The journal reminds us about our lives—what happened on a given day; what questions we’re asking ourselves; what answers we discovered…
I thought this glimpse of an interchange between me and Dick, in a happier time, when I still skipped, would bring a smile. Despite the writos—”I careened into a wall.” And “a conversation I didn’t want to have.”
It’s also good to remember Dick is always disparaging my ninja capabilities.
In 2024 and 2025 I was playing with collage as an outgrowth of my interest in grids. You can find more posts on the use of grids in your journal by using my blog’s search engine. (I explain the creation of this collage below.)
Today, seeing this page as I sorted images, reminds me that I will skip again.
Minnesota Today
Despite what you may hear on national news about the draw down of ICE numbers in Minnesota please realize that the violent and aggressive actions of ICE have not stopped here. Our businesses and mutual aid groups still need your help.
The news cycle moves on, but the reality is you still need to keep Minnesota in your thoughts. Please refer to my earlier post on helping Minnesotans here. I list places where you can find links to volunteer opportunities or places to donate.
Then go make some pattered squares (circles, ovals, triangles, whatever).
How I Made the Patterned Collage Grid
I love the Quattro 8 x 8 grid pad for doodling and taking desk notes. One day when rubber stamping I used a page of my Quattro pad to clean my stamp off by stamping repeatedly. (Light blue ink.)
Sitting next to me were sheets of grey charcoal paper I’d used as waste sheets behind journal pages I was painting with blue ink. I cut some of that into strips and put them on the gridded page with glue stick.
I then cut the gridded page up into squares using a paper cutter (but you could do it with scissors, or if you’re really handy and like torn edges you can use a ruler to tear paper).
The resultant squares were rotated and rearranged on the maroon Japanese decorative paper (which has gold flecks). It was just a scrap sitting at the edge of my table after being used in another project.
I dried the glued squares and maroon paper under weight to make sure it dried flat. I trimmed the maroon paper and glued it into a hand-made book I had bound with Nideggen toned paper. (Sadly this paper is no longer made but Strathmore 400 Series Toned Mixed Media books are readily available [just a fan—not connected].)
Sometimes when you want to write something but do not want to draw anything (because of time constraints, overwhelm, or simply the desire to cut things up), collage is a decorative way to give the journal page a lift.
In my mind the pattern of the collage reminds me that I really don’t have ninja skills and I really do run into walls. Serendipity.
Get something in your journal today.
