New Sketchbook Covers

Just playing with fabrics and decided to make a few of these sketchbook and journal covers. I like how they look before the flaps are stitched down (like the green one at top). They're like mini quilts. One of these days I'll go ahead and make a quilt just to look at, but until then they're book covers. I've covered all my books (date books, address books, journals, sketchbooks).

What does it say about me that I have to make something functional all the time? I think it's a result of my effort to simplify/get rid of stuff I don't need/ clear out the superfluous decorative stuff around here to calm my head. I figure if we just make the stuff we use pretty then we won't need to fill up the house with all the extra stuff. If it's just hanging on the wall or sitting on my window sill then I'm breaking the rules. That doesn't sound like an artist talking, does it?

You should see my studio, full of dolls, doll parts, and all kinds of funny little arty things. My kids are all super creative and their toys and artwork are everywhere. My husband also has hobbies galore, music, electronics, etc. His studio is as full as mine (but no color -- all black and gray and chrome. I keep trying to sneak some art in).

I still maintain that I could live in a simple one room space with a bed, a desk, a window. I really don't need all this decoration and chaos and activity. I could very well be wrong about that, my little fantasy about being a contemplative nun somewhere. But I hope to find a happy medium. I'm watching my parents and older (on the verge of retiring) friends all starting to fret about their possessions and how to get rid of them. This downsizing of theirs has resulted in more than a few boxes of useless stuff pitched in my direction. We recently received an assortment of about 20 videotapes of children's movies from an aunt in another state. Very well-meaning, of course, but in these days of Netflix and DVDs I'm happy to say I don't mind the job of taking them to Goodwill for her. Sometimes you just have to make gifts of things to purge them.

Here's a little blessing to all my future grown kids and extended family -- you may toss this ratty little covered journal right into the river where it can decompose and feed the fish. May someone thousands of years from now find the treasure of green glass beads embedded in sand. I don't care. It's my gift to you.