Caribbean Gatefold Album

 After a long hiatus, I am back working on my Caribbean album.  I've always wanted to try a gate fold album, but I'm realizing a few TRICKY BITS about it that I hadn't considered before.

As you can see from the pictures, the idea was to have 2 pages that open up "gate style", with photos and a post card on the front (top photo), with my journaling on the back (bottom photo).  Once these pages open, a full page underneath would be visible.  The full pages would alternate as right turning or left turning pages, so the bound spines would be equal in size.

This is great in theory, but I am finding that as the album gets bigger, it is a bit of a PUZZLE to get it closed again.  Maybe it will be better once I get it bound, which is tricky bit #2.

I'm doing the pages first, and then binding them, as I think it will be easier to work on.  I will have to be really, really careful when I bind, or I may have pages going the wrong way. 

I'm trying to keep this album as flat as I can, I've had some trying times with past albums getting way to thick.  So I'm back to cutting out the backs of the mats, and keeping embellishments as thin as possible. 

The paper I'm using is Webster's Pages and Bo Bunny.  There is a little Theresa Collins in there as well.  And that butterfly is G45.  I'm playing with large stamps and Perfect Pearls (the grass and crab in the top photo), and the odd Memory Box die cut is finding its way onto the pages. 

On the UFO front, I have dragged out an old afghan I have been knitting for years.  I have been procrastinating because once I started, I realized I didn't really like knitting the pattern ("moss stitch" sounded so innocent!), and I wasn't thrilled with the colour palette I had chosen.  So I'm taking things into my own hands and switching it up.  I'll keep you posted.

Until next time.....

Mitts in July

I have completed another UFO!  Never mind that it's mitts in July, it's one more thing off my "guilt radar", and I'm sure you know what that is, unless you are one of those people who never start a new project until they have finished the last one.  I started these about 2 years ago, intending to give them to my daughter for Christmas.  As you can see, I have added a couple of those cute flowers I've been making with some leftover yarn!

This pattern came out of a magazine.  The article gushed that they were simple to make, but I can tell you it has not been an easy road to completion.  The first problem was the pattern, and the fact that there was a mistake in it.  "Oops!" said the magazine's website.  Yeah, oops is right.

Once I got the correct pattern, I discovered that I could only do the knitting  in solitary confinement.  There was a vast amount of counting, and following not only the pattern, but the pattern of the pattern.

Alone with my stitch counter and four double pointed needles, I had quite of bit of trouble transitioning from needle to needle without a bit of a gap or "ladder" forming.  I went to a local knitting shop, where they were very helpful and sympathic, telling me I must keep the stitches tight when going from one needle to the next.  Seems like the only thing that got tight were the muscles in my hands!

But now they are finished, and I think I am going to keep them.  There are a few mistakes, I but I can overlook those. 

Next on my radar is my Caribbean album.   No pattern to follow, no stitches to drop.  Sounds like heaven!
Until next time...

New Home, New Card

My son recently moved into his own place.  He had been sharing a house with 2 other fellows, but the landlord decided to sell the house, and unfortunately, the guys weren't part of the deal.

So now he has a basement suite, and I took this opportunity to make a "New Home" card.  I used a stamp set, "Pixie Lane" from Unity stamp company, and coloured it with Copics.  The die cut swirl is from Memory Box Dies, as are the leaves.  The tag is a Quikutz die.  I'm not sure what the paper is..... some scraps I had around. 

Which brings me to my next problem:  Scraps of Paper.  I hate to throw out the little bits of paper I have left over from projects, because 1) Paper is not cheap 2) Paper is seasonal, and once it's gone, it's gone, and you can't guarantee you'll be able to find it again.  (Once I was going to order some papers not available in local stores anymore from a well known company, and the total was going to be like $10, but the shipping was going to be about $50.  What?) 3) I don't like cutting up a big piece of paper to get a small square, like I have here.

So I end up keeping all these itty-bitty bits of paper, withe the idea that I may just need them one day.  You and I both know that day will likely never come, unless of course I get rid of them, and then I'll want them again.  I need an organization system.....

FLOWER UPDATE:  I continue to crochet little flowers.  It is very soothing.  Plus, I just bought a new book, "100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet", which has a multitude of lovely little blossoms in it.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with all those flowers....

Until next time....

More Crochet Flowers!

 Here is my problem.  I like making these little flowers, now I know HOW to crochet them.  In different sizes.  And colours.  I have already gone out and bought 2 more balls of cotton to make more.  What am I going to do with them all?

These 2 are gracing a pair of slippers I made earlier this year.  (I have enough yarn to make at least 3 more pairs of slippers.)  I must say, I do like them made from crochet cotton, with a smaller hook. 

I was thinking if I made them from finer cotton and with a smaller hook I may be able to add them to scrapbooking projects (lumpy ones, anyway!)  And if the cotton was white, could I spray them with Glimmer Mist?

In the meantime, I'll just keep crocheting away, adding little flowers here and there, to whatever needs brightening up.  They'd be cute as centres on granny squares too.  (oh-oh, another project!)

Until next time.....



Lesley Makes "Molly Makes" Crochet Brooch in 2 Days!

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  I saw a "Molly Makes" magazine with a crochet flower brooch included, the evening before the crop.  "Hmmm,", I thought, "that might be fun to take to the crop and make...."

So it came to the crop with me, and after the first disastrous attempt, I realized something was very wrong. 
Attempt #2 - worse that the first
Attempt #3 - okay, I give up.  For today, anyway.

Once home, I got on the Internet to try and figure out what went so terribly wrong.  Well, for starters, there was a tiny error in the pattern.  But even that was not enough to explain the crazy results I had come up with (one attempt, I think it was #2, looked like a fan.  Def. not right).

Then I turned to YouTube, where you can learn to do just about anything.  I was amazed to see a video of someone making this flower!  However, there was no sound, no instruction, and if I could crochet that fast, I'd be making about one flower in 5 minutes.

Over to Google, where I discovered someone had kindly written out the pattern in my-speak on their blog, and had photos to go with it!  So there I was, in front of the computer, with the magazine instructions, the YouTube video, and the blog.  And strict instructions for the family not to talk to me until I had this thing figured out.

After several attempts and bad words, I finished a flower.  The pink yarn that came with pattern was, by this time, quite frayed and fuzzy looking, so I went out and bought some purple cotton to make a "finished" version.  I decided it needed a centre, and so added a bead. 

This little brooch is now on it's way to England, as a gift for my son's girlfriend.  I had to include a custom's slip, explaining what was in the envelope and how much it cost.  I'm sure the post office people hear all kinds of things, and that's why they just gave me a blank stare when I tried to describe what I was mailing.

Until next time.....

P.S.  I did manage to finish my Mexico mini-book at the crop, despite my crochet shenanigans (is that even a word?)





Don't Know What the H$#@ I Got....

It's true.... I have a lot of stuff.  And when I'm out shopping, sometimes I'm not sure exactly what I have, and what I don't.  So I have created this little book to take care of that.

The paper I used was Basic Grey's Curio, which included the sticker sheet.  Unlike G45, this line doesn't have a lot pages you can fussy cut from, so the stickers were very useful.  I haven't shown all the pages, but you get the idea.  The size is 5 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches.  It's big enough for lists, but not too big to carry around.

The title page is flat.  There are no frilly flowers or sticking up items.  This is because this book is meant to be USED.  It's purpose in life is to go in my purse, and come into stores with me, not to sit on a shelf and look pretty.  There is an elastic cord attached to the back cover that flips around and holds the pages closed.

Inside, I created the pages for lists from a computer program (nothing fancy, just the one that came with the computer.)  I set the page to "landscape", and created 2 columns.  The lined paper was easily made with the underscore key.  I printed the lines on both sides of the paper.  Then I just had to cut the papers in half.

For every section, I made a title page.  Again, no bulky embellisments allowed!  The titles were made on the computer, and then stamped with a border (Basic Grey).

The book is bound with a Bind-it-All, and 5/8 inch coils. 

What is really amazing about this book is that it's FINISHED.  Not all my projects turn out that way.  This weekend I'm going to an all day crop, which I'm very excited about.  I'm hoping that Mexico book can finally be put to bed, so I can start on something else!!

Until next time...
(I'm seriously getting annoyed with Blogger and the difficutly I have in placing pictures. I guess I should just feel lucky today that these pictures aren't sideways!)

                          

Another Birthday Card

 It has been a long time since my last post, and I wish I had a great excuse, like I was touring through Europe, or I was busy reconstructing my garden as it was going to be in a national magazine, or some other facinating thing.  Truth is, I just haven't been doing too much lately.

But thank goodness for birthdays (as long as they're not mine!), they spur me on to create SOMETHING.  This card was made for my mother's cousin, on the occasion of her 90th birthday.  Even at that grand age, she still loves her garden and enjoys working in it.

The stamp is from Stampendous, "Botanical Daffodil", and is coloured with Copics.  The paper is from My Minds Eye (see, I do use other paper than G45!)   I made it a gatefold card, because I always wanted to try to make one.  I may not make another anytime soon, and these are the reasons:

Reason #1 - you have to make the card on the large size.  This means that ordinary envelopes don't work, and you have to find extra large ones so it can fit.  This card is 6" X 6".

Reason #2 - The card is heavy, with all those layers of cardstock and paper.  If you are just tucking it into a gift, it's no big deal.  However posting it by mail means it costs twice as much to send as a regular card.  Not that I mind, but it's annoying to have to stand in line at the post office to be measured and weighed (the card, not me!)

EXCITING NEWS - well, I am almost finished my Mexico album from 2010.  The only problem is it barely closes.  Once again, layering papers is the culprit.  I've started cutting out the backs of the mats to make the pages lay flatter.  Also no thick or heavy embellishments.  I may have to re-do a few pages so the book will actually close.

Until next time.....