Farewell to Downton- an art journal swap to say goodbye to our favorite program

Soon, Downton Abby will be airing its last episode.  

I thought it would be nice to share art journals on the theme as a memento of the show.  So, another swap is in order!

This show has touched many hearts and had us all swooning over the sets and costumes. I've attended two Downton themed weekend art events, myself and have another coming up soon.  Lord Grantham and his family's story is one that  so many of us love to immerse ourselves in.

This photo of one of the sets is my inspiration for the books.  Lush, heavy wallpaper, in a soft green, rose silk damask, gilded, white trim,  and overall, ornate elegance.

Here are the details of what I'll be including and making the book from for the swap:

Two chipboard, flocked wallpaper covers, lined with antique silk brocade.

On that, a painted and golden glazed frame filled with my painting of the castle itself printed on high quality matte photo paper.

The bottom of the front cover will be trimmed in lace and hand dyed velvet ribbon.

The book will tie shut with hand dyed silk ribbon, anchored in place with a medallion of vintage wallpaper and a sparkling rhinestone cluster.

Pages will be tied in with ribbon accented with bundles of vintage trims and laces, along with a variety of Victorian style charms and a millinery bloom.

Two coloring pages, hand drawn by myself.

The book will be made up of 3 signatures of 3 pieces of card stock. You will send 6, I will supply 3 pages ready for you to finish as you'd like in your own book.    This makes a total of 36 pages. 

For this swap, you will get one of your own pages in the book.  It will be included in the count of the 6 you send in.  So, you will send in 5 folded pieces of card stock, embellished on a minimum of 2 sides to swap,  plus 1 more  of the same for me to add to your own book.  You will get 5 swap pages in return along with 3 plain or background pages from me.

I will ship these Priority Mail in padded envelopes.

I have copied vintage stationary and will include this as one of the pages I provide for each book.

This will be a functional journal, for you to use for notes, pictures, doodling, memorabilia, and adding your own favorite images or ideas from the show. So, up to half of the pages created by swappers will be simply finished to allow you space to use in the book.  Such as stationery paper, ledger paper, an envelope, lined paper, plain paper, etc.  Borders, headers, or decorations can be added, but the page should still be usable for the new owner to fill in for themselves.

 (you can scroll down to the end of the post for photos and links to other swaps for examples)

Of course, I'll be using the Good Stuff to create your book, here are a few of the hats I'll be plucking.

The silk fabric is just gorgeous and is very reminiscent of the Crawley's sitting room furniture.  The frames I have found to use are in an assortment of shapes and sizes.  I will be painting each one white, then glazing it in a metallic gold, to mimic the sitting room trim.

Ahhh, that fabric is going to make a perfect liner. It is sturdy, yet delicate and beautiful.  And here is one of the coloring pages I'll be including- my drawing of the Dowager, and some of her noteworthy quotes.

Here is a closeup, so show you some of the detail. Doesn't it make you want to grab your markers and start coloring?  If you haven't embraced the Adult Coloring kick, here are some tips that could help you get started and get a finished, arty look on your pages.

Each book will have charms tied to the ribbons along the spine, and I will have a selection of laces and trims to embellish with too.

No two book covers will be exactly the same, since I am using so many vintage elements. 

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Here are the guidelines, if you'd like to join:

1-The theme is "FAREWELL TO DOWNTON", any interpretation you'd like- the family, the rooms, the era, gowns- is wide open to your view of what you love and will miss about the show.  And keep in mind that the show does span eras, so you have a choice from Edwardian to Flapper.

2- Size is a full page of 8-1/2 x 11 card stock, folded in half to make two 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 pages with a crease in the middle.

3- Please use card stock.  Add anything creative over it, but the base must be card stock. Please keep the fold ONLY card stock and clear of embellishments so I can punch the holes.

4-  Make 6 folded sheets of card stock front and back, So that means 6 pieces of paper -24 sides total.  This sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that this is a journal/scrapbook.  UP TO HALF of those 24 sides, need to be usable for the book's owner.  Lined paper, pockets, old stationary, envelopes, etc, something that the new owner can write on, tuck things into, or add to.  This is a functional journal. (please check out the examples below)  The rest of the pages can be decorated to your heart's content, but do please keep approximately half usable for the book's owner.  And please do not just leave a completely blank page with nothing at all on it, do use something pretty as a background to be created upon later.

5- Please add trailing lace, and other pretty trims that peek out from the covers of the book.  The more trims, laces, and ribbons, the prettier the over all look of the book will be. And don't just add it from the bottom, it is pretty to have trims peeking out from the side and top also.

6-  Sign your work, add your blog name if you have one.

7- One of your pages will be returned to you, in your book.

8- LEAVE ONE INCH ALONG THE CENTER FOLD EMPTY, no 3-D items along the fold, so I can punch holes.  Decorate the rest of the page as thick as you'd like, but please leave the center 1" for me to bind!  hmmm, I think I might have already mentioned that one...

 To join, please email:

[email protected] 

Please include:
 1-Your first and last name
2-Your Instagram or blog name and URL  (if applicable)
3-Your email address

 

Deadline
Pages should be to me by May 31, 2016

In your package along with the 6 pages, please include:

1- Your first and last name, same as you provided at sign up
2- A slip of paper with your name, and address, if your mailing address name does not match the first and last name you provided, (if you signed up with your nickname, blog name, etc) please alert me so I will know it is you and the book is going to the right address

3- $38 fee for USA, sorry, no overseas swapping this time.

(I am sorry also, but due to the volume of books I'll be making, I am not able to honor special requests, or let you know personally when your box arrives. Once a week, I will post a list of arrivals on Facebook and  I will try to get photos of all the pages and feature them on my blog as I build the books.)  

 If you would like to purchase an assembled book (blank pages ready for you to create yourself) they will be available for the same price. Comes with the coloring pages.

Here is a button you can post on your blog for the swap if you'd like. I look forward to seeing the nature inspired pages winging thier way into my cottage!

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EXAMPLES

Here are some links to a previous shared effort, the Fairie Book, if you'd like to see my style of arranging pages. I put a lot of time into sorting the swap pages together to look like cohesive, pretty books:

1- http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2012/09/knee-deep-in-fairies.html

2- http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2012/09/the-tail-end-of-the-faery-book-swap-ill-miss-it.html

3- http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2012/09/faery-book-swap-page-sets.html

And here is a link to the last swap, the Nature's Blessing Journal. and another here.

And here are some journals that I have bound the same way I will be doing for this  Nature's Blessing Journal swap:

1- http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2013/05/a-book-of-enchantments.html

2- http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2013/02/at-the-valentine-journal-workshop-and-some-free-images.html

3- http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2011/01/if-dorothy-was-a-scrap-booker.html

These books shown below are a different theme, but show some ideas on how to finish the pages so that they can be used by the new owner of the book.

Please fully decorate about half the pages you send and the other half,leave simple and pretty for the new owner to decorate themselves.  Much like some of the examples below.

a On the left-  I've covered the cardstock with pretty paper, and added envelopes.

Left- This page has added note paper.

Left- This one has a pocket for notes.

And here is a big selection of plain papers, with borders.  Lots of space to use for the new journal owner, but still decorative and creative from the swapper.

Along those same lines, a simple, lined paper with a pretty header.

And this idea is the simplest of them all.  Pretty paper, lace trim, left empty for the new owner to add a photo to.

Similar to this, plain paper to add a photo to, and an envelope with a message on the flap.

And again, the same type of look, room to write on, and an envelope to save special things inside.

This heart is a collage made by Lori Oles, I have added it to a page in one of my books, and by only gluing down the sides, not the top, it has become a pocket to hold tidbits.

These pages were done by a student in one of my classes.

Plain, pretty paper on some pages is nice too.

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Here is a detail from the doodle sheet that is similar to the ones included for you to tint.

And this is an example of how I color mine.

Here is an example of a past doodle sheet I've made.  It has a fairy tale theme, as you can see. I draw words and designs on an old book page, and it is copied and ready to be colored in with markers.

A nature themed doodle sheet will be included in your book for you to finish as you'd like.

Here is one with a Love theme for Valentine's Day.

Comments

[Louise Oakes]

As I don't plan to emigrate to the other side of the pond any time soon, I won't be able to join in with this swap unfortunately 😢It looks like the journals are going to look beautiful. I've made a couple of journals using notebooks but I've not made one from scratch before. However, you have given us a good idea of how to put one together, and how to titivation the pages so, even though I don't have you fantastic vintage stash , I think I'll have a go at making my own journal. I do have some photos of a few of frocks used on Downton that I took at two different exhibitions so I need to dig them out to include in my journal.
Thanks for the inspiration Karla💜

[Karla Nathan]

Louis, the only problem with overseas swappers, is that the postage has really gone up for international shipping, and this book will be hitting close to 2lbs, once it is filled and packaged. Ive checked and the postage for flat rate padded envelopes to GB is $32.95. Id love to have you in the swap and if you are willing to pay that for the package, wed be thrilled to have you.

[Louise Oakes]

Unfortunately it's beyond my price range. I know what you mean about the postage too, it's increased a lot for postage to the US in the last couple of years unless. One day I will be in one of your swaps :-)
I'm going to start on my from-scratch journal now.

[Karla Nathan]

It is too bad that the postal rates have become so high that it is almost impossible to reach out and share across the globe the way we used to be able to. That was so exciting in blogging days, I loved getting and sending packages around the world.

[Laurie Jackson]

Another fun swap, Karla! I know you will soon be up to your elbows in journal pages! Oh, how I'll miss Downton Abbey - sigh!

[jeanie]

Count me in! Email coming! Can't wait!

[Diane Martell]

Do we do all six papers the same or can each page be different? Love this idea!

[Karla Nathan]

Either way that youd like, Diane. Six different people get them, so it doesnt matter if they are alike or not.