Friday, November 23, 2012

Loving Thoughts Mini Book

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Turn Your Regular Routine Into A Vacation Moment!
On Tuesday I asked Michael if he wanted to join me for a morning walk with Buddy.  Every once in awhile he will come along, rather than focus on doing his side of the morning chores.  He said he would come along, but rather than travel one of our usual routes, we decided to head down to a shopping district that is about a mile and a half from our house.  This was a detour from our usual routine and the minute we crossed over one of the main streets and began to walk in less familiar territory, we began to feel like we were on an adventure!  We walked down into the shopping district - lots of streets with outdoor stores and restaurants - and we found a little coffee shop with outdoor seating.  I sat outside in comfy chairs with Buddy by my side while Michael went in and bought a cup of tea and a cup of coffee.  We then sat there, in the sun in the comfy chairs and sipped our drinks and watched people come and go.  At one point Michael turned to me and said, "It feels like we're on vacation!"  And it absolutely did!  It's funny to have lived here for so many years and to never have taken such a vacation moment in the midst of our regular routine.  I have a feeling we'll be going on this vacation again in the not-too-distant future :)  How can you turn your regular routine into a vacation moment????
Today's small journal was inspired by an instructional dvd I watched highlighting Beryl Taylor and her amazing mixed media techniques.  I used some paper cloth I had created and stenciled and sewed on it.  I then did some random free-motion stitching on a folded piece of 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" card stock.  Next I sewed the paper cloth to the card stock.  The next layer is actually a few dried out tea bags glued together and then stenciled and trimmed down.  I stamped that piece with a stamp from Loving Thoughts using Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Next, I sewed that piece to the journal cover.  A button was then sewn on with some embroidery thread.  I create these easy little books with recycled printer paper as the pages.  I usually add a small bit of stamping on the inside to hide any printing that doesn't get trimmed off.  I hope you like it!  Here is a close up of the embossing on the tea bag paper:
ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA IS HERE!!!!!!
Our biggest online sale of the year, Online Extravaganza, is going on now and ends on Wednesday, November 28. We've got a fantastic selection of stamp sets, accessories, and tools that will be discounted up to 50 percent!  Log in to my Online Store NOW to take advantage of these savings including oodles of popular products discounted up to 50 percent!

1 comment:

Lorraine said...

You have such a talent for putting things together in such a special way. Love this!