little flippy notebook

two posts in a row! who would've thought? not much to update but i did make a quick notebook last night as well as just an hour ago. (when i really should've been studying or working on my term paper... ah well... when you are inspired, what can you do?)

so... i do have class in a bit so i shall leave you with pictures and will add text later. enjoy!





another book... the one i made just a while ago...

Prettiness for my eyes

Hello everyone,

Many apologies for not being on my blog lately. I have had some family things to deal with -- we've recently "lost" our paternal grandfather and with finals and term papers due as well, it has been hectic, to say the least. I will return messages from my previous post soon, so please bear with me! And thank you Kaija for posting photos of the little notebook I made for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Meanwhile, I've been snooping around blog-land and etsy for goodies to purchase for myself... and I am in love with these cute, bright objects.

Here's a pretty birdie print from joom


As well as a really lovely pillow. They have so many lovely prints! I wish they printed fabric!


I really, really want this duvet and sham set from patapri! Wish someone could get these for me... ;)


marta from m.writes wrote such a lovely post about letterpressed calendars. It would be just lovely if I could afford them all! But what does a girl need with more than 1 calendar? especially one that I can't even write notes in (now those I need more of). but I did have just enough money leftover from eBay sales to purchase this calendar (the rest were unfortunately above my range as a college student):


you can find ilee's stuff here.

A long while back, Lara posted some photos of goodies that arrived in her mail and this print was one of them. I loved it so much that I want one too! But no money so I'll have to wait until I babysit some more and than deposit straight away to the bank! :) :) :)

synesthesia by green chair press

With school and work and family, it will be quite some time before I get the chance to make more goodies to show. Do not fret, I am waiting on some .jpeg photos from my sister who helped scan and photoshop some doodles I made recently at a house council one night. It's a typical Shirley doodle of grass and flowers, but I'm looking to printing them into notepads and sheets of notebook paper. Obviously, I am working on limited equipment and have only my hands and a computer printer but PaperSource sells this adhesive (PVA = polyvinyl acetate) that's good for making notepads. Who knows? Maybe my winter fairies will supply me with the funds to purchase some tools and supplies to make professional-quality products! In the meantime... we'll all have to make do with what we've got. Now, isn't that true?

Thanksgiving!

Somebody, anybody, tell me: is Thanksgiving a holiday known (not necessarily celebrated since it's so rooted in American history) throughout the world? Just curious.

I am back home for the Thanksgiving holiday and am enjoying some time off (mental time anyway) from school -- despite impending doom of research paper. Yikes!

I think, for my latest project, I am going to make cute girly barrettes. My dad is taking me out shopping later today (I have so many coupons to use!) and I will drop by our nearest Jo-Ann's. I prefer going to an art store but this fabric and artsy crafty store will have to suffice. Will show pictures soon!

That reminds me... I need to purchase a hot glue gun... :)

Rest, rest, rest and shop, shop, shop!

Kaija/Paperiaarre; PIF; More Eye Candy

First off, I'd like to thank Kaija of Paperiaarre for her beautiful book! I love the concept of PIF and being able to share our work with one another. And I love that we're all just doing it because we want to. My pictures are horrible as they were taken in the evening (when I'm free-est) but here's the book Kaija made for me:

1. This is the lovely brown cover. I believe it's the same material as her coptic bound journals with the stenciled artwork in her etsy shop.
2. Here's a peak at the inside cover. The tree is a stenciled card she included (I love the presentation and it was fun to open). I've glued it to the notebook because I thought it fit really well with the journal and gave it some more pizzazz.
1
2

Please do visit Kaija's blog.

Okay, I still have many spots available for PIF as I've gotten lucky and will be the recipients of artwork from a couple of other artists whose PIF I was able to join. I cannot really afford anything right now so PIF is a great way to share my work in exchange for receiving the beautiful works of others. So, please leave me a comment and I'll whip up some nice pretty things for you. For now I have 5 spots available so join in the merriment. The only condition is that you have to Pay It Forward to three other people (read my post regarding PIF for more info if you are new to this concept).

I've finally carved out some time to take photos of my most recent work. I hope you enjoy it. Let the drooling commence! :)

The first pillow is fabric by Amy Butler (the name of the fabric just left my head right now). The second set of pillows is fabric by Etsuko Furuya (cream) and Chestnut Branch by Joel Dewberry. I'm really trying to get myself to appreciate the brightness of the amy butler fabric. Just... so green and bright...




I made a few notebooks for fun. (Well, to procrastinate from doing homework but still wanted to feel somewhat productive). I think my skill is improving. I'm doing better with the details and the threading. I have yet to find any online tutorials for basic bookbinding yet and cannot afford to take bookarts classes right now. So, I'm going to have to stick with whatever I am doing that is holding the pages of the book together. It's more like a pamphlet style.

Below are images of the front, back, inside (I enjoyed adding some fun surprises to the inside covers of 3 of my books - the lush velvety paper, the japanese shiny crane paper, and the hippie tie-dye-ish paper) and a peak at my more "refined" threading skills. haha.







I hope you enjoyed this post. More to come in the coming weeks.

Until next time...

I have made a couple more pillows/cushions and a few more notebooks (with the new fabric and new pretty paper I purchases this weekend)! Will have photos up sometime this week. (Ah... the busy life of a college student).

In the meantime, I still have two spots available for the Pay It Forward thing. Feel free to sign up! I'd love to share my work with you. :)

eye candy!

a scarf two years in the making... there just isn't ever any time in a student's life for knitting...


the best attempt at photographing earrings i made. my favoritist pair!


my halloween costume: can you guess who i am?


artwork for a possible holiday card... not sure how i'll go about that. might just print off my printer and send to family and friends...


a cushion made with lara cameron's fabric!


you can sort of make out the purse and notebook cover i made - i just adore lara's fabric!


another cushion. the orange fabric is actually made out of a tea towel by tikoli but what am i going to do with a tea towel? haha


the inside flap of the notebook cover that won't fit any book i have... um... yes...

i created another fun cushion today when both packages of fabric came by post. will put up pictures of that once i get around to it. i love love love it! i was cautious and decided not to buy much but now i feel like i can be a bit more adventurous and trust that i'll like whatever i buy. i bought a yard of fabric by joel dewberry (i know nothing about fabric designers) as well as some japanese fabric by etsuko something or other...

anywho, enjoy the eye candy. don't drool now!

no takers?

i'm sad there are no takers for the pay it forward thingermabob. oh well. guess i'll just have to randomly choose fellow bloggers to send something. was gonna do so anyway.

i just finished making a few items using the fabric i bought from lara so will have pictures up once i'm less frazzled and harried. :)

until then...