Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ...

What’s an Art Journal without an Artsy Journal cover to go with it! I have been saving all those Trader Joe’s paper bags and thought it would be cool to cover up my sketchbooks and journals with these.

This is something I learnt from my Dad while I was growing up. My dad would diligently save up all those brown paper bags that he got from the grocery store and use it to cover my school notebooks and textbooks. Every start of the school year this would be a ritual in our house and we all would look forward to it. He would sit in one corner of the house and have about 20-30 notebooks in front of him to cover with an endless supply of hot tea and snacks constantly coming his way to keep him entertained and motivated.

First step, he will open up the paper bags and iron it flat with his hands many many times. This according to him was the most important step as this took away all the creases and wrinkles in the paper and provided him a good medium to work with. Then he would measure the notebooks, cut the paper and lovingly work on the folds, the miter corners, tuck in the edges and glue them in place which would eventually give these dry boring notebooks life and interest. For the final step – he would use his fine “Sheaffer” Fountain pen and in his beautiful handwriting write my name, my grade, subject and a little proverb or a saying on the cover of each these notebooks.

I really enjoyed having these and it became a big part of my life as I was growing up. Now my dad is no more but I still carry on this tradition and every time I see these inviting paper bags, I am tempted to recycle and create art out of them! Here’s to you Dad …