Day 127/365
Wordless Wednesday 11.02.15
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Day 127/365
Tag Archives: paper arts
And the winner is . . . .
Day 118/365
Last tuesday I announced I was having a blog giveaway contest! Well, the contest ran, so many amazing entries were submitted and I’m pleased to announce that we have a winner!!! 
Congratulations to kwils3!! You’ve won the prize pack!!
I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to enter my contest. I’m blown away by your heartfelt reasons for putting pen to paper. It’s clear so many of you took time and great care to compose your answers. I love hearing that journals make your hearts swoon!
Soooo, I decided to draw a second name for a smaller but still paper-fantastic prize!! The winner is Lettersandlaces!!! You’ve won one of my signature Loot Bags!! It’s a small collection of my handmade goodies.
Again, thanks to everyone who participated in my first blog contest, I plan to have more in the near future! And I promise to keep them creative and fun!!
**If you are a winner, please send me an email with your mailing address so I can ship your prize!
Shop Local!
Day 115/365
Today I’m happy to announce the latest retailer of Sprouts Press products: Scout over on Roncesvalles Avenue, here in Toronto! 
If you haven’t been in yet, you should definitely check it out. There are beautiful products from many local and Canadian designers and artisans. It’ll be fun, I promise!
If you’re interested in shopping Sprouts Press but want to stay local, head over to my ‘Retailers‘ section and reach out to a store in your neighbourhood!
Learn the Longstitch
Day 114/365
I’m so excited to announce a new bookbinding workshop at a downtown location! I’ll be teaching a binding method I haven’t taught in a while, straight Longstitch, so if you’ve taken a previous class with me, this is a new one that you should check out!
What: Creative Bookbinding Workshop!
Where: Little House in the City; 555 Parliament Street, Toronto
When: Sunday February 8, 2015, 1pm – 4pm
As always, you only need to bring yourself; materials are included in the workshop fee, and tools are provided for use during the class.
To learn more and register, please go here.
Details, details
Day 112/365
In case you didn’t know, I’m currently having a blog giveaway! So I thought it would be kind of fun to do a little feature on the goodies that will go to the lucky winner.
Postcard Pad, a set of 7 original, hand decorated postcards to tear out and mail, pictured above. Each postcard in this set is different, so don’t be afraid to send them all to the same person/your Valentine! They make a great companion when travelling or on trips to your local cafe.
Hand printed Ex Libris Bookplates, a set of 4 in Coral, pictured above. These are linocuts, my own design, which I cut and hand printed on self-adhesive paper. Simply write your name on the lines provided, and maybe put in a date or who gave you the book if it was a gift. Then peel off the backing and put the label on the inside cover of your book. Never lose a book again!
Mini Faux Leather Button Book in deep burgundy, pictured above. This is a cute, chunky little book with a button closure. There are 122 pages (244, front and back) and it measures 3″ x 4 1/2″ x 3/4″. Inside, find a mix of pages; blank, lined, and colours, with a surprise map thrown in for fun!
And of course, all these goodies come in a cute book bag hand sewn by yours truly.
To enter the contest just go here for instructions and details. Contest runs until January 31, 2015.
Good Luck!
Learn the Linkstitch
Day 111/365
There are still a few spots left in the Book Making Workshop I’m giving at Graven Feather. This is the class to take if you’ve always wanted to learn how to make your own journal.
I’ll show you how to hand decorate covers, and then how to bind it into your very own journal! Everyone leaves with a finished project!
When: Saturday February 7, 2015 10am – 1pm
Where: Graven Feather, 906 Queen St. West
Cost: $65, materials included
*You must pre-register to participate.
**Can’t make it on February 8? No problem, more dates have just been booked! The workshop is also running on March 7 and April 11!
***And if none of those dates work, just keep an eye on my Workshops page.
For more information and to register, please go here.
Water + Colours
Day 108/365
I recently added a handful of journals to my online shop that I’m incredibly proud of: Watercolour Sketchbooks! These are books that I’ve been working on for myself for a while now, I particularly love the clean lines and tidiness of this journal; it is simple and understated yet highly functional.
Handcrafted in a series of four colours, they all house 140lb watercolour paper, cased in hard covers wrapped with bookcloth made by yours truly. And a select few showcase brass corner protectors, for the truly adventurous sketcher! (That’s me!)
Another treat: matching ribbon bookmark! These books are case bound, so you will need to work them in, but they will open flat with use. The case binding has been spun on it’s end given that a landscape orientation is more practical than portrait for a sketchbook.
The Watercolour Sketchbook makes a great gift and once filled it becomes a cherished keepsake!
Shop them online here or in person at the Arts Market on College, in Toronto.
Long Distance Valentine
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.
Romeo & Juliet
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.
The Studio on a Sunday
Day 103/365
It’s technically wintertime here in Toronto, though you might not be able to tell today since it’s raining. So it seems appropriate that I’m drinking many cups of tea (milk oolong today) and putting together more Wintertime Bookbinding Kits.
Look at the selection of fancy papers – the deep indigo floral chiyogami makes me swoon!
This winter-themed bookbinding kit is packed to the gills with goodies. A selection of fancy papers, heavy-weight cover papers, page papers, linen thread, simple tools and embellishments (not pictured)! Once you’ve completed the two books in the kit (and the super cute mini book!) you can start adding your own materials and keep going!
Pictured above I’ve added in a few things from my own collection to inspire you: two spools of linen thread (you could use cotton thread, but linen thread is stronger and more durable), tiny scissors, beeswax and my trusty wooden awl! What other crafty supplies would you use?
Wintertime Bookbinding Kits are available in my Etsy shop, at Freedom Clothing Collective and now also at the Arts Market on College.
Sprouts Press 