Building up to something... just not sure what.

GUESS WHAT I GOT!!!  

I technically don't "need" another journal (pfft, I totally do), but the other one like this is filling up fast and I REALLY love the weight of the pages.  They can seriously handle anything I throw at it.

Buuuuut..... it's kinda boring.  I decided I wanted to change this one up a little.  So I cut all the pages down by 4 1/4".  I was envisioning a long skinny book this time.

Side bonus: Enough sheets to make a whole other book - or two, if I cut them down even further.  OR I might tape some of these back in to make random fold-out pages for the book.  Or I might get an even better idea.  Anything could happen.

I cut the covers down too; but left them 3/4" wider than the sheets of paper inside so I could leave stuff hanging over the edges of the pages once I'm ready to work on them.  Messy is good.  I'm not exactly known for my perfectionistic tendencies.  I HAVE OTHER GOOD QUALITIES, OK?  Don't judge.

Kinda cool, don'tcha think?

The leaving-the-covers-bigger was an afterthought, and I had already scored the cover in preparation for cutting it... leaving it looking pretty ugly.  (Thinking things through - also not a strong point.)

So I dug through the stash and found this piece of 12"x12" scrapbook paper with a vintage photo of a ferris wheel... cut it down and poof.  I used it on the inside covers - I guess you would call it endpapers, if you were feeling fancy.

Hmm.  Now the front cover.  I already tore off the paper announcing what kind of book it was, but the cover is this shiny faux-snakeskin or something.  Pretty hideous.  (Sorry, Strathmore; other than that little detail I really do LOVE THESE BOOKS!)

The book (covers included) now measures 5 1/2" x 12".  The papers inside are 4 3/4" x 12".

I had a seriously old envelope that I hacked up and stuck to the front of the book.  If you look carefully you will see that I took the flap off and glued it underneath the envelope.  I figure I can keep scraps and ephemera and secret stuff (art supply receipts, for example) in it.

I used those wee skinny magnets on the flap and inside the envelope so it will actually stay closed.

So far that's it.  It definitely needs some more work to jazz it up but it was a nice break from the boring stuff I was supposed to be doing.  However, as much fun as this was, I'm going to need to get my hands on some COLOUR soon.  I can feel that urge to get my hands dirty, building up, making me flare my nostrils and squint my eyes and stand in the doorway of this room, looking around for something to mess up.  Something fun might happen around here tonight... I'll let you know.

Love Shelley!