Accordion Journal

A while ago I created this accordion journal with digital paper that I got from A Printer's Daughter shop on Etsy. I haven't shared it before now because I was procrastinating when it came to taking photos and editing them - my least favourite part of creating I must admit. By the way if you see variations in the photos it is because the sun kept going in and out behind the clouds.

This collection designed by Elizabeth Robinson is called A Stroll in the Park and I augmented it with some papers from my stash for some of the pockets and tuck spots. I also printed some vintage botanical prints and postcards from places like The Graphics Fairy and the New York Public Library digital collection to use as journaling cards. As usual I got carried away with the number of pages so rather than showing you individual photos, I have created a slideshow with a walk through of the journal.

As you can see in the photo above there are two signatures on one side and one on the other side of the accordion. In my slideshow I start at the front and flip through to the back, which takes you through the two sections and then I keep going, which takes you through the single signature on the other side.

As you can see when you watch the slideshow there are lots of pockets, tuck spots and even some double-sided covered paper clips. To hold the journal closed I made a triple bead dangle and attached it to some seam binding that I dyed with distress ink. The seam binding just wraps around the journal a couple times and is tied in a knot on the side.

This journal has lots of places to write or tuck photos and the paper collection makes it very pretty. Elizabeth has lots of other collections that are equally as lovely so do check out her shop.

Garden Diary

I am back with another project created with digital papers from my friend Elizabeth Robinson. I used collections called Brenda's Garden and The Apiarists Cottage both of which can be found in her Etsy Shop, A Printer's Daughter.

I have created a folio style garden diary, full of places to document what you planted along with growing instructions, tips, etc. This diary however, will not be used by me because I do not have a green thumb.

I have created a slideshow to give you a glimpse into all the pages of the folio.

To create the base of the folio, I cut two pieces of heavy cardstock 7"x10 1/4" and then scored one at 4 3/4" and 9 3/4" on the long side. The second one was scored at 1/2" and 5 1/2" on the long side. All the score lines were folded and burnished and then the 1/2" sections were glued together to create the spine.

Note: All surfaces were covered with the patterned paper cut 1/16" smaller on all sides and inked with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

When you first open the folio there are pages with tags. Two pockets were created to hold the tags by cutting cardstock 4 5/8"x 3 1/2" and folding the bottom half inch up. Gussets were added to the sides by folding 1" wide strips of light cardstock in half. The pockets were given a thumb notch with a circle punch. The tags themselves were hand cut and topped with some black organza ribbon.

When you open the tag pages out you will see side pockets created in the same manner as the tag pockets. The cutting measurements for these are 6 7/8"x3 1/2". The side pockets hold folded cards that are blank inside for writing.

The centre two inside pages have pockets made of faux rice paper and hold little booklets with one signature in each. The signatues are made with coffee dyed copy paper. To make the faux rice paper just crumple up tissue paper into a tight ball, open it up and repeat a few times. Lay it out on a large piece of waxed paper (put some newsprint under the waxed paper) or a silicone mat and coat with a 50/50 mixture of pva glue and cold watered down coffee or tea. Allow to dry overnight and then peel off the waxed paper. Trim any dried glue from the edges.

I decorated the front by first adding some organza ribbon to act as a closure. Next came a fancy oval frame that my husband cut on his laser machine from an old cracker box before I painted it with acrylic paint. The flowers were cut from crinoline (woven interfacing) using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and the leaves were cut with the Tim Holtz Garden Greens Thinlets die. The flowers were dyed with Wild Honey and Antique Linen Distress Ink and the leaves were dyed with Peeled Paint Distress Ink before they were shaped and allowed to dry thoroughly. Microbeads were added to the centres of the small flowers and a button was added to the centre of the large flower.

Once again Elizabeth has created some fabulous papers to work with and using them to create this folio was great fun.

Blue Birthday

I am back with another simply made little project created with papers from Elizabeth Robinson's digital collections. All the papers on this card are from the collection called Butterfly Blues, which can be found in her Etsy Shop, A Painter's Daughter.

For this card I started with a 5"x5" card blank and then added the first layer of paper, which is cut 1/16" smaller all around. The paper (and all the other panels) was distressed on the edges and then inked with Iced Spruce Distress Ink. Next came another patterned layer cut 1/4" smaller than the background panel. The last paper panel showcases the butterflies.

The sentiment was cut from a Spellbinders Label die and added with some leaves cut from a Tim Holtz die. I fussy cut two butterflies from the paper and added one on top of the other with dimensional foam before adding it to the card. Finally I made a bouquet of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I hope you will check out the wonderful digital papers that Elizabeth has created and pick up some for your creations.

Simple But Handy

I recently posted about a card I made with digital paper called Blooming Butterflies that was designed by my talented friend Elizabeth Robinson and sold in her Etsy shop A Printer's Daughter. While I still had the paper from that collection up on my screen I decided to print a few more pages and make a simple but handy notepad holder. I probably should have posted this sooner because these would make fabulous little teacher gifts but school is pretty well finished for the year depending on where you live.

By the way, you will notice that the collections are in an A4 size but do not let that deter you if you are from North America. Some commercial printers might be able to sell you some A4 paper or cardstock but if not just print on letter sized paper with the smallest possible margin (or no margin at all, if your printer allows for that) and cut them apart to fit your project.

The notepad you use will determine the size of the holder. In this case I had a few small pads from Dollarama that are 4"x5 1/2" so I cut two pieces of fairly heavy card stock 6"x4 1/4" and scored them on the long side at 3/8". The two 3/8" sections were adhered together to make a top "spine". All the surfaces both inside and outside were then covered with patterned paper from the collection. Each piece of paper was cut smaller on each side than the surface it was going on by 1/16" and each piece was inked on the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).

The next step was to make a pocket to slide the back cover of the pad into. In this case I cut a piece of card stock 4 1/8"x2 3/8" and then scored it at 3/8" on the short side. To make a pocket that is easy to slide things in and out of, I also cut side gussets 1"x2 5/8" and folded them in half on the short side. Once I folded the bottom of the pocket up and added the gusset on each side, the pocket was added to the inside back of the holder and patterned paper was added to the front of the pocket. I finished off the front by added the word NOTES, which was created on my computer.

I told you this was simple and can be customized for the types of pads you can get. Most dollar/pound shops sell packages of plain and lined pads in different sizes. I always keep a notepad next to the phone and I hope you will agree that one in a holder made with these pretty papers is more classy than a plain one.

I will be back soon with another project made from another one of Elizabeth's gorgeous paper collections.

Sympathy Card

I am finally back to show you what I have been up to and there will be a few posts over the next while because I have been busy despite seeming to be MIA.

Elizabeth Robinson, a wonderful friend of mine has added a new talent to her long list of many - creator of digital papers. Elizabeth is selling a number of lovely collection in her Etsy shop called A Printer's Daughter.

To showcase these papers I offered to create some samples for her and this is the first one I have done.

This sympathy card was made for a friend who recently lost her husband and was created with paper from the Blooming Butterflies collection. I made a 5" x 7" card base and added a layer of one of the patterned papers as a background. The edges of this paper (and every other paper element) were inked with Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

Next I fussy cut the floral corner from a different paper and added it. I printed a second sheet of the same paper and fussy cut three of the blooms. They were shapped and then mounted with foam dimensionals over the identical image on the corner to pop them up. Finally I printed the sentiment and die cut it with an oval die from Spellbinders.

This is a simple card but the pretty florals in this collection make it a special card.

I encourage you to check out Elizabeth's Etsy shop and purchase one or more of her gorgeous collections for your papercrafting or journal making.

The Magpie's Nest - An Art Book

Hey there, I know I have only posted once since the pandemic started but I have been creating lots and was just not in the mood to edit photos. I still don't feel like editing photos but I really wanted to share my most recent project.

I am sure many of you are aware that a fabulous artist and entrepreneur named Jeanne Oliver has a platform where she offers online courses from a variety of artists and in a variety of practices. I have purchased a few over the past few years and my latest one is a course by Aimee Irel Bishop called The Magpie's Nest. So often I start these courses and then set them aside intending to come back and finish them but sadly I have a bad habit of getting excited by something new and the unfinished projects pile up. Sound familiar? Well I was a good girl and actually worked on Aimee's course from start to finish. Naturally I got carried away and created more pages than I probably should have so it took a while but it is done now.

I took the photos yesterday and did some minor editing on each one but there were way too many to put in a post so I created a slideshow (easy and free with Windows Video Editor). There is a lot of mark making on a variety of papers and fabric. I have dyed some of the papers and fabrics and added embellishments that I have created with ink, paint, stitching and so on.

I hope you enjoy my fun art book. I plan to be back soon with some more of my pandemic art.