Abundance

My pal, Angie, and I decided that we needed a junking day out.  

Before we left, I showed her the wonderfulness of the Nature's Blessing Journal pages that were taking over my studio.

Tables and tables filled with pages.

And there were towers of empty books waiting to be filled.

I'd made up a blank book for her as a gift, and she asked if she could make pages and join the swap.  After seeing the studio filled with the amazing art, she couldn't resist! 

And it takes forever to put this many books together, so she had plenty of time to make pages. I was so glad she joined, she has a lovely, vintage style. 

And when she delivered them, she brought cookies!!!!!

How could she resist wanting to have some of this gorgeousness of her own? It's remarkable to see it all in person.  I often am overwhelmed by the mass of creations and wish I could share the experience with more people.  In person, they are quite something.

Here is one side of the pages for the first book, all laid out and ready to be tucked into the covers.

Here is another set.  

When I am working on sorting the pages as they come in the mail, I try to arrange them on the table in groups that look pretty together, so that when I  pull out six to tie into a book, I chose from the groupings, hopefully creating books with pages that are complimentary to each other.

Here is the flip side of that last set.

I'm trying to get photos as I compile the pages.  But I don't think the photos do justice to them.  You almost have to be here to soak in the abundance.  Kind of like seeing the Grand Canyon instead of seeing a photo of it.

Here is another set.

And its flip side.

By the way, if you are in the swap and reading this, don't freak out and think I am way behind.  I write my posts in advance, sometimes I'll write five or six in one quick setting. I whip out a few when I'm in the mood and postdate them like bad checks.

I'll be in Florida and New Hampshire for a while and plan to have lots of Blessing pages to share with you while I'm away.

Want to make your own journal? I have step by step lessons, in this tutorial for $15.  

 

Here are a few more pics of the books for the swap in progress.

Comments

[patty]

So much beauty in one place.

[Karla Nathan]

Its quite something to have all that artwork in my studio!

[Jane]

So beautiful! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

[Beth Boothe]

Thank you for including us in showing the pages!
As a participant, this just gives me more of an
idea of this whole process....
AMAZING and a LOT of work!
The pages are stunning, and I hope that you
will post more pictures :)
Such Talent gathered in your studio!!!!!
LoVe My BooK !!!!!!!!

[Karla Nathan]

Beth, I have another post about the swap scheduled for Oct. 22nd, with tons of pictures! Im so glad you love your book, Ive been hearing that from a lot of swappers! You guys all outdid yourselves on the pages.

[Beth Boothe]

Also,
I would like to add that one of my beautiful
pages included an email. I have contacted
her already and to my surprise, she rec.
my page as well. I think it's a great idea
to make new friends this way ;) and I
encourage others to contact the artists of your
beautiful book!
I included my email in my pages.
Please contact me and let me know a
little about yourself.

[Karla Nathan]

Arent the swap pages gorgeous??

[Karla Nathan]

Not all of the pages were signed! Emails or blog addresses are a great idea to add, along with the signature. I was disappointed to see that many lacked signatures, because I know that it is fun to contact the creator of a page that you receive.

[Sandy]

I can't even begin to imagine all the eye candy and ideas you were able to glean from all this amazing art! My complete book arrived over the weekend and it is totally amazing, love every tiny detail of it and will treasure it.

I also started making my first book cover from your online class and love the way it is turning out, thanks for such a great class!

[Karla Nathan]

Sandy, Im so glad to hear that you liked your book. Ive got great feedback so far. It has been a wonderful swap!

Enjoy your journal making.

[Jeannie McGehee]

Gorgeous...all of those pages are just beautiful...makes me smile...what talent...Thank you for sharing!

[Terri]

My book arrived this week and it's beautiful, from cover to cover! Thank you so much, Karla, for organizing such a wonderful swap and for the massive amount of time you've put into the books. Thanks, too, for sharing so many photos. I love seeing all the lovely creations!

[Yvonne Welty]

I too love my book. It came on a day that I was frazzled from the work world. It was a very welcome surprise and really turned the day around. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures of some of the other pages. What a great selection! It was such fun to see how everyone interpreted the theme. THANKS SO MUCH KARLA!

[Karla Nathan]

I did see some recurring themes, birds and flowers were the most popular, but yes, so very many different styles of depicting them. It was such fun to look thru them all!

[elaine]

Love my book and every time I look at it, i find another blessing :)

[Kathy]

Karla, thank you again for hosting this swap. It was so much fun creating the pages and I love my book. Fun, too, to see how you combined some of my pages with the others in this post.

[Karla Jackson]

I adore my book that you gathered together for me! Those pages are in this post, the 4th set down with the daffadillies. I love how the pages seem to depict the four seasons...that delights my sensibilities as the seasons are my favorite theme in all artwork! Thank you most kindly for a wonderful swap...once again a treasure forever!
XOXO Karla J.

[Karla Nathan]

Im so glad to hear it. And glad that you like your book. Thanks, Karla! And thank you for the pretty lace and stick pin.

[Karla Nathan]

I enjoyed playing with your pages, Kathy, thanks!

[Karla Nathan]

That is delightful to hear, Elaine!

[Karla Nathan]

Its so nice when you get something in a swap that touches you! And that just made my day, Karla.

[jeanie]

I love, love, love my book, Karla! I'm working on a post to highlight it and will link back to you (and promote the tutorial, too -- which I have yet to sign up for but will be come the first of the month!).

I loved every page from every creative participant and your covers and the pretty ribbons were just beautiful! The doodle sheet, too! Honestly, I felt like I didn't deserve it -- the pages were ever so much more glorious than anything I could do!

It will be my "special" book -- only the best will be added to this one! Thanks again for all your hard work on it!

[Angela Kohn]

I have to add my thanks here too- Karla, you did an amazing job and thanks for the peek at the process! Very exciting and inspiring. I love my book! And I think I just might have to email some of my page creators... I wasn't sure if that would be ok but now I think maybe I will. :)

[Karla Nathan]

Oh yes, Angela, please do contact the swappers whose pages you got! Im so glad to hear that you liked your book.

[Catie Porter]

Hi Karla
We we were away for almost three weeks. Our middle daughter became critically ill and we almost lost her at 36. With excellent medical intervention and many many people holding her up In prayer she pulled through even after the drs said it was very grim. We stayed by her side and helped out with her three darling little girls while she was improving. All of our children live twenty minutes apart but five hours from their hometown where we are. She told us it was time for her us to let her do more normal stuff and we packed up and arrived home today.
My book was waiting for me and I cried when I opened it.
It is so beautiful and filled with so much love. Thank you so much for hosting this swap. I am going to take pics and post them on my blog. I will also contact the women who signed my book and let them know how much I enjoy their pages.

[Karla Nathan]

Oh dear, Catie, Im so sorry to hear of your daughters illness. Im so happy that you enjoyed your book and it came at a good time for you. Thank you for being in the swap and thank you for the lovely English dish you sent. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated!