Altered journal swap!

My Irish friend Claire and I decided to make each other altered journals. The idea started when I was going through her blog. Claire had posted some pics on her blog here from the "wreck this journal" she had recently altered. I loved how it turned out and wanted her to make me a journal with prompts so I could make one too! The one month project ended up being a 3 month project, but I think it was worth the wait! The only requirements we had was to get a blank journal and alter it for each other. Surprisingly, we both had a lot of the same ideas! I guess great minds think alike!

My goal was to fill her journal with creative writing prompts, idea prompts and embellish some of the pages to get her creative juices flowing. The point was to inspire her. I had some really crappy swaps on swap-bot (I'm pretty sure we all have) and wanted to give my all on this project (hence the 3 months!). I know Claire hadn't been feeling well lately and wanted to give her something to boost her spirits!

This is the journal I made for Claire...It has about 46 layouts (2 pages a layout, you do the math), plus an awesome cover. I took a spiral bound sketch book (with thick paper so markers wouldn't bleed through) and altered the hell out of it! Some pages are really elaborate while others are simple....

Here is the front cover. I used K&Company's "Berry Sweet" paper and stitched in Claire's name. I had a lot of fun ribbon to match the paper so I made a pretty arc around her name! I also attached ribbon to the front and back covers so that she can tie her journal closed when not in use. Please click on the pictures for a larger view...




Here are some random pages...I didn't put all of them on here, but you can get a good idea of all that went into Claire's journal. (BTW Blogger is being evil right now and won't let my pictures post the way I took them so a few of my favorite pages didn't make this blog entry).











I love this page. I had some "fortune cookie paper" that I had been dying to use. I even had a real "fortune" and pasted it in to look like it was coming out of the cookie. I also found a site where you can print and color your own Tarot. I included some cards for Claire as it fit the theme. I figured she would come up with some awesome ideas on how to "alter" them!
















I love DCWV "once upon a time" paper. I added a small envie filled with stamped fairy tale images that Claire can color and use for this layout (or not).

Some random 2 page layouts. All inspired by random events (again, click for larger views)















































These are pages that prompt an action or teach a skill. The second page (opposite the pages shown) is free space to practice or create her own stuff!




These are just some of the many pages I made for Claire's journal. I can't wait to see what Claire does with her journal!!!! I'm sure by now you're probably wondering about the journal Claire made for me. I have it here, but decided that I would post pics as I work through the journal. I will be taking before and after shots to show how I added to the journal she made me. I'm hoping she will do the same. Here is a direct link to her blog to view some of her other creations as well as more pictures of the journal I made for her! I also must mention that Claire is an AMAZING photographer and she added some of her photos as well as some pen and color pencil drawings into my journal. My favorites though are her collage pages where she uses different mediums to create a wonderful, eye catching spread. More to come soon! I'm hoping to post my first journal entry some time next week! Stay tuned!