My book. Mine. Mine. Mine.

Well, not mine but I like it :-)

Struggled with it for about 3 hours, just for the stitching. There are no signature covers here 'cos I thought it would clash for attention so it's just plain white acid-free pages. 9 signatures with 7 folios give 252 sides.

I'll need to work on the horizontal lines. It's a good thing that this variegated thread is very bold against the white and covers so the letters are rather striking. Given my original choice of rose coloured thread, I don't think it would be as nice.

Have a blessed evening!

Flutter by

I'm liking this combination of book and bag. Maybe I'll make such for the larger journals as I go. This way I'll use up more fabric? LOL!

Yet another coptic-bound hardcover book. I think I have about 10 to go. Ran out of glue and had to buy some this morning. Waxed linen threads have also arrived from Sweden. Fast shipping :-) Problem is, now that I've tried the variegated threads, I don't know if I want to move to linen. Linen's stronger but the cotton variegated threads are prettier. Hmm, why doesn't someone make variegated linen? Or maybe I've not found them yet.

Have a blessed day!

More and more books

 More paper-folding. Hopefully the stacks of paper I still have at home grow smaller. The top 2 book-blocks-to-be are in various shades of blue and peach. The white ones I might just cover with coordinated patterned paper, like the bottom two. You can't see it clearly but the fabric right at the bottom is actually a drawstring bag. The book materials are inside but I don't have the string to bind them :-( 

These are just two bundles of 4 saddle-stitch books. I'm packaging them in bundles for the next sale. It's a preview of sorts 'cos I can't decide what to use to bundle them with - twine or ribbon? Or perhaps, depending on the print? 

I'll need to clear (read: sell all) of these books. I found some just now that I made a year ago. Colours are still good 'cos all the papers are acid free. I have a couple hundred more to go just for plain ones but lesser for patterned cardstock :-)

Have a blessed evening!

Sneak: book blocks to be

I've been cutting and folding papers recently. I still have lots of papers, plain and printed. Will have lots of opportunities to try out new stitch types.

And the good thing is...while I was looking for more paper, I found 1 whole stack of textured cardstock with white core. Ooo, I'm distracted. Am going to make mini notebooks soon and bundle them up with ribbon! Fun!

Have a blessed day!

Triangle of Life

I once read an article on the triangle of life applied during an earthquake. The theory is to look for these triangles or voids and take shelter there instead. For example, if there's a sturdy cupboard against a wall, there would be a triangle of life right in front of the cupboard should the ceiling collapse as a single piece. Then, the ceiling would be propped up at one end and on the floor at the other, leaving that void. One of the examples they gave, other than sturdy large furniture, was to look for stacks of paper. Paper cannot be crushed and can withstand a lot of weight. So, it seems, a stack of newspaper would do at such times.

Thank God we don't have earthquakes here.

One other thing I know about paper is that it's heavy. Very. Especially when I have to lug it around.

I brought these to the NUS bazaar. There were a few queries but no one bought them so I'm listing them in Tiffany's Shoppe. Other than these 4, there were many other books so it was really heavy yesterday. Today, I'll just bring a fraction.

Just a bit of update about yesterday. I couldn't decide whether it was a non-event or eventful day, LOL! While there were very few customers, quite a number of people walked over and did a double-take at my stall then proceeded to walk past till I realized that the toilet was behind me. On my left was clothes. In front of me was clothes and on my right was, clothes. I had a quick glance around and it seemed like out of about 15 stalls, about half sold clothes. There was a stall that intrigued me 'cos it sold something that sure looked like bubble gum. I like bubble gum though the constant chewing would result in aching jaws.

But I get ahead of myself so let me do this chronologically. I arrived too early 'cos I went out with DS and DD. I tarried at the bus-stop doing my crochet till it was about 30mins before the official start at 9am. My first impression when I arrived was, is it over? LOL!

There were quite a number of tables/stalls all over the Central Forum. Some had tarpaulin-covered items, some were bare tables. Bare as in bare wood top with collapsible frame. Some had chairs next to these tables, some had none. Also, other than me and a group of undergrads, there were no other vendors. Anyway, I stuck around till on of the students pointed out my stall to me. OK, so with my punctuality, I ended up with the dubious honour of being the kiasu one who set up shop so early. However, less than 30mins after I completed, the rain came. With the gusty winds sweeping through the void of the Central Forum, rain was flying in, stuff also took to the wind. I kept evertyhing but set up shop again about an hour later only to sit there and crochet and crochet and crochet. On the upside, I had an enjoyable time getting to know the other vendors. Perhaps this was my triangle of life yesterday, my breathing space. Well, one more day today. Hopefully it'll be better, yup? *grin*

Have a blessed day!

Pretty in pink

What's your favourite colour? DS' red, DD's green. My three nieces like pink, purple and blue. I like yellow. I think I read somewhere that blue is the most liked colour.

Anyway, these 2 are pink. Bit of overload on pink, don't you think? I opted out of total pink pages. What you see are just the signature cover pages. It's white inside...*phew*, LOL! 7-hole coptic bound hardcover journals made from acid-free papers.

Have a blessed day!

How green can you go?

I have this fondness for notebooks. Not that I journal a lot or doodle a lot but somehow the feel of the paper or a cute cover catch my eye and make me stop and have a look.

I buy less notebooks now. Just bought some recently, but not for myself…phew! Now we have fun creating our own, using materials we can find at home or those in the mail. Waiting for mail is different now…LOL!

These 2 are A5 notebooks. Five signatures of 7 white and 1 green cover sheets bound using the coptic stitch. This is for someone who likes green :-). Green fabric cover, green thread, green cover sheets, sustainable forest paper. Circus print is made from linen and floral one from oxford cotton. 220gsm endpapers are green too :-)

Have a blessed day!

Finally some pics

Sorry for the delay. I only just realised that I didn’t post any pics of what we’ve been selling to raise funds for the Red Cross – SEA Floods fund.

I also didn’t take any pics of the earlier batch. Normally I take pics, just for sentimental reasons, but we’ve been rushing and rushing to get as many items ready as possible. I must have broken my all-time record of number of items made in 1 day, last week.

Thanks also to all supporters who bought and who helped me sell. God bless you!

Oh, I forgot to tell you what we sold and are still selling.

S$2 – single signature notebooks with acid free cardstock covers that you can decorate yourself. Pages inside are mostly pastel-coloured. Few are white.

S$4 – tissue cases made from quilting-weight cotton from Japan, Korea, US and Australia, lined with coordinating fabric. Yes, it comes with an unopened pack of tissue :-)

S$12 – quilted cover notebooks with six signatures hand-bound to the spine using criss-cross longstitch. Each have metal snap closures and a ribbon page marker.

Shipping’s extra and I’ll use Singpost rates for small packets. Click here for details.

These pics were taken before this weekend’s sales and I’ll take pics of what’re still available and post the up on facebook.

Thanks for your support and have a blessed day!

ps: I apologise for late responses to emails and orders. These were parked one side to prepare fundraising items. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Square dance

DD asked me the other day why I didn’t make any A5 notebooks or journals. I’ve been making a series of A6 ones in preparation for the KKH bazaar in October and got carried away. I’ve made A5 ones before but they were hardcover ones and I wasn’t in the hardcover kind of mood. Folding paper can be therapeutic but there’s a limit to that monotonous cut, fold, slot cycle. So I wondered about what DD said till I chanced upon a stack of used exercise books :-).

After ripping off the covers and collecting empty pages, I ended up with a sizeable stack of paper. Along with these, I kept some pages that had kiddy scibblings by both DS and DD. My memories!

The cover was pieced together using 8 5” charms from the Whirlwind Romance Blush collection and quilted. Another 4 were used for the pockets inside.

I pierced additional holes into the 8 signatures and sewed them unto the spine using the criss-cross longstitch with silver thread that matches the 2 silver ribbon page markers.

The salvaged square paper was arranged from largest to smallest, just like how DS and DD bought smaller and smaller sized square exercise books as they grew older.

 

BTW, It took me an hour just to sew these signatures. I knew ‘cos that was how long DD’s swiming lesson was. LOL! Final touch were the 2 deliberately mis-matched metal snaps placed just so, for effect.

This is definitely not for sale. Just thought I’d like to share with you. Do you have any memories you want to hold on to? *grin*

Have a blessed day!

ps:

charm = 5” square

layer cake = 10” square

fat quarter = quarter of a yard, about 18” x 25”

jelly roll = 2.5” strips, length is width of fabric

honeybun = 1” strips

Booked

I made these on a whim, inspired by fabrics that arrived recently from US and Korea. Brightly coloured and coordinating quilting fabric made from super combed cotton. Some of the Timeless Treasures prints are cute to boot. Alas, I’m running out the 7oz interfacing so I have limited quantities of these on hand. Until then, feast your eyes on these

Each of these have a machine-quilted cover and lined with coordinating or contrasting fabric. Some have page markers with beads attached. All have 6 signatures of 8 folios giving a total of 128 pages that are stitched to the spine using criss-cross longstitch. Some have coordinating coloured paper inside. Two metal snaps keep the flap closed and prevents dog ears. Can you spot the camouflaged snaps?
I didn’t take many pics of these ‘cos I intended to bring them to the KKH bazaar on 18 Oct. If you’d like to know more, just send me an email.
Have a blessed day!
ps: If you wish to learn how to replace the paper when you’ve filled all the pages with your writing or doodling, you can either purchase a PDF copy of the tutorial of how I made these and do it yourself, else we can arrange a class at the current going rate of S$10/hr for a maximum of 3 persons, materials excluded.

And the bunny hopped away

Well, not really. DD claimed it.

Remember this Wilmington print of Bunny's Day Out? I centred one of the uber-cute pics of the bunnies on the cover of this journal. This is the first one that has the front flap overlapping so that the pic will not be obscured. I quilted it a bit, partially to frame the bunnies, partially to add some texturing detail. (Hmm, at this moment I just realised that I forgot to take a pic of the spine, but you can imagine it, ya?) Bright lime green gingham on the inside with alternating signatures of green and blue paper stitched to the spine using criss-cross longstitch. This time, I added beads to the page marker. The metal snaps were chosen by DD to 'blend' in with the picture.
Have a blessed rainy morning!

Go green!

I used to cut selvedge and throw them away. Then, I thought they interfered with the hand of the fabric. Hand, as in the floppiness. Selvedges are stiffer than the main body and have a different print or are white. I can't remember when I started collecting them. I have about 2 shoeboxes full now. Precious commodities, these are. A whole yard of fabric only yields 2 yards of selvedges and sometimes only 1 side has the colour windows. I think the most colour windows I have for a fabric is 21. Will show you someday, if I can find it. From Yuwa, I think?

That was the before. The selvedges that DD picked out. Green ones, of course. More than what I had in mind, but it's ok. Maybe one day I'll sort my selvedge stash. Not now.

 Sewed the strips onto calico based on DD's arrangement. Lining was chosen by her. Ditto the metal snaps. There are 6 signatures this time for 2 reasons; firstly 'cos this is a larger cover compared to the earlier notebook and 'cos DD journals a lot. Just checked that there isn't enough slack for 2 more signatures. These were sewn using criss-cross longstitch so the signatures must be paired.
DS says it's too thick. I don't think so. I like it like that. DD too. What about you?
Have a blessed day!
Afternote: 
Made another one in pink with four signatures.

After the afternote: Made yet another one.

Horizon at breakfast

Was packing up the living room this morning when I chanced upon this advertisement for a freehold condominium called Horizon. Nope, I'm not a property agent and not in any way associated with this project. Thing was, when I looked at the card, I noticed that while the picture was spread across the whole face of the card, the print was on the right half. The significance of this is that it can be a notebook cover! So I folded it and went to look for a signature to check if it fit and it did :-)

Single signature pamplet (saddle) stitch notebook. Made in less than 10mins 'cos I punched the holes free hand and just sewed.
Make your own today!
Afternote: found another card :-)

Have a blessed day!

Sore fingers

I made another notebook using the PP sheet as a cover. I like it that it's a nice translucent white which shows of the colours of the pages inside and that it's strong enough to protect the papers inside. No doggy ears here. However, due to it's thickness of 0.75mm, I have a hard time poking the needle through even after punching the holes with an awl. DS likes this notebook and says it's nicer than some that I've made, but I think I'll stop here for a while.

Six signatures of greens, blues and purple covers of plain 5mm grids. Each cross has 4 holes and there are a total of 18 crosses giving 72 holes. I like the effect on the spine :-)
Have a blessed day!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Jonathan's mummy decided on having zero-calorie treats for Jonathan's birthday party so this year the goody bag won't be filled with sweets but with these instead :-)

Single signature, saddle-stitched notebook made with acid-free cardstock and paper from sustainable forests.

Have a blessed birthday, Jonathan!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

After sewing for a few days I decided to take a break and make a book. This time, I thought I'd combine both sewing and bookbinding and voila!

I made the cover first, out of linen. Patterned patchwork and plain oatmeal. I machine-stitched some of the patterns and some hexagons to bring out the print. Interfaced with 7oz batting so that the cover is sturdy. As for stitching the paper to the cover, I decided to use the criss-cross longstitch, deliberately sewn using contrasting thread. This book can open flat and that's why I put the stud on the flap so that there won't be a bump when you're writing on even pages. I was deciding between a ribbon tie or metals snaps for closure and snaps won.
Have a blessed day!

2 Corinthians 5:7

We live by faith, not by sight.
It's not easy to do this, as most of the time I'm affected by the circumstances surrounding me. James 1:2 doesn't make me feel better either. Truths are there in black and white and yet sometimes difficult to accept. To live by faith, is easier said than done, when it's going against the tide. Like the salmon returning home but they make it, even if only to die but I digress.
So, I choose to live by faith, not by sight, and by His grace, I'll be alright :-)
Join me?

Saddle-stitched single signature cahier with a fold-out flap as page marker. Made from remnants of patterned paper, acid-free cardstock and 132-column printer paper. I left the holes intact for its uniqueness :-)
Have a blessed weekend!

His Word is true

Cherish His promises to you as you jot your spiritual journey in this book. Adorned with biblical promises, it will remind you that, indeed, His faithfulness endures forever!

Single needle coptic stitch over 7 holes with 5 signatures of 7 folios each. Total 140 pages from sustainable forests.

Have a blessed day!

Bitten by the bookbinding bug

I bought a huge stack of cardstock recently 'cos it was on sale. I think there are more than 30 shades of green, blue, purples and browns with textures that are acid-free and meant for scrapbooking. I'm not into scrapbooking (as yet) so I was wondering what to with these cards till I came up with this.

Single signature saddle-stitched onto half a cardstock using coordinating thread. The white papers are from sustainable forests but I'm not sure about the green.
DD sewed the 2 darker ones together. She likes to come watch me bind and sometimes folds the papers. I don't let her handle the penknife though 'cos I keep it really sharp to be able to cut straight edges.
Have a blessed day!
ps: Yup, I did say I would go sew and I was yesterday...more pics on sewn stuff soon :-)

I need a needle awl!

This series of notebooks have 4 signatures with 6 sheets of 80gsm plain paper (100% wheat from natural source) and 1 printed pattern sheet. Covers are 240gsm metallic cards. I need to make 16 of these and have only done 3. What started as fun is wearing me down 'cos I don't have a needle awl :-(
Let me explain.
1 signature of these notebooks have 7 holes along the spine. 4 signatures and 2 covers means a total of (4 + 2) x 7 or 42 holes I have to poke thru either 7 70/80gsm papers or 240gsm cards. Multiply that by 16 books and there will be 42 x 16 or 672 holes. Thank God I started earlier 'cos my thumb is hurting from pushing the needle through. A cradle to hold the signatures would help too :-)

Have a blessed day!