My Etsy Shop

May 17, 2008

my house...

Houseoutside

is actually a journal...

Houseopen
I couldn't resist using this fabric to make a house shaped journal and since I've been playing around with the tri fold design it seemed like a good pairing.

And I bought a few pieces of this very fun paper that has a floor plan sketch on it. 

Houseinside2

And on the other side:
Houseinside1
some more blank pages and 6 envelope pockets.


May 16, 2008

what a week!

It has been one of those weeks filled with errands and appointments and everything but studio time.    I've managed to grab a few minutes here and there which probably explains the current chaotic state of my worktable:
Img_8956
What a mess!  I am hoping to work through some of the in progress projects that are on there today.

One of the brightest spots this week was mail from Terri.   I couldn't resist snapping up one of her latest art quilts last week when I saw it added to her shop:

Collage1
It's absolutely gorgeous in person and I love it.  The color combination is  fabulous and the stitching which you can't really see in this photo is awesome.  I just love it.    She's got a couple more in her shop so pop over there and take a look.

And in the land of Fibre&Stitch we've just put the finishing touches on issue 4 of which publishes on May 28th. 

Cover4withdate

Click here to see the table of contents and take a peek at what's inside.  It's a great issue and you'll be  amazed at how many projects and techniques we've packed into it.  There's enough in this issue to keep you busy all summer!

Now I'm off to see if I can bring some order to that chaos on my worktable, have a great weekend!

May 12, 2008

The winners and a new journal style

Well with 61 comments I decided to give away 3 notebooks so without further delay the winners of the notebooks chosen by the random number generator are...

Lise of http://lise2007.blogspot.com/

Ruth of http://ruthsfiberphotos.blogspot.com/

Cindy of http://crftyscrapper.wordpress.com/

Congratulations you three!  Please email me at suebleiweiss@yahoo.com with your mailing address and which notebook you'd like and I'll pop it right in the mail to you.  Thanks to everyone who commented and played along!

I worked on a new journal style this past weekend - the tri-fold:

Outside
I used a gorgeous textured silk for one side that I got at Joggles.  Lovely fabric to work with, I'm going to have to get myself some more!

And opened:
Standing2
On one side 2 single signatures and on the other:
Envelolpesig
A signature made with envelopes: 4 small ones and 4 large ones.  And I couldn't resist filling the envelopes with some note cards:
Cards
Lots of variations can be made with this style journal and I'll be working on several over the course of this week so stay tuned for more photos!

May 09, 2008

Notebooks & it's time for a giveaway!

I've been playing with the bind-it-all machine for the last few days.  I love this little binding machine!  It works so well.  I started with these large 8"x8" notebooks:

4books
Had a blast making these up.  I used some recycled wall paper samples for the covers.  It was a vinyl wallpaper so it makes a nice sturdy smooth cover.  I put these large ones in the shop here.

Then I thought it would be fun to make up some smaller ones so I put together these 6"x6" ones:
3books

And then I found that I couldn't stop so I made up these 5"x7" ones:
2books
All of these notebooks have 60+ pages in them along with some coordinating colored card stock pages.  Of course there are some pockets and I threw in some journaling tags too.  I thought it would be fun to give a couple of these away so if you're interested in having one of the 6" square or the 5"x7" ones leave me a comment on this post between now and Sunday.  I'll draw a random name from all the comments on Monday morning.    How many am I going to give away?  Well it depends on how many comments I get!

 

In the meantime, it's nose to the grindstone for me now as I start working on the new Journal Making II class that I'm hoping to have done for the fall.  I've spent the last couple of weeks making note and sketches and I'm ready to start testing some new ideas!

May 06, 2008

just puttering about...

I haven't done too much in the studio this week other than some straightening up and organizing.  I recently got my hands on a couple of discontinued wallpaper sample books and this morning decided to use them to make up some new notebooks using my Bind-it-all machine.  I have decided I love working with these wallpaper sample sheets.  They've got nice texture and they're sturdy enough for stitching with.  I've got lots of ideas for these!

Cover
inside is filled with some blank white paper and some colored cardstock along with some envelope pockets:
Insidefront

Envelop

and the back has a little pocket with a mini notebook tucked inside:
Backinside
I'm keeping this one for myself but I did prep a couple more sets of covers to make some more:
Covers
I"ll have those done in a day or two and hopefully into the shop by Friday.  I also managed to get some paper bags painted up and distressed for another project that I have in mind:
Paperbags
Some great color variations in these papers.

The Mixed Media Surfaces for the Fiber Artist class officially starts today.  There's plenty of room if you're interested in joining the class.  All the registration information is on my website here.

It's a beautiful sunny warm day here so I'm heading out to enjoy it, have a great day!

May 02, 2008

Building a prototype

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had a stack of sketches and notes for some new journal designs.  I've been working my way through them slowly picking and choosing different elements to work on.  Whenever I create a brand new design I usually like to build a sample or prototype first just to work out the measurements and the assembly order.  Sometimes what looks good on paper or make sense in the sketchbook doesn't always translate well into reality. 

This new journal:
Outside1
looks a lot like the others that I've done in the past but the inside has something a little different.  I've been trying to come up with a way to store pencils and pens right in the journal utilizing something other than a pocket:

Inside1
So this one has a pencil box built right in:
Inside3

Not sure if I like the ring system for the pages or not.  I'm working on a few other ideas for that too.  This design needs a bit more work but as prototypes go, this one is headed in the right direction I think.

Have a great weekend!

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