A FUN LITTLE JOURNAL

A FUN LITTLE JOURNAL

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Hello my crafty friends J

I’ve been really busy of late, making lots of journals among other goodies, (jewellery, cards, booklets, gift tags and more).  I’ve been trying to build up my stock, so that I have enough for a craft fair. 

Pete, (my husband) has built a staging unit, which I think will work well.  He’s a clever old stick!!!

 

I thought I would share the process, of one of the smaller journals, with you guys.

I started as per usual with some recycled card (possibly from a wine crate???!!!), you might see a theme develop if you follow my blog ;)

 

I covered this with some funky handmade paper that I acquired in Hobbycraft.

 

 

And then backed it with some matching papers from my stash.

 

I made a little pocket, which I added to the inside of the front cover.

 

 

I added some lace and bling detail to the front of my little journal.

 

 

I used 120gsm paper for the pages.  I have kept to just plain white simple pages in this book.  Then grabbed my Cinch (which I love by the way!)  But you could bind these pages with book rings, which would be very inexpensive, and just as effective.

 

And voila, here is the finished journal.  Hope you enjoyed.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Ta ta for now

Love Jane J xxx

COMPOST CORNER

COMPOST CORNER

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Hello my crafty friends J

 

I am, what you would describe as, a fair weather gardener!

I love being in the garden, getting down and dirty, but only when the sun shines ;)

 

The sun has been shining sooooooo...

I have been getting down and dirty!!!

 

 

The first job that always needs attending to in my garden is, turning the compost heap, and although there is much grunting, huffing and puffing, I actually really enjoy this process.

 

I find compost most fascinating.  The fact that you put your green garden waste/vegetable kitchen waste (I also add shredded paper waste) in, and months later it is magically turned into this wonderfully smelling soil, full of goodness.  One of nature’s little miracles ... AMAZING!!!  Gotta love the worms (I’m a big fan of worms)

 

 

And so it would seem was this cheeky little Robin, who accompanied me on my compost mission.  He didn’t seem the least bit phased by my presence. 

So now that this job is done I can begin the mahoosive task of weeding my garden. 

Now I know that proper gardeners do not like to put weeds and their seed heads into the compost heap, but I have always done this, and it has not caused me any problems, so I will continue on my path of weed destruction, regardless.

 

 

 

Must dash ... the sun is shining :)... weeds to grapple with!!!

Thank you for visiting my blog

Ta ta for now

Love Jane J x

Handmade Fabric Brooches

Handmade Fabric Brooches

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Hello my crafty friends J

 

I’ve been on a sewing bender this month!

 

I am trying to build up my stash for a craft fair.  I haven’t actually signed up for a craft fair yet, but I am trying to make as much as I can in preparation for one.

 

I took all of my scraps from recent projects, which included some vintage fabrics, denim (of course) and some cottons.  

I stitched them together using a tight zig zag stitch on my sewing machine; and finished them off with a felt backing. 

Then cracked out my bead boxes (love my bead boxes!), and embellished the heck out of them.

 

 

I added a brooch pin to the back, and hey presto!

 

 

 Thank you for visiting my blog

Ta ta for now

Love Jane J x

FINISHING UP MY UFOs

Finishing up my UFOs

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Hello my crafty friends J

 

I don’t know where this month has gone; it seems to have flown by!  Hope you are all keeping warm in this chilly weather.

What has been keeping me busy, well, I decided (whilst having a tidy up in my craft room), that it was about time I finished off some of my UFOs (unfinished objects)

I started a scarf about eighteen months ago...it was supposed to be a Christmas present for someone last year (Christmas 2013), but I ran out of time to get it finished (seems to be a theme with me).  So it has been in my UFO draw ever since.

I had bought myself some wool from the pound shop (three balls for the price of 2 ... bargain ... you know me!)

 

 

I wanted to keep the colours quite muted, and unisex, as I hadn’t decided who the recipient was yet. 

Anyway I got the crochet bug again, and off I went.

 

 

By the time the scarf was finished I decided (as Christmas is now long gone) that I would keep the scarf for myself.  And, just because ... I decided to crochet a hat to match.

 

 

 

I did start off by following a pattern (one that I found on Youtube), but I soon went off piste and free styled it.  Translated that means, I went wrong, so made it up as I went along.

 

 

I got Molly to model the set for you as she is much nicer to look at than me.  (She is also sporting a little skirt that I made out of some old curtains) It is only my second item of clothing that I have ever sewn.  It feels exciting to think that I am capable of making my own clothes now.  It was a very simple skirt, and again, I just made it up as I went along (not good at following patterns ;)

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

Ta ta for now

Love Jane J x

VERY LATE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS CONTINUED

VERY LATE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS CONTINUED

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Hello my crafty friends J 

So, as promised in my last blog post, I’m back with the finished journals.

To continue where I left off... 

I stamped, embossed, inked and stitched onto a couple of scraps of the papers that I had used in the journals.  These became the book titles, which I then mounted onto a small piece of the burlap.

 

 

 

 

 

I then cut a piece of cardboard for the spine.

 

 

And glued the burlap spine piece to the covers and spine of the journal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dug out stamps pertinent to each journal, and stamped on all of the pages, just to add a little interest.

 

 

  

I added a closure.

 

 

 

And then tidied up the inside of the covers with pretty paper.

 

 

Added a bookmark to each journal.

 

Stitched in the signatures with matching ribbon.  Making sure to glue the knots (this stops the ribbon from coming undone – double faced satin ribbon wants to come undone if left to its own devices).

 

 

And there you have it.  Two very late Christmas presents DONE!!! 

 

      

I have a little show and tell video on my youtube channel showing the finished journals in a little more detail, which I have included down below for you guys.

 

Ta ta for now

Love Jane J x