Happy, Little, Time Waster

Last week, I showed how I put together a traveling journal kit in an old pencil tin. I swapped out a bone folder for an old plastic card as it doesn't have much depth.

I had asked what other things I should include. The answer was paper. Yes, paper would be necessary but not just loose sheets of paper, I would need a small journal. 

I found instructions on how to make a small, no sew journal out of two sheets of watercolor paper. Instructions in the video below.

The book measures 3 in. tall by 4.5 in. wide and has 32 pages to write on.

Teague and I have been travelling to Ogunquit, Maine for four years. I printed out a tourist map of Ogunquit that I found online and used that as the front cover and front inside cover.

Another spot we frequent is Weirs Beach, Laconia, New Hampshire on Lake Winnipesauke. So I found another online map to use as the back and back inside cover. I covered the spine with some Washi tape.

DIY Mini Sketchbook Art Journal Tutorial // Bookbinding No Stitching or Staples

Monet and Me

are showing off the last pages in the February Hearts journal

Thanks to N from Tennessee for posting this quote. "Don't ever be ashamed of loving the things that make your weird little, heart happy. Since my students were studying about Drolleries, the weird, little drawings in the margins of medieval manuscripts, I didn't think they should have all the fun. This turned out to be my favorite page in the whole book.

Elizabeth and Bleubeard were the inspiration for this page as they had made an origami kite. The quote on my page: Follow your heart.

May I use my hands each day to give more than I receive

To help and not harm

To create rather than destroy

I love my chubby birds on music pages.

"My heart is like a singing bird." Christina Rosetti

"Love is the only gold" - Alfred Lord Tennyson

The last page was Lindsay's prompt. A heart shaped filled with hearts and painted black/grey. I forget what quote she wrote around the edge. I used "Love never ends". The end.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. I found a great quote for the Heart book thanks to a friend in Tennessee

2. Errands and Five Guys

3. I only ate half of my Five Guys so I had an awesome lunch

4. More errands and  home in time to make chili in the crockpot

5. Another ice event and The Eldest had the day off. No overnight stay at the hospital

How was your week?

Monet and Me

are showing more pages from the February Hearts journal

On the left, a musical card from the Eldest and on the right the top of a box of chocolates from Teague.

Every heart sings a song incomplete

until another hear whispers back - Plato

This Lindsay prompt reminds me of a quilt square

Home is where your heart is

This was a mashup of Lindsay and a classmate's design.

Monet and Me

are showing more pages from the February Hearts journal

The Supberb Owl

A Valentine from Nan. Her envelope with the sweet kitty Love stamp tucks inside the bag opening.

A Valentine from Deb over at Learning 2 Just Breathe. It was too big for the book, but worked with a little sticking out if I turned it sideways. I made a heart paperclip to hold the valentine in place.

Teague introduced me to this John Denver song: Friend, I will remember you, think of you, pray for you. And when another day is through, I'll still be friends with you. The teddy bears were stamped and cut out. The right hand page, slips into the tuck spot created by the bottom of the bag.

A Valentine from Calli and Quill: Rose are red, Violets are blue, Put food in our dish, And clean up our poo.

From my tablemate, Lee, when we took the 2017 Reggie Ezell year-long class. Lee always draws lambs and has sent me a valentine every year since our class. The envelope with the 2026 Love stamp featuring birds and hearts and a very clear Love postmark slips into the bag opening.

The Valentine from Himself was too big for the book. A little slice and dice solved the problem. The bottom heart acts as a pocket. When opened, it also has his signature. The top of the card fits into the pocket and is held in place with the paperclip.

Lindsays' suggestion was S.W.A.K. Sealed with a kiss. How we used to decorate the back of an envelope back in the day.

On his birthday in memory of Darrell, I met him in computer school, and he became the brother of my heart.  The quote from the Wizard of Oz to the Tin Man: ...a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you were loved by others. Happy 84th Birthday, Derry!

Monet and Me

would like to show the February journal made from paper bags. This is the project I chose to do for the Creative Hand Lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay had suggested decorating a small box, but I didn't have anything that would work

The title page is the group project page folded into an origami heart with pockets. Inside the pocket, an origami cat.

Lindsay's suggestion for the first page. Washi tape, watercolor hearts, and faux calligraphy

For most of the pages, I decided to go my own way. So celebrating Ground Hog Day. The nasty groundhog saw his shadow meaning we get 6 more weeks of Winter, and the groundhog goes back into his hole. In this case, the groundhog gets tucked in the flap provided by the bottom of the paper bag.

This idea was a combination of Lindsay using the John Lennon quote, "All you need is love" and a heart doodle that was done in the Monday Doodling for Stress Reduction class. To all you need is love, I added and chocolate along with a Love and Kiss stamp from an envelope I kept.

Lindsay did a tag with Start each day with a grateful heart, tucked inside a belly band on a card. I used a piece of origami paper for the background.

Lindsay had talked about the candy hearts with saying we used to get as kids. I punched out a bunch of small hearts, colored them with Tombow markers, and wrote the little setiments.

Another hybrid piece. Lindsay painted flowers and cut them out. I think she mentioned hearts and flowers, too. I colored a heart using the bottom of the bag as a tuck space for the flower. The sentiment was something someone had written in a photo album my mother had when she graduated from high school. "Hearts and flower go together, True friends part never."

I saw a meme that had and image of a heart which said normal person's heart

and my heart was a cat in the shape of a heart. Perfect image to go with soul. I was Ink's heart and he was my soul. It will be 10 years this year since he passed away. I still miss him.

Monet and Me

and me made a book for the February project for the Creative Hand-lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay suggested that people decorate a small box, but I didn't have an empty small box to use.

Instead, I decided to make a small book from folded paper lunch bags. A chipboard spine and covers were added to give the book a little more stability. The book is very cute and chunky measuring about 5 inches square. The bottoms of the lunch bags make handy tuck spots and the bag openings make pockets. 

Paper Bag Book

A day or two before the Bookbinding 101 Zoom session was to begin, I poked around the Vintage Page Designs website and found some free instructions for making hand-made books.

The book I decided to make was called a Paper Bag Book because it used a brown paper bag

as the pages of the book. I like these kinds of projects because no special materials are needed. Just stuff you have around the house and in the recycle bin.

The paper bag was cut to a standard size sheet of paper 8.5 in. x 11 in. Cuts were made so the bag could be accordion folded.

I've made this type of book many times, but I learned it as a Meander Book. The only difference being that the loose pages/flaps were glued together in this book and left to change the direction of the fold in the Meander Book (hence the name)

I raided the recycle bin to make the cover from a cookie box. I had every intention of covering the cardboard with paper, but looking at the Windmill cookie box reminded me of my Auntie.

Auntie was Ma's younger sister and a second mother to us. Since Ma worked, we spent a lot of school vacations at Auntie's until we were old enough to stay at home by ourselves.

Auntie had a white cookie jar embossed with cookies. The cookie jar had a lid with a red knob. The cookie jar was always filled. Auntie would sometimes by the spiced cookies shaped like a windmill, and a Dutch boy and girl. 

I decided to leave the cardboard as is. Glued to the front and back of the paper bag pages. I made a button and string closure to hold the book shut.

Monet and Me

 

took a week-long, online class Bookbinding 101 sponsored by Ali Manning of Vintage Page Designs and the Handmade Book Club.

Topics for the course included paper, adhesives, covers, and stitching. We made one small book that didn't require sewing, and 3 small books using 3 different stitches to bind the book.

I've made small books before so some of the techniques I knew, but I didn't know about some tools. One of the tools talked about was a book binding cover tool guide which is what Monet is holding. The tool is a 5 in one. You can square your book covers and pages, you can round corners, you can easily create neatly mitered corners, you can use the guide to make small measurements, and the narrow metal bit allows you to evenly space book covers and spine. Like this:

The tool that was featured in class was from We R Memory Keepers, but I found the same tool for a lower price at Amazon. 

Doodling for Stress Reduction

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend  a half an hour doodling our stress away. I work on single sheets, and I thought I'd put them together to make a simple book.

I'm trying not to stress over the title page. 😸

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. I had a fun chat with the Young One.

2. For 5 minutes, I was caught up in my journal

3. Grandmaster E introduced me to The Resident on Netflix. It's reminds me of the show ER and is very addictive.

4. I made pork spare ribs in the crock pot. Messy eating, but so delicious.

5. Another chat with the Young One about various materials to make a coptic stitch journal.

How was your week?

Whatcha Doin?

Front

I made the accordion fold book to participate in the September ABC book project with the Creative Hand Lettering & Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook

Back

The book measures 4.5 in. x 3 .75 in. Each day during the month of September, a letter and a page is completed. There were prompts to follow, but I'm doing my own thing.

Whatcha doin?

Whatcha Doin?

 

I'm assembling the pieces parts necessary to make an accordion-fold, alphabet book. It's the September project for the Creative Hand Lettering & Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook.

Whatcha doin?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Making A Medieval Book

Accordion Fold Book with Pockets, "Moi" - Days 28 - 31

Days 28 and 29

What household job do you hate the most?

I hate cleaning the toilet.

What is your profession?

I wear many hats

On any given day I am, the Artist in Residence, Wife, Social Secretary, Chargé D'Affair (the person in charge of an embassy), Doctor, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Mama, The IT Department, Cat Whisperer, a Cheerleader, the CFO, and the Chief Cook, Cleaner, and Bottle Washer.

Days 30 and 31

What is your favorite month?

My favorite month of the year is July. Besides being a Summer month, the girlies and I celebrate our birthdays during the month of July.

What state do you live in?

I live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Finis