Book-binding fun

I just can't get enough of the coptic stitch headbands. And apparently I am addicted to the color grey. This journal was so fun to make. I wish I could skip all the paper folding etc. and get straight down to the binding part. We are enjoying a rainy week here in Boise, and the plus side is lots of indoor time to read and make books. Yeehaw! :P

Plush Plants

Wow! 200 posts! Cool. I made some more plush plants, this time for my girls. Fleece is so soft and cuddly, but it's pretty difficult to hand sew. My fingers got really sore making these. I added some pipe cleaners to the leaves to make them moveable and it's really fun to position them in wacky poses. I also put un-popped popcorn in the bottom for weight. They turned out so cute! :)

Duck Cloth Journal

Contrary to popular belief, Duck Cloth is not waterproof. But, it does make a really cool book cover. I'm planning on dying the elastic that is holding the book closed an orange color to match the binding thread. Long stitch binding is super fun. I used a dark grey felt on the inside for end pages, and sewed in six signatures of heavy blank drawing paper. One of a kind! :D

Hand bound journal

I've always loved the color combo of grey and orange. I think the grey background really makes the orange binding pop. Would be a great journal for a guy, or a non-girly girl.

Valentimes

I made a banner of felt hearts and another of paper hearts. We always have a banner of some sort or other hanging in the archway.

Nothing says 'I love you' like Oreo truffles. Add a crumbled whole package of Oreos to an 8oz pk of cream cheese, form into balls and chill for an hour, then dip in melted chocolate and chill again. Get ready for your face to melt off!! Plus, I wanted to show you my mug from Ceramica that I hand painted. It looks better on the other side, but, oh well. :)

Free-form embroidery + brooch

So I was finally able to find a home for this beautiful butterfly brooch I received as a gift a while back. It was from an antique dealer, as the story goes, and I have no idea the value, but the intricacy is awesome. I used green linen for the backdrop and then made a free-form flower from purple embroidery floss and as is the trend, I will leave it all in an embroidery hoop as a wall hanging. So pretty!

The owl obsession lives on

We have been pretty busy around here watching The Legend of the Guardians over and over, "I foretold you so" being our favorite line. So, I made some felt owlets for the girls to play with. There was a free pattern at moonstitches.typepad.com. Cute!

Clay bowl with headbands

Okay, so I may have broken the rules of bookbinding, but I just love the way this clay bowl looks with the coptic headbands!! I got the bowl from an Etsy shop and just had to sew it with waxed thread, since that is my favorite part of all. I think I will have to teach myself how to make bowls now so I can keep doing this. It was super fun to make!

Totoro Plushie

I am a huge studio Ghibli fan, so when I saw a free pattern online to make Totoro, I jumped at the chance. My kids have been watching the movie all week and were super excited too to get a toy Totoro! My favorite movie is still Howl's Moving Castle, but I love My Neighbor Totoro also. I made this with grey fleece and white felt for the belly. I was running low on cotton, but light stuffing makes him super huggable. Yay!

Handmade Kindle sleeve

So, after years of resisting the Kindle, I got one for Christmas. And, even though I am an avid reader and still love solid books(obviously), I am really enjoying the ease of use and portability. Having said that, I must also say nothing will ever replace my book obsession. Anyway, I think anyone with a sewing machine can make a Kindle sleeve. I used upholstery fabric lined with felt. It is a quick, super easy sew, and makes your Kindle much safer without having to buy another accessory.

Winter journal

I used a brown barren-tree fabric for this journal, and brown waxed linen thread. I love sewing the headbands, it's my new favorite thing in life. I use the tutorial from the book Making & keeping creative journals by Suzanne Tourtilott, pg 35. It is the best tutorial I've found. :)

Journal with Coptic headbands & banana flowers

This fabric reminded me of monkey tails and banana flowers. Cute, eh? I covered each of the six signatures with a piece of red card stock. I used the coptic stitch to bind it and then added the headbands afterward. Very fun to make. I can't get enough of the headband practice. I wonder if I could use this method in other mediums...

Flower mini notebooks

I wanted to make some mini notebooks with a monochrome color scheme. I like how they turned out.

I used corresponding colors for the end pages.

But mostly I've been busy with the girls doing Christmas activities. We are home alone for a while, while Jeremy is in Scotland at Pop Fest 2011 with his band. We have made an ice wreath, decorations, Christmas cookies, of course present shopping and listening to music of the season. Happy Holidays!!

Wonky ornaments part III

Some more ornaments made for the tree 2011. Josie made the blue one with the Christmas tree on it, and Sylvia designed the green one with the mama and baby. I attempted to make a pinecone but it looks a bit flat, I like the Dala horse a lot, and the partridge in pretty cute. They were a lot of fun to sew. :)

Windows Journal

Cute fabric, and headbands. I hope to sell these in my Etsy shop. Happy days are here again, since I was able to quit my lame job doing data entry. Yay for crafting time!!

Suede Journal w/long stitch binding

I used suede to make this journal and the long stitch method for binding. The suede is super soft, and I followed an Etsy trend by adding some original artwork to the back of the journal. OOAK :)

Journal with coptic headbands

So I finally took the plunge and tried my hand at the coptic headbands. I thought I did pretty well for my first try. It takes lots of time and concentration, but I love the look. I will definitely be adding these to more journals in the future. :)

Koi pillow project

Lately I have been obsessed with Japan. Especially the visual aspect, as in the images that originated there like the yin-yang, Koi fish, Hello Kitty etc. Anyway, I started this embroidery and have really enjoyed the calm of hand stitching. I free stitched the bubbles and used my personal sketches for the fish. I was going for a Koi look, but they must be babies because Koi are actually much longer than this. :)

Paisley fabric/criss-cross journal

I wanted to try something new with my binding and liked the idea of making exes. The size of this journal makes it perfect for its intent, a sticker album for a four year old. :)

Butterfly Journal

I made this for my niece. I hope she likes it. It turned out pretty cute. I used seven signatures of heavy drawing paper with a cool swirly paper for the first page. I was sorta sleep deprived while sewing this so its definitely got that handmade "charm" as they call it. :)

Leather journal

Made for my brother in law. Super fun to make and hold, even though it's leather and I'm a vegetarian. It was kinda creepy at times, but I got used to it. I am approaching my four year mark with no meat. I don't even think I could digest it now. Anyway, this was my first attempt at making a mans journal. I think it turned out kinda cool. :)

Masked bunny cuteness

Sooo cute!!! I made this for a birthday present from a Hillary Lang, Wee Wonderfuls pattern card. I still need to make the scarves. Made of wool felt. I love these little dudes. :D