Fabric Covered Art Journal

I made this fabric covered journal for a swap:

It was fun adding the lace detail and the bright colors of the fabric were fun to work with. I ended up serging all the edges and I really like how it turned out. I added a lace bookmark and a button & elastic closure. 

Bonus, the fabric folded over creates pockets inside the cover:

I filled it with different colored paper, foreign text, etc to give it more personality and dimension when used as an art journal.

I was really happy with how this one turned out. It's different than most of the journals I've made. I machine stitched all the pages in place and had a little disagreement with my machine with the last batch of pages... but all in all they are nice and snug and it should hold up well to being used. 

Since making this one I was inspired to make a few other similar journals for myself that I will share later ;) For now, here are some extra pictures :)

Back cover:

Detail close-up:

Washcloths

Oh-so-fancy! Or at least useful ;) 

I made a few washcloth sets some years ago with a sewing machine, but now I have a serger (and I'm completely obsessed with using it) so these are extra fancy! I cut 8" squares from flannel and terry cloth material, serged the sides, tied off & buried the thread, and voila!

Incase you're dying to see the underside ;)

The towels I made a few years ago were bigger, but I like this size better. My set has come in very handy around the kitchen and now that we have a baby in the house I find myself using the soft flannel side for washing his little fingers and then I can use the terry cloth side for other cleaning. 

I love having a serger! I find myself serging just about anything I can get away with now. But I'm not a fan of threading the darn thing so I've taken to not re-threading if it can be avoided, hence nearly everything I've been making has multi-colored edges. 

Nicht wirklich lang

I'm getting back into swaps and here is a journal I recently made with a Labyrinth theme. I picked papers in my partner's favorite colors and added one of her favorite quotes to the front; "It's only forever, not long at all". 

 She lives in Germany so I added the German translation to the back as well. I looked up the German song lyrics instead of using a direct translation; "Es ist nur für immer, nicht wirklich lang".

And here is a detail shot of the binding. I love this kind of journal because each signature (section) has a colored paper cover and you get a glimpse of all the colors together on the side. I also like to have a way to keep the journal nicely closed and chose a lace-like ribbon for this one. 

Busy Board

Hello blog! Long time no see :)

I think I'll try to keep up with posting my crafts because I like having a way to look back on what I've done. This blog happens to be a perfect way to do that! And if anyone else finds joy from it then that's even better :D

First up:

I made a busy board for my kiddo a few weeks ago. I bought a shelf from the hardware store and filled it with latches and hinges. It was a really easy project. I loved using a shelf because the wood was already cut and finished (painted) so all I had to do was attach everything. I decided where everything would go and pre-drilled holes then attached with screws. Most of the screws provided with the hardware worked but I did need to switch out a few for short ones so they wouldn't poke through. There is also plenty of space to add more if I decide to later on.