sew happy

My sewing machine usually doesn't see much action unless I am hemming pants... but alas, I am running low on kraft notebooks for the upcoming holiday shows, so time to fire it up again! A bit of a twist to the book design this time... a zig-zag stitch. Being the sewing amateur that I am, things like zig-zag stitches are very exciting. And after some trial and error, I think the zig-zagging looks really cute on these notebooks. Yes, I get excited over the lamest crafty things...

august giveaway! - win a fancy deer notebook!

With back to school just around the corner, it seemed fitting to have another notebook giveaway... awwww yahhhh! And even if you aren't in school and haven't been in years... why not make the neighborhood kids jealous by toting this fancy deer notebook around. Imagine all the things you could write... shopping lists, short stories, gangsta rap lyrics, wiccan spells, tic-tac-toe, dear john letter.... really the list is endless, people.

Enter to win by posting a comment telling me what your favorite subject in school was/is... perhaps it was math? english? cheerleading? smoking behind the fence? I'll make a random draw from the fabulous trophy cup on Monday, August 24th. Please remember to include some contact info (etsy shop, blog, website, or e.mail address) and please only one entry per person.

Good luck and be sure to check back next Monday to see if you won!

sewing sweat shop

We just got back from Portland, Oregon yesterday, where we spent our BC Day long weekend... the trip was fantastic and I am still sorting through all the photos... so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see some of the shots of our weekend adventure! 

The day before we left (Friday), I finished sewing all the 100 or so notebooks covers – my attempt to get ahead of making craft inventory for this fall and winter. After sewing (too long) in 30 degree heat (high 90s if you are in fahrenheit), it was literally a "sweat" shop in our apartment. I am still quite slow on the machine, so what would have taken a real sewer probably only a couple of hours, took me the entire day (and evening)... sigh. Now looking at the pile, I am debating on whether to make more... (is 100 books enough for a 4 day fair? hmm... maybe not?). I do know that I will plan my production around cooler weather, if I do make more.

production nerves - part 2

In my attempt to alleviate my production nerves for the upcoming craft shows this fall and winter, I have been trying to chip away at making a bit of inventory, so that I don't drive myself crazy this year with my last minute-ness. Made some great headway this week - managed to glue all the vintage images I had cut out onto the first batch of notebook covers (last count was about 100 books - if these don't sell, I will have a problem)... next step will be to stitch borders around the images with my sewing machine. The sewing part is easy (it's just straight lines)... it seems my problem is always trying to get the tension right and just threading the darn machine... arghhh! This is what happens when a non-sewer tries to sew!

production nerves

The promo cards for the big One of a Kind Vancouver show and sale are here, and I was delighted to see that my kraft + vintage paper notebooks are featured smack dab in the middle of the card (between the model in the white sweater and the boy with the balloons). Yes, the pic is tiny, but I am soooooo putting this up on my fridge.

Hmm... then it dawned on me, I have to get cracking on making a whole bunch of notebooks for the show and not leave it until the 11th hour. (I haven't even started making my woodburning inventory yet...eep!) This will be the first large trade/craft fair (as in convention centre large) for me and I am suuuuuper nervous... ok, that is an understatement... I am extremely freaked out. In my nervous panic, I went into a bit of a production frenzy yesterday and started cutting out tons of images for the book covers. I figure if I make stuff gradually over the summer, it will be less daunting and scary. Hope my theory proves true.

Also, another bit of good news, Bess of english muffin, featured some of my woodburnings on her cute blog, the english muffin... thanks Bess!! ;)

and the winner is...

Hooray... over 90 entries for the June giveaway... the friendly competition is getting fierce! Meow! So to keep with tradition (well, ok, this is the only second giveaway I have had.. but we had to keep it ceremonious), all the names have been printed and dropped into the glorious trophy cup... it's the old school randomizer. Thanks to my hubby Roger, for being the official draw person (he really had no choice in the mater)... heehee.

And the winner of the two lovely notebooks is... Tracy of Hey Harriet (blog: Hey Harriet)! Congrats! And what is her fave book?: "Difficult to narrow down my fave book but one that I love is 'Sophie's World' - so much so that I named my little dog Sophie."

Thanks to everyone who entered... everyone had such great books as their choices (so some good suggestions in the comments, for anyone looking for summer reads)! And no fret, if you didn't win... I am going to have another giveaway in July... hooray... so stay tuned!

june giveaway - win two notebooks!

Last month's giveaway got such a great reaction (over 80 entries!), so I thought I would have another one for this month... yay! Who wouldn't love these cute whale and birdy books to jot down their thoughts, sketches, and lists.

Win this cute set of gocco printed blank notebooks by posting a comment and telling me the title of one of your favorite books. I'll make a random draw from the glorious trophy cup on Monday, June 22nd. Please remember to include contact info (etsy shop, blog, website or e.mail address) and please only one entry per person.

Good luck everyone!

hardcover notebooks on sale!

I am discontinuing my series of hard cover notebooks and switching to focusing on just doing soft cover books... so I am putting the remaining ones I have left on sale for 50% off! There is a lovely happy red elephant design as well as an orange and blue singing bird design. Both are printed on grid paper with my little gocco, and each book contains 60 blank pages and a lovely matching ribbon bookmark. Check them out in the etsy shop here.

kraft + vintage paper notebooks

I love kraft paper and can't seem to get enough of it. This past month, I decided to make kraft notebooks featuring random images from vintage books on the covers – yet another way to salvage all those unwanted used books! Each image is sewn on to the cover with colourful thread, and each book is made out of 100% post-consumer recycled paper. I had initially made four dozen, which then ended up being snapped up very quickly at the local craft fairs. Luckily I made an extra batch and will be posting new ones up in the shop every couple of days!

crooked walker notebooks

I thought I would share with you some of my husband Roger's new screen printed notebooks today. He has got into the print gocco fever as well and created these colorful notebooks featuring images of cassette tapes on the covers. We still have boxes of random mixed tapes in our house... all from our elementary and junior high days. Its funny and embarrassing to see all of the different types of music I painstakingly tried to record back then – EMF and Boyz II Men on the same tape?...yikes. Check out the books at www.crookedwalker.etsy.com.

poppytalk

How very exciting! My collage and a couple of my notebooks have been featured on Poppytalk today as part of the New Affordable Art features. It is one of my most favorite blogs and is from Vancouver too! I can't help but to gush about the great things that come out of this city. Check out the blog for great postings on art, design, and things handmade!

new notebooks

Yay! The notebooks that I printed with my print gocco are finally up in the shop! This time around I have made two new styles... one with a happy blue whale and the other with a pair of singing birds. Both are made out of 100% post consumer recycled paper, so they are good for the environment as well. Check them out in the shop today!

print gocco

My living room has been taken over by hundreds of notebooks. I am in the process of printing some new notebooks with my print gocco and am running out of space to let things dry – I think I will have to look into getting a drying rack of some sort. I am getting really good at tiptoeing and maneuvering without having a book stuck to the bottom of my socks though. I will post the new designs soon once they are dry!