Glimpse of my Written Journal Page Backgrounds

One of the things that most fascinates me is seeing other writers' written journals BEFORE they actually do any writing -- how do they prep them? What kind of images or stamps or backgrounds do they use? None of my written journals ever looks the same -- I find myself responding to different materials or images, colors. I decided to share a few of the pages I prepped last night in a fit of coughless-feeling-better energy! This is such a Toni page -- the photo is mine, and captures one of my recurring dreamscapes EXACTLY. The stamped image with the harlequin background is another I love, and (of course) birds. I have no doubt at all that when I get to this page, I'll be scrawling poetry lines. This photograph keeps turning up in this journal -- I'm just really excited to have taken my OWN shot of something I dream so often! This page is ALL about that stogie-puffin' quacker on the bottom right. This is a favorite stamp I use often; it just makes me grin and grin!! Rubber stamps and stickers, and also a homemade painted paper piece. Nothing goes to waste in my studio.
Favorite stamped images, stickers. Even after I pull stickers off a sheet, I use what's left -- creates cool little frames and sweet spots for eensy writing, almost like little secrets. Love that! This is one of my visual journal pages, scanned and printed smaller. The paint chip sample pulls out and has a gorgeous piece of Basic Grey paper on the back for more writing. The shutters are from a collage sheet I got from The Tuscan Rose, called BOLD. This is another of my favorite on-line stores for imagery, papers and Basic Grey stamps. Scrap paper (Basic Grey, of course!), stickers, pretty picture from Mary Mata's 'Ivy's Garden' collage sheet, which I recently received. I scanned a bunch of background scrap papers received in a recent order, and used a strip of those. Also the liner of an envelope (love those things, Mary Ann at Dispatch from LA got me hooked on these). One of the women in my online art group sent a link to a website with a ton of free images for downloading -- this lovely woman came from that. I only saved it to my favorites at work, or I'd certainly share it here.
This photo is one of mine, from my 'From the Hood' walks, printed on vellum. Increasingly, I find I want to use my own photographs and create my own background papers -- no copyright issues, no cost involved, and a creative challenge that feeds my other art. Some of my photos really blow my own socks off and I want to celebrate that feeling, too!