Summer Travelers

I totally forgot this post which has been in draft for a while now. Intending to post while I was away so I thought I’d better get it out there!

I cannot get enough of the Vintage Botanicals collection by Simple Stories. I think it’s my favourite collection to date. 

It was just the right choice to cover a couple of inserts for my Carpe Diem Travelers Notebook and take to France on holiday with me. I love the vintage feel, it’s not too vintage and is packed with colour and layers, and has a real Summer vibe to it.

I used it too to decorate my monthly planner pages for July using both the papers and sticker elements. You can find lots of Simple Stories supplies at Paper Pen and Plan on Etsy.

Jaine xx

Does Size Really Matter?

It seems in notebook and planner terms it really does, especially when travelling with art and craft supplies, when you need to justify every inch!

I’ll admit it takes me a long time to warm up to something and I’m quite sceptical about most things in the craft industry, putting them down to fads and phases. Micro and tiny sized travelers notebooks are nothing new but have been something I’ve wanted to explore for a while now and a recent flood of pictures on social media recently of cute mini tn’s had me longing to make one of my own!

Yesterday the weather was so awful, gardening was off the menu, so I was forced to spend the day in the basement studio making scrapbooks for my up coming KUKI stand. The materials were all out on the table and a little pile of discarded leather pieces sat looking at me so I decided to cut a micro sized piece just to see how it looked. Of course one thing led to another and I had to make inserts too otherwise how else would I be able to test it out? An hour later I had my micro and four inserts made from scrap papers and sketch paper.

I have a book of sketch paper, one made from mop up and scrap papers, one in watercolour paper and a fourth, the blue backgrounds all from a large piece of pre ink sprayed paper.  So plenty of choice of backgrounds depending on my mood and where I am and this little chunky will travel with me when I’m away this Summer.

Using scrap papers and my ready made background papers makes it already feel familiar to me so I won’t have any trouble filling it.

Here you can clearly see the progression in sizes, from my Carpe Diem by Simple Stories at the bottom which is my every day planner, Prima Jet Setter for journaling in, Prima Misty Rose for my hand bag planner and now the micro for on the go journaling. Simple Stories and Prima are found at Paperpenandplan on Etsy as well as the planner accessories.

Have a good weekend

Jaine x

December Daily Already?

Tis the season to be busy fa la la la la la la la la.

It’s that totally mad time of year again when in fact I’ve already celebrated Christmas and New Year believe it or not, way back in the summer after planning, creating and writing for Craft Stamper and  Paper Pen and Plan and here I am again planning and creating again like a crazy woman for an art and craft fair and my December Daily.

After a few false starts here (I just could not make up my mind which style of DD I wanted to go for this year) and a few abandoned choices I settled on using a travelers notebook style this year. Actually thinking about it I’m pretty sure it was the choice for last years too but that’s only because I totally love the style and format plus the idea of having it tucked in my Websters Pages TN cover appealed very much.

For my cover I’ve used papers and embellishments from both my November Sweet Treat Box from Paper Pen and Plan and some of the bits from the special bargain box which were available way back in the summer. There are still some bits left in the clearance section of the store if you’re quick.

To make my book I decided on a junk journal style for the inside pages. A few randomly chosen papers from magazines, music paper, a brown paper bag and ledger paper were put together and sewn simply down the middle with a long stitch.

Not terribly complicated stuff but non the less effective. I can’t wait to glue, paint and sketch inside it.

Quite by chance or maybe not, this month in Craft Stamper magazine I’ve an article featuring some planner pages using products also from Paper Pen and Plan and showing off their Sweet Treat Boxes.

It was a little bit bonkers writing up a planner page for the New Year when it was July but maybe just maybe it’s a little insight into how I hoped to see my New Year panning out. Anyway if you can get hold of a copy in your local newsagents or here online it’s a great read not just for my article but all of the other fab projects inside.

Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you next week.

Jaine xx

The Word Of The Week – FOCUS

Focus, it’s a good word. One I use often but totally ignore. I’m one of the worlds worst procrastinators so my to do list just gets longer and longer. I’ve been trying to get through the list this week before I go away at the end of the month but I think I’m finally there.

I’ve been so good that today I actually had some time to do a bit of art journaling. Oh I have missed it. I can’t remember the last time I got the paints out and just created something. The starting point was the feather picked up on a walk this week. I used the Dylusions paints from the shop for my background and glued in the feather. A bit of collage and journaling finished it off and I think I’m a happy bunny again.

Here’s a closer look at it.

We’ve had some pretty sad weather this week, for August anyway. Not as bad as some folk in the UK but still cooler and at times wet, so an afternoon of lovely warm sunshine was very welcome and provided the perfect opportunity to get outside to do some sketching.

I made a start on this weeks planner pages laying down some watercolour and marking out my grids and days.

This is how it looks today, friday and almost finished. I’m loving this sort of layout and for the moment I don’t see myself changing it at all.

After the success of last weekends felt TN launch in the Etsy shop, I added to that family some pen holders also in felt. I’m very proud of them all and I’m hoping they’ll be as popular as my notebook covers. To find yours you can follow the link here.

Well that’s it for today. Have a good one where ever you are and stay creative.

Jaine x