Quick and pretty journals from standard composition books.

Quick is good. Pretty is good. My sister and I have always said that a craft has to be fast to make but look like it took hours to make. :)



I’ve been making paper feathers for a few years and wanted to combine my paper feathers onto a journal of some sort. I had some composition books laying around and some pretty scrapbooking papers and a pretty journal was in the making.






I simply spray glued the composition book and laid on the paper. Then I cut around the edge of the book and it created a whole new look. I did the front and the back in coordinating papers and then I bought some  pretty tapes for the spine of the book in matching colors.



I’ve been making paper feathers for a while now. I love making them. I used to make them by using a chenille stem in between 2 pieces of scrapbook cardstock paper.

This time I cut out a single feather shape and made two stitches down the center in a contrasting color thread.



Aren’t they pretty? I cut them on the diagonal from the outside edge toward the center leaving at least a quarter inch from the stitching. These cuts give the paper a “feathery” look. Then I thought they needed a bit more embellishment so I sewed them down the middle with a contrasting color.

I was really into making the feathers that day. It’s so fun!! I love the way each one comes out looking feathery and yet in pretty colors.

Now if you want to make some don’t get all crazy about making each feather perfectly. When people see the general shape of the object and the diagonal cuts on the sides, their brain will tell them “feather”. The brain likes to label things and it’s pretty good at this. My art teacher, Hank, used to say, “Let the viewer do some of the work. Don’t render everything perfectly”. That’s what Impressionism is all about... the impression of a glance. If you can tell what an object is, then you’ve rendered it enough. The human eye does not need to be perfectly drawn or painted for someone to recognize what it is. Let the viewer do some of the work, too. :)



I put some feathers on the composition books and a few REAL fluffy feathers to further embellish. I really liked this “FUN” sign.



I like to use Fabri Tac glue. It’s for paper and fabric and holds even through the wash (when I’m gluing on fabric – no, these are NOT going in the wash).



I had fun making this photo collage in PhotoScape, too. Free downloadable program.



Thanks for viewing. Hope you enjoyed seeing yet some MORE paper feathers.

Your friend,

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