Two Final Presents

These are my final two presents for this month.

First up…

Library Tote with a zipper. It took a few tries but I figured out how to put in a zipper on top. Not in a way I previously imagined but functional and cute none the less. In the process I had to give up the idea of having piping on the top as well but I still love it and will have to make one like this for my own.

Next up…

Another set of Fabric Notecards. Again with Amy Butler fabric but this time with two decor weight Lark prints. With this heavier weight fabric attached to the cards they feel even more glorious than the last bunch of cards.

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy these last two gifts. Now it is time for me to squeeze in one last camping trip before it gets too hot. This time just the moms in charge. I can’t wait.

***Just a heads up, incase I don’t get in another post before Monday. I will be closing comments on all April 2012 posts as soon as I wake up on my birthday. (Monday morning if you haven’t been keeping track)***

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Fabric + Paper

I love love love these notecards. The sets I’m adding today were made prior to this month but I am so happy to be sharing them with you. There is just something about fabric and paper that makes me happy.

I hope you enjoy them as well.

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Again

Making cards is a little addicting. I’ll need to watch myself.

Here are a couple more sets. Again I have no plans for these, so into the shop they go.

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Paper – Fiber – Fabric

It’s been awhile.

I’ve sure missed working like this with my hands

I love it.

Feels so good.

I think I’ll do it again soon. All of it.

Freshly Spun

Fabric Note Cards

No real purpose for these, so, into the shop they go.

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Out of the shop

I’ve closed out my shop and added this covered notebook to my give away.

Does it look familiar?

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Linen

I finally put this linen to use. And I actually did it in the way I had originally envisioned.

I have never had much exposure to linen, only a dress that was hardly worn because I had to iron it, every time.

I had been seeing more and more linen out in blogland with crafts and was falling in love with the look of it. I had to have some for myself.

I am loving it so much. The wrinkles that bothered me so much with my dress are not an issue for some reason. I almost like it a little better this way, it feels more loved and homey or something.

Anyway I am very happy how this notebook cover turned out. I didn’t even have to piece the cotton strip. I had some scraps from this quilt that were already sewn together. I may have to make another soon.

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Interfacing

I am having such a great week; the weather is cooling, the kids and I are cooperating, deadlines have been met without too much stress, it’s just run so smoothly or as smooth as it can.

Last night to celebrate the passing of a deadline I sewed myself up a covered journal with pocket and matching pen.

I love the look of it but am not happy with how it feels. Apperently the quality depends on the interfacing you use. I have a variety of scraps of interfacing I’ve been using and the ones i used for this notebook just didn’t cut it.

I looked online in hopes to order some better interfacing or at least a more appropriate one for this project but quickly realized that I have no idea what to get. I know there are certain weights you use depending on the project but I have no idea which is which. The stuff I have doesn’t have a label so I have no idea what to order.

Any suggestions?

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Covered Notebooks

It is amazing what a good night sleep can do for a mama’s attitude. I have been wanting to take this blog to a new level and make it more personal, after all I am more than happy moments with my family and fun crafts. I have real struggles and concerns just like everyone else.  So here’s to letting you in on more of the real me.

This week its been frustrations with my husband being gone, a really messy and unorganized house due to the fact that I had to do all the unpacking of all our boxes all by myself(did i put in enough alls), and the transitioning of my children into public school.  The good has been: a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father and I’ve stopped being so independant and reached out to some neighbors and friends.

Now for some crafts.

I squeezed in a little time this past week. Well really I stole some but it was well worth it. I finally got to have a go at one of the projects swimming in my head.

These are those small 3×5 and 4×6 spiral notebooks. The cover is removable so if you fill the notebook you can just get another one to replace it for less than a dollar. I want to make a bigger version of these with nicer notebooks but these little guys were great for figuring out what pattern I wanted to use. I went through a few tutorial I googled but wasn’t happy with the results. I ended up combining a few and am now happy with them.

Thisbe belongs to a Keepers of the Home group (its pretty much a religious Girl Scouts) and the girls are going to learn how to sew them this week.

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Out of sheer desperation…

I made something.

My brain has been going crazy these last two months.  Wow, I cant believe I’ve only been here two months. It seems more like six. Anyway, I’ve been going crazy without a creative outlet. I’ve been trying to cope and do some gardening and some cooking, oh and I’ve rearranged our furniture in my head about 100 times in preporation for our stuff getting here. I’ve walked over to the arts and craft building and surched it’s very limited, I mean very limited supply of craft supplies many times, always coming home with nothing. They just didn’t seem to have anything that I could use. I wanted some yarn and needles or maybe some paper to make a book with or something. I would have been happy with anything other than cake decorating and beeding supplies. This place had a few and I mean like three different types of paper so I kept coming back to the book making thing. If I only could find some paper that I liked to make a cover. Thisbe had some DMC floss and I could borrow a hammer and nails from the neighbor and I bet the BX has some type of paper I could use for the pages.  I surched all the local turkish stores that I dared enter, but found nothing. But the other night the light went on.

I could make my own paper for the cover. And that is what I did.  I didn’t actually make the paper but painted my own design. The craft store had some nutral cardstock and a few acrilic paints. I painted on some paprika colored blobs, added some black centers and a few stipes of white.  I did run into a problem with the paper. I don’t think its the best quality. Where ever I put my blobs the paper would wrinkle. I guess I applied too much paint.  So this paper sat on the table for a couple of days waiting for some inspiration. Then the light went on again. Maybe I could iron out the wrinkles. That wasn’t the best idea but it did do the trick once I realized I shouldn’t have the iron so hot. So I ironed out the wrinkles and applied some black cardstock to the back of it with double sided tape and called it good for a cover. 

So there you go I actually made something. The problem is that I don’t have a need for them and I strangely feel guilty making something without having a destination for it. Why cant I just make something for the sake of making it. Oh well.

Well my stuff is scheduled to get here on Tuesday so hopefully my sewing machine will be warm within a couple of days of that.

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A little clarification and some note cards.

If you refer back to this post you will see some revisions. Apparently I cant keep track of my own age. I really stopped caring or paying much attention to that in my late 20′s. I can also blame it on the whole not liking birthday thing.

moving on

These cards were made using scraps from paper used to make the Japanese Style Journals this month.  I love the simplicity of them.

Each measures 4.25 in x 5.5 in, are blank inside and come with an envelope. I ended up making 12 sets of 4 for my Birthday Give-Away. My hope is that everyone who participates this month will be able to win something.

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More Books

I finished sewing up these this past weekend. The greenish one is a multisection book just like the brown and blue one. These both have simple paperback covers. The brown one with the orange patterned square is the four hole stab binding.

 

I think these are the end of book making for a little while. Outside of school and family, my time is very limited. I want to make some note cards for my birthday give away but I think that will be about it as far as crafty stuff goes. At least for a little while.

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Crochet Binding Attempt

One of the moms from the kiddies school walked me through the process of making books with crochet binding. She showed me how to cover book board with paper, add end papers, make signatures, and finally sew it all up.

I tried it on my own this time with fabric instead of book paper by using wonder under. This worked fine but I somehow ended up with two creases in the fabric. One across the front and one across the back. They weren’t there when I placed the covers under books to dry, but when I looked at them a few hours later both had the annoying creases. Instead of starting over I went ahead and made the book up.

I think it turned out cute but also a bit wonky. I’m not sure how to describe it but the covers kind of shift a bit. Almost like I didn’t sew it tight enough, only I know that’s not the problem since all of my strings are tight. Oh well, it’s totally functional just a little off.

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Multisection Books

This weekend I moved away from Stab binding and on to multisection binding. For these books I followed the instructions for multisectioned books in Japanese Book-Binding. For the book with the flowery patch I did a simplified cover; just a piece of cover weight paper attached to the first and last signature (group of pages) before it was sewn in. I really love how it turned out, nice and simple.

 

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Birthday Presents 2 and 3

I’ve been having so much fun exploring with book binding. Right now I am addicted to Japanese Stab Binding. Here are two more variations of the basic 4 hole binding.

and here is a pic of the hand torn pages.

These paper back books measure 4.25″ x 5.5″. Small enough to take anywhere for on the go note taking or sketching.

I am so glad I’m doing this birthday give away. I have a hard time making things just because and this basically gives me permission to take the time to explore and learn.

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Surprises

Like birthdays I’m not much for surprises. I cant keep them and if I suspect they may be coming for me I’ll dig for details. This is especially true when it comes to presents. Christmas time is the worse. I used to sneak a peek at the presents under the tree finding out what everybody was getting. It would make Christmas day less exciting but that never stopped me. I’m not that bad anymore but I still have the desire to know.

I still spoil surprises on gifts I give, however. Not to everyone. I can keep my kids’ presents a secret and sometimes even my husband’s, but most everybody else knows what they are getting from me.

So, in order to keep with tradition here is birthday present number one for my birthday give away.

I used the book How To Make Books for instructions on making the cover and Japanese-Book Binding for the binding.

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Bunny and Books

With a big paper out of the way this last Friday, I took a much needed break from schoolwork on Saturday. In order to rejuvenate myself I got to work finishing up the bunny I started the weekend before and then knit up her dress on the way to IKEA.

 

That evening I got to work on these books. I think they turned out so cute. I didn’t think that I would like the binding but I really do.

Update – If you would like to have one of these books for your own, I have added the one on the left to my etsy shop.

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some finished projects

i am so glad school is out. dave and i are both students right now and have started our winter break. as a homeschooling mom i made the decision to cancel school for the kiddies so we all could have a winter break together. we haven’t been able to go and do too much due to thisbe’s newly acquired ear pain but i do have high hopes for today and for the next two weeks.

here are a few finished projects.

the fraternal twin to the last striped blanket.

after seeing this post. i knew i needed to make some blank books for my budding authors. i didn’t sew these on a machine. i uses dmc floss and hand sewed them.

i also made a couple for me. i experimented with wonder under on paper/fabric. the results were great. if i get a moment i might make some more. these little books are a bit addicting to make.

more pics on flickr

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wow!

last night after the kiddies went to bed i got going on the baby quilt. ( it was about 8:oo when i got started) as i looked up at the clock when i was finishing up the binding it was almost 10:30. i couldn’t believe the quilting and binding only took two and half hours.

 

with hubby not expected back for a few hours, i decided to get started on a journal. when that was done, i started on the diaper pouches i wanted to make for my etsy shop.

 

when all was done and cleaned up it was still before midnight. i cant believe how smoothly things went.

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Life is moving.

As I have said before my life is a little crazy. I have so little time to do any crafting. I have knit a little on another stocking but I don’t anticipate working on it at all, at least until spring break. I was able to squeeze in a little project with the Kiddies this month. It got mixed into school time. We have been making these little Valentine’s. They are filled with kisses. A friend of mine from England had made these as little gifts for the guests at her daughters wedding and I got to assist in making them. I think they are so cute. Thisbe loves to make them she wanted to do it by her self and is completely capable of doing it but I explained that I like to make things too but dont have time to do my own projects right now and would be happy if she let me help too. Magnus was let in on the fun too by cutting off pieces of tape.

Again sorry about the pic. We are working on the camera issue

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Upon Request

It seems like my break from crafting didn’t lasted very long. I found that I need it too much, as it is a great release for me. Upon request I made these for my mom. I also have a bear and a rabbit in the works for a family reunion auction. I have been much better about my time though, making sure that my craft time doesn’t take over my whole schedule like it has in the past. It is all about balance and I just need to make sure that I dont tip the scale too often with any one thing.

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Making Use of Scraps

I have been loving all my block swap scraps. Last night I used some of the smallest ones I saved. I am so glad I didn’t throw them out.

These are 4″ cards. The texture is great, I love the way they feel. I don’t know how to make envelopes though. I wish I did. Can you buy envelopes in random sizes or do they all come in standard ones? I’d love to make some so I guess I’ll have to start searching the internet for ways how.

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Quilt Idea

I’ve been sketching out some new quilt ideas. I gave this one a try only on a smaller scale to see what I thought . I think I like it alot. It has a great texture and was simple to do. It was easy to cut out because it was only strips. I think that I will give this a try for a baby sized quilt if I ever find the time.

I turned this small scale one into a journal.

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A Night of Journals

With Jess and Denyse Schmidt as inspiration I spent a few hours last night making these fun Journals. The first one (the larger one) was so much fun that I had to make another. Than knowing how much my mom loves light houses I made another. One she might enjoy.

All were made by cutting and folding a piece of cardstock to the size I wanted, than sewing fabric to it, and finally sewing in the pages. It was fun and oh so easy. All I need to do now is get some Velcro or something so I can keep the flap closed.

This one was my first attempt. While fully functional it looks a little sloppy to me

I used a zig-zag stitch on this one to sew on the fabric and I like is so much more. (I like this one the best)

My mom will love this. I had to reload the bobbin while making this one and never quite got the tension quite right again. But all in all it turned out well.

I have a few more ideas of ways to cover these so if I have a moment to spare I will probably make some more.

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