More Prizes, More Christmas Joy...

Time to add more prizes to the mix. In addition to the little vintage booklet shown in Sunday's post, I'm also adding one of the Christmas journals shown above. The giveaway journal is the red cover one. Both are made using the methods in Mary Ann Moss' Remains of the Day online class. However, both journals are a smaller version- they measure about 5" x 7", closed. The red journal has one signature made from 9 folded pages inside, so that yields 36 actual pages on which to write or add photos and memorabilia. And if you like making journals yourself, there is room to add another signature of your own creation. Some of the inside pages from the red book are shown below.

These journals are so much fun to make. They provide a home for all the bits and pieces of paper, images, embellishments, and whatnots I can't bear to part with, but never knew what use to make of them! Take for instance the kitty in the Christmas stocking above. So cute, she can't be tossed. And the angel tag I received in a swap with another paper afficionado... it found a comfy spot in the pocket stitched from a Panera Bread gift card holder.

The inside pages are in no particular order. In fact this pretty church image, above, is the last page of the red book. It reminds me of a small New England village at Christmastime.

Remember, there are two chances to win one of the prizes: 1) just leave a comment on this post, and I'll write your name on a slip of paper to be placed in a bowl for drawing. And 2) go back to visit the Sunday post and leave a comment there telling me your favorite of the little books. Be sure I'm able to contact you easily through your own blog, or provide an e-mail address in your comment so I can let you know if your name is drawn. A couple of people mentioned that they had trouble leaving a comment, so alternatively, you can click on my profile in the sidebar (where it says "More About Quiltnan" and "view my complete profile"), and it will show my e-mail address. Just e-mail your comment to me and I'll add your name. I'll draw four winners and announce them on Wednesday, next week.

These Christmas tags are an insert from an old 1980s-era Women's Day magazine. I noticed a lot of cigarette ads aimed at women when going through the old issues. I'd forgotten about those ads that made smoking seem so glamorous and womanly.

This image is from a advertising flyer and is faced by a security envelope page.

The centerfold- it's also from that 1980s magazine. Imagine if this image had gone to the landfill! It needed to be preserved, don't you think?

Even Lulu the cat found her way into the journal. Her photo was attached to a swap packet of journal items I recieved from the Remains of the Day Yahoo group. Lulu had chewed the corner of the packet and sent her note of apology with her photo. Isn't she pretty?

This is the back view of the journals. Some crazy piecing, braided ribbon and fabrics for the tie, ball fringe... anything goes when sewing these journal covers! And look below for a current magazine and a Christmas book I'll give away, as well.

I love all of the Stampington & Company publications. This Somerset Studio Gallery is the current winter 2012 issue. It's packed with mixed media projects and ideas. Pleasurable reading.

Here is this year's Christmas From the Heart book from Better Homes & Gardens. It's full of fun projects and tasty-looking recipes. I'd love for you to have one of these prizes.. just leave a comment. Merry Christmas!

An Open Book...

At last! I have completed the Remains of the Day journal. The cover was shown in a previous post. I may be slow and plodding, but projects eventually do get done. After enrolling in the class offered by Mary Ann Moss, I made the cover and began saving and sorting all sorts of paper and images for use in this journal. Then it was time to compose pages, sewing bits and pieces in place in a pleasing way. Business cards, food photos, magazine covers, advertising brochures, patterned paper, envelopes, paper bags, fabric strips... all of it found its way into the journal.

There are two signatures (groups of pages) in this journal, and each one contains 8 folded pages for a total of 32 pages in the book. I even sewed enough pages to have a pretty good start on my next journal.

There is always more to a subject than first meets the eye, and I've enjoyed learning about book making. There's an entire vocabulary to master... words like "signature" and "spread" (the two pages you see when a book is open). Even the left and right pages of a spread have a term. In the photo below, the green heart is on the recto, or right-hand page, while the yellow arrow is on the verso, or left-hand page. I don't know if I'll remember the terms, but I hope to craft more handmade books, so they might just stick with me.

I've also borrowed several library books on the subject of handmade books. It's fascinating how many methods and styles there are, some of them quite simple to accomplish. "Making Handmade Books" by Alisa Golden is one title that has useful information and clear instructions.

The next questions to answer are: Will I be courageous enough to write in my journal? Will I have anything to say? Even if it remains blank, it's been great fun to create!

Stitching Up Fabric and Paper Scraps...

All this stitching on paper I've been doing lately prompted me to go ahead and sign up for the "Remains of the Day" online class with Mary Ann Moss. I've seen fascinating photos and videos of the shabby scrap journals she and her students have made. After watching, looking, and watching some more... I took the plunge. Mary Ann's step-by-step videos are thorough and inspiring, and I studied the first few for some time. Once I'd digested the info, I got started and made the cover for my journal. Here's how it looks when closed, above. It's got a bit of everything in it... splashy cotton print, bridal lace, netting, sheer curtain fabric, decorator fabric, and rick-rack.

And here it is lying open and flat. You can see that it is indeed both scrappy and shabby. After pulling together those bits and pieces of fabrics and trims that I liked, I just stitched away. I'm quite happy with the result. The project really makes use of "found" items. The long wrap tie is made from an unused fabric belt that came with a piece of clothing. I stitched pieces of ribbon, trim, and fabric selvages to it. The bit of Crabtree & Evelyn ribbon came from an old, old gift package found in a collection of vintage trims. It's been lurking in my sewing room just waiting for a home. Now, happily, it has one!

The next step is to prepare the signatures (a signature is several sheets of paper, folded into pages, that form one section of the book). These, too, will be found papers for the most part. I can tell you this. Once you take this class, you will not look at junk mail in the same way again. All of it becomes grist for the mill. Here are just a couple of examples. The strips of images from a magazine, seen at the bottom of the photo, will get stiched along the side of several pages. The red envelope provides a windowed section which will become a stitched see-through pocket. Plus I punched some circles from the same envelope and from a piece of a map. The circles can be stitched in place on one or more pages. And even the pieces the circles were punched from will add interest somewhere. The first signature, which will be about 8 or 9 folded and stitched sheets(so 16 or 18 pages) is underway. Paper is piling up in the sewing room. I'm rather slow at this, so may not have much to show on the project for awhile. But I will keep you posted on the progress!

If you are like me, and cannot get enough of looking at these journals, you can see a number of them on YouTube. Also the April 2011 issue of Somerset Memories has an online extra showing pages from the journals published in an article in the magazine. Happy browsing!