2024/November 8-In the Studio This Week | Making Fabric Journal Covers 

Here are the fabric journal covers I've made this week. They are made from drapery material, upholstery samples, quilting cotton and canvas. I am going where the inspiration takes me! I have already chosen papers and ephemera for four of these, so you will see them in the near future. Starting with this post, I will be sharing pics weekly of what I have done 'In the Studio' the week previous. Fabric has always been my first love, and now I am loving making fabric covers. It is a great mojo booster!

2024/November 15-In the Studio This Week | Making More Fabric Covers & Beginning Signatures 

I am still on a fabric journal cover kick! I have been working on the unnamed yellow journal this week, with 5 signatures in their selected order. Each one has an authentic vintage photo at the beginning. I just love the rose and croquet scenes made from upholstery fabric and can't wait to dive into filling these up! In addition to a ticking cover, which I envision as an industrial themed journal, I am also altering a coupon holder into a tall, narrow journal. It measures 12in tall x 4in wide x 3in thick. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

2024/November 22-In the Studio This Week | Finished Journal & Hot Glue Seals 

The unnamed yellow journal has been finished and named! St. John's Lodge No.1. Here are a few pics of the outside. The spine has a handmade necklace crafted from mother-of-pearl and small yellow beads that have been sewn to the spine, as well as glued in strategic places. There is a flip-through video scheduled for the end of November. Also this week, I thought I would try my hand at DIY hot glue seals. I have 4 hot glue guns and lots of glue sticks, but I really don't use them in my crafting. Since I have 50+ jars of dried flowers and petals, I tried those first. The little pink flowers are buds from my mom's Yoshino cherry tree, and the blue flowers are hydrangeas from a friend's garden. They are my favorite. Other petals I used were rose, ranunculus, and dahlia. The other seals are circles cut from scrapbook paper. I'll definitely be making more seals!

2024/November 29-In the Studio This Week | Finished Journal & Thirty Reinforced Spines 

I finished another journal, with the next one in the queue about 75% done. I spent a day and a half reinforcing the spines of 30 gutted books, so plenty of journal covers to be made during the winter month. I am really in the mood to make some small/mini journals. I have three small covers to choose from, so I can't wait to start making those little bitty pages.

2024/December 6-In the Studio This Week | Book Page Ephemera & Making Vintage Recipe Cards 

This week I have been harvesting photos and graphics from  books that I have gotten in thrift store hauls. I adhered kraft paper to the backs, then used my diy tear ruler to give them a rough edge. I now have quite a few vintage photos to use in upcoming journals, and will be making more. I will be starting a project series at the beginning of the year that features a book to harvest from and the ephemera I make from it. I have loads of books to harvest, not even joking! Also, my daughter wanted me to help her make a recipe journal, so I have taken some illustrations from the public domain and made recipe cards. The first batch were 3in x 5in, and seemed to small for her purpose. So I resized the cards to 4in x 6in, added lines, shrunk the graphics, then grunged them up with my diy coffee dye. She loves them. 

2024/December 13-In the Studio This Week | Finished Journal & Sneak Peek of Upcoming Book Page Ephemera 

I finished the next journal that you saw a couple of weeks ago. I am calling it Spring Flowers. I have also been harvesting more photos and graphics for the next journal, and I am giving you a sneak peek of some that will be included in it. It is a conglomeration of three books. I will be making pockets, faux postcards, journaling cards, and plenty more with all of the gorgeous images.

2024/December 20-In the Studio This Week | Tragedy in the Craftroom & Sneak Peek of Upcoming Project 

Soooooo.....I dropped my camera, with the lens extended... I know... It's just a little decade-old point-and-shoot. But, it was doing the job. Sigh... So I have ordered another camera, a 4K vlogging camera, that I hope I will like. It will be here next week, after the holidays. On a better note, here is a sneak peek to a grungy project coming up in one of the series that I will begin in January.

2024/December 27-In the Studio This Week | Craft Room Chores: Organizing Lace & Ribbon 

While waiting for my new camera to come, I have been doing some much needed organizing. Lace and ribbon that I had bought at thrift stores the past few months were cluttering my craft closet floor. I had been putting off organizing the lace. (Never enough hours in the day!) I did manage to get my books organized a few weeks ago. Whew! One of the best pieces of advice I have seen about using craft supplies was to make them shoppable. That has been a game changer for me.