Julie Mortillaro | Julie Dawn Designs

August 31, 2024

Sad to See Summer Go

I love summer. It’s by far my favorite time of the year, especially if we are lucky enough to take a trip to the beach. That is like icing on the cake for me.

Now that school is back in session and September begins tomorrow, it’s time to gear up and make more journals. My youngest is driving, which is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, so I am finally free of carpool lines. The only thing I miss about that is I used to read while waiting for school to get out. Now I don’t do that as much anymore, so I need to find time to fit that back in somewhere.

I have made a few new journals since my last post. I’m also teaching a four hour workshop a the Craft Guild of Dallas in September on how to hand stitch a bird. It’s a cute little sparrow that one can make as simple or as detailed as one likes. All you need is some fabric and needle and thread.

Here are some of the journals I recently completed:

This is Song of the Marsh. I love this kit and haven’t made one in a while. It’s always been one of my favorites. I also used images from the Graphics Fairy premium membership site.

I just LOVE Halloween, so when I saw this digital Wednesday Adams journal kit, I knew I had to purchase it and make a journal from it. I love the way it turned out.

This digital kit is just so cute and fun, so I had to buy it and make a journal out of it. I really need to stop buy digital kits, but someone always comes out with something new that is just so great that I have to buy it.

This is a junk journal in one of my favorite styles to make. I could make these all day long. It’s also a great way to use up fabric scraps.

I made one similar to this that is in the gallery at the Craft Guild, so I wanted to make another one because it’s just so cute. This one is kind of a hybrid junk journal, as it contains mostly white, blank papers, with a few colored papers scattered throughout.

This is yet another digital kit that I fell in love with and had to buy. From the images on the cover, I’m sure you can see why.

The last two are these two beautiful fairy journals. I just love the grungy look with the pink and peach tones.

That’s all for now. I hope everyone had a great summer!

November 30, 2019November 30, 2019

Slow Stitched

Trying Something New

I’ve never been particularly great at hand sewing. Truth be told, I actually despised it to the point of avoiding it as much as possible. That all changed after taking a needle book class by Roxy Creations, which can be found here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/670893598/online-course-petit-needlbook-with-pdf?ref=shop_home_active_29&pro=1

The books she created, completely by hand stitching, were gorgeous in their simplicity. Another thing about this process that intrigued me was that they were portable. This was something you could pack in a bag and work on while you were enduring your child’s weekly practices. Her techniques could also be used to create journal covers as well.

After watching her videos numerous times, I finally got out a fabric bundle I had purchased at Tuesday Morning and decided to take the plunge. Auditioning fabric scraps for inclusion and placement is more difficult than I expected, but I managed to put something together.

Now it’s time to thread the needle and get started.

More to come!

September 24, 2018

Try, Try and Try Again

There are times when a piece comes together almost effortlessly on the first try. This was not one of them.

I originally planned on creating an abstract floral piece that consisted of a very detailed mixed media background, along with a vase and flowers. I worked for hours on the background and the vase come out just the way I wanted it to.

Unfortunately, the flowers did not. They were a disaster. The loose style I was trying to obtain never quite came together. I tried to fix the flowers, but I only ended up making them look even worse than they already did. I was at the point of no return.

As much as it killed me to do, I had to cover up everything with gesso and start from scratch. Hours and hours of work, now gone.

Next, I decided to go in a different direction and try some sketchy watercolor type florals. I just didn’t feel confident enough to try the same technique I had just failed at.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get this right either. It was just not good. Although I was able to fix the flowers using stencils and acrylic paints, the leaves and stems were still awful. I was thinking that I was going to have to start all over once again.

It was then that I remembered a vine stencil I had. I pulled it out and decided to give it one last shot. I’m glad I did because that stencil allowed me to save the piece.

I don’t think this will ever be one of my favorite creations, but I’m glad that I didn’t quit and that I was able to step back and take a moment and figure out a new direction.

Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to do this in our personal lives as well? Sometimes, when things aren’t working out the way they should, whether it be a job, a relationship, a personal goal, etc., we tend to become emotional and just walk away. We quit, we abandon, we sabotage.

I know I have done that so many times over the course of my life. I felt that it was easier to just walk away instead of digging in and doing the work that might have salvaged something and perhaps taken my life in a new direction.

I’m not saying that we should stay in toxic or abusive relationship. That is never the case. But I am saying that perhaps a friendship could be saved or deepened or a relationship with a child could be turned around if we just took a step back, took a deep breath and figured out what we need to do next instead of walking away.

So today, I’m going to choose to hang in there and do something difficult instead of giving up and walking away. I know it won’t be easy, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018

Faux Leather Travelers Journals With a Twist

I was fortunate enough to be gifted some very nice faux leather fabric samples a while back. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with them, until I came across a journal in a craft store that give me an idea of how to put them to use. This is one of the first ones I made.

I recently decided that it was time to make a few more. After sewing the covers together, I decided that I wanted to do something besides a plain cover, so I decided to create some vignettes on each one.

Here is how they turned out.

faux leather travelers journals — Faux Leather Travelers Journals

To say I love them is indeed an understatement!

May 27, 2018

Altered Book Cover

This is the start of the cover art for my next hand painted travelers journal made from an upcycled book.

I started with creating background layers created from magazine text and gel medium. After that layer, I repeated the process with colored images. Next came the paint and stenciled image.

altered book travelers journal — Cover in Progress

Once the outside cover is complete, it’s time to add signatures, pockets and envelopes.