Hi Debbie here with an easy idea for gifts. It is my friend's birthday soon and she is always writing lists in notebooks so I decided to make her one
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I was given some leather and decided to use this to make a hard wearing cover. I used my bind it all and finished it off with a flower and button to match the pink binding wires.
Stamping works well on leather as long as you use a permanent ink.
Thanks for stopping by its a creative world.
Debbie xxx
or two?
It's Eleanor, back with some stamping, stitching, snipping stuff.
Some weeks ago I made a couple of 8 inch square (ish) pieces, just freestyle, but they didn't really set me on fire, so I put them away until I felt inspired to finish them off.
That day came, I added a few more scraps, buttons and stitches, joined them together, added a border of tea-dyed broderie anglaise trim, and stitched the whole thing to some artists' canvas.
I added a couple of flaps inside, made plenty of pages from kraft card (Staples own brand manila files in a previous life) and toning cardstock, stitched lace or ribbon on each page, bound the lot with the Bind it all and slipped the front and back pages into the cover flaps.
All done.
x
Hi Dolly here
I am a big believer in using things and just adapting them rather than starting from scratch if possible.
And my holiday journal is a good example of what I mean.
I like to keep a journal when I go away if I am travelling to lots of different places and I planned to make one.
It would be simple; lots of plain pages in craft and cream cardsstock ready for journalling, some pockets for tickets, receipts etc, and a cover, all bound with a Bind it all.
But when I was out I saw a cute Do Crafts travel journal reduced to half price.
It wasn't nearly big enough for what I wanted, having far too few pages, and it had no capacity for souveniers.
It wouldn't expand, but it was kind of nice. There were cute printed pages with maps, cameras, travel logos and phrases. Much nicer than having just plain pages. And it had a plastic cover on which, whilst I would remeove it when I got home, would be perfect for keeping it clean on the journey.
So I snapped it up and took it apart.
The holes were not in the right places to simply replace the wire with a bigger one and so I put a new strip over the edge of each page, reinforcing it and covering up the previous holes.
I cut extra pages the same size, tripling the capacity of the journal.
I also cut 'pages' from plastic pockets to be the holders for postcards, receipts, tickets etc.
They are not acid free but this journal isn't ever going to hold photos so I am not worried about that. It is temporary storage and a place to journal.
I cut semi-circular holes in the top with a circle punch.
I added a new spine to the front - again disguising previous holes - and added stamped details.
The plastic cover, now far to tight for the much fatter book, still worked as I simply cut it in two.
I will remove it once the journal is complete but it will be great keeping it clean for the trip.
The result is a fat journal with loads of plain pages interleaved with the nice fancy pages from the bought journal, a hard cover, pockets for storage and a perfect journal to take away for the trip.
If you are like me you love stationery, I drool over the covers of notebooks and seem to collect them like buttons.
These notebooks were in my local shop reduced to 50p each, I bought them with a view to altering or giving them as gifts.
BEFORE AFTER
A lovely friend Sandy, let me borrow these beautiful balloon stamps. My friend Linda Dot has taught me how to brayer using a splodgeaway mat, and using these two things I managed to cover my notebooks.
The background was brayered and then I did the hills by using a sponge and a ripped piece of paper. Barbara Grey has really good tutorials online.
I added the border around the top cover with a torn piece of paper.
Have a go at brayering, it's lots of fun and gives you lovely results.
Thanks for stopping by
Debbie xxx
So, whilst making the teacher gifts this year, I spent a little more time on Luke's Teacher - after all, she elected to have them for the second year in a row (crazy lady!) and got him through his SA-Ts with much better results than anticipated, plus 16 A's across his school report!
As you can see from the first picture, I made a co-ordinated set - card, envelope, keyring, picture-frame notice board and pen. Feeling very pleased with my little self (and wishing I'd kept the noticeboard!) I decided that we could do with one at home, a tool to keep track of everything.
We already have a calendar, and special dates on a small board, and a shopping list on the fridge, and a running to do list around the house. So I decided to try it with a multi-aperture frame, chopping the background paper to mix it up a bit...
No pretty bows and such yet, and still the cheapie multi-pack IKEA dry-wipe pens - I'm trying to get my husband to warm to the idea. But once he's onboard this frame will be a permanent fixture and possibly a little prettier, with a calendar in one place.
Plus, another version will be coming in to house my lists of craftiness (you can see them at the moment in two of our quadrants) so I can seperate out swaps, my Stampin' Up! business, other crafty committments (like here at IACW!), and cards or gifts I need to make for upcoming occasions.
I think these have a multitude of uses, with small or large, desk or wall frames - Christmas countdowns or last-minute gifts , Birthday presents, Teacher gifts, something for new Students, Mother and Father's day desk presents, use a plethora of them for Easter hunt clues, Valentine's messages, Wedding presents (or a more unique guestbook, given a permanent marker and space for a photo of the happy couple), Seed markers in the garden (with more permanent markers), Halloween countdown or treat-pot messages
You can use pre-printed jotter paper, digi printouts or real jotters if you're feeling thrifty - oddments of stash, stamping and journalling cards... Why not try it with a mirror?
Ooh, just noticed I can knock another item off my list - this post!
A bientot - until next time - Thank you for reading, Leanne x
www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk
www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk
Hi Debbie here with my first attempt at binding a simple note book.
There are loads of instructions on You Tube and this one on Kirstie's handmade home
I have used a mixture of papers, graph paper tracing paper etc.
I started off with 8 sheets of paper and folded them in the middle, I did this four times to create the pages.
I used the graph paper as a template for the holes.
The tutorials are easy to follow for stitching the whole book together.
This is what the finished spine looks like, I'm going to think about the hanging threads (I'm not sure they look tidy enough for me)
I attached two small pieces of leather to tie the book closed.
Try book binding it's lots of fun and you can end up with a fabulous personalised notebook, whatever size you want.
I have a new project to share that may – or may not – be a great idea to make in readiness for your holidays this year.
I say may or may not, as I am not sure if it is going to work in reality, but it is certainly worth a go.
I am a terrible collector of bits of paper, especially on holiday. Maps, postcards, receipts, restaurant serviettes etc. You name I I hoard it. I have little bags from each holiday stuffed full of treasures I never seem to do anything with.
Inspired by the recent craze for Smash books, but refusing to succumb, I decided to have a go at making my own storage book for a forthcoming holiday.
It is quite large – as I knew one of the things I would want to store inside were park maps which are A4 tri fold size. So the book measures 6” x 10”
I cut two pieces of thick chipboard to size and then decorated them. As we have been to the hotel complex before I used a photo of the resort printed on canvas as an inset for the front cover.
I distressed the edges, stitched them onto a contrasting paper, also distressed, and then sewed the whole thing onto the background paper before sticking that to the cover.
I added some rub on lettering and a dimension sticker. Now honestly – what could be easier than that.
There are 14 inside pages cut from pastel coloured card stock.
I have gone for a pastel theme throughout as the resort is made up of different ‘villages’ each in its own pastel shades of pale blues, lemons, pinks, mint greens and so on. It’s easy to make it just right for the sort of holiday you are taking; muted tones for a camping trip, sand and sea colours for a beach holiday, bright primaries for a city vacation etc.
I used up a lot of papers I would never ever use to make lots of pockets. I had an old pad of pastel plaids I would never scrap with, but they were perfect for this. Much of the paper is going to end up covered with journaling, labels, tickets etc anyway.
I made all sorts of pockets. Some are almost whole page pockets to hold large maps and by sticking the same size pocket to the front and back of the cardstock page I could then stitch round on the machine and thus sew both pockets for added strength.
Some pages have smaller pockets and some have no pockets at all but will just have journaling blocks and memorabilia stuck on.
I also used a whole range of envelopes, covered and stamped to be additional pockets.
I then stamped a whole load of works and journaling blocks and statements on scraps of card ready to use if needed when I am away.
I also produced place labels all colour coordinated from some of the places I knew we would be visiting.
I bound the book and then put all the labels plus odds and ends that coordinated like paper clips, brads, stickers an d die cuts into a very smaller Tupperware box. The box is big enough to hold all the items, an ink pad, a small pair of scissors and my glue.
I am really looking forward to adding my ‘hoarded bits of paper’ to my home made smash book at the end of each day and coming home with an organised collection and a nice record of our trip. I always take a journal and we both write about each day whilst we are away and so that journaling will go into the book too.
It should make scrapping the holiday and whole lot easier and should – hopefully – make a nice book in its own right too. We’ll see.
I hope it has inspired you to have a go at making your own smash book for your next holiday or for a particular project like house renovation etc.
Have fun
Dolly x
Hi Debbie here with a cheap and cheerful way of making your own tape. I have to thank my friend Linda (Dot) who told me a few weeks ago that Micropore tape could be used to make your own.
I had a huge roll of micropore in my first aid kit (thought no-one will need it that desperately) and started experimenting.
I found that versafine didn't work however I didn't try heat setting it and I was a little impatient.
Black Stazon was the best although I needed to put loads of ink on to make these images.
I do like the way they add a little bit more detail to the "squidge" book I have made.
I'm going to try stamping with different colours and see if heat setting helps.
Debbie x
I have recently finished this little journal for my daughter. It is for her photography ideas and inspirations and she requested some vintage photographs for the cover. It was a good inspiration for me as I have been wanting to try out this technique for a while now. Using an eco friendly orange household cleaner called Citra Solv, it is possible to transfer a toner ink based photocopy or print onto fabric and it will become permanent! Yes, permanent!
I was really excited to try this for the first time. I'll give the short version here, but if you want more detail there are some helpful instructions here.
I used a scrap of cotton curtain lining which had a nice smooth feel and a tight weave. Using masking tape, I stuck - print side down- the toner print I wanted to use. (Remember to reverse your image before you print it- especially if you are using some text in your image.) I'm used a collage of old family photos for my first experiment.
Underneath the fabric I placed a piece of cardboard and underneath that a few layers of fabric just to provide a little "give".
The paper I used was the cheapest kind of printer paper you can buy - I think mine came from Asdas.
Be sure not to have any masking tape over the area where your image is.
I used a pin to pierce a couple of holes in the foil on the top of the Citra Solv bottle and then poured a small amount into an old plastic lid. Using a flat natural bristled paint brush I brushed over the back of the paper using only just enough liquid to wet the paper but not oversaturate it. Once you do this you will be able to see right through the paper to your image.
Using the back of a tablespoon, I rubbed hard all over the image. Perhaps I could have rubbed even harder as my image didn't turn out quite as strong as I expected. I think another factor in this was that all my photos were quite small and perhaps a larger image would come out clearer. You will definitely lose some detail however you do it, but I love the aged vintage effect anyway so I didn't mind at all...
...and here is how it turned out. I was quite pleased with the technique and will surely be using this again for many things ; homemade journals, pillows, sachets....wherever the inspiration takes me! The Citra Solv is not cheap, but a little goes a long way. Use it sparingly. It smells wonderful and is also super for removing stains and general household cleaning. I bought 4 little 8oz bottles all for craft use and am now down to my last one as I used the other 3 for cleaning. I am telling you...once you have smelt the stuff, you'll be hooked!
I wonder if you'll give this a try...let me know if you do :-)
Have fun being creative !
Doda
Hiya Claireliz here with this weekend's workout.
The challenge is to use some lace.
I love using lace on all kinds of projects, mini books, scrapbook pages, altered items & sewing projects. I decided for this challenge to create something from fabric, so I had a go at making a brooch, but it was larger than planned so I changed into into a fascinator. First I took a strip of lace & hand stitched running stitch along one edge & ruffled it around so it started to form a circle...
keep on stitching until you end up with a flower shape like this...
I did the same again with a strip of navy blue net which I folded in half lengthways...
& with a cream strip of net which was also folded in half lengthways...
The cream net is the largest piece so I took a circle of felt & stitched it to the back of the cream net flower...
Then I added the next 2 layers, one at a time with just a few stitches to catch them into place (with the felt on what would be the underside of the fascinator) so that it looks like this...
I then stitched in a few glass pearl beads...
On the underside where the felt is I stitched 2 hair grips...
and taadaa...
This was my first attempt at making fascinators & I suspect I may be making more, infact thinking about it this will co-ordinate with my outfit for my friends wedding next week.
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Dolly here with a little snippet of lace too.
One of the things I love to use lace on is a heritage page or project and I have a heritage page to share which seems to show what I mean.
The page is of my husband's grandmother and great grandmother and actually his great grandfather too as he is in the photo that the little girl is holding up.
The strip of lace just softened the page a little and added to a heritage feel.
You know me - I like to do things digitally too, and digital lace adds feeling just like real lace.
I wanted a really soft shabby chic feel to this page and the lace helped create that.
and finally, an example of using some lovely cotton lace to make something pretty and feminine and just a whole lot of fun.
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Hello, Eleanor here. Like Dolly, I too have used my lace on a notebook, only mine is somewhat tattier.
It's a music notebook, as any musicians may guess by the title :) for my notes about songs, lyrics, and piano pieces, and details of sheet music I want to buy. I think I will even use Kel's excellent tutorial for 'tipping in' extra pages, using manuscript paper so that I can jot down a tune, or even compose one, lol.
Anyway, here it is, chipboard covers, modpodge base, half of a vintage lace-trimmed hankie on the right, and strips of cotton lace on the left, chippie letters and metal charms. All sponged lightly over with white gesso, and finally, when dry, sprayed with a mist of watered copper acrylic ink.
a closer look:
xx
