Journal Making

I am in love with poetry.

I have always loved poetry. I began writing poetry at the age of 8. My first poem was about my Cabbage Patch Kids and was co-written with a loving family friend. The same woman who first introduced me to poetry. I have piles and piles of poems and find that my writing tends to come and go through out my life.

I rekindled my love of poetry watching the TV Show “Dickinson” on Apple TV and I found it really inspiring. It has reconnected me not only to my love of writing and reading poetry but my love for Emily Dickinson‘s poetry. I was introduced to her poetry at a young age when I purchased a small collection that was called “love poems.” She moves me like no other.

All of this has brought me to my latest project. Emily Dickinson collected some of her poems in hand bound books she made herself. She wrote on recycled envelopes and I just love the idea of making some miniature books of my own.

So I decided to create a little project making similar books of poetry. I don’t plan to stop with poetry either. I am planning on making lots of little books. Some with little pieces of art-think ATC cards in book form. A collection of quotes or song lyrics. Random images from magazines-the possibilities are endless! The past week I have been having lots of fun dying copy paper fun colors. I did a batch with Rit Dye and they came out beautiful. I was interested in finding a way that didn’t use dye so I tried Kool-aid mix which came out just as great! I love the crinkly texture of dyed paper but I am less interested in the vintage look you get from coffee or tea dying so this a great alternative! I have made pink so far (it’s my favorite color) and I have some orange mixed up for my son since orange is his favorite color and a pack of purple to try out later. I think this paper would be wonderful for my first little book of poetry.

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your week. We had plumbing issues at the start of the week which landed us in a hotel room for the night. It was a fun little adventure for the kids and I and actually rekindled my spark for some solo adventuring that I hope to be sharing with you soon. So that is all I have for today. Please comment below if you plan to make some of your own little books or if you have ideas for little book themes-I would love to hear them! I also would like to leave you with a few lines from Ms. Emily Dickinson:

“Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all”

-Emily Dickinson

 

Until next time,

-Michele