Day 107/365
Join me and learn to design and craft your own hand bound journal! This workshop will introduce you to the basic process of hand decorating paper for use as book covers, and then how to incorporate it into a hand bound book using the Longstitch Linkstitch technique.
No previous art experience is required.
When: Saturday February 2, 2015 10am – 1pm
Where: Graven Feather, 906 Queen St. West, Toronto
For more information and to register, please go here.
Day 106/365
Day 105/365
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love writing letters, sending letters and receiving letters, the snail mail kind. Valentines day around the corner and since I know several people in long distance relationships, I figured that now is a good time to showcase some of the items I make that are designed to be letter-mail friendly. These are items that are perfect to pop in a cute lovey-dovey card, maybe with a fancy bag of tea tucked in too!
From the top left going clockwise:
–Ex Libris bookplates, handprinted in gold.
–Quick Notes notebook, with handpainted two-tone red covers.
–Ex Libris bookplates, handprinted in coral.
–Quick Notes notebook, with handpainted covers in pink and gold.
Of course there are a few larger options; Bookbinding Kit in red & grey, red & cream, perfect for the crafty valentine.
Lastly, this is my last Starburst Journal in red Florentine. This was the first design I bound using my starburst stitching along the spine. It’s a special book that makes a very special gift either as a journal, sketchbook or a fancy album, for a special someone.
Day 104/365
You may remember a couple of sundays ago I posted about making a new series of the ever-popular Starburst Book ornaments; Star Cross’d Lovers Book ornaments. Well, here they are finished!
I focused on 4 cover designs, each a bit different. There is a simple gold pattern (above), a sweet floral (top photo), a more traditional tile-inspired pattern (pictured below) and an organic flora-based pattern (bottom photo). 
This pattern is my favourite, I love the repetition and bold white on red. It reminds me of fancy kitchen tiles and tea time spent with loved ones.
I love the versatility of these little ornaments; they can be displayed closed to show off the fancy paper cover, or you can burst it open to a star to hang. Since they come as a set of two, you can do one of each. Or you can give one to your Valentine and see which way they prefer to display it.
See my etsy shop for details.
Day 100/365
In honour of the 100th day of my 365 project, I’ve decided to devote today’s post to all things golden!! Here’s what I’ve made in the shiny, sparkly colour everyone loves:
Quick Notes Notebooks: Handpainted black & gold, handbound with black linen thread.
A medley of golden delights (top left, clockwise): Fancy Coptic Journal in Gold Florentine with matching vintage golden button, handprinted Ex Libris bookplates in gold: Set of 5, handpainted Quick Notes Notebooks in Gold, Small Fancy Coptic Journal with matching gold vintage button.
If you’re hooked on gold, head to my Etsy shop to see what else there is!
Day 99/365
Day 98/365
Today I’m taking you on an insiders tour of the Journal Adventure Kit!
If you’re like me, you love packages of paper products that have an air of mystery to them. For instance, the Journal Adventure Kit. It is sealed and thick with paper and ephemera surprises. So, today I’m going to open one up, at random, and show you what’s inside. However, please note that they are all a unique combination of papers, colour palettes and other tidbits.
First off: handmade tags. Some with reclaimed vintage dictionary pages and fancy papers. Other tags are stamped, punched, washi-taped or feature hand drawing or mark-making. 
Inside there’s also a handbound notebook with label, origami creature, and a stack of papers: vintage, maps, Florentine, fancy printed, ephemera papers, etc. This is a nice thick stack of papers for you to play with and really decorate your notebook, inside and out.
Hint: it’s also fun to wrap a strip of paper from the inside of the front cover to the outside and paste it down.
Lastly, and possibly my most favourite, is the cutie pie mini envelope! Yes, it is cute on the outside, but on the inside you’ll find a handful of Shakespearean insults!! Also tucked inside are some super mini letter-writing papers, for secret notes to be pasted in your notebook or given to someone special (or not so special if you include the insults!)
Want your own Journal Adventure Kit? Click here!
Day 96/365
Today in the studio it’s all about Valentines Day! Many shades of pink, red and white are floating around here, all in the name of books of course.
A sneak peek at some new designs for a series of Star Cross’d Lovers Book Ornaments.
With inside pages from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, of course. 
Keep your eyes peeled for these to be released in my Etsy shop next week!
Day 95/365
This is one of the books from the ‘Journeys in Winter’ series, from a couple years back. When winter in Toronto was more mud and gravel than snow. It was a bit disappointing for me as I do love some winter sports, but I didn’t mind the milder temperatures (mostly it hovered around 0 degrees celsius, give or take).
There were several books in the series, and I have a few left. They are based on the idea of combining printmaking, painting and bookbinding, which I’ve discussed here. But I also really like the structure of the book; a matchbox! 
The binding is a Japanese Hemp Leaf binding, which is great for single sheet pages.
You can see from a side view just little snippets of the page papers: maps, graph, lined, blank and colours! It really is a great little book for a winter journey!
Since I hand paint/print the covers, every book is different. Even the front and back covers are different on the same book.
Day 94/365
As you may have noticed from my previous post, I’m on a bit of a hand-lettering and calligraphy kick these days. I’m also enjoying the idea of a few posts that promote journalling, sketching and using journals in general. When I first had this idea I immediately pulled my quotes journal from the bookshelf, and decided to share a few of my favourite pages. 
I will admit that this is a big step for me, I don’t usually share the contents of my journals and sketchbooks. But these are just quick, pretty little notes that I jotted down in less than 10 minutes. And that’s the idea, you can do it too! 
You can find quotes all over the place: online, via a ‘quotes’ app (there are many!), at the library, etc. Sometimes the best are snippets of conversations overheard in passing, or by looking at groupings of book titles on shelves to see if they form a sentence. It’s also fun to pick up a book and open it to a random page and see what you get, like a box of chocolates! (Well, maybe not quite like chocolates, but you get the idea) 
Fun pens and markers are also a welcome addition. A bit of colour or shading can give your page just the right tone.
If you want to try this yourself here are a couple of tips:
-Choose a quote that isn’t too long, make sure it fits on the page and that there’s room for a border to be drawn around it.
-Make sure to jot down the author of the quote so you can give credit and search for more inspiring words by that person.
-You can put a ground of colour down first with markers (as in the last photo above), and then write your quote on top.
-Feel free to use a simple, minimalist border or to get more creative and swirly. Really whatever you feel like is what goes!
-Don’t try to make it too perfect, this is meant to be a quick exercise that is fun and enjoyable!
Do you have any other tips for quick quote-taking? Have fun!
Sprouts Press 