Cabinet Journal

Hello all!  I'm so glad you enjoyed the Candlelit Foliage.

Today we're back on the journal trail, another creation made using Eileen Hull's fantastic Journal die.  You saw a sneak peek of this when I was joining in the announcement of the Journal Treasury e-book the other day. 

(If you missed the exciting launch do check out all the details by clicking the link.)

The cover looks innocent enough, ready to open up to reveal the pages inside.


But this one has no pages.  It's a journal with a difference... a cabinet of curiosities, lost and found over time.







One of the inspirational journals included in the Treasury comes from the fantastic Shelly Hickox a.k.a. the Stamptramp.  She used Tim Holtz Configurations boxes inside her journal cover... but, even before I'd seen that, my very first thought when I saw the journal die for the first time was, "Ooh, that looks just the right size for a Calico Craft Parts Printers Tray... and it turns out I was right!

I've played with the CCP Printers Tray a number of times (check out my Springtime Shadowbox, or the Doll Exhibition, or even, from way back when, you could do some Beachcombing), and I love that you can get it with varying internal configurations, according to what you want to do with it.





A recent new addition to the range, though, are these wonderful frames to add to the front of your finished tray to give it a really polished look.  As you can see, I haven't added it to the tray itself, but it makes for a lovely feature on the front of the journal.













This is the plain frame, which I've given a rusted look with the simple aid of a few DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics, but there are also some glorious decorative ones.  I've got a lovely bramble-covered version which I'm looking forward to playing with soon.

The word label is also by Calico Craft Parts, one of their new(ish) Word Elements.  Again, I've just used some paint to get the rusty look - some Quinacridone Gold, Paynes Grey and Raw Umber.












I layered the paint in washes, stippling it until I had the look I wanted.

Behind the Word Element is a piece of my much-loved rusty mesh, and some tiny paper roses finish the front cover.













The outside of the journal is covered with some of the Tim Holtz Memoranda papers - in fact, those are the papers in use throughout, including on the outside of the printers tray itself, which forms the edging of the "pages".












And some plain off-white cotton twill tape provides the fastening to secure it.















I've kept it relatively simple on the outside, since I expect it's going to stand open as often as it is closed...




... so that you can explore the Lost and Found objets trouvés inside...




... the gatherings and remnants of a number of lives.

















The brilliant thing about the Printers Tray is that it comes in pieces, making it really easy to decorate it before you assemble it.














I've used the 6x6 papers for the interior.   (The central walls aren't stuck down yet at this point - I'm just checking how it looks.)















The 6x6 designs are smaller in scale, so they don't overwhelm the little cubbyholes.











The larger scale 12x12 Memoranda papers cover the inner boards as well as the front of the journal.

I love that it looks as though I've taken the time to gather lots of old vintage ephemera and papers and even old sellotape - no, it's all on the paper design!












I painted the inner spine, as you can see; and later I added some vintage lace to match the pieces in the cubby holes opposite.














There are lots of bits and bobs in here, some of which have been waiting around for quite a while to find a new home, each one a "found object" as the sign says.














There are some that I've altered - these wooden cubes, covered in some more Memoranda papers...












... and some that I made pretty much from scratch, like this bottle top filled with paper, mini-gears and topped up with Glossy Accents.  I made it ages ago - it's been waiting at least three years to be used for something!











I'm completely in love with the new Idea-ology skulls - incredibly detailed and brilliantly aged.  All you have to do is stick them down and they add antiquity and mystery.

He's next to a resin rose which I rusted pretty much exactly four years ago (my Tea Dye and Rusty Hinge post will reveal all...), and a rusty star which came that way.











The golden bird I think came off a charm necklace bought at a charity shop for crafty dismantling, and he's flying over a resin picture frame - maybe Prima? maybe not.












There's another of the frames, and another rusty star (somebody must have been making a collection) in the top left corner display.  You'll see I distressed the papers even more round the corners and edges.













Just below the Quote Stick (which gave me the idea behind the whole piece), a couple of spools sit on some more of the lace with a couple of faded roses, carrying the memories of some long-forgotten romance.













Tucked away in a corner, there's one of the Idea-ology Salvaged Dolls, messed up considerably with washes of paint, perched on another of the wooden spools.














And the key (from another long-ago rusting session) keeps its secrets - we'll never know what lock it opened... perhaps one on a small chest containing the love letters from that faded romance.  Since the key is lost, the chest can't be opened, so the letters will never be read again.
















The innards of an old pocket watch hang on the wall, supported by a twist of rusty wire.
















Down at the bottom left, the decorations are a little less steampunk and a little more baroque.  The gilded cherub perches on his wooden flourish (Calico Craft Parts again)...













... while the rusted locket, fallen into decay, commemorates another long-lost love.  Such a profile!

As you'll have noticed, there are several of the wonderful Clippings stickers dotted around.











There are more of them over on the inside cover of the journal.

Facing all those long lost dimensional objects, we also have some lost and found paper ephemera...














... the photos slipping through time...














... along with luggage labels, and tickets, and playbills, and school reports...















... and the memories and echoes of conversations...
















... all the tiny pieces which go to make up the record of a life...













... and most of which slip away from us, carrying the stories they hold off into the world.

The whole thing stands up beautifully making it easy to display... now I just need some space.

So there's my journal cabinet of curiosities for you - I hope it sends your imagination off down as many story avenues as it does mine!

Hope you're all enjoying a great weekend, and I'll see you again soon.

Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience and the council-chamber of thought.
Giambattista Basile

I'd like to play along at the Mix It Up challenge blog where they are playing Anything Goes with an optional twist of Paper Piecing.  No paper piecing, I'm afraid, unless my wooden cubes count, but this is more design paper than you usually find here at Words and Pictures