Overmorrow

I learned a new word today, overmorrow, meaning the day after tomorrow. I am sitting here thinking overmorrow is a whole other year.

So I wish everyone's overmorrow starts out great with lots of new ideas and accomplishments in the future

"A" envelope swap.

I joined a new group all about handcrafted envelopes. 1st assignment is make 3 envelopes with a representation of the letter "A" on it.

Left to right; Embossed Air Mail stamps featuring airplanes, stamped Alaska, and stamped "A" in the Atlantic Ocean.
The red one is also lined. I say that because one of the future swaps is about lined envelopes. I have already begun looking for my "B" representations for next month.
I am going to make simple note cards to fit these since they are a bit odd in shape. My swap partner can either use them or recycle them.

Back after Christmas

Spent Christmas with 2 of my children and their spouses (the other had to work, darn).

We had a lovely time and loads and loads to eat.

Even the gnomes got in the act, climbing Mount Ben to wear off some of those calories.

They had to pause to catch their breath and pose for this picture.

Gnome Christmas Cards

 Søren made this Christmas card for his gnome brothers, their adopted families and all of you after he and Wally  misplaced the bunch they had made earlier this year.

 Wally made this Christmas card. He didn't want his to be too much like Søren's but could not resist adding the bling to Santa's nose after seeing it on Søren's tree.

The brothers each gave the other the card they had made, wishing each other Merry Christmas (or the gnome equivalent which I cannot pronounce.) So each has a gnome sized Christmas card. I think that is very sweet of them. I especially like how the envelopes match up with the cards.

Today I am sick

Cough and runny nose, sore throat and a fever. Yuck!!!! When it hit me yesterday I was bewildered. Like I was outside my body watching this old woman shake with chills. Really weird. I do hope to be well by Christmas.

Problematic solution

This year I am wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I think we should start a new tradition and give our good wishes for whatever holiday we celebrate. If you celebrate Kwanzaa, wish me a Happy Kwanzaa. If you celebrate Hanukkah, wish me a Happy Hanukkah. I can have a Happy Kwanzaa or Hanukkah just as much as anyone else. Stop being so sensitive about the title and just enjoy the good wishes.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.

Christmas Cards

I got all of my cards signed and stuffed and addressed. Now all I need do is take them to the post office (my carrier could not handle the bulk).

I seem to have miscounted how many I needed and find myself with a few leftovers.

As you can see they all are the same shape this year. 

Each has a recipe in the pocket representing one of several of my favorite cookies.

Each doubles as a tree ornament by hanging from the neck strap.

But each was finished off differently with different materials, papers and bling, keeping them each a "one of a kind card".

ATC Swaps

I have 2 swaps that entail ATCs. One requires gingerbread men and the other a Holiday theme. I do not find those two exclusive ergo I came up with these.

Swapping Again

The latest swap was

15 different paper scraps sent to one partner. Now anyone that knows me knows I did not have problems finding 15, I had problems stopping at 15, er 20. Well I was close.

Finally got my assigned swap partners

2nd Seashell postcard using real sand (paper).

Handcrafted Swap items

4 envelopes for some lucky soul. 

From top left clockwise;

Scrapbook paper (lined) to hold the other four for transport, Coloring book page, Calendar page (lined), Heavy watercolor paper (painted), Paper bag (painted, stamped and lined).

Post card with a seashore theme has real sand (paper).

Incomplete Christmas Card

(when I finally sent it it had a sentiment across the upper left corner)

ATC called "Not a Race"

taken from "Life's a Journey, not a race".

Ever since I joined this swap site my creative juices have been overflowing.

I am just finding it very hard to wait for people to get the things I send and for me to get the things sent to me. I know it is called snail mail for a reason but there is nothing that says those snails cannot hitch a ride on a speedier critter. So hurry up already.

Happy Thanksgiving

More Post cards for sending

Post cards for sending

I joined Swap Bot

It seems to be a penpal/swap/Post Crossings all rolled into 1 but I am not quitting Post Crossings and will have to see just how much fun I get out of the Swap Bot. I will keep you posted on my progress.

So far I have joined 2 swaps.....both entail Christmas Cards and both must be sent out early Dec. The biggest problem I find is that there are so few swaps open to newbies. Time will change that I am sure.

FORE Book for the Zerolandfill Event.

I made a second book from the golf borders in the wallpaper sample book. I carried the recycle theme a bit farther by using T P rolls as the base and cereal box cardboard for the covers. Even the golf tee was used.

 

 The book is a mini album with tags for photos or journaling.

ZeroLandfill Art Show

I decided to make some books out of the "harvested" wallpaper border book I rescued at the ZeroLandfill event last month. Here is the 1st one made from 3 borders featuring baseballs.

The Baseball Book is held closed with a magnet I rescued from an old purse.

I think this is quite eye catching. But now I need some sort of stand to showcase it.

Celebrate the Day of the Dead

Happy Halloween

Getting cold

Today has been altogether too cold for my tastes. At least for this time of year but it is fitting with my mood. I had to euthanize my poor old cat. She was suffering from cat dementia and no longer enjoying life. I hope she is in a better place.

Puffball season

We found two big puffballs in the front yard. Too bad I didn't see them earlier, we could have had a feast. The gnomes had their pictures taken with them for you to see how big they are. I can just imagine the number of spores that will puff out of the larger one.

http://www.mykoweb.com/cookbook/puffballs.html

No followers

So far I have no followers. Partly because few people know I even have a blog and partly because this is so dry. I am considering a give away drawing for those who follow. I am just not certain what I should include. Let me think a day or two and maybe we can get something pretty awesome out before Christmas. That would be fun.

Halloween decorating

The gnomes are up to it again. This time they were decorating for Halloween when Wally got stuck. I got a few pics before helping Søren get Wally free.

Søren some how lost part of his mustache in the process and now has shaved it all off. He is the 1st gnome I have seen without a mustache.

I am not sure I like it. What do you think?

7th Challenge

The 7th Challenge was a kind of quiz. After taking it I decided it did not have a wide enough scope of answers to really evaluate my relationship with paper.

I thank the team at http://paperphilia.co.uk/paperphilia/blog/ for a week long of paper insight.

JOIN THE PAPERLOVE BLOG HOP! 

                                                 October 27th. It should be lots of fun.

Skipped 5th and found 6th

The 5th Challenge was instructions to write a letter. I did that the day before and was all caught up on my correspondence (at least I will be once I mail the things). So now that things are moving smoother I did the 6th Challenge which was to find something paper I love and write about it. 

Now that is so difficult. To choose just one thing when I love all my paper creations but I finally decided on my Post Ephemera Book made from an old map and postcards my STABA group sent monthly to each other for one whole year. I added stamps that had some connection to the month represented or the postcards sent that month.

 Each of us bound our postcards in our own way so it is truly a "One of a Kind Book".
#‎PaperLovechallenge‬

Frustration

Do you ever feel soooooo frustrated you want to pull your hair out? I have been having Phone issues all morning. I cannot get a call out that does not drop on me. I cannot get a text to go all the way out. I thought it was my WiFi but apparently not. So now what?GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Skipped 3rd and went on to 4th

The 4th paper challenge for PaperLove instructed me to cut a 1" strip from the edge of my longest paper and write creatively along it to make a scroll book. Since I had already done that I decided to write a letter to one of my penpals on the strip instead. Interesting results that I will not share. But here is my original scroll book from last year.

#‎PaperLovechallenge

Because I used an altered weaving shuttle for the base, the poem written on the scroll is a cinquain about weaving. Cinquain is a five lined poem 

Line 1:	one word (subject or noun)
Line 2:	two words (adjectives) that describe line 1
Line 3:	three words (action verbs) that relate to line 1
Line 4:	four words (feelings or a complete sentence) that relates to line 1
Line 5:	one word (synonym of line 1 or a word that sums it up)

2nd Challenge

We had our 2nd challenge from PaperLove today. We were given the choice of 4 photos or we could use one of our own as a base for our collage. We were to depict books in some form using 5 different kinds of paper. I used orange Lokta paper from Nepal, cream mulberry paper from Thailand, creamy speckled printer paper, a paper bag and 3 shades of quilling paper, olive, brown and sky blue. (It is not unusual for me to find such variety of papers near to hand.) I ended up making an Outdoor Bookstore. All it needs is it's very own Bibliocat.

1st Challenge

We had our 1st challenge from PaperLove today. I made 6 cute origami hearts to use in my Valentine making. #PaperLovechallenge

By the time I was making the blue one with two sided paper I realized it was much easier to make the stand 1st and then the bumps on the heart shape. I ended up making 2 more just to prove to myself how much easier it was.

You can find instructions here: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-heart-with-stand.html to make your own.

BUSY BUSY

I have been busy today.

First:       I applied to be a free lance Blogger for Blitsy. (Blitsy, if you are not familiar with it, is a fabulous place to get discounted artist materials for a number of crafts/arts.)

https://blitsy.com/

Second:  I signed up for a free 7 day course in paper love. You can too;

Want to get creative this month? How about 7 days of PaperLove? http://bit.ly/1pVV48D @bookpaperlove


Both will help me expand my horizon which has gotten a little tunneled lately.

PostCrossing's Post Card book

1) I have created a new album for my Post Crossing postcards. I began with cardstock cut 7 1/8" x 12" which I scored at 1, 1 3/8. 1 7/8, 2 3/8, 2 3/4, 3 1/4, 3 3/4, 4 1/8, 4 5/8, 5 1/2 and 6. I then turned the sheet around and did the same from the other end. I also used 7 envelopes 5 1/4 (trimmed top and bottom to  4 15/16) x 7 1/4. My envelopes determined the rest of my measurements.

2) I ended up with seven hinges 1/2" deep and eight spaces 3/8 " wide with two ends 1" to attach the covers to. I applied Scor-Tape® to one underside of each hinge. The cardstock and envelopes are all the Paper Studio® Kraft colored packs.

3) After peeling the Scor-Tape and pinching the hinges together I ended up with a piece 7 1/8" x 5". The actual spine will be 3" wide but since I plan to rest the book on its spine that will not be a problem. I made the spacing 3/8" rather that the usual 1/4" because I have some bulky embellishments I wish to use.

4) Distressing the hinge after it was assembled was a bit tricky but the envelopes were a snap. (Next time I distress the hinge BEFORE scoring.) I used Tim Holtz® Frayed Burlap. Notice I have added Scor-Tape to one side of each hinge.

5) I attached an envelope upside-down over each hinge. I am not worried about the flap I removed. It is CRITICAL you place your envelopes perfectly before pressing them against the tape. This tape is permanent and any mistakes must be lived with or you start over.

6) I chose 14 designs from my 4 1/2" x 6 1/2 UNCHARTED paper pack from The Paper Studio. Some were already distressed. (Note some of the designs are duplicates done in different colors. To make this more pleasing to the eyes just made sure they were not opposite one another.)

7) After outlining the pages with Scor-Tape I fastened them to the envelopes from and back. Because I butted the bottom of the page against the spine I did not have to worry about the missing flaps.