• 3D printing - Blog - Creativity

    My style notebook

    February 12, 2024 - By 

    I am a prolific list maker and idea jotter. I am constantly grabbing a sheet of notebook paper to quickly write my ideas. It gets a bit chaotic with some many pages of half crossed lists laying about. I started thinking that if I could have a smallish notebook with me that I could keep everything in one place.

    This idea, like so many others, has been rattling around in my head for a while. Lately I was inspired by an image of a stack of small pamphlet stitched notebooks on Pinterest. That in combination with a Readers Digest Condensed book cover I had in my stash and thinking of the function of a travelers notebook I put the three together to create my own version to better suit my needs.

    As I said before, I constantly have papers to jot ideas or work things out visually. Such as this drawing on how I wanted the elastics to work in the spine. Originally I was going to have 3 signatures to my book but after drawing it out I realized that I’d need 4 to have the elastics at the same end of the book.

    I used my new book cradle to assist in the binding process. 

    Mr. G 3D printed and assembled this very sturdy tool for my bookmaking. In the past I’d used an old phonebook for this process with very mixed results.

    This book cradle makes it a breeze to accurately make holes in the spine with an awl. The results are perfect.

    I added a but of reinforcement to the spine of my gutted Readers Digest Condensed book.

    Then used eyelets to reinforce the holes for the elastic cording.

    A bit of lace covered the unsightly bits quite nicely. All that was left was assembly.  And the glamor shots.

    Anyone remember Glamor Shots at the mall circa 1990s? Oh yeah… I have some cringe worthy photos from that place. Faux fur stole and white gloves…geesh. Sorry…ADHD squirrel moment!

    The glamor shots…

  • Blog

    January Journal embellishments

    January 16, 2024 - By 

    Since the cold weather finally found Minnesota, I’ve been doing a bit of lap crafting. It’s too cold in my basement craft space to spend any length of time. I had yesterday off for Martin Luther King Jr day so I spent a bit of afternoon time by the fireplace re-watching a series. Re-watching something lets me craft while still getting a bit of entertainment value simultaneously.

    I’ve definitely been more inspired by junk journaling lately. I watched a YouTube video the other day that talked about using those 6×6 paper pads for an easy and practical embellishment. A full page pocket.

    They were super simple yet slightly boring on their own. I decided to add clusters to them to jazz things up a bit.

    As you can see they are kind of like chips…can’t have just one.

    Here I grabbed an ATC to show the pocket part. When the pocket get glued to the journal page it will be adhered only on three sides creating another pocket behind.

    After embellishing the pockets with clusters I decided that my stash of clusters needed a bit more interest. I grabbed a container of paper flowers and set to work.

    I had so much fun working with this limited palette of flowers.

    As you can see I went a bit crazy, but I used up the whole container of flowers from my stash. I’ve been think a lot about all the stuff I have for crafting and how meaningless it is to have around if I’m not using it. I made a pledge to myself to use things. Even if I don’t have a specific plan at the moment. Moving forward with creating. Not everything has to a a plan. I’m being BRAVE and using the stuff. Creating without an end goal in mind per say.

    While I crafted, my buddy Marvin kept me company. He’s sweet like that.

    This is a poor picture taken as the sun was setting but look at the blossoms! This plant has never bloomed for me. I’m so pleased that it finally did!

    Over the long weekend I had plans to have Bloody Mary’s with the neighbors but they came down with a cold. I wasn’t too sad since it was so frigid outside. I didn’t relish the idea of walking across the street. Instead we all had our own and shared a photo in our group chat. 🙂 I suppose we could have done a zoom call but that really would have been overkill.

    It was back to reality for me today. The end of semester is Friday so suddenly all the kiddos want to get some work done! Imagine that! Keeps me busy and makes the day go by really fast.

    Linking up with Elizabeth and friends for T Tuesday where we share a beverage and whatever else comes to mind.

    T stands for Tuesday
  • Blog

    November in review

    November 27, 2023 - By 

    Once a month blogging seems to be my new benchmark. Times have changed. I remember when I was posting 3-5 times a week…oh, the good old days!

    November has flown by with the exception of the past week when I was so very sick with a wicked virus (not COVID) that eventually turned into a sinus infection. I missed work last week…of course, we only had two days. I missed Turkey Bingo which is pretty much the most fun event we do as a staff. We postponed Thanksgiving until Saturday. GAH! What a lame week!!

    Ok I’m done whining…on with the month in review.

    I’ll start with a little lap crafting I’ve been doing. I saw a tutorial on YouTube making ephemera for junk journals using 6×6 scrapbook paper. I didn’t want to make ephemera but I knew this technique would lend itself very well to small size envelopes if I tweaked the process slightly. They are the perfect size for gift cards, small jewelry, stickers or anything else you’d want to gift inside. I got a little carried away when I was pulling out papers but now I have enough small envelopes to last for years!

    I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and preserving this month as well.

    My red cabbage sauerkraut is finally ready to consume. I’ve never tried making this before nor have I eaten red kraut. I like it and will definitely do it again.

    My pressure canner is getting its use after a long time of me being too scared to use it. I canned up 13 pints of broth. Previously I’d just freeze the broth but that takes up valuable real estate in the freezer plus if you forget to take it out ahead of time, that’s a pain too.

    The first batch of lefse is complete for the season.

    I know I’ll make at least one more batch around Christmas. I’m going to have to try out my new griddle for the next round. I noticed that this one wasn’t heating evenly anymore. She’s 25 yrs old so I think I can forgive.

    Since I was off today as well I had time to make personal turkey pot pies for us to have for dinner. They aren’t the prettiest but they are so yummy but so filling!!

    Our school put on its annual Veterans Day celebration on Nov 10th. It’s always a fantastic event and I was actually able to sit in the bleachers this year to get a different view of the ceremony.

    Marvin turned 9 on Nov. 11th. He had a couple extra treats and some special attention for his birthday.

    My neighbor and I went on a little road trip to her son and daughter-in-law’s house who happen to live only about 35 minutes from where Mini-me goes to college. We met them for lunch in town then Mini-me headed back to college.

    The rest of us went to a local winery. Its was super busy so we took a seat in the production room.

    And what does this girl choose to have at a winery…a beer. It was a Minnesota craft beer. I don’t drink wine much anymore. It makes my joints hurt. Weird side effect that makes it not worth it to have any.

    I went on a field trip the Monday before I got sick…I’m thinking either the bus ride or lunch facilities was the culprit of the germs. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the woods though.

    The weather has definitely shifted so I am thankful the dome is back up from my morning walks. I’m thinking about signing up for a challenge that has you “walk the year”. Meaning, I’d have to walk 2024 miles next year. I think I can do it. I’d just have to push myself a little more on the weekends. So far this year without pushing myself, I’ve walked just shy of 1400 miles so far.

    Back to work for me tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to being back in a routine. Although, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy today. I crafted, cooked, cleaned up and still had energy to blog and still feel like I had a somewhat leisurely day.

    T stands for Tuesday