Summer has officially started!

here is a little peek into my june journal.  i made it in my online class "get those creative juices flowing" with amy tangerine at big picture classes.  she taught us how to make these super simple scrappy journals.  LOVE it!!

i never think ahead to do "before and after" page shots, so here goes.  above is a page in the june journal.  just basic scraps of paper, labels, journaling cards, etc.

and voila! after adding sticker letters, journaling and doodling.

here's digging deeper into the journal.  the pages are made of scrapbook paper (cut to 8.5" x 11" and folded in half) and folded tags, envelopes and other odd-shaped papers.  fold 'em all up, sew 'em down the middle (hand stitch or machine stitch) and you've got yourself a super speedy journal ready to go!

flop a flap over and reveal little hidden messages and other secret surprises!  here is a hot air balloon sticker from 1979.  i bought a package of totally unused dennison stickers from ebay.  still wrapped in cellophane with a Kmart price sticker of .79 cents!  awesome.

can't get enough of online journaling classes these days.  especially if they are FREE!  found out about this awesome summer journaling class through a recent commenter (thank you, nathalie!)  check out "in the sun" with natalie malik (a different natalie!).  she is posting a prompt a day and i'm excited to start following along!  above is the start of my SUMMER TO DO LIST.  and i'm happy to report that i've been doing a lot of them already!

today's journal page went from playful to serious!  i was camped out in my usual spot with the girls and we were having a blast.  i was journaling in the shade and the girls were running in the grass and splashing in the fountain.

 anyway, we were surrounded by an incoming group of college freshman attending their summer orientation.  i saw a friend of my stepson's (wild coincidence!) and he was all smiles in his group, newly graduated, ready to conquer the next big educational challenge in life.  then it hit me.  my stepson will not be one of these fresh new college-bound faces.  he has chosen not to pursue the path of higher education (for the moment) and will instead enter the workforce with a high school diploma.

suddenly, i felt like a complete failure as a parent.

a little conversation with friends and some journaling helped me realize that everything will be OK.  plenty of people take time off after school to figure out what they want to do next in life.  no need to rush a young person into something they don't feel ready for.  i know, it will be fine.

and onto a lighter subject...here is a little sneak peek at a recent washi tape postcard swap i entered over at mescrap with lay hoon.  i love postcards. i don't know why i don't write them more often!  especially when you can make your own.  anyone up for a MAIL ART SWAP?  let me know in the comments below.  we'll swap some postcards around the world.  let's get this summer party started!!

mail art and other lovlies

some lovely packages are going out in the mail tomorrow! one is going out all the way to england to sal, who won the giveaway. she is getting her very own custom made journal! here is a teeny sneak peek (but i don't want to give away the big surprise until after she's received it.)

the other package is going out to christina! we decided to do a vintage themed swap! fun!! she's in luck, because i just went to a great book sale down the street from my house and found all kinds of great, old books! ;)

i'm participating in another swap with speckled egg. this one is a black-and-white theme.

so i gathered all my lovely vintage and vintage-inspired black and white lovlies and got to sortin'. next comes decorating the boxes and then sending them off !

i love this box of old buttons. i found it at an estate sale a few months back. it's so pretty, just on it's own. i'll be including some of these in my partners' swap boxes for sure!

the weather is definitely cooling down but it's still nice enough for us to play outside.

sureya loves to stand on the front of her sister's scooter while maya pushes them both down the street. it's lovely to see them having so much fun together.

today was another lovely day. i decided to take little ms. squirly pants out on a walk to get some lunch before heading over to pick up her big sister from school.

oooh, and i even got some art journaling in, too! ;) i packed a little bag with the bare essentials (that was hard to pare it all down to just a few pens, tape and misc. vintage paper. this journal is made from a variety of my favorite paper bound in an old greeting card. the glassine envelope taped to the back page holds little labels and other journaling lovlies.

ms. sureya sat so nicely, eating her lunch while i journaled in between bites.

these are some random shots from the journal. i skip around a lot so the dates are always out of order, but that's ok by me.

i wish! i love this. i should get a poster-sized copy of this and hang it on my wall.