Summer is over...art journaling is here...

So I have had an amazing summer but it's been very busy! Between my 12 year old going away to Kansas University for a 3 week Duke Tips Camp aka"Nerd Camp" to running around with my 9 year old and his baseball camp, doctor's and dentist appointments and simply trying to keep cool in this ridiculous hot summer...simply put...I've been busy and I'm glad school has finally started. Not that my schedule is any easier with school starting. But I've been escaping and reconnecting to myself through the "Soul Restoration" classes. This online class is FUN!!! I'm working on an "art journal" and playing with paint, Mod Podge, glitter, stamps, glue gun etc and during all of this, I am working on "restoring myself" one step at a time! So here are a few photos of my art journal. 

SO I STARTED WITH AN ARTIST'S SKETCH BOOK! 

 And then I covered it with this fabric and modpodge, and crystal beads and some of the print outs that I mod podged on some chipboard! What is chipboard...it's basically cardboard of different thickness! Also, the pretty ribbon you see toward the bottom of the cover was part of the fabric. I did cut up the gold border of the fabric and used it to cover the binding! 

   Here is a close-up...so the crystal beads you see on here are my favorite. I applied a thick layer of ModPodge and simply sprinkled the beads on here making sure they were NOT one on top of another, and then I had to wait like 3 days for the ModPodge to dry completely and TA DAAA.....i love the way it looks...like pretty jewelry sparkling on my cover!!!  And thanks to Mod Podge, it is stuck for good!!!

So here is a side view of the journal with only about a dozen pages done...there are over a 100 pages in this book....hmmm....i wonder how this is going to work out...i need to stop embellishing and keeping my pages simple and "flat". :) but boy am i having fun....:)

So I am bookmarking my favorite pages with some pretty ribbon that coordinates with the pages! 

This is one of the last pages I worked on just a few nights ago!!! Although it may look simple, I LOVE THIS 2 page spread!!! It's very therapeutic and it was sooo much fun just playing around with it until I loved the look!!!