Travelers notebook – Basement Studio

Why I’m Downsizing My December Journal!

I don’t know how many of you keep a December journal? It becomes more popular every season. I love the idea of it and love the preparation but I don’t think I’ve ever managed to make it past day twelve. Well actually that’s not true I think I managed to finish one once but I didn’t get around to it until Easter! Sigh!! In the past I’ve made travelers notebooks, an altered book, junk journals, ringbound, you name it I’ve tried it!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this past year it’s that the passport sized Misty Rose travelers notebook is the planner which I keep using regularly and seem to have no problem filling out. This made me think that perhaps this size would be perfect as a December journal this year.

With this in mind I made myself an insert, well actually it’s one which I already had – a mixed media insert for my Misty Rose by Prima and sold by Paper Pen and Plan. I simply covered it with paper from the November Sweet Treat Box by Paper Pen and Plan as well as a few stickers from a collection kit I bought from them last year.

I seriously hope that this is going to be easier to fill than previous books! Anyway It’ll look good in my bag plus if I’m out and about it’ll come with me seeing as it’s in my travelers notebook cover.

The Misty Rose travelers notebook and inserts can be found at www.etsy.com/shop/paperpenandplan as well as lots of other planner and Christmas goodies.

Jaine xx

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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

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Autumn Term From The Studio

I love Autumn especially living here in a country blanketed by forest. When the leaves turn it’s magical.

We do tend to get nice weather in Autumn and as I sit here it’s the first of September already the sky is blue and the garden is calling.

This Autumn I start a new chapter in my life which I’ll go into in a bit more detail about next week but for now I need a new planner set up to help me get ahead so I thought I’d work in my Carpe Diem from Simple Stories along with the new Forever Fall collection.

It’s an absolute gorgeous collection and the colours are right up my street.

I decided to make myself a wrap around for one of my inserts from a file folder which is so easy to do. I can’t take all of the credit for this one, I saw it once on the internet but for the life of me I can’t remember where I originally saw it so sadly can’t give the credit where it’s due.

To make a wrap around pocket cover you’ll need to get hold of a card file folder. With school starting there are plenty around and you can pick up a pack of colourful ones for very little money. I just happened to have a few old ones which I found in the recycling centre which is what I’m using here.

The first thing you need to do is take out the metal and plastic holders if that’s possible. If you can’t do that with yours I suggest you work it into the finished design and take advantage of it.

Next mark off where you need to cut and fold. Measure the wrap around using your insert and fold the two side pockets in. When it comes to cutting off the excess at the bottom leave a flap of about two cm’s at the bottom of each pocket. Cut a diagonal piece off each pocket.

Put double sided tape or glue along the bottom flaps and fold them in and that’s all there is to it. Now you get to do the fun bit which is the decorating.

It wraps around an insert perfectly and also makes a nice cover if as I’ve done you slip the covers into the pockets.

All materials come from PaperPenAnd Plan on Etsy which you can find here and if you use the code JAINE10 you can get an extra 10% off your order.

Have a good weekend and I’ll speak to you soon

Jaine xx

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Lots Of Crafty Stuff From The Studio

Well January has been a bit of a mixed bag so far. My lack of blogging has been due to a broken laptop which has gone away to be fixed so I’m left using my tablet for writing which is a slow process and my phone for photos. I’m getting a bit fed up of one fingered typing. My fat fingers keep making mistakes and the auto correct changes my text into something altogether rubbish, sometimes totally inappropriate too.

That’s not good…… Hopefully it’ll come back soon before I go bonkers.

Meanwhile…….having a bit more time on my hands meant I could have a bit of a tidy up in the studio and as a result came across a pile of leather pieces. I’d almost forgotten about them in the back of a cupboard. Given to me by my friend Lena, they originally came from a sofa swatch book so are mostly A4 size but with odd holes and stitching where they were held into the book.

They’re just the right size and stiffness for making into notebook covers like this. I broke four needles sewing the strap on but it was worth the effort.

I’ve made this green one big enough to take four to six notebooks comfortably with a wrap around and button closure. I love it. I might make some more this weekend.

One of my goals for this year is to journal more so last Friday in the studio I did just that and had a blast. I missed the paints and inks alot last year so I intend to bring my journal out as much as possible in 2018.

It was a perfect opportunity too to use my house stamps. After stamping and cutting them out I was happier to leave them uncoloured againsed the crazy background and I think it worked.

For this Friday in the studio I’ve turned to the journal in my travelers notebook where I’m going to start documenting the months. I’ll add some photos, notes, ephemera and stickers and keep it sketchy and informal. It’ll be a place where I can highlight everything which happens during the month plus I can add some arty backgrounds in too.

That’s it for this week. Have a good one and I’ll speak soon.

Jaine xx

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