Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Use Book Pages.
I have some old books in my craft stash that I use for my art journaling and I used quite a few different books to create this page, in fact the only items that aren’t book pages are the sparkly butterflies (grin!).

I started by collaging the background with lots of different torn book pages from an old dictionary from my school days, a Pears Cyclopaedia, an old David Copperfield novel and an old novel with Kraft paper pages. They are stuck down using a glue stick and some Liquitex matte gel medium, and I applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top using a brayer and left it to dry.

Next I fussy cut the gladioli image from an old garden flower book and stuck it in place using a glue stick.

Then I die cut some pages of an old poetry book to create the red border (using a Spellbinders set) and the “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? …” sonnet by William Shakespeare; I layered them together and stuck them onto the page using double-sided tape.

To finish, I added some pretty butterflies to add some sparkle.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and see how our Guest Designer and Design Teamies used book pages on their wonderful creations too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!

I always look for books for my art journaling in charity shops and here are two books that I bought back in 2013 with every intention of using them on my pages, but they are so beautiful and precious that instead they remain on my bookshelf and I find myself reading them often. As T Stands for Tuesday, I’m sharing my “With a cup of tea” book with the T Gang today and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

My page was also inspired by these beautiful gladioli that are flowering in our garden too (grin!).
Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
For the sake of brevity I’m no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.
Challenges I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today: Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with my type on the book pages I used on this page. Paperbabe Stamps and their Challenge #150 – Anything Goes with my typewriter art journal page. De-stress with distressing over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with my distressed book pages which I achieved by tearing them and covering them with white gesso. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and their Glimmer and Sparkle challenge with the glimmer and sparkle of the butterflies on my page. Anything Goes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with my art journal page. |
A beautiful page Jo! I love all the different types of book pages you used, and those pretty butterflies are the perfect finishing touch.
Hope you have a lovely week.
Alison
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That is so beautiful. My eyes were drawn straight to the wonderful gladioli that you found in a garden book. I think it is the colour that grabs the eye and the shape of the drawing is beautiful itself. Love how you paired them with the sparkly butterflies and married the deep red inner parts of the petal with your framing of Shakespeare’s Sonnet.
Your beginning with the various scripts from several sources looks good, I like how you have twisted the pieces so that some lie sidewards and some upside down, it all adds interest, forming a beautiful backcloth for the main event.
It’s a lovely page Jo, I have so enjoyed your contributions to my theme at AJJ this month and I have that book ‘Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady’ which I bought for the same purpose. Like you, mine remains on my bookshelf – too pretty to touch but maybe one day …
Hugs, Neet xx
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Wonderful Collage work
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A beautiful page Jo , I love the fussy cut gladioli and the one in your garden that inspired you for the page, the butterflies give a sense of movement to the page. Perfect inspiration foe the challenge themes.
Yvonne xx
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Love the mix of different pages. The flowers add so much interest and such a great pop of color. Beautiful work here, Jo. Great tea book – I bet there are some lovely pictures of tea cup in it! So fun. Happy T-day! Hugz
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Gorgeous art journal spread Jo! LOVE that background and your fussy cutting is perfect! LOVE it! Have a fantastic week! ((HUGS)) Helen
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What a beautiful page! You’ve inspired me to make a background like yours ~ I wonder if I have the variety of page colors like your craft page?! ~ that really gives it a great look. Great fussy cutting too ~ I see why you never cut up those books, they do look like keepers! Happy T day 🙂
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Somehow I don’t think I could cut up old books, but what you are doing is lovely. I was just thinking about Sonnet 18 because of the movie Nomadland, where Fern, played by Frances McDormand, recites it in a beautiful way.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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What a fabulous page Jo. Nice use of book pages (and type for AJJ). That vintage gladioli image is definitely a star of your page. Just gorgeous. The colors really pop. And I know what you mean about cutting up some old books. I have a few of those myself. Thanks for also sharing with us at AJJ on this last day of the month. And happy T day too. Hope your month ends well and the new month starts off great. Hugs-Erika
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Such a pretty page. The gladiolus was my neighbor, Prissy’s favorite flower. I’d have been over with her having a cup of tea. An industrial size mug,(she liked to make sure my visit was a long one 😺) not a pretty teacup and doily as on the cover of your book. Happy T Day
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What a gorgeous page you created! I love those old fashioned books, too, they are always good to dp into again and again. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
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What a fantastic collage. And the addition of the blooms, from a book, is amazing. You are always a good muse for me so thanks for that. I can so understand not using some rummage finds as your original intention.
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beautiful journal page using all the book page papers Jo! I have done the same as you picking up some books to repurpose in art and then liking them so much that I couldn’t bear to use them;)
Happy T day!
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Jo this is so pretty. I love how you arranged it all. No pun intended. LOL Your art is always so cleaver. Have a wonderful day today.
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That is a gorgeous page. Pages from lots of lovely books share your page. I have fond memories of the Pear’s Encyclopedia, which my parents had on the shelf, together with other dictionaries. My dad was a linguist so there were many.
I love how you fussy cut the gladioli. It really looks exactly like the one in your garden.
Like many others, I had the book The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady. It went to a charity shop when we moved to Spain (along with nearly all my books).
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
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Beautiful gladioli that put together with the sparkly butterflies surely are the main stars. I love how you use your old books as the background, great job!
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WOW Jo, this is gorgeous!! I love all of the different books you used and the stunning background! The fussy cut flowers are beautiful! I want to head to my local thrift store to see if I can find some old garden books now, thanks for the inspiration!
Hugs, Tammy
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This is such a beautiful page! I love to create with book pages as well and you just inspired me to do that! Thank you.
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I absolutely adore this Jo. The Gladioli is beautiful flower and looks great with your book page background. Love how the borders on the sonnet emphasise the red. Hugs, Chrisx
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The background you created is incredible. Your choice of all those different book pages and different fonts was a wise choice for Neet’s theme at Art Journal Journey, too. That background made all the difference in the world, but that fussy cut gladioli and butterflies are the real stars of the page. I really LOVE how you used the die cut frame to your advantage to bring out the beauty of the poem. Thanks for sharing this with us at AJJ, dear.
Your choice of books for T this Tuesday is brilliant. What a clever way to tie the book pages to T. Of course your glads are incredibly lovely, too. They certainly echo the fussy cut flowers. Thanks for sharing your cup of tea book with us for T this Tuesday, dear.
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Those flowers look like they are popping off the page. Lovely!
That Edwardian Lady book sounds interesting. I bet it has beautiful illustration.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
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Your journal page is gorgeous. I tear up books to make my junk journals. I do feel bad when I do that, but usually I have bought them at garage sales, and they were someone’s junk, and the sayings and photos in them are so pretty, I make another “book” with them. LOL Thanks for sharing. Happy T Day!
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A beautiful page Jo, great background making the fussy cut gladioli really stand out, the ones in your garden look beautiful too. I’ve got a couple of books bought to ‘use’ but can’t bring myself to actually use them, so I’ve photocopied pages – not exactly recycling!
Have a lovely week.
Avril xx
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Just gorgeous! I think this is a new favorite! 😉
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I remember that “Country Diary” book. Such lovely illustrations.
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Pears Cyclopaedia! I have one of those somewhere! It was a gift when I left primary school. Well, if I can find it and dare myself to rip it up I’m half way there! The flower is really lovely and sets off the whole page! Happy T day! 0n a thursday. linkin up problems… we might have beaten the gremlimbs! (but can’t do anything about my bad spelling!)
((Lyn))
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what a fabulous page Jo, love everything about it. I have an old flower book I bought to cut up but up to now haven’t been able to bring myself to do it !
Joan x
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STUNNING work Jo, beautiful layers with the Gladioli standing proud. I absolutely adore this journal page full of everything I love including Ediths work, as a local artist I have so many variations of her work sadly taken far too early, quite tragic.
A fabulous theme, i’m hoping I get chance to join in before the challenge ends.
Wishing you a happy week ahead Hugs Tracey xx
P.S Thank you for sharing @ Paperbabe Stamps x
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This is just lovely! Thanks for joining our challenge on The Funkie Junkie Blog.
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Gorgeous! Thank you for joining us at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!
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Absolutely love this journal page Jo. Thank you for joining us at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog x
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