Secret Keepers: Adding Envelopes To Your Anything Book

I don't know about you, but I love envelopes. I love them in all sizes and shapes. I love commercial business envelopes and personal mail envelopes.

I love the idea that an envelope contains something that isn't known and visible. An envelope is a secret keeper. And that idea, being a secret keeper, is why I add them into so many of my Anything Books.

An envelope is meant to be opened. Every time you see an envelope, you instinctively want to open it.

Adding envelopes to your Anything Book or art journal is a great way to preserve your memories. The envelope makes a perfect storage space for small and precious items. And the envelope you choose can hold it's own memories.

Let's get started!

A string clasp envelope inserted into an Anything Book is a perfect place to keep valuable items.

When you flip through the pages of your completed Anything Book, the items you attached to the pages are all visible. But the items you stick inside an envelope are not immediately visible. You have to open the envelope to view them. And, of course, you have to know that there is something hidden inside the envelope.

The postage stamp on the front of this tiny envelope hints at secret keeper item it holds.

That's what life is like. Some things are obvious, and other things require a little more time to discover. Secret keepers are like that. It takes a little longer to learn what they hold. That's why they make a perfect addition to your Anything Book or art journal.

I collect envelopes that arrive at my home and I reuse many of them in my Anything Books. You can do the same thing. Do your bills come with a reply envelope for sending the payment? Why not keep one of them for your art journal, especially one for an important payment. Or a mundane payment. That's the beauty of recording your life. You don't have to just record the big, huge moments of life. Adding in details from the mundane, the every day, makes your art journal richer.

An envelope from inside my personal Anything Book.

I added this 1099 tax document envelope because I have people who work for me. I send out 1099 forms to several people each year. I love the placement of the windows on these envelopes. They give you just a peek at what's inside. I've decorated the front with small items and a photograph.

This envelope was attached as a tag to a piece of clothing I purchased.

It's the surprise of a small envelope that I love. When I was small, my parents would say that great things come in small packages. I feel that way about my art journal envelopes. What goes inside them is a precious photo or a bit of journaling where I've told a secret.

It's easy to add envelopes to your art journal or Anything Book.

1. Find interesting envelopes as you move through your day. Check your mail including the business reply envelopes you normally throw away.
2. Check through your mementos for the envelopes from old birthday and holiday cards from loved ones and family members. What a great way to keep their memory alive by adding the envelope to your journal.
3. Ask friends and family to start keeping interesting envelopes for you.
4. Pull together a collection of envelopes and your Anything Book or art journal.
5. Sort through them by size. It's okay for an envelope to stick out a little more than the regular pages. But in general, it's best if the envelope is slightly smaller than the regular pages.
6. Based on the layout of your pages, practice positioning your envelopes in different directions on the page. The best position might be up and down based on your book.
7. Decide if you want the front of the envelope or the back to be on top in the book. This determines if you see the front or back first when flipping through the pages.
8. Remove the page directly under where you want to place the envelope. You will use the holes in this page as a guide to punch holes in the envelope.
9. For smaller envelopes, you might only need one hole. For larger envelopes, you might need to punch two or more holes (depending on the number of book rings that make up your book binding.
10. When you are sure about how you want to position the envelope inside your Anything Book or art journal, use a standard hole punch to add holes using the page you removed as a guide.
11. Replace the page you removed and add the envelope to your art journal.
12. Begin decorating the outside and decide what you might want to put on the inside.

When I allow people to look through my personal Anything Book, I'm always surprised at how they skip over items without looking at them, and turn the page with envelopes without opening them. Perhaps they are in a hurry. Or perhaps they feel a little awkward going through something so personal.

A business reply envelope becomes a ready-made secret keeper in my art journal.

Now that I've inspired you, what sorts of envelopes will you add to your Anything Book or art journal? And what secrets will you have them keep for you?

Heartstrings Anything Book

Here's my freshest Anything Book straight from the studio. (see Heartstrings in my Etsy shop)

An Anything Book made from a recycled Mike and Ike freezer pops box.

 Today, I was inspired by the bright colors on this recycled Mike and Ike freezer pops box to make a cheery Anything Book. This book is 7 3/4 inches high by 4 1/4 inches wide, making it the ideal format for journaling. It has four journaling sections for writing longer thoughts and memories, mixed into its 50 items. With each item, you can scrap or journal on each side, giving you 100 pages (or sides) to work with.

The charms include a glass bead, a music note, a bone bead and a leaf point.

The trim on this one is a charm on plumbing chain and it includes a musical note. The open edge has many colorful tabs, file folders, and ribbons as page markers. You can write on the tabs to identify sections of this book.

The mix of materials include papers, file folders, book pages, and marketing materials.

Most of the pages in this Anything Book are full size, but there are a few places with layering. In the photo above, the pineapple is part of a file folder cut down as an overlay over a brown cardstock page. On the reverse side, the file folder has a green leaf scroll patterns.

There are recycled reply cards, a return mail envelope and this air mail envelope waiting to hold treasures.

 This delightful Anything Book contains a wide range of patterns papers, cardstock, book pages, and marketing materials linked together by color. Under the air mail envelope in the photo above is a page from a foreign language book. You can see the variety of tabs along the edges on both sides.

A page decorated with a stamp and overlaid with a product tag.

Each two-page spread is color coordinated to give you a beautiful backdrop to add your words, found items, photographs, and memories. Each turn of the page reveals yet another striking combination of fun and inspiring materials waiting to hold your treasures.

Found items like calendars, greeting cards, and playing cards get a new life in this Anything Book.

The Heartstrings Anything Book takes its name from an item inside the book. I'll let you discover the item on your own. Its pages are embellished with washi tape, postage stamps, paper remnants, business cards, and clips to give it a unique look.

The unique bar code identifier and name make this one-of-a-kind journal even more special.

 Like all of my Anything Books, Heartstrings is signed by me and has a bar code with it's unique identification code. It also comes with a book belt, a lime green rubber band that holds the pages closed and keeps your treasures safe.

Tabs make it easy for you to jump right to the section you want. Write on them for easy access to your memories.

You can add your own words with the ultra-fine tip permanent marker included with this Anything Book. I'll also send you an archival quality glue stick so you can add in your own found items, photographs, and even the menu from your favorite restaurant.

A glimpse at the range of materials and colors waiting for you inside the Heartstrings Anything Book.

Because of the book ring binding, you can insert your own pages. Simply open the rings and take out a page for a template. Use a standard hole punch to add holes to your treasure, and insert it into Heartstrings where you want it. If you book starts to get too bulky, you can upsize the book rings to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch book rings which you can find at most office supply stores or in the office supplies section of discount and department stores.

Check out my Etsy shop for the Heartstrings Anything Book and others like it. They make wonderful gifts.

Melody Anything Book

Meet Melody, a musical Anything Book straight from my studio. (see Melody in my Etsy shop)

My Melody Anything Book comes with ring fringe and a polka dot book belt.

Melody is sweet like the strawberry fruit bars that make up her cover. Recycled from a Dreyer's Fruit Bar box, Melody is filled with upcycled and recycled materials from front to back. You can use Melody as a journal, an art journal, a scrapbook, or anything else you can imagine.

Melody comes with book ring binding adorned with ring fringe.

 Made with book ring binding, Melody holds 50 items which means you have 100 pages to fill with your words, photos, everyday items, quotes, and other treasures. She has a snappy polka dot black and white book belt to hold her pages together and keep your memories safe.

The variety of materials inside Melody make this a special journal.

Each two-page spread is color coordinated to give you a beautiful backdrop for recording your memories. Melody has several pages made from sheet music, along with patterned paper, book pages, photographs, menus, greeting cards, marketing materials, product packaging, paint chips, envelopes, vellum and a shipping tag.

Small touches adorn many of Melody's pages. 

The pages have small embellishments to inspire you to fill them up. They include washi tape, page tabs and dividers, clips, postage stamps, baker's twine and labels. There are 4 separate journaling sections where you can focus on collecting your thoughts, stories, quotes, or anything else that you want to remember.

A page made from a map showcases the tabs lining other pages in this art journal.

Melody comes with an ultra-fine permanent marker and an archival quality gluestick so you can start adding your treasures right out of the shipping package. Most of the pages are full size, but a few are smaller so they overlay the other pages, adding depth and layers to your journal experience.

A paint chip adorned with baker's twine sits on top of a cardstock page ready to hold your treasures.

You can use Melody's pages to hold your treasures, but you can also insert new pages. Simply open the book rings, take out a page for a template, and use a standard hole punch. Then, insert your new page into Melody. If your journal starts to get too bulky, you can upsize the book rings for 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch rings available at most office supply stores and in the office supply section of most discount stores.

Melody's name comes from inside the journal and appears on the back cover.

Like all of my Anything Books, Melody's name is taken from a word inside the journal. On the back cover, you find her unique bar code identifier, her name, and my signature. Melody is a one-of-a-kind journal designed to inspire you to collect your life's treasures.

Won't you visit Melody in my Etsy store and check out my other Anything Books?

I am Intransigent

I have two reactions to my new art journal and the art journaling process.

First, at the highest level, I realize that I've taken a step into a larger world and started a huge journey by taking just this one little baby step.

Second, I'm a bit shocked each time I turn the page and stare at all of that whiteness. I've learned to overcome the snow blindness of the page when I write, so I'm confident that I'll also overcome it here. I also realize this is the work, every day, to face the whiteness and take yet another baby step.


I'm totally in an experimenting stage with everything in my studio. I'm learning how the tools work. I'm learning how they interact. I'm learning how to use them and not use them. I'm trying things that I like and I don't like. I feel like a total beginner stepping fully into this realm. In every other enterprise in my life, I've reached some level of mastery from years of work and practice. Everything is fresh with the studio. Yes, I feel the advantage of the years of art in my life. I have ideas and my eye looks for things it likes, things that feel right. I'm just learning how to express these ideas, and learning how to put things together so I like the result. There's something freeing about being a beginner again in my life. It's a bit like walking in the woods after a snowfall and leaving the first footprints. (There is that snow blindness image again.)

Today, I made two entries, two very different experiments. I laid out the start of the background by using one of my new fabric stamps from India that I picked up at the Tesuque Flea Market. I just wanted to see how it would stamp using acrylic paint. The first impression went well, so I decided to lay out a background of them. After it dried, I watered down another color and painted it over the images. While that was drying, I grabbed a dictionary I keep in the studio and randomly opened it to the entry for "intransigent." It means unwilling to compromise. I love that idea, it completely resonates with me and my art journal. I added additional words that express my reaction to this word and my commitment to keeping this journal.

Many years ago, I learned how to make and keep a promise to myself. That may not seem like a life milestone to many people, but it was huge in my life, and changed so much of my inner dialog. I promised myself to start this journal, and I did it.

Something else I've learned in my life: baby steps are important. No matter how small the act, taking action in a direction changes everything. It sets you in motion, it starts building momentum. It signals the universe that you are serious, that you have your eyes open and you choose deliberately to move in a new direction. In my life, it always seems that the angels come rushing in at this point. If feels like every guide and every keeper and every fairy along the road come running out like the Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy steps on the yellow brick road. They laugh with glee and cheer me on because they know that the greatest part of this life is the journey, and that each step taken consciously, with open eyes and heart, and with aligned intentions is a moment of heaven on earth. Who wouldn't cheer for that?!

Today I Begin

I promised myself that my art journal was not going to sit and wait for me to have the perfect space with all of the perfect tools lined up ready to go. Today, I stole some time and using what was easily available, created a reflection of what I am thinking about my art.

Today I Begin...

...creating what I feel.
...learning how to express ideas in a new way.
...experimenting with tools and colors in a powerful new way.
...finding my way home.

As I thought about my art today, I felt my foundation for all of my art has always been collage, so I started with the checkerboard background of individual pieces. I used a fabric stamp from India to add a flower using paint to reflect the growth I'm seeking through my art journal. I used paint pens to add additional concepts and give myself some last minute advice for the journey.

The photo distorts the colors, muddying them a bit. I need to find a good light location in my house to capture the real colors of my art.

But none of this matters nearly as much as this: Today I begin a new phase of my journey.

Planting Seeds and Sprouting Ideas

On Friday, I participated in yet another fabulous Carol Wingert class at Scrapbooks, Etc. We decorated a 16 inch torso, worked with Glimmer Mist, and did some laser copy photo transfer with gel medium. As usual, I didn't finish my project in class and still have some work to do on the skirt.

To add some depth, we sprayed Glimmer Mist on paper and used that as an underskirt. For some reason, mine curled up and never did lay flat. I need to use some glue dots to hold them down. I've also got some ribbons yet to add to give more color and fullness to the skirt, in colors ranging from peacock blue to teal to lime green.

Speaking of peacock, one of the women, Cece, brought in peacock feathers she collected from the peacock that has moved into her yard and is molting. She was very generous with giving away the feathers. In addition to the traditional eye feathers, there were a whole range of different feathers from this bird. I didn't know they had so many different ones. Thanks, Cece, for the feathers. They will go on top of the ribbons.

My torso is actually very boring and ordinary compared to the beautiful creations made by some of the women in the class. It was inspiring to see what percolated in their imaginations given the same instructions and materials. I'm always happy to be in the company of creative women. This monthly class has been so great for me because of Carol's presence and projects and the participation of the other women. I look forward to every class.

I had lunch with a friend this morning at Palatte, an adorable restaurant in downtown Phoenix at Fillmore and 4th Ave. We ate inside where they have a conglomeration of antique and assorted furniture styles. The outside dining area is even more charming, with seating areas in metal lawn furniture with overstuffed cushions. I had my camera with me, but didn't think to get any pictures. I highly recommend this place. The food was very good, the atmosphere was excellent. Great suggestion, Daniel!


After that, I drove around a bit downtown, pining for the days when I lived just north of downtown and could visit the area any time I wanted. I drove up Central Avenue and marveled at the light rail tracks and stations just waiting for trains and passengers later this year. I can't wait to ride the train. The route goes within one mile of where I used to live, and I had made plans to take the train everywhere before I moved to the 'burbs. Now, I'll have to find every excuse to go for a train ride.


A little further up Central, I landed at the downtown branch of Arizona Art Supply, my favorite of their three locations (perhaps because it was my closest location for so many years). My goal: to purchase my first art journal. I must have had "that look" on my face, because every employee in the store asked me if I needed assistance. I was on a voyage of discovery and wanted to explore rather than be lead right to the spot. I settled on a spiral bound book of bristol paper in 11x14 size. I think the paper is heavy enough, I'm just not quite sure about the size. There is a LOT of white space on each page! I went with the larger size because I wanted to give myself enough room to develop ideas. I can always switch to a different size or layout or paper if I'm not happy with this one. But the book is purchased and waits for me on the worktable. I'm excited to get started.

But something else has started. Over the last two weeks, I've had a handful of writing ideas that suddenly sprang to life in my mind. Some are old ideas that are suddenly juicy again, and a few are new ideas. I find myself thinking about them when I'm doing mundane things like brushing my teeth and driving. In fact, at those time, I'm not just thinking about them, I'm actually writing them. When I realized what was going on, I made a commitment to begin the writing process. But things have been hectic, and after typing and writing all day for my clients, I haven't been much in the mood for personal writing projects.

Then, about a week ago, I started dreaming that I was writing these things. I had the same dream over and over, only each time, I picked up writing where I left off in the last dream. I'm a person who takes dreams seriously, so I knew I had to start writing sooner rather than later. I'm happy to say that I started writing two of these ideas this morning, spending the first four hours of my day capturing the thoughts I've had and things I've observed myself writing (in my daydreams and dreams). The words and ideas almost dripped out of my fingertips, and I was typing at breakneck speed to keep up with my ideas.

It seems I'm having a monsoon of creative ideas right now in every area of my life. I love when this happens. I know it is just a season, so I capture as much as I can while things are juicy and return to these detailed notes later, when the inspiration isn't quite so fresh but I have the time to really craft my projects. I make an effort to always plant seeds for creative ideas, and pay attention when those seeds start to sprout into projects. I'm hoping to harness this energy and produce a lot now and have good ideas ready to go when I have more time in my schedule.

Slowing Down Time

I realize that I haven't posted in a while. My day job has kept me plenty busy over the last couple of weeks. But that is only part of the reason why I haven't posted.

I realized this weekend that I'm doing my best to hold a space for painting the images I wrote about last time. It's almost like I'm afraid that if I put any energy into anything else art related, I'll whiz past the painting energy and it will be lost.

I have seen this kind of thing happen with writing projects. There is a point early in the idea phase where the urge to write is strong. I've learned how to sort of dam up that energy and not do things that will dilute it. I've found the energy gets diluted by too much note taking and research, and by talking about the idea. I can't blog about the idea, I have to write it directly.

I realized that not blogging about anything new and not blogging any more about the images were a way to dam up the energy until I have the time to return to the studio. It's my way to hold that idea, that image, and suspend it in time until I'm ready to address it.

My day job has me scheduled very tightly over the next few weeks and months, and then I have a gap where nothing is scheduled (yet). Do I really think it's going to be a long time until I make the space to paint? Part of the challenge is that I don't have the materials I want to make the image I see in my head. I'm concerned about diluting the energy by rendering it in another medium. Perhaps this is exactly where keeping an art journal would serve me well. I could sketch the images in any medium available, and record it for later, when I might return to it. Either way, I would capture what is on my mind while it is fresh. That sounds like a smarter strategy than trying to slow down time and dam up the energy until I gather my resources and take the time to paint.

I'm always surprised by the path of the journey. I suppose I'll read this entry in a few years and smile to myself about how much I have learned since this moment. How great that I'm keeping notes on my inner journey for later review.

Now, about that art journal...