videos up as soon as possi-bla!

There is also the matter of the giveaway I am doing for on youtube for my subscribers (3 prizes, the main one is this yellow journal I am showing you a sneak peek at and IS one of the christmas card journals). I shall hopefully (time-willing) upload the video for later today & post it here when I do.

Finally I want to show you something that made me smile from ear-to-ear when I saw it, the beautiful journal below is made by my fab online chum Annie (who, & who's work, I absolutely adore) based on my cereal box journal tutorial I did a few months ago.

Isn't it gorgeous??? It really makes me so so so happy to see wonderful art being made from, well let's face it, what many consider rubbish.

Linking with Paint Party Friday, Studio Sneak Peek and Artists in Blogland, in the hopes of getting back into the swing of my blog-life properly, 2012 is hopefully to be the year of plentiful lives (or perhaps just a better multi-tasking woman lol), much love Jennibellie xx

Happy New Year!!...Finally

First time back in the drivers seat, I don't know how it's managed to get to 2012 already but I'm feeling a little windswept. I don't know why I'm finding life a little difficult right now, perhaps I am taking on too much, but I definitely feel like I'm trudging through treacle! But anyway right now it seems I will manage a whole blog post, and the below Etsy listing, before I have to put on my wellies again.

I made this journal out of a bunch of recycled elements, mainly candy wrappers! I had such fun, it is the first journal I have made for my shop in quite a while and it felt really, really good. 

lots of vintage bits on the front including an Edwardian antique coin from 1907.

I have also managed to do a video tutorial, one of three to do with the Christmas Card Journal tutorial I promised, though it's nothing to do with the actual journal....all will become clear when they're completed and uploaded (as it currently stands you're basically getting a class rather than just a tutorial.)

I have also tried to organise this blog a little better (hence the addition of some top page buttons) but yesterday I spent hoooooooours sorting out a page, realised I hadn't saved it so pressed the save, and then preview pretty much straight after, and the combination together somehow wiped all my work!!!! I was LIVID!!! But perhaps it's life's way of telling me to slow down a little. Hopefully, lack of time won't make everything seem so difficult come next week.... :/....I did say 'hopefully'.

Hope you are having a better start to the year???? Thanks for visiting, Jennibellie xx