Scraps Of Time

altered composition books: peeks at a special order i'm working on

well, i was suppose to post what i've been working on in my last post, and failed to do so. the photos came out too dark and i decided to try later, well, this is later, a few days later, geesh.a lady named holly wanted 2 composition books for journaling each of her babies. now, i've never altered a composition book before, i thought i might need to cut the papers off the binding and use my zutter, but, it worked out great without re-binding-yea! they are actually really tough little books and as we know, perfect for journaling. i have placed a black shape over the children's photos, for privacy, that was tough, because they are so cute! anyway here are some pics:

        

         

         

the little girls journal isn't quite done, i still have to put the final touches on it ie...

tabs, tags, lace and ink the pages.

          

          

          

i need to get busy and finish these up so this ohsopatient lady can have them at her door step this week! i will be working on another journal, some st. patrick's and easter things this week.

yippee for the coming of spring! we have had sun all this week! so very beautiful, cold, but beautiful! we're nestled between two  mountain ranges and it is breathtaking in the winter when the sun comes out and glistens on the jagged snow capped peaks, backed by crystal clear blue skies. plus, with the evergreens standing tall in the full moon light, and all the constellations covering the dark, black sky, we were able to get a fabulous view of the earth's shadow covering the moon this week! so, even if we go back to a week or two, or three of heavy rain laden clouds and cold, this week has shown us the promise of spring to come.

i better get to work, thanks for stopping by and for all of your wonderful emails! you guys inspire me! good night, sleep well! -rebecca

disneyland, dede, frisco and redwoods

so, we've been back a couple of weeks now and we all wish to go back! before i show the trip, i would like to thank all of you who have ordered kits, adornments, and other goodies from here, and my etsy shop! the pirates altered book is still a work in-progress, geesh! and i got these great papers from creative imaginations at my lss lasting memories , i love those scrappin' cams they have! check em out on the right hand sidebar, i wave to my dh or girls when i'm shoppin", so funny! so weird, waving at the camera from behind the paper rounds! lol! but with these papers, i have been inspired to create a love album, purhaps, titled "love's passion"

                                                                                          

i also just had to make some of these for the etsy shop.  i call them "rosies"

                                 

so fun to put together and look great on packages, pages, albums, collages, et cetera.

well, on with the trip, which, if not for dede, whom i meant a couple of years ago, on the internet when she requested that i make this special book to hold ephemera and wonderful photos of her beloved grandparents. it was the first special order altered book album i had made and it took me a long time to complete, but she was patient.

dede is vivacious, spontaneous, gregarious, thoughtful, fun and so much more! after yakking on the phone and over the internet, we've developed a comfortable, "we've known each other before" friendship, and it was so wonderful to finally meet "in person"! she was exactly as she talks, unpretentious, funny, upbeat. i finally got to meet some of her family, her dh and son, fleetingly, (thanks you guys for sharing dede with us, i know you kinda had to fend for yourselves while we were visiting.) her daughter jamie, (thank you so much for everything, jamie!) and deed's little sidekick, ethyn (a little man sweetheart) who got to come on the second day through disneyland and on the fourth day they both took in the sun, surf and night time candy shop raid (i think steve spent $60.00 there) at laguna beach. it was an unforgettable trip. dede had so much to share about the making of disneyland, the history of walt disney and how to get through all the rides, she was a great tour guide! if it weren't for her we never would have seen even half of what we did! THANK YOU DEDE!

on the way home we came up the coast hiway 101 through san francisco, and the redwood forest. gorgeous!

i am planning on making a "page" with photos of this trip. a page is something fairly new on typepad, so i thought i would experiment with it.

we need to take a "trip" to the library right now so i will work on the photos upon my return.

thanks again everyone! have a great summer morning/day/evening or night! -rebecca

manila envelope journal/album

well, i had to share this idea with you for all of your summer trips or events. i love it! after meg's graduation, she had all this memorabilia that she wanted to keep, but it wouldn't fit into a regular album and in a box, things tend to get messy so i decided to put this together. it is a variation of this type of album except instead of making the folders with acid free papers, i used the store bought 9" X 12" manila envelopes. i don't think they are acid free, but the photos are copies so what the heck.

   

don't we always get more than 1 copy of the programs when we go to these events don't we? geesh! well, i'm glad now, i used one from her graduation ceremony as the artwork for this album and made pockets for photos and papers from it also. i also used some of her received cards as pockets. the pockets that are created(opening from the sides) from folding the envelopes hold all that stuff wonderfully! now, it is all in one spot and easy to look at!

here is the travel journal i have started for the trip to disneyland, very simple to follow- i have used 4- 9" X 12" manila envelopes, folded them in half, created 2 more folds-  3/8" on each side of the center fold if you use a bone folding tool or wooden popsicle stick to crease the fold, it will hold the fold much neater. stack them flat on the desk top and punched holes for your binding (i used those annoying office binding thingys that are hanging around in our drawers, getting in my way and actually cutting me!) i put some lightweight cardboard inside the front envelope, on each side of the fold so the front covers would be more sturdy. the cardboard measured about 5-3/8" X 8-3/4" each. i covered the sticky part of the envelope closure with paper. the manila folders we have hanging around here have the metal clasp, one of these clasps broke off after a couple of times use, so i used a ribbon through the closure holes and it worked fine, but with this type of a journal, just a metal clip would do too. i can't wait to collect all those ticket stubs, camping receipts and other goodies now! bring 'em on! i'll post what this journal looks like upon our return.

we took a vote, i lost, hurrah for democracy ;( we are going as scheduled, using our old van, as opposed to our new truck. the desert and canyon- grand canyon- are out- i wouldn't think that this van would be comfortable through the desert - yikes, what if we overheated- 116 degrees? no thanks! we'll have to make that on another trip.

bye for now! -rebecca

~*100*~ blog post WINNER?

okay, okay, we have waited long enough! a new winner will be drawn!

the winner must have been passing through blogs and entered without leaving me an accurate address! geesh! she has not responded to the post so, we will be drawing a new name from the names already entered- yeah, another chance! i still have the names in the basket, so we will give it a shake and draw again! my advice: if the address you left is not valid, return to see if you are the winner!

anyway, we will have the 2nd. drawing on saturday and i will post the new winner around 7pm. woohoo! lets try again! lol.

thank you to all who have been keeping me busy filling orders! i am also in the midst of creating a 4th of july kit to send to the scrapbook oasis in southern california and i have finally started the "pirate" altered book album that has been in my mind for months! yippee, i love making these albums! aarrrg matey hare she be- sneak peek -

                                             

alright, gotta run to the scrap store, remember, i will post the new winner on saturday evening. good luck! -rebecca

spring has sprung!

                              

how did that happen so fast? all of a sudden, one night last week, the frogs croaked. the sound came from the little creek down the road, it was dark. that is how i know spring is close. then the smells, light and sweet late at night and early mornings. yeah!

the official first day of spring we had snow flakes, big soft flakes, for about half an hour, then rain, finally sun. yes, spring is here. the great northwest doesn't give into the season gently, it sputters and spits and then, eventually, eases out and lets all of us breathe a sigh of relief and don our t-shirts and shorts. not quite yet, but soon.

how is everyone? huh? i can't hear you! i hope fine, i know it's hard coming out of hibernation, facing the sunshine, blink, blink. except for those of you already in the sunshine, i cannot imagine living with sun always, well, i can imagine it if i lived in hawaii - love that tropical weather! green lush always warm, sweet air. ahhhh. anyway, i have been working hard on jens pregnancy book, geesh, am i still working on this? it is done, it is big. have a look for yourselves:

                      

this is big, 3" thick, those of you who have a book that i have made realize that each page is heavy, thick, what is the right word? each of the 28 pages are 1/6" thick. i think sean might have to carry it around for jen, it may be too heavy for her, with only 2 months to go! lol. now on with the nursery walls! and an easter album kit, i hope! 

thanks everyone for taking the time to visit my etsy shop, hey, jessie has opened her etsy too! the storefront is there but her items are still in the process of being gathered and assembled. her shop is called TheSecretGarden

she spent all saturday night and until 4 sunday morning getting it set up, she is anxious to start listing her little pieces of art,(which are adorable!) but, homework does have priority, and 4 o'clock in the morning is too late to stay up, jess! geesh! 16 years old, who's the mother here?

well, it is close to 4am now, my bedtime, lol. are you still up paula? get to bed! good night all, i will be working on some kind of kit for the blog and maybe some tags for etsy? hummm. that is, after working on the nursery. wow, 2 more months and our lives will be changed forever, once again. lovin' it!

good night, all my dedicated bloggers! thanks to you who have partaken of my offered goodies, something new is in the air - it's spring!

altered calendar notebook

well, here are some photos of the pregnancy album i am working on for jenny:

      

i bought this calendar book new at 1/2 price books, stretched the spiral binding, removed the pages, covered each page with mind's eye- signature suite papers. making "pocket" pages, "note" pages and "calendar" pages for each of the 9 months, then adding tags and booklets with pertinent info such as: finding out - how, where, when, who, cravings and aversions, baby names, felt the baby move, dreams. nursery, etc. geesh, i will give it to her tonight, only finished through december, so she can start filling it with all of those "firsts".

hopefully, now, i will be able to get 1 or 2 christmas albums completed to post on ebay within the next week!  did everyone find a copy of somerset studio gallery magazine today? woohoo! did they do a great job or what? so exciting!

enjoy your week end! -rebecca

broken spines - yikes!

today, as promised, i would like to share the technique i use to repair the spines  on my broken altered books. i have a tendency to over embellish my pages and end up with the signatures separating from eachother                                         - yikes! when this happens, some of the pages seem to tear down the center also, so, this is the remedy that i found works for me:

in this photo you can see the spine of the book is still attached to the front and back covers (binding); since that spine is not wide enough to hold the bound signatures, you need to cut that part off - carefully. you will need to decide what type of binding you will attach to the book when you are done, but for now, just cut it off as close to the front and back boards as possible with an exacto knife. now you have at least 2 separate text blocks - right?

so now, carefully look through the pages and see if any of them are splitting down the center. if they are, i use Lineco's Gummed Quick Bind Tape , that i can pick up at the local craft store. it comes in different widths (the 3/4" one works for me). you wet it and attach it to the page centers (if the pages happen to be finished, just add a coordinating paper down the center to hide the tape). after the pages are repaired, stack the text blocks on top of each other. if possible, press them with the signatures' back sticking out and then apply flexible glue ("yes" brand glue or gel medium works for me) to the signature backs and lay the "mull" which could be cheese cloth/net/muslin over the glue, making sure to press it onto each signature and wrap it over the front and back boards at least an inch. wrap your new bound text block loosely in waxed paper and place it under a stack of books to keep it pressed until the glue dries, and voila your book is ready for it's new binding. with this particular book i will use an upholstery weight fabric for the new spine, which i will attach to the front and back boards.

let me know if helps you or if you have any questions!

altered books fixed!

so here are the two books that i fixed the bindings on. remember? (yippee! post) they were separated in half. now they are whole, i am excited about figuring out how to expand the bindings on my altered books, i will share the process later tonight or tomorrow, right now we are heading into seattle for some more shopping!         

woohooo!

since i've never done one of these before, i was undecided in which direction i should go. last night i decided i would just start, but then, i started checking other blog links sent to me by dede, a creative, fun, inspiring friend and fellow altered book enthusiast, and became completely sidetracked until 3:30 this morning, geesh.

so, to start, i am incredibly happy today, i have finished and mailed an album for the above mentioned dede, that i have been working on for months! it is an altered book tribute to her grandparents with ephemera that she inherited, kept and sent to me. it's been a wonderful journey, at times challenging, for instance; just when i started to work on the last page, the rest of the completed pages (all 14 to be exact) began to split down the center! yikes, once again, i overloaded the poor spine. i knew i had to repair the pages, cut the spine, re-attach the signatures and create a new spine but, never having done this, i was a bit shaky. the only thing i could do was forge ahead. i did and it came out even better then it had been, and it truly is a completely altered book!

                                             tahdah!