hi everyone, back again, this time with a halloween storybook album. january is almost over - yea! what a long cold, dark, sloshy month! i think we could all do without january, don't you? geesh! but i must say, i have been staying in and creating family albums, smash books and playing; that is, getting my area organized and figuring out what to do with all those little scraps of papers which are too skinny, too small, or too boring (because i have had them since the beginning of time and just keep moving them around) to use, yet too pretty to toss. i have most of them in their own drawer but, of course, bits and pieces sticking out of sheet paper drawers too. they get bent and scrunched, yelled at and stepped on (thats the only way they get tossed). so skulking around the internet one night i came across this blog- http://ramblingrose.typepad.com/journal/2009/11/crazy-quilt-paper.html by patty van dorin, ohmygosh, what a great idea! i pulled my old sewing machine out and begain my quest- what fun, it is very addicting! here are some of the pages created -
is that fun or what? i wll try some halloween pages and baby pages, maybe school pages, ohmygosh there is no end, i have tons of scraps! i will try them in a journal or two and maybe offer them up for sale in my etsy shop, they have a really unique feel. thank you patty!
now, on with the storybook journal i have created. it's a new format, one i have been thinking about and have finally taken the steps to create. i was concerned about not being able to add writing papers to the o-wire journals when you are on a trip so i thought i would make some journals with the binder rings, but don't really like the way they are so movable and hard to keep together. so i thought about using the whole mechanism inside a vintage book cover, ohmygosh it works! i really love the way it turned out- it's sturdy and versatile. i will make more of these, just to add variety and choices.
here is "toil and trouble" a halloween travel journal. it is listed in my etsy shop here.
toil and trouble
a holloween journal. it's been created from a 1944 edgar allen poe "new pocket classic" book measuring 4.25" X 6- 7/8 and has 50 pages which include a combination of vintage lined writing, linen, sketch, and watercolor papers, on which you may journal, sketch, draw, paint, and glue. there is a collage of spooky items from my mind's eye halloween collection attached to the front cover.
back spine and front
i have connected a binder mechanism to the inside spine to hold the pages so that you may easily add new pages and goodies. you can also hang a spine tag or trinket cluster by bringing two ends of ribbon, yarn, string, thread or what ever you would like to use, through the eylets from the inside and tying them on the outside of the spine.
divider 1
the "name/date" page with a bottom pocket. the facing page is an original from the book. there are several original pages throughout this journal. each divider is a full pocket page with top opening. each facing page after each divider is a vellum page and each page of this journal is hand inked and stamped.
divider 1 backside
there are 2 side pockets and one bottom pocket here with 2 double-sided tags tucked in.
divider 2
2 bottom pockets and tiny pocket attached to the front. there is a cute little spider charm attached to the velvet page tab and a really creepy, hairy spider attached to the pocket- eek!
divider 2 backside
there is 1 hand sewn side pocket here with a bug token hanging from a thread.
1930's bingo card
with 3 bottom pockets on the front with a tag slipped in and...
bingo card backside
1 bottom pocket on the back
with 2 hand sewn side pockets and a large tag slipped in with another token hanging from the string.
divider 3 backside
2 bottom pockets here, one of paper lace. there is a tag tucked in the pocket and a hanging skull.
pocket upon a pocket
3 places to slip notes in. 2 tags already tucked in.
backside of pocket
with another top pocket
divider 4
with 2 side pockets, one is paper lace.
divider 4 backside
3 handmade coin envelopes with ...
3 tags tucked in.
inside cover
this raven image is a pocket
"toil and trouble" open
thanks a bunch for looking! i think i will put together a love travel journal with these binder rings- must go on the search! -rebecca