Meagan Does Modge Podge

Well, sorry about not making HNT yesterday, I got busy last night. Evan and I went to grab some dinner after work, and ran to the Wal-Mart to grab a few things that we needed, including adhesive for some scrapbook projects and my card class tomorrow morning.

I have been working on an altered book. At my last scrapbook class, Jessie broke out some of her altered books. The idea was totally cool, and It reminded me of the ledgers that my great grandma used to keep in her kitchen. I called my grandpa and talked to him about it, and he said that she had a ledger for every year starting back in the 30's. She wrote down everything. Farm expenses, things from the hardware store that her family ran, the weather and temperature each day as she ate breakfast, who visited, where they went, the price of their movie tickets, when they bought new appliances or serviced an appliance or vehicle... everything. I remember being young and having her ask me to get her ledger down so she could look at the thermometer and write the temperature. And whenever I asked her how old Tippy was (her dog) she would grab the ledgers and look inside, and provide me with "17 years" along with multiplications to figure Tippy's age in dog years. My great grandma was sharp as a tack and the nicest lady ever. It's little bits of everyday life that take me back and remind me of something about her, or her house.

So I started to think about the altered book. I mean, it isn't really a journal. My blog is my journal. But it is more like a place where you collect things that make you smile. clipart and images, bits of ribbon and comics. A recipe. A quote or saying. A thought you had. It could be absolutely mundane or revolutionary and descriptive of your life or thoughts at the time.

The funny thing is that Evan was already working on two altered books, without even knowing that there was a name for them. He was working on character books for a role playing game that he runs with a group of friends (only Christie probably knows what I am talking about.) He had been eyeballing and dabbling in my scrapbook supplies for a while, working with metallic contact paper and other cardstocks and inks to customize the book for each character. He graciously gave me one of his blank journals and a monster was created! MODGE PODGE MONSTER!

My first thing was to fix up the blank black cover. I wanted something fun, colorful, and descriptive of me. Can you believe that I chose wonder woman? For the outsides at least. So last night I completed the front and back covers as well as the inside front cover. Now it's time to decoupage. I have never used modge podge before. So I have done research from all over the internet and also from friends and fellow scrapbookers who have decoupaged, and now I have sent my poor husband on a trip to get me some modge podge, and more adhesive for my card class tomorrow morning, as I used two entire adhesive runners yesterday to finish the covers of the book.

I am so excited to modge podge. And I was even more excited to learn that the inventor of Modge podge was a woman named Jan Westone. She developed it in the 1960's in her garage. She even Decoupaged her VW beetle with bed sheets. How COOL is she? I love her already. GO CRAFTY WOMEN!

I am dying to share pictures of the book, but I am still working on it. So stay tuned for more.