Spiral Journal Spread 6...and a Confession or Two

Well, let's see. Today's May 8. Last time I completed an art journal page (other than at An Artful Journey)?  Apparently it was February 19, if this spread is any indication. And flipping through my Flickr sets, I realized I never shared it with you here.  This spread includes several of my secret addictions:  magazines (the Coach perfume bottle probably came out of Glamour), old books, and old maps.  When you work on a college campus and are good friends with the dean over the library, you get first dibs on the old books and maps they are purging.  The circles are cut from painted and inked coffee filters. I also used gesso, acrylic paint, spray inks, Sharpie paint pens, and alphabet and swirl stamps.

So about those magazines...they are my husband's nemesis. And I will confess that I'm a "piler." Recently in one of those magazines I subscribe to, I believe it was Redbook, I came across an article that talked about the different ways people manage clutter.  When I saw the description of the "piler," I yelled from my reading perch, "Oh my gosh!  That's me!" and immediately read it to Benny. He wholeheartedly agreed (yet I pointed out that my piling tendencies are better controlled and neater than his "leave it wherever I put it down" tendencies).  So to come clean, here is the long list of periodicals that appear in our maibox on a monthly, bimonthly or quarterly basis (it should be noted that not ALL of these are for me): Glamour, Redbook, Coastal Living, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Better Homes and Gardens Do It Yourself, HGTV Magazine, National Geographic, National Geographic Kids, American Girl Magazine, Sports Illustrated (weekly! you know how those can pile up!), Florida Sportsmen, Cloth Paper Scissors, Somerset Studio, Artful Blogging, and Art Journaling (okay, so MOST of these are for me....but I will add that Benny is a closet Glamour and Redbook reader--yes, now his secret is out--and the girls will read anything I do).  My longest standing subscription is National Geographic.  My mother got me a subscription when I was in middle school, and I have received every issue since. For a while, I couldn't bear to part with them and kept every one in one bookcase dedicated just to those yellow spines. Finally I realized we were about to be overrun, so I donated my entire collection to a couple of local schools (but they are piling up again...).

Then there are those that I just happen to pick up in Publix or Books a Million: Flea Market Style, Flea Market Finds, Sew Somerset, Somerset HandMade, Better Homes and Gardens 100 Storage Ideas (because, obviously, I need storage ideas), the occasional quilting magazine, and random others that just happen to jump out at me. I confess. I am a magazine junkie. But I do read them all!  Cover to cover!  Once my "I've read these" pile has reached the point of consistently toppling over, the girls and I have a big cutting session, cutting out images to use in our journal pages before I sadly put them in the recycle bin.  But it's not just magazines; I'm a big reader in general.  In addition to my magazine addiction, I also read two to three novels a month.  And I'm a want-to-feel-the-real-thing in my hand kind of girl. I don't have, nor do I want, a Kindle, and I don't like reading magazines on tablets. Last night I started The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen, and I've read several of her books recently (The Peach Keeper has been my favorite of hers so far). I also fell in love with Jacqueline Sheehan and have read every one of her books over the last few months (it should come as no surprise that all of Sheehan's books have strong canine characters).  I'll have to do a post on all my favorite reads...

...and then there is that HUGE pile (well, to be honest, about four piles) of vintage Popular Mechanics magazines, courtesy of eBay, piled up next to my book table in my studio...don't even get Benny started on those.  Sometime this summer, I'll be flipping through those searching out vintage automobile ads, a whole other addiction I'll spare you from for the moment.  So, hmmm, back to the point of this post: sharing an art journal page. In a round about way, I believe I have just proven that you truly can share all your deep dark secrets through a journal page, even if they start in your mailbox. :-) Any secret addictions you want to share?