Photo Album: Handmade Books

This post is all about books!  Specifically, photos of my recent handmade books.  Because let's face it, I am making these suckers faster than I can blog about them all!  Many of these are blank journals.  Others are made using interesting recycled materials.  And there are a few art books thrown in there for good measure.  Enjoy!

Mini journal with ribbon closure.

Mini journal and regular journal both with ribbon closures.

Astronomy Alphabet book.

Astronomy Alphabet book, detail: Milky Way.

Journal with bird paper and brown book cloth.

Expandable spine, Octopus book.

A collection of journals, roughly 5x7 inches each.

Recycled tea box books.

Recycled tea box book.

Robot journal with cork book cloth.

A stack of journals, roughly 5x7 inches each.

Aurora Borealis art book, front.

Aurora Borealis art book, back.

Wool-Eater Progress

I haven't posted about my Wool-Eater blanket in quite a while, but I am still steadily crocheting away!  I have added six or seven colors since my last update.  That is about an extra foot in width and length.  The blanket is getting big, but still not big enough to wrap up in during the winter.  I would say at least 5 more colors...  But who knows how long that is going to take at this point.  Luckily, I have a window A/C unit this summer so it is still comfortable to crochet when the air is blowing right at me.

Glass Suncatcher

Last month I spent an afternoon glass blowing with a friend.  The glass blowing studio near my house regularly offers Groupons for making a suncatcher.  It was a lot of fun!  We got to collect glass out of the furnace onto the pole, roll it on the table to shape it, add in colored glass, and twist it into a suncatcher.

I think mine came out very well.  I used blue, green, and yellow glass to add the colors.  The very tip of the spiral broke off in the kiln while it was cooling... But that adds character, right?

I added a yellow ribbon through the hole in the top and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day.  It is now hanging in her kitchen window where it gets lots of sunlight.

Toms Rescue

A couple weeks ago I staged an intervention for my old pair of black Toms.  My toes had worn through at least 2 places on each shoe, and I really wasn't digging that homeless look.  Luckily, I had seen a great tutorial on covering up those holes and giving the shoes a new look.

First I took needle and thread and sewed together the holes.  I figure that will reinforce those spots well enough to wear the shoes at least another summer, if not another year.  Then I covered the front with Aleene's double sided fabric tape and stuck on some funky fabric.  The tape is durable, permanent, and doesn't need to be ironed or sewn, so I was basically done.

Some fabric trimming and a couple pieces of decorative trim later, and I was done!  Look at my pretty new Toms.  I've gotten several compliments on them while out and about.  And I LOVE when people ask "Did you make those?"

Monday Project: Astronomy H-I-J

Last Monday I was dealing with day one of a cold... So my "project" for the day was laying on my couch, napping, and drinking tea.  My whole to-do list of projects, laundry, and writing blog posts went out the window (and got put off another week.)  This week on my day off I made the pages for H, I, and J in my Astronomy alphabet book.  H is for Halley's Comet.  I is for the International Space Station.  J is for Jupiter.

Sneak Preview: Astronomy Book

I couldn't wait to share with everyone the book I'm working on.  It is an alphabet book based on Astronomy.  I am using acrylic paint, fine tipped markers, and embossing powder on navy blue cardstock...  And pure AWESOMENESS.

So far I have made 6 out of 24 panels.  Aurora Borealis, Cassiopeia, Draco, Eagle Nebula, Flame Nebula, and Gemini.

I am planning on entering the completed book into a show at Zygote Press in May.

Mission Organization

This weekend my mission was to organize the heck out of my living room.  All of my paper crafting supplies were a mess, mostly because nothing had a place to go.  If nothing has a "spot" then nothing can get put away!  The first step to organizing the living room was hanging all my artwork.  Instead of being displayed, all my paintings and framed pieces were leaning against the wall in a stack and taking up valuable space.

My next step was to get some stacked drawers so paper and supplies could have a home.  It just so happens that my neighbors in the other half of the house were getting rid of a rolling box with wide drawers.  It got a little banged up when they moved, and he just couldn't use it anymore.  These drawers are the perfect size for what I need, and with the placement next to the table you can't even see the damaged parts.

The last step was to make a standing rack for my large decorative papers.  My idea was to create something like the paper stores have.  Basically, wooden dowels maybe an inch in diameter that connect two upright pieces, sort of like a wide ladder.  I went into Home Depot with a drawing of what I intended to make and showed it to one of the helpful people in orange aprons.  She thought it looked exactly like a porch railing turned sideways.  They don't have the wooden railings like that anymore, but she showed me a metal one that is 4 feet long with bars about 36 inches across.  It was perfect!  Then she helped me find something to stabilize the base.  I ended up with 4 shelf brackets that could be screwed onto the base.  And the best part is, they assembled it for me at Home Depot because I don't have a power drill at home!  I am thrilled with my new paper display and my nice clean work area.