Paper Grocery bag Journals

I managed to finish my dvd digitization project, at least, as much as I can do without additional software. Whew! This is just the sort of project made  for lengthy periods of unemployment. I still need to finish cataloging them in iTunes, so I can find them more easily. As I mentioned, I also planned to try to finish organizing my studio nook and I wanted to make art journals from the paper grocery bags I started preparing.  I did do some organizing, but I am far from reaching a good point. My cat is enjoying the chaos, as it is next to his little nesting cube. In his opinion, the rattier the better. I do not feel the same, so it will be a project I will continue over the week.

I did not completely finish making books from bags, but I have a fantastic start.  A week or so ago, I started the process by folding the bags the way they are folded naturally, and folding the front and back edges together, at the base. Cut off the very edge, where the two sides meet at the base. This does half the job of cutting off the base. From here, you will cut the rest of the base off and set aside, I plan on doing something with them. Gelatin prints? Hmm... Flatten the rest of the bag. I cut it open at the right-hand fold. It doesn't matter which edge you cut, if you do not care if the writing is not right side up. I did have a nice, neat stack, but Sid had other plans.

Sid has the bags arranged the way he likes them.

 Six of the bags were one size, and the other thirteen a couple of inches larger, so I used the 6 smaller ones for this project. I am thinking, right now, that I would like to make a large soft covered journal for the rest. That may change. While straightening up my art supplies, I decided to liberate  my cute little pink mini sewing machine from its box and display it. I think it is the perfect size to do stitching on paper, if all I want is to straight stitch. If only it also had a zig zag stitch. <sigh> The box is a great size for the kind of journal where you tie in a bunch of stitched signatures onto a wide spine, so I played with that for a bit, cutting off edge pieces, taping a side flap on the front cover and a top flap on the back cover. I taped all the edges so they were clean. All I need to do now is cover the box with pretty paper and put notches in it to tie in the signatures.

I decided, after some fiddling, that the cover would be perfect for a grocery bag journal. I folded the paper bags in half, lengthwise, then cut at the fold. I just tore along a yardstick, because I wanted a rougher look. Besides, I am a terrible cutter. Tearing always comes out better for me. Cut with scissors, or a slide cutter if you have one large enough, if that suits you better.

 I then cut each of those pieces of bag at the fold on the side. They were still a little too long for my cover, so I trimmed them. I found if I cut a strip of the bag off where it already folded, I had the perfect size. I folded them in half and made signatures, using three pages apiece. I ended up with eight signatures, the perfect size for this little sewing machine box cover.

The not-yet-put-together prototype of my little art journal.

 I am also going to make a little book from the strips I cut off my pages. I am thinking of something akin to a modified soft cover saddle stitched book (stitched like a composition book).  Or I may just experiment with the kind of book that sews together sewn signatures.  It is a small, manageable size. Why not?

 This kind of project is the perfect kind to do while watching YouTube videos, or avoiding the Super Bowl, lol. So what, I didn't do all three things I hoped to accomplish. I did one, and half of the other two. Two out of three ain't bad, right?