Mini Journals are Back! 4 new just added to shop...

I have added four new mini journals to my Etsy shop! 

I love portable little leather journals. They travel well, keeping any notes or drawings nicely protected, and make wonderful and affordable unique gifts.

I have been wanting to add more to the shop for some time. I finally had a chance to work on these over the weekend and love how they have turned out!

The structure is simple, but solid. These journals are approximately 3.5" x 3.25" (nearly square) and contain three, hand-sewn signatures of 70lb, acid-free, blank Strathmore drawing paper for a total of 96 pages in each.

 Bee Charm Mini Journal





For a finishing touch, I added a charm to the front of each journal. This gives them a little personality and makes for great gift-giving for you or someone special.

  Camel Charm Mini Journal            

 Starfish Charm Mini Journal (SOLD!)




I will be adding more like this, and in other color leather as well, so stay tuned for updates!

 

Mum Flower Charm Mini Journal

Happy September!

Welcome to September! It is starting to feel officially like fall, even if it is going to be 80+ degrees today. :)

I have been busy with end-of-summer activities and haven't posted in a month, so here's an update for you!

I have been creating like crazy lately, among other things, adding some new mini-journals to my Etsy shop:

 Natural Dragonfly Mini Journal with Bead and Button Closure

Approx. 5.75” x 3”, hand-sewn with walnut brown waxed linen thread in a chain stitch or Coptic style, and designed to lay flat for writing or drawing. Heavyweight, 100% cotton, acid-free, warm-white Wyndstone paper in three signatures included for 18 sheets (36 pages) total.

 

Thai traditional paper in a natural buff-white color was used to cover the book board and is finished with a flower-shaped, bone-white button and more waxed linen thread for easy closure. The thread has a beautiful dangle of beads that include a 6mm Jupiter jasper bead surrounded by two gold metallic beads. Inside, the end papers showcase gorgeous green and gold dragonflies on a buff background.

Sienna Mini Journal with Mookaite Jasper and Apple Blossom Button Closure

Approx. 6” x 4”, hand-sewn with dark orange waxed linen thread in a chain stitch or Coptic style, and designed to lay flat for writing or drawing. 70 lb, acid-free, Canson drawing paper in four signatures for 128 pages total.

 

Thai traditional paper in a beautiful sienna color was used to cover the book board and is finished with a delicate, antique gold apple blossom button and more waxed linen thread for easy closure. The thread has a beautiful dangle of gold metallic beads and a Mookaite jasper flat round.
 

And I am also preparing for next weekend's 10th annual Kerrytown BookFest. I am excited to be participating for the first time as an exhibitor. If you are local to the Ann Arbor area, stop by booth #138 and say hi!  Here is a sneak peek of some of my new items that will be available there:

New! Flower Jade and Mum Macrame Bookmark. Hand-knotted light green S-Lon thread and featuring beautiful flower jade beads and an antique silver-plated mum charm.

New! Lapis Lazuli and Starfish Macrame Bookmark. Hand-knotted medium blue S-Lon thread and featuring gorgeous lapis lazuli beads and an antique silver-plated starfish charm.

Petoskey Stone Triple Wrap Bracelet. A rare find, beautiful, authentic 6mm Petoskey stone rounds were used to create a stunning triple wrap bracelet. Petoskey stone is the official state stone of Michigan. It is a variety of calcite and was formed by the fossilization of ancient coral, Hexagonaria. Petoskey stones are found on many beaches of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, as well as in rock quarries from Traverse City to Alpena.

And more bracelets, bookmarks, and journals to come! Have a Happy Labor Day!

Random Weekly Round-Up! Project Updates.

I have had a rather productive week. In addition to getting my desk space re-organized (partly, anyway), I have had a chance to complete 2 bracelets and my very first coptic hand-bound journal for my Etsy shop. I thought I would randomly choose today to do a little weekly round-up of my artistic activities and show you what I have been up to:

Terra Rosa Jasper Double Wrap Bracelet

This little beauty features 6mm terra rosa jasper stone beads in a range of swirling dusty purples, pinks, maroons, creams, and blue/grays. The stones are wrapped in 1.8 mm steel blue leather and finished with an antiqued metal button closure.

I love jasper. It comes in a wide range of colors and patterns. This particular variety is a natural stone and had a different color scheme that I had come across previously. I had ordered some different colors of leather and thought these paired beautifully with the steel blue.

As for stone properties, terra rosa jasper (also known as sci fi jasper), like other jaspers, is stone of gentleness and relaxation. It is said to bring tranquility, comforting, wholeness, and healing. It is also said to have a subtle and deep energy that seems to nurture one on a soul level.

Seraphinite Double Wrap Bracelet

The other bracelet that I was able to complete this week was this elegant double wrap using 4mm seraphinite gemstone beads. These rare stones are found only in the Lake Baykal region of southern Siberia, Russia. They are a deep sea green with feathery inclusions of silvery white and shimmering chatoyant patterns, similar to tiger's eye.

These stones are said to be a premier healing stone, promoting regeneration and self-healing. It is also a purifying stone that helps one find one’s higher purpose and will, creating a feeling of wholeness and well-being.

I wrapped these in 1.8 mm dark olive green leather and finished with an antiqued silver flower button closure. I absolutely love green and so between the beads and the leather, this was one of my favorites to create!

Coptic Bound Art Journal

After getting a chance to do some beadwork, I decided I would work on my first coptic bound art journal. I have a great deal of art supplies gathered over the years and not always enough time to draw. I have been itching to do some bookbinding, so I thought I would raid my supplies and see what I could come up with! 

I found some wonderful, heavyweight, 100% cotton fiber art paper by Wyndstone in my stash. I had enough to create 5 signatures for my journal and tore the sheets by hand. They came with a feathered edge already, so the hand-tearing added to that effect. There are three signatures in 'natural' and two in 'warm white'.

 
I also made a trip to my favorite local decorative paper and bookbinding supply store, Hollander's here in Ann Arbor, to find the right material to use for the cover of the journal. I found a lovely sheet of 80gm mulberry and bamboo paper with Tamarind leaves in the paper. The Tamarind leaf tissue is backed with the mulberry/bamboo paper so it has a great weight/durability but good flexibility for covering the journal. I used PVA glue from Hollander's and waxed linen thread for the binding. I wanted to do a Coptic stitch, also known as a chain stitch, as it allows the journal to lay flat when open.


 
Since Coptic bound journals often have a lot of signatures and are hard to keep closed, I added a simple closure wrap of the waxed linen thread and added three beads of mid-Michigan alabaster that I purchased from Nawbin Beads in Traverse City, MI. I will someday make a trip up there, as it sounds fantastic, but for now, I am able to order from their Etsy shop.





The paper is great for pencil and pastel, photo journaling, scrapbooking, or for use as a guest book, writing journal. etc. I really enjoyed creating this and look forward to doing more Coptic bound journals as well as other sewn bindings.

Have you started any big projects lately? What have you been working on? Are there things in your stash you wish you could use? I'd love to hear from you, so let me know!

More Jotters! Wrapped Edges and End Papers.

These are for you, Anita! :)

My friend Anita made a comment on yesterday's jotter journal post about my edge-fraying problem. We both agreed that wrapping the edges of the fabric around the card stock would be a good solution. I wasn't sure if it was worth the time to do that and include end papers since this is such a quick project. However, I decided to try it today and it worked beautifully! It really did not take much longer to do and I think it gives a much more finished look to the journals.

So, in today's experiment, I created two new little jotters. Both were done using my Tree Stripes fabric in cotton silk. It has a lovely sheen and gives a slightly fancier look to the finished product. 

The first is about 3" x 3.5" and in addition to wrapping the fabric around the edges, I also sewed the pages in a bit differently, adding a large, decorative bead at the bottom for a little embellishment.

 

After gluing the card stock to the fabric, I trimmed the edges an prepared to glue them down. I also cut end papers to fit. What isn't shown here is that I had to trim diagonally across the corners leaving about 1/8" fabric so that when the edges were folded there wasn't too much bulk.

 

 I glued the fabric edges down using my glue stick and after they dried a bit (under some waxed paper and a heavy book), I trimmed up the little bit of extra sticking out in each corner.

 Finally, I glued down the end papers, again using my glue stick and pressing it under some waxed paper and a heavy book to dry.

 The finished product! The quarter is in the photo for scale.

The second was inspired by the work of Louise Thompson, an artist from New Zealand, who makes incredibly beautiful and often miniature leather-bound journals. Check out her sites - she has a blog as well as an Etsy shop. Her shop is under the name Bibliographica. If you enjoy bookbinding at all or miniature things, you will really love it.

Anyway, my mini jotter is just 1 1/4 " square. It was made using the same cotton silk fabric in the Tree Stripes print. 

Both journals have 32 pages of blank paper inside for little lists, notes, doodles, or thoughts. Also, the mini is very handy for my 4-year-old daughter who is using it as a book for her stuffed animals. :)

NOTE: I did both of these earlier today off and on with interruptions from the kids, drying time, etc. It really was a quick project. I can see me doing lots more of these.

My first Jotter Journal Attempt!

What do you do with your extra fabric swatches and scrap pieces?

I discovered one great way to use them - create a jotter journal! What are jotter journals, you ask? They are little notebooks, quickly made, that you can drop into your purse or work bag to jot down notes, grocery lists, to-do items, etc.

Being a list-maker myself and accumulating quite a stack of Spoonflower swatches from recent proofs, I decided this was the perfect way to use some of them up to create fun, unique little jotters.

I first came across this idea at The Creative Place, an art and craft blog by Ashley Connelly. She recently posted a wonderful tutorial on creating these so I finally gave it a try. Here is the final result!

 

 

Ashley's tutorial gives all of the step-by-step details, but I modified my project a bit according to what supplies I had on hand as well as the fact that my machine sewing skills leave a bit to be desired. My supplies included:

• Kraft cardstock - cut to approximately 6" long by 3.5" wide
• Plain white computer paper - 8 sheets cut to approximately 6" long by 3" wide
• Fabric swatch - I used a swatch of quilting weight cotton in my Orange Star blossom print. Because of the small journal, I have just enough of the swatch leftover for another jotter of this size.
• Glue stick - craft size...it's a little wider than your average glue stick. Ashley used spray adhesive.
• Waxed bookbinder's thread - about a 5-6 inches. This is for sewing the pages to the cardstock. It is what I have on hand, though you could use embroidery thread, yarn, or other decorative cord. Ashley sewed her pages in on her sewing machine.
• Heavy needle with a big eye - mine is a bookbinder's needle that I had from a kit I bought one time.
• Two bulldog clips, or other binder clips
• Scissors
• Credit card for smoothing the fabric.

I won't go into each step here, but I followed Ashley's tutorial, substituting my supplies as needed. 

  

RESULTS and TIPS: 

I found that the glue stick seemed to work just fine for adhering the fabric to the cardstock. Definitely make sure you get glue all the way to the edge of the cardstock and make it an even layer (no clumps of glue or it will bleed through the fabric.) One problem I seem to still have is a bit of thread here and there peeling away from the very edge. I'm not sure what the best fix is for that aside from folding the fabric over and gluing the edge to the inside of the jotter. But then you need to create end papers to cover the exposed fabric edge and it becomes a more involved project. Perhaps it is not a huge deal for an informal jotter like this?

The other big difference in my project was that instead of using a sewing machine to sew the pages to the cardstock, I simply cut a length of my waxed bookbinding thread, poked 6 holes, evenly spaced, in the pages and cardstock, and hand-sewed the pages in. 

I put two small knots on the outer threads to hold it in place. You could get fancy and leave a longer tail on the bottom and add a decorative bead to it if you wanted. Or, you could also sew in a little closure that wraps around the journal horizontally. The bookbinding possibilities are endless! :) But for this simple on-the-go jotter, I thought a few well-placed stitches in the center would do just fine.

I am looking forward to creating more of these little gems with other fabric that I have. I might even get crazy and put some of my good drawing paper and create an on-the-go sketch journal! Lots of great ideas brewing. Let me know if you give this project a try - I'd love to see your results!