Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Cut-n-Paste

Like many artsy-craftsy types, I am addicted to magazines. I subscribe to about 20 and then have others that I purchase regularly off the stand. I know it's cheaper to get a subscription, but I love being able to have the immediate gratification of a new magazine so I purposely don't subscribe to a few of my faves so I can snatch them up as soon as they hit the stores. I love that magazines are highly visual, colorful, immediate, and come with a low commitment. You don't have to read them in a linear fashion and they don't require a full attention span. They're fun, they're fast, and then they're out of your life. Love that! Many of the images are so enchanting to me that I cut them out and paste them into blank journals to create my own visual inspiration book. (Come to think of it, if I could cut and paste photos from all the amazing art blogs out there, I would do that too!)


Most of the images I love come from Country Living, Country Home, ME's Home Companion, Marie Claire Ideas, and many of the Somerset publications. I like to cut and paste while watching TV, usually right before I go to bed. I find it relaxing. I've been doing this in one form or another since college. I've always been crazy about babies and children...always wanted to be a mom one day, so the first book I made was simply a collection of baby photos. Cute babies, bald babies, ugly babies, fat babies - all kinds and sorts. Several years after college, probably during a move, I was overcome with a wave of embarrassment and threw it away.

In fact, the first time my new husband asked me what I was doing (cutting and pasting in front of the TV), I had a flash of embarrassment and well....how do I explain this? What the heck am I doing anyway? Did I not get enough art in kindergarten or something? Shouldn't I have better things to do with my time?


Even if my sweet aerospace engineer husband doesn't quite get the point of it, he does respect and support me and my hobby and all that it entails. In the end, it's just one of those things that I like to do. Sometimes I'll add a bit of ribbon or writing or outline a picture with Stickles, but the process is very haphazard and is not meant to be pretty or organized. It's just a collection of interesting images that speak to me and make me feel good. Perhaps this is the modern day's version of a Victorian scrapbook. Hmmmm....wonder if they'll end up in an antique store one day?

10 comments:

Kari said...

LOVE your inspiration books. I am also totally addicted to magazines. I have subscriptions to many, just to save money. However it drives me crazy when I see an issue at the store that I haven't received yet in the mail!! Love yoru pages. The style is just wonderful. Those Halloween pages are fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers
Kari

bluemuf said...

Kimla, your books are wonderful and so inspiring. What a great way to enjoy a magazine and then send it on its way. I have magazines that should have been retired years ago and now I know what to do with them.

Thank you for the kind comments about Muffin.

Karen
Bluemuf

Anonymous said...

omg. i do this too. i love to look back through them. yours are gorgeous.
jessi nagy

www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com

Laura Bray said...

I love magazines. It's an addiction. My idea of the perfect afternoon is a pile of magazines, a soft couch, a soda and some alone time!

Linda Jo said...

I have those same Halloween pictures cut out. I have a large blank spiral sketch book that I cut and paste into. Those things in magazines AND online that I am inspired by...I cut them out (or print them out) and glue them in my book. Sometimes I end up gluing over things that no longer inspire me. It's a great way to keep track of what you love. Your book is more attractive than mine though. Good job.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your process and images from your books! Love this post and I do the same thing all the time. I'm a image collector truly.

Anonymous said...

A Girl after my own heart!! Ohh And That Goldbug Studio spread is in my top 10!! :) Tooo fun huh???

My goodness to be a fly on the wall in your studio!! Tooo funnn!!....Maybe that's what happened to that poor guy on the windowsill!! Death by too much fabulousness!! wink wink! :)

Email coming!!!!

xoxo Jenny

Anonymous said...

I love to do this too! If I kept every mag we'd swamped. This way I can keep the images I love to look at and not overrun my small space!

oldflowers4me said...

wow, you are so good to be able to just cut up your magazines, i think id cry- i love the books that you have made. singing and skipping.love jo.

Trudi said...

Just found your blog and love this post. It was funny and enjoyable to look at. I love your idea.