Art Journal #1

This past weekend I created my 1st art journal. This 28 page tome is called

Family History 101

and is for my 16 yr old grand daughter's Chanukah gift.

The book is made from a 6" X 8" cardboard page children's book. I covered it in left over hand painted and hand stamped fabric that I found on my design table from earlier projects.

And I adorned it with a charm and the word

Imagine! This is the spine of the book.

And this is the back of the book. Some of the pages are covered in gesso and paint, some in paper and fabric. It opens to this double page with history about Kaeli's Great Great Grandparents (fraternal). My grandparents. Perhaps you can read it if you click on the photo and enlarge it. I tried to find stories that she could relate to like my father's entering military service at age 17 during WWI; or my grand father coming to this country from Russia at age 16 by himself, her age now. I have shared some but not all 28 pages as I decided to protect the privacy of some living and non living family members.

If you have followed my blog long you may already know all about me

so this is not news!

Here are three generations of grandmothers!

Yes, that is my Grandma's bag in the bottom left corner!

As an important part of sharing family history with Kaeli

I stressed the accomplishments of her elders. She is in her last year of high school

and is looking at colleges so I wanted her to see what other family members did

in their educational decisions, and accomplishments including what they accomplished in the arts.

So I used my self as an example following in the footsteps of my own grandmother who

was an accomplished seamstress, and my mother who knit and drew and wrote.

I want Kaeli to be inspired by the eldest and the youngest of our family members

who all have created in some way!

It was also a fun way to chronicle my own art work over the past two and a half years.

Now I'll have to make a book of it for myself.

I made up this little quote for Kaeli! And I added a pocket to fill with more photos (wallet size) of my art quilts than would

fit on the pages of this book. I hope to advance in my art journaling to use more drawings and stamps etc.

But for a first this feels good to me!

I hope you enjoy it too.

And of course I hope Kaeli will treasure it always.