Agenda Book

Do you have your secret agent Agenda Book?  Bet you don't.  There are some openings in my class at Stampaway in August in Cincinnati if you are on the fence.  Still lots of good classes at the convention in fact.

I keep coming up with more and more ideas for this little book, and it is not as hard to make as it looks.

Registration at Stampaway USA.

 

 

 

Countdown to August

It's still May, but August is only a little over two months away.  Around here, August means Stampaway in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I mention it every year, and I have missed going only a couple of years.  One year, I even went with a broken wrist and took the classes I had signed up for.

After an absence from teaching for many years, I am once again teaching a class this year.  The Agenda Book is one of my favorites, and I have so many ideas for themes for it.  So, if you are looking for a fun book class, it will be on Thursday, August 7th.

The only down side is that Gaye and I have always helped out in each other's classes. This year, however, her Metal ATC class is the same time as my book class. Bummer... but we will get by.  Both are great classes if I do say so my own self!

More Stampaway info is here:  StampawayUSA

Giveaway

Okay, technically, I myself am not having a giveaway.  But if you are interested in winning a free class (or more than one), there is a blog party this week, and several instructors at Creative Workshops are giving away online classes.  I see several classes that I would love to win.

Anyway, my friend Gaye is giving away a free class for "Takin' Care of Business".  That's the class I mentioned a few months ago. The book has a segmented binding, and it is designed to hold a multitude of business cards - or it can be used for moo cards or ATCs.  Remember this (these are Gaye's books):

I love the book I made.  I constantly pick it up and look at all the cards inside.  Just a heads up too -- since this is fall festival time, if you are headed out to arts and crafts fairs, make sure to pick up some business cards.  Artists have the most colorful business cards!

So head on over to Creative Workshops here.  There is a whole list of links to instructors and their blog giveaways.  For Gaye's class, look just above the link of instructors and there is a link to her class.  Leave a comment on the Creative Workshops blog to win.  Then check out all the other fabulous instructors!! Winners are announced next week, so hurry.

Lazy Summer

Happy August!  I am in a lazy, hazy, summer frame of mind.  Honestly, if I didn't have to work, I might just stay in bed and read all day.

On days when it's too hot to move too much, it's fun to use the scribble tool found here, where I practice making shapes and words like this:

And after that, I ponder what it would be like to wear a dress made of book pages. 

See the book dress here.  What fun!

Piddling and Playing

Playing around with stitches.  Because that's what makes me happy.

I'm hoping that you will be so impressed that you won't notice the glue smears on the black bookcloth, or the split threads where I stabbed in the wrong spot!

I'm going to be in so much trouble with the teacher... that would be Miss Moss, over at Dispatch from L.A. -- I have signed up for her "Ticket to Venice" class and have idle hands until the class starts in December.  Check it out for yourself - it's going to be an awesome ride...
   (Ticket to Venice here.)

Making Books

I see I am getting behind on posting again - rest assured when I realized that, I made myself sit in the corner for an hour.  (Never mind that the "corner" contained a comfy reading chair and a cold beverage.)  No good excuse for not posting, just doing stuff and trying to stay cool.

Last week, I made another fun quick trip up the road to friend Gaye's to make books.  It was a dual purpose bookbinding session.  She is teaching at Stampaway in Cincinnati in August, and my job was to help work out the kinks in her class instructions.  I loved making my own "Takin' Care of Business" book.  It's meant as a place to put all those business cards you accumulate over time.  Of course, you can also use the book for ATCs or moo cards, or even photos.  Here are Gaye's samples:

 This is the book I made.  We decided the covers need a big old button to look awesome.

After I got home, it was a few days before I started putting cards and postcards in my book.  It was way harder than I expected.  For one thing, lots of cards have information on both sides, so those need to be hinged with tape.  Some card were postcards and needed accomodation by folding or other tricky means.  Then there is the whole problem of whether to group by color or by type of business, etc.  Frankly, though, I've had a lot of these cards for a long time, and I'm sure the contact information on them is out of date.  But that's not why I kept them anyway. 

I like how it's turning out.  I still have lots to add and pages to fill.  I think there are still openings in Gaye's class, if you are going to Stampaway (her classes are on Friday - info here). 

I've also been playing in a bird sketchbook - I'll share that later...

Number Three

It's been too hot to really go out and do anything, so this weekend I've tried to catch up on some UFOs (unfinished objects).  One of them is to make another postal book, because Gaye made one a few months ago and I wanted to make one too.  I made the cover weeks ago, but finally got some pages sewn in.  It started out with a mailing box - here's before and after.

Various patterns from security envelopes were used on the covers (and I managed to use a lot of my new tapes from Target too).  I used half of an airmail envelope to make a pocket in the back, and inserted a library card. 

The library card has a place for title.  Hmm.  After careful introspection and thoughtful consideration (of about 5 seconds, because I'm nothing if not Thoughtful), I brilliantly proclaimed the title of the book to be Postal Book 3.

And I put a big old 3 on the back cover.

It now joins books 1 and 2. 

And then I had ice cream.

Learning Physics

If you wanted to, you could learn "simple" physics for one dollar.

I mean, who doesn't want to know more about molecules, magnetic fields, and the Brownian Movement. I do question the term "simple physics".  And the self-taught part - is that possible, to teach yourself physics?

 On the other hand, you can cut off the covers and make your own journal for the new year.  I used scraps of scrapbook paper for signature wrappers and painted Tyvek for tapes.

I used white Canson paper for the pages, because I have a lot of it. I wasn't sure if I would like it for mixed media, so I made a sample sheet using a lot of different paints and tools. I was pleased.

And the physics pages I removed have a section on color theory!  Really?  I might like to study physics after all.

Happy New Year

The new year is going great so far!  Seems like only yesterday it was 2011.  Oh, wait.... it was.

The first day of the year is warm for this time of year, but very windy.  The sun peeked through the clouds early this morning.

Looking back on last year, well, I'm too lazy to re-cap at length.  But if doing things that make you happy are a sign of success, then last year was a success for me.  I learn more and more how much I love making books.  Here is what last year looks like (in my eyes). 

(I have already learned something new this year - how to make a photo mosaic!  Yay, me!)

Happy new year to all!  Wishing you all much success and happiness in the new year.  Thank you so much for visiting me here.