what she found

Addie Blue is our finder of small things, appreciator of detail. I wanted to scrapbook the collection of found items she was keeping in a bare spot in my parents' hedge, but wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to document these photos and this part of her that I enjoy so much.

I decided to make a layered, textured, shabby, vintage-inspired journal. I wanted it to feel like an old field journal that a botanist might have carried around while doing field work. Something that was well-worn and showed signs of use and appreciation. Something that might have been used out in the rain, dropped a few times, or stained with some ink that had been overturned on an old lab bench years ago.

The outside cover is the spine and front and back covers torn off an old book. Most of the innards, including the binder rings, are from Jenni Bowlin Studio hodge podge mini book kits. I used bits and pieces from three different JBS hodge podge book kits in this mini album, and added in extra pages from JBS patterned paper,  a vintage flash card, a vintage photo mat, old book pages, some ephemera, etc. I taped the binder rings to the book spine using many layers of washi tape! I worked on this over the course of several days with lots of  opening, closing, turning back and forth and it has been looked at a lot since I've finished it. So far, nothing has fallen apart. It might not last forever -- and I am worried the washi tape will dry out and the rings will fall out of the book -- but that can be fixed now or later. I think a layer of book binding tape down first, and then the washi over top, would be a better idea. 

I took lots and lots of photos of this. I love the way it turned out, and I wanted to share it with you all. The rest of the photos are posted after the jump, so please click to see them all! I didn't want to load up my front page with too many photos, just in case it loads slowly or maybe you just don't want to see it all. :)

 View from the top. Lots of layers and stuff.

The journalling can be read here.

 "Coffee stain" around the number 8, because these photos were taken on her 8th birthday.

A vintage library pocket with tags and some JBS labels, paper, and cardstock ruler sticker.

Number 8 JBS metal brad on JBS chipboard star. I left a lot of the chipboard stuff in this album bare. The green ink was an accidental spill onto the backside of this frame, and it soaked through to the front. Happy accident!

Here you can see the ink spill. I like the way the back side of the frames frame what was on the previous page, as the book is flipped through.

The little "chalkboards" are on mini paper clips -- so cute! I used my Dymo to add some text labels.

Another coffee stain, and a vintage flash card.

 A vellum envelope is adhered to the backside of the flashcard, with a leaf inside.

There are green foil star stickers under the washi. Really love the way they are only partially visible.

Some damaged postage stamps I saved from my collection for collage. Part of a coffee stain, and JBS dictionary stamp.

I left this chipboard frame plain, not sure if I will leave it like this.

I covered the back of the chipboard frame with gold airmail washi.

Hard to see here, but I put small photos of some of her found objects onto strips and tucked into this seed package.

JBS chipboard star covered with washi.

Vintage label from a spool.

I made a shadow box to tuck some items into.

The moss, stone, and vial are quite bulky, so I had to make the box deep to protect them.

Last line of journalling hidden at the bottom.

Another look at the taped spine. Also some inks here!

Supplies: patterned paper (Jenni Bowlin Studio); seed package (Jenni Bowlin Studio); frames (Jenni Bowlin Studio, Melissa Frances); ink (Dr. Ph. Martin, Ranger, October Afternoon); bingo card (Jenni Bowlin Studio); tape (Tim Holtz, Recollections, Me and My Tapes, My Mind's Eye); labels (Jenni Bowlin Studio); reinforcers (Tim Holtz); number brad (Jenni Bowlin Studio); chipboard stars (Jenni Bowlin Studio); photo corners (Canson); assorted stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio); stamp (Jenni Bowlin Studio); stamping ink (Recollections).