Gathering Dust

Happy New Year Mish Mash

It's been so long since I've done a blog post that I'd forgotten my password to log in to Typepad.  I don't have a big bundle of exciting projects or great antiquing finds to share with you.  My time has been spent in that giant pit that accountants call "year-end". 

Because I haven't been going to many estate sales and auctions, I've been searching my basement and craft room for goodies to stock my booth.  This morning I found these Valentine candy boxes that I wisely bought sometime last summer.

Luckily, I have some people looking out for me to help me scratch my antiquing itch.  "Other Karla's" mom sent a box of sewing notions for me to dig through. 

My favorite is this Red Owl needle book.  Does anyone else remember the Red Owl grocery stores?

I've been re-reading the Harry Potter books.  Actually, I'm only re-reading the first two; I haven't read the rest of the series.  Dear husband has read all of the Harry Potter books more than once and will spend the weekend glued to the TV whenever he finds a Harry Potter movie marathon, so there must be something there worth looking into.

Santa always used to bring me coloring books in my Christmas stocking; this year my Mom and Dad gave me this coloring book.

What I like about this book is besides coloring, it also encourages you to do some doodling and drawing.  See the message in the bottom pot on the right - "Fill these pots with plants & flowers."

My shoulder has recovered from "knitting injury" and I've been working on a light weight afghan that should be done in time for spring naps.

Spending more time at my "big girl job" has made me less "task oriented" about my free time.  I've never been obsessive about finishing projects, but having less free time makes me want to have more fun in the free time I do have.  So if I get an idea that cutting up a bunch of felt and stitching on it sounds like fun, no matter how many other unfinished projects I have;  that's what I might do.

This is what my craft table in the living room looks like- a big variety of projects- coloring books, stitching, journals, book making and knitting stuff on the shelf underneath.  I always have plenty of projects (and supplies) at hand, and I'm having fun working on whatever makes me happy.

So, my next blog post might be full of finished projects, or it might be another mish mash of starts and projects in process.

How To Make a Little Itty Bitty Book

When Karla asked me to do a short class related to journaling at Birdsong, she wasn't specific about what she wanted me to teach.  So I started brainstorming, just jotting down random thoughts and ideas about journals that I'd picked up from blogs, books and Pinterest.  I finally decided to teach a "time capsule" journal page.  I'll do a post on that later.

But, what to do about all those other loose thoughts and ideas I'd brewed up while I was brainstorming?  I decided to make a tiny little book- a zine.

The basis for the book is one piece of 8 1/2" x 11" card stock, a little cutting and a lot of folding.

My pictures in the examples show the book with the pages filled.  If you want to make a book, I'd suggest folding a BLANK piece of paper to make your book, and then do your writing, drawing or collaging on the pages.

Step 1:  Fold your paper in half the long way.  Make a nice crease on the fold.  I like using a bone folder, but a spoon will work, too.

Step 2:  Open the paper to full size and this time, fold the short way.  Again, make a nice sharp crease.

Step 3:  Unfold your paper.  Fold each of the short sides so they meet in the middle.  (Double check : Your folds will have divided the paper into four sections across the long edge)

Step 4:  Open up the folds you made in Step 3.  Fold along the center fold, going the short way.  Starting at the folded side, make a cut to the through both layers of paper to the fold you made in Step 3.

Double check:  When you open your paper after cutting in Step 4, it should look like this:

• Three folds going the short way, creating four sections.
• One fold going the long way.
• One cut in the middle of the paper, going the long way.

Step 5: Pick up your paper with the fold and cut on top.

Here's an "aeriel" view of the book.

Step 6:  Pinch the cut edges together, making an "X" shape.

Fold the "legs" of the X together and you'll have an little eight page book.

Suggestion:  I found that it was a good idea to pencil in page numbers while the book was folded. 

Then unfold, decorate the pages, and fold back into the book shape.

If you'd like a copy of my "Itty Bitty Book of Journaling", you can right click on this image and save to your computer.  Print it on a full size piece of paper, fold and cut and you'll have your own book.

I think this mini book idea would make cute gift tags, too.  Some ideas:

For a bridal shower, each page could have a favorite recipe; for a birthday, each page could have a picture of the birthday person at a different age; for a baby shower, each page could have coupons for baby sitting.

 

Glue Books, Art Journals, Diaries & Doodles

I have a bunch of different books that I play in- cutting, pasting, doodling, drawing and writing.

This is one I've had for a long time-it was a gift.  It's actually a small size lined notebook that had a leather slipcover.  It was very handsome, but I never used it...until I took the leather slip cover off, tore a bunch of pages out and starting gluing stuff in it.

I call it a "glue book" but technically, a glue book is put together with just scissors, paper and glue.  I've done some doodling, lettering and outlining in this.

When you look at the images I've used it, maybe I should call it my bird book.
It's a place where I "save" those little scraps of paper that are too pretty or too special to throw away.

The book is so full that pages have started to fall out.  I've thought about taping them back in, but I kind of like the idea that I've used my book so much that I've almost worn it out.

Another journal I'm working on is my Remains of the Day journal. I made the cover a couple of years ago but it's taken me some time to sew the pages together.

The pages are finally made, but I still want to sew some more "extras" on the pages.

like the bit of ledger paper on the left and the bookmark on the edge of the page on the right.

A third book I've been having fun with is "Art Doodle Love" by Dawn DeVries Sokol. 

It's a paperback book designed to be doodled in.  The paper is nice and heavy, and the pages are full of fun backgrounds and prompts for what to doodle.

The book is small enough (and my purse is big enough) that I can put the book and a few pens and pencils in a plastic bag and bring it with me anywhere I might have a few spare minutes to fill.

How to Keep a Victorian Nerd Busy All Weekend

The backstory:  Last year,  a group of us went to  Leila's Hair Museum.

When I first heard "hair museum", I thought hair like metal perm rollers, those old curling irons that were heated on a stove and horrors like tar based shampoo.  But the hair museum is nothing like that- it's dedicated to the Victorian art of making jewelry, buttons, weavings and flowers out of hair.  The hair museum is full of beautiful items and incredible workmanship.

Moving forward:  At the last antique show I sold at, Julie,  one of the gals I went the museum with, brought a book for me to look at because it had a large section of Victorian hairwork. 

The book is called Under Glass: A Victorian Obsession by John Whitenight. I was enthralled with the book- beautiful pictures of all kinds of Victorian arts and crafts.  Customers at the antique show would ask me questions and I would say "Leave me along, can't you see I'm reading a very good book".  (ok, that never really happened).

I debated buying the book but $90 price tag seemed kind of steep.

Fast forward to last Friday.  I got an email from Lisa saying she was going to her first auction and wanted some tips so she didn't go home empty handed, or the opposite and have to take out a bank loan and rent a U-Haul to bring her purchases home.

I called Lisa, and she said "I'm in line at Half Price Books, let me call you back".

So when she called back I had to ask:

"What did you buy?".  

Lisa said "I found the most fabulous book called 'Under Glass'. 

"How much was it?"

"$15."

I was at Half Price Books in 10 minutes and came home with the five pound book in my excited hands.

So, I've spent the weekend in Victorian nerdville, looking at how they made wax fruit, beaded leaves and wove hair into flowers.

If you're fascinated by these beautiful and almost forgotten crafts, check out  Under Glass:  A Victorian Obsession.  In the mean time, I'm back to reading about Victorian taxidermy.

 

Crafting Downton Style: Journal Swap

Last weekend I was lucky enough to go to California for An Affaire at Downton for a lot of crafting, shopping, and the chance to stay in a fantastic historic hotel.

(For any other architectural detail nerds like me, I'll have a whole post about the hotel later).

One of my favorite parts was before the event even started.  Michelle Geller hosted a journal swap.  I've posted before about  Michelle's journal swaps, and what a great hostess she is.  The collaborative journals she creates are beyond fabulous.

The inspiration for the swap was the many scenes in Downton Abbey episodes where the servants deliver letters and calling cards to the family on silver trays. 

The "pages" in the journal swap are envelopes, either true vintage envelopes or envelopes made to look old. 

To make my envelopes I sewed vintage postcards on envelopes I'd made from toile wallpaper.  I added some bits of lace and aged them with lots of distress ink.

Each book is made from one envelope from each artist, for a total of 14 envelopes (plus a few extra made by Michelle) per book.  They were then bound and wrapped with  this incredible cover. 

I asked Michelle how she put together such a great looking, sturdy, flexible cover.  The process involved fusing, sanding, staining, gluing, sewing and then more sanding and varnishing. 

Just looking at the cover you can tell Michelle put in an incredible amount of time and artistry.  But there are even more special details inside.

A title page tag listing the participating artists.

Inside the back cover is a thank you note  with a tape measure "handle".

And, if that wasn't enough- everybody filled their envelopes with ephemera.

I've already spent several hours with my journal, pulling out the bits and pieces of pretty old paper, pretending I'm the Dowager Countess and I'm paging through my scrapbook.  (Of course, as I'm reading, I'm also making witty and snide comments as fits the Countess).

I'll treasure my journal but the craft classes at the actual event were keepers, too and I'll show you more when I've finished.

Resolutions, Recaps, December Reverb and Word for the Year

If you read blogs much at all, you've probably heard of Project Life, December Daily and other organized, but simplified ways of documenting your memories.

I decided I wanted to play along, and since I like Hope Karney's journaling style so much, I used her prompts to create a Reverb 2013 journal.

Creating the journal was fun.  I papered old book covers and made my 31 pages (one for each day of December) out of a lot of bits and pieces I had on hand. 

For example, for Dec 3, I used this photo of three girls.  Since there wasn't room to write on the photo, I just added an index card as a page behind the picture.

A lot of the pages were bits and pieces I had already put together for other projects but ended up not using.  For example, this bingo card was part of something I made for the Birdsong art event, but ended up not using.

This was a piece of tissue paper that I've had for I don't even know how long, but I had to keep it until I found a place to use it.  This journal was the perfect place.

At first, I tried to find a different font or image for each day of the month.  For example, this was Dec 6.

But I didn't want a lack of fonts to keep me from getting started, so for some pages I just wrote the date.  I can always go back later and replace it with something a little fancier.

I had most of my pages in place and was ready to start journaling on Dec 1, the day of the first prompt.  I even had a brand new pen!

The first prompt:  Did you try anything new in 2013?

...I really put some thought into this, but honestly, I don't remember.  I'm sure I must have tried something, probably several things, but I just can't put my finger on anything.

Second prompt: What was the most memorable gathering you attended (or held) in 2013?

Again, I don't really remember.  Did I even attend any gatherings?

After a few more days of fumbling for answers to the daily prompts, I decided that I am either a socially inept boring loser, or else I just don't remember things the way I used to. 

I'm choosing to go with the latter, which brings me to the idea of a word for the year.  I'd never heard of  picking a word for the year until I read blogs.  Some people pick words like "courage", "truth", or "persevere" - words they'll use to guide  their actions and choices through the year. 

I never thought I needed a word, or I'd use a word- but my experience with the December reverb has made me decide my word for 2014 is going to be "mindfulness"- meaning I want to be aware of how I spend my time.  Not just so I can write things down at the end of the year, but so I can make sure I do keep trying new things, and I do attend gatherings and social events. 

My life is pretty simple, uncomplicated and comfortable.  It's really easy for me to spend most of my days in more or less the same way.  Some accounting, a few auctions and estate sales, a little time in my booth, some crafting and then I start all over again. 

For me mindfulness is going to be an antidote to complacency.  Not that there's anything wrong with complacency, but I think with a little effort I can do better.

My blog posts don't usually have so many words and so few pictures, because I'm rarely this retrospective, but sometimes putting it down in writing does help clarify what you're thinking, and I guess that's what this blog post is about.

Oops...mindfulness only has one "l".

Textile Love

In the past few days, I've been lucky enough to find some vintage goodies that have made me really happy.  Like vintage wallpaper- a really rare find at an estate sale. 

I happened upon one great sale that was full of vintage lace, linens and clothes- and this book.  "Labors of Love, America's Textiles and Needlework 1650-1930" by Wendy Lavitt.

The book is just full of photos of some of the most beautiful and intricate textiles I've ever seen.  Like this penny table runner with a motif stitched in each "penny" and a blanket stitch edge around each one.

Quilt made from children's hankies.

Beautiful little keepsake pillows.

Do you keep an inspiration book or magazine beside your bed to look at before you go to bed, so you have sweet things to think about as you fall asleep?  This is my new bedside sweet dreams book.

I didn't find anything quite as elaborate in the way of textiles at the sale, but I did find some things that got my heart pounding.  I think these towels are called "turkey red".  Does anyone know anything else about them?

Vintage skirt with beautiful inset lace and pin tucking.

Grain painted frame (with dirty glass), velvet pin cushion and a cloth tape measure.

The tape measure is an advertiser for Vassar, the lingerie maker, giving instructions in how to fit yourself for Vassar underwear.  Who needs the bra lady at Nordstroms if you've got a tape measure like this?

Sunday Morning in the Kitchen and a FINISHED Journal

Yes, we have a completed journal.  Using the fantastic videos from Mary Ann Moss's Full Tilt Boogie class, I finished making my very own journal with stitched signatures. If you click on the link, make sure you scroll down a bit and watch the video promo for the class.  The music and video are pure inspiration.

I'm not sure if I'm crazy in like with the way I decorated the cover, but I'm thrilled that I was able to sew a five signature book that is still holding together.

That's all...just wanted to share my "sense of accomplishment".

Oh...and some irony.  Or at least I think it's kind of funny.

My husband I were both in the kitchen this morning.  My health conscious vegan husband made baked sweet potato chips.

I made three cheese baked macaroni and cheese with extra bread crumb topping.

Both are delicious....

Making a Security Envelope Book

Before I took Mary Ann Moss's Remains of the Day journal making class, I hadn't given much thought to safety envelopes- envelopes with a pattern inside meant to keep nosy people from peeking through the envelope.

Then I started to notice them at work, and I wondered just how many different patterns there were.  I had the girls I work with save envelopes for some future art project.  At first I thought I'd piece the envelopes into some kind of paper quilt.  When I couldn't decide what you'd do with a paper quilt, I decided to try a book instead.

Here's how I made it:

(Note: These are really basic bookmaking instructions. I didn't invent them, this is just kind of an accumulation of ideas I've cobbled together from lots of places. I am, by no means, implying that I discovered how to make a book.)

Gather Supplies

Grab some safety envelopes, sturdy paper to be used as pages (I'm using some recycled watercolor notecards), a paper cutter or scissors, an awl, several glue sticks and some twine, ribbon or thread to tie the pages together. 

The watercolor paper I'm using for my pages is approx 7" x 10", and when folded in half makes pages that are 7" x 5".  I've used 8 pieces of paper.  Each piece, when folded makes 4 pages.  The book will end up being 32 pages.

Open the envelopes and trim off any parts you don't want to use.  I trimmed a lot of the white flaps and some windows.

Covering the Pages

After the envelopes have been trimmed, they can be glued, patchwork style onto the paper that will be used for pages.

Cover one side of the paper, and then turn it over and trim any overlapping edges.  Then cover the other side.  Do this for all pages.

As you're gluing envelopes, images can be glued down and windows glued over them.

Making the Cover

The book cover can be made of the same paper as the pages, or something heavier.  I've used a binder cover.  The cover size should be between 1/2" to 1" larger than the pages on all sides.

Measure to find the center of the cover and fold about a 1/2" on either side to create an approximately 1" spine.  To get my fold even and crisp, I laid a metal ruler on my fold line and folded against the ruler.

Use a pencil to mark four dots on the spine about a quarter of the way from the top and  a quarter of the way from the bottom.  This will be where you poke holes to tie your pages to the cover.

Lay a plain piece of paper next to the book spine and mark on the paper where the spine holes are.  This plain piece of paper will be used to guide where to poke holes in the folded pages.

Sewing the pages to the cover.

In my example, we'll be using eight pages folded in half.

Nestle two pages together, and using your paper template and awl, poke holes in the fold. This group of pages is called a signature. Repeat this with the next set of two pages, creating another signature.

Cradle one signature inside your cover.

Thread your needle and push it from the cover side through the top hole on the cover and signature.  Leave about an 8" tail.   On the inside of the signature pull the needle through the bottom hole to the outside of the spine.  On the outside of the cover, tie the two pieces of twine together.

(In other words, you're just threading the twine through the top hole in the cover and signature and then the bottom hole in the cover and signature, leaving the loose ends on the outside of the cover to be tied together)

Do the same thing with the next signature, using the same holes.

Follow the same instructions for the remaining signatures, using the other set of holes in the spine.

When you've got your book put together, the decorating begins.

Washi tape and labels.

Journaling spots and glassine envelopes.

Clip Art.

You can make books like this using lots of different supplies- cardstock, magazine pages, vellum, even fabric. These books are great to use for a pictures and keepsakes from a special occasion- a wedding, a family reunion, a trip.  I keep a small version in my purse (with plain pages) just to take notes and doodle.

Let me know how your bookmaking goes, or if you have questions.

If you are curious about safety envelopes check out this website.

 

February Journal

I have lots of blanks books that I use to keep recipes, clippings, gluebook type collages and doodling, but I've really never had a book that I said was "my journal".

I decided that the book I made in Karla's Journal Workshop would be an actual journal for the month of Feb. 

To emphasize it, I wrote "This is my journal" on the inside cover. Pretty clever... That's a good way to start if you aren't sure what to write. 

The paper in our class kits was vintage in all different shades of cream, white, sepia and tan.  I used red toile tissue paper, red flocked paper from Paper Source and some advertising labels to add some color to my pages, and create journaling spots.

This is my first page- the picture of the girl cutting the doll's hair was the cover of a 1930s magazine.  I liked the picture because I thought the girl was being just a little bit brave in cutting her doll's hair- I was always too afraid to do that.

On the right side of the page is a quote from Coco Chanel:

"A girl should be two things, who and what she wants".

The quote comes from a collection that you can find on the Ipad App Nostalgic Musings by Hope Wallace Kearney.  It's the best $.99 you can spend.

Throughout the book, I've added touches of red and journaling spots. 

The envelope is to hold labels that I'll use later.

Some pages may not have any writing, just pictures.

Different pages are in different stages-this page is ready for writing- or something else.

Karla's kits had an extra large page from an 1880s journal full of receipts with great lettering.  I'm not sure if she picked this one out specially for me, but I sure like it- it's a invoice for ironstone from the Alfred Meakin company.  I have a lot of Meakin ironstone, but this is the first Meakin invoice I've ever seen.

Some people used ribbon to tie the signatures in their journals, but I'm more of a twine girl.  A nice thing about this kind of binding is that it can be untied, and more can be added to it.

If you'd like to try making your own journal, Karla is selling kits- but I think she's selling them about as fast as she's making them, so if you don't see them in her store, email her to have her reserve one.