Composition book

I have always had a love of paper and pens and pencils, it didn't just start with stamping and my love of patterned paper and Copics. When I was a little girl, my Grandmother and I shared a love of written words. Not only books, but things that we would write down from our own imaginations or sentences or quotes that we would hear and write down so as to better remember them. She was known for the off the wall gifts that she would give us each year for Christmas and birthdays. She was a little forgetful so my sister received about five nail dryers on consecutive birthdays and Christmases. I have always been a coupon clipper, and one year she presented me with a box of coupons that she had carefully clipped through the year. I don't think she realized that they expired! She was forever clipping things for magazines and the paper for me to read; things that struck her fancy that she thought I would appreciate. I have a box full of comics and other things that she clipped for me that I can't let go of. Some of these she had given to me and some my Mom found after my grandmother passed away. Most of them have the date of the paper they came from written by her on them. But no matter what gift she gave me, I always got something to write on--a pack of stationary, a journal, a notebook or just some pretty paper she found. It is very rare that you will ever see me without a notepad of some sort near by, there is always one in my purse or my car. I made this book for myself. I kept the embellishments to a minimum because I know it will get shoved into my iPad case, my computer bag, or a purse so I didn't want anything to rip off. The image is from Hampton Arts and was colored with Copics, the papers are from My Minds Eye and the Paper Studio, ric-rak is from Hobby Lobby and the "dream" and "hope" tickets are Tim Holtz.

I love gadgets too and do a lot of stuff on my iPad. Kip and I use an online calendar to keep up with shopping lists and our schedules, most of of recipes are now found online and I am always reading some blog or another! But I still always have paper and pen nearby too. When I catch myself reaching for my paper to write down a thought or quote I think of my grandmother. And it makes my heart smile.