You may already know that I have a fondness for advent calendar. I think I get it from my mom. As a child I remember her sewing together a large snowman advent calendar with pouches – inside each pouch was a felt ornament. Oh, how I loved it! She would also treat us to those store-bought advent calendars with a chocolate behind each door. Unfortunately I had to take turns opening the little doors with my little brothers.

Where am I going with this? Whipup has just posted a list of 30 of the best advent calendars – some of them are really gorgeous, yet so simple to make! I’m feeling very inspired at the moment…

Here’s a sampling of some advent calendars I’ve made in the past – I guess you won’t be shocked that they’re in book form!

This one is tiny, but chunky – the pockets are 2″ x 2″ and each one contains a tag. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but this book ended up taking about 8 hours to make! Between folding of the pockets, punching holes in each one, binding 24 signatures, gluing the pockets, then gluing the embellishments on each pocket…by the end of it, I was SO DONE.

This is a larger one – I made one for my mom last year (actually, today is her birthday – Happy Birthday, Mom!) and in each pocket I included a tag with “Merry Christmas” in a different language.

Do you have a great advent calendar you’d like to share? Please do!

I stayed home all weekend nursing a nasty cold, which meant I had lots of time on my hands. Perhaps too much.

As a result, I watched all 9 episodes of glee. Within 24 hours. Oh, but what joy! [Will I burn in hell if I admit that Sue Sylvester is my favourite character? The gems that come out of her mouth are shocking - but so, so hilarious!] For days, all I’ve wanted to do is sing and dance to Journey and REO Speedwagon… is that wrong?

Being sick also allowed me to make these beauties (while watching the aforementioned tv program):

Chunky books made from beer coasters! Can I tell you just how much I love these books?!!

I also spent time playing at Rollip (a fantastic site recommended by the lovely Shanley). It allows you to transform your digital photos into Polaroids – how freaking cool is that? For example:

BEFORE: Me and my *imaginary* boyfriend Jim Cuddy at the Jackson-Triggs Winery this summer (notice what he’s holding in his hand – one of my LP journals!).

AFTER: Again, how cool is this?!! [I actually prefer this photo to the original one.] I could easily spend hours and hours on this site…

This weekend I also discovered an amazing online magazine: Modern Handmade Child

If you’re into living simply, handmade gifts, crafting, and stunning photography and design, this magazine is for you. The Winter issue is chock-full of ideas and projects to try – and they’re not all centered around kids, as the title would imply. I am childless and have found so many items that appeal to my crafty, inner child…

Hope you’re enjoying your week so far – happy Monday!

A few weeks ago I received a copy of Eco Books: Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin by Terry Taylor (Lark Books) in my mailbox. As excited as I was when I opened it, life unfortunately got in the way and it wasn’t until recently that I was able to sit down and really sink my teeth into the book.

The book features 40 or so projects, each made with recycled materials that, for the most part, are readily available around the house or office: waste paper, egg cartons, manila folders, tea bags and coffee filters, etc.

I decided to make three projects from the book:

1. Diskette Book

I’ve had a box of these small floppy disks for years, just waiting for the perfect project to come along. This little book was fun to make, and I’m quite happy with the results.

This project is bound using the 2-needle coptic binding. Although I personally prefer the 1-needle coptic binding method because it’s faster and less frustrating (the thread is less tangly), I followed the directions in the book to see if they were easy to understand.

Most people who have used the coptic binding method know that using curved sewing needles (instead of straight needles) makes the binding process incredibly easier. [Trust me, switching from straight to curved needles will change your life. Try it. Go on.] Unfortunately the author did not mention this important fact, which may lead to unneeded frustration from someone trying this binding method for the first time.

The instructions were generally clear and well written. I couldn’t quite figure out how the author came up with the hole placements for the covers and signatures – the result was uneven distances between the stitchings. I personally prefer even and symmetrical spacing between stiches, but I am fully aware that not everyone is as obsessive about these details and I am.

2. Bar Notes

My second project was this chunky book made with beer coasters. I must admit, this was my favourite project from the book and everyone I showed it to fell in love with it too! One person kept talking about how great this book fit and felt in her hand, and I totally agree.

I used Tyvek bookcloth for the spine, but duct tape would also provide great results. This binding method is called long stitching – the wonderful thing about this type of binding is that it’s so versatile: you can create an assortment of looks from the same basic stitches. Fortunately the author gives several examples of looks you can create withthe long stitching method.

I can definitely see myself making tons of these books – next time I’ll use new beer coasters (although the ones I used for my book give it a “rustic and authentic” look).

3. Slinky Map Book

This was actually the first project that I had started to make from this book. I wanted to try a binding method that I had never attempted before. This type of binding doesn’t seem to have an actual name; the book mentions that it’s a custom stitch that the designer learned from someone else.

Even though the final product is pretty fantastic, the process was LONG and PAINFUL. Trimming, folding and punching 120 folios, then stitching each one individually (read: 120 signatures!) made for a project that lasted several long hours. The repititiousness (did I just make up that word?) involved in sewing the singatures together would have made for a mindless, almost relaxing binding process – if the threads didn’t keep tangling. This book required two long threads and four needles throughout the process, and keeping the threads straight was definitely a challenge.

That being said, I definitely love this tiny book (each signature is actually only 2″x2!). It gave me the opportunity to learn a new binding method [I'd definitely like to explore how to use this binding on a larger-scale book]. And even though I usually prefer to make functional books that I can use (for journalling, note-keeping, etc.), this book is actually quite fun to hold in your hand and play with. Believe it or not, it really feels like a Slinky – the toy many of us enjoyed as children!

All in all, I enjoyed many of the projects featured in Eco Books. I wonder about the functionality of some of the projects (egg carton books – how does one use those?), but as I explained earlier, I don’t tend to make books purely for form – the have to have a particular use.

The instructions for the projects I tried out were pretty clear, although I’m not sure how clear they would be for someone who is a complete newbie to bookbinding. Several standard binding methods (coptic stitching, stab binding, long stitching, etc.) are used repeatedly on various projects in the book, so don’t expect a different binding for every project. Once you understand how the different bindings work, you can usually substitute one method for another one if you’re going for different looks.

The publisher (Lark Books) has graciously offered a bonus project to you, my dear readers! You can download it here: Eco Books Bonus Project.

I sit here tonight perusing the newly published Eco Books: Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin, drooling over  photos of some very cool handmade books. I need to select a few projects to try out, but what to choose when everything is so darn awesome?

Stay tuned for some recycled bookbinding goodness…

It’s been a sad few days – I recently found out that Urban Scrapyard, the creative shop where I’ve been teaching workshops for nearly three years, will be closing by the end of this week.

My first encounter with Angela (the owner) was very serendipitous – I’d driven by her store countless times, and although I had never scrapbooked (I still don’t!), I was intrigued by all the funky paper displayed in the storefront window. One day, I decided to walk in and my life changed. I left the store with a ton of new paper and a request to teach bookbinding workshops! (In my sheer excitement, later that day I sliced my finger with a craft knife, came out of the emergency ward with numerous stitches on my finger and was pretty much useless for 5 weeks.)

I had just moved to Toronto and didn’t know anyone here yet. I was aching to meet other creative souls with interests similar to mine, and I found so many of them at Urban Scrapyard. Angela, Rozanne, Alex, June, Melanie…and these were just the staff!

A loyal group of customers followed many of my classes, and I became friends with many of them. I have often fed off their ideas and questions and requests – they have made me a better instructor and a better artist, without a doubt.

It saddens me to think it’s all coming to an end so soon. I only hope the dream can be revived one day.

One serendipitous day.

I’ll miss ya.

It’s never to early to start your holiday planning!

In October, I’ll be offering several workshops that focus on holiday decor, planning and gift-making. Here’s a preview:

Check out the Events and Workshops page for full details.

As I sit here downloading music from my favourite music site, it suddenly dawned on me: If I could dream up a crazy life for myself, you know what I’d love to do?

I’d love to be that person who matches songs to commercials, or to movie & tv scenes. Not sure what that job title is called (any ideas, anyone?), but I’m sure it’s something cool and important, like “Executive Song Matcher”.

When it’s well-done, a scene and its associated music can be brilliant. Take this example:

Or these commercials:

Or this scene from the West Wing:

Freaking brilliant.

What’s your crazy dream job?

Check out the Events and Workshops page for more info!

I’ve been reflecting on a theme that’s been recurring in my life for the past several months. I’m sure you’ve heard of this exercise before: At the start of the new year, you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself during the year. It could be a word such as love, discover, create, or something along a similar vein. But although I’ve always loved the idea of this exercise, I’ve never been able to pick a single word I could commit to for a whole year.

I’ve come to the conclusion that for 2009, the following word chose me instead: RECONNECT

Once I started paying close attention, I discovered that the theme of “reconnecting” has been coming up over and over again in my life, mainly in the form of old friends.

In the past several months, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting up with countless friends that I’d either lost touch with, or hadn’t seen in way too many years. I estimate that since January, I’ve reconnected with at least 15 friends!

And you know what? It’s been damn good for my soul to hang out with people who have known me since forever.

Sure, there was often apprehension at first: Will they have changed? Will I have changed? Will we still have anything in common? Will we have anything to say to each other? Will it be awkward?

And in every case, I’ve come away thinking “We should have done this a long time ago. I never realized how much I missed {insert name here}.”

And so I’m trying to make a conscious effort to reach out to long-time friends and spend time with them. Not always an easy thing for a solitary person.

But for the first time in a long, long time, I feel really good – physically, mentally and emotionally. I’m convinced my friends have lots to do with this.

And it shows – in the past week, I’ve have no less than three people tell me that I look really good and seem really happy. Wow.

Yesterday I posted a few new items in my Etsy shop, which had been sadly neglected. I’ve been having a great time these past few weekends making a dozen or so LP journals, including these beauties:

We Are The World

Journey

WHAM!

Imagine my thrill when I received a message from someone wanting to feature my WHAM! LP journal on her 80s-themed blog!

One of the reasons I love making LP journals is because of the nostalgia – especially when it comes to vinyl records I listened to during the 80s: Duran Duran, WHAM!, A-ha, Bon Jovi, Prince… Even though I now cringe whenever I see legwarmers, Aqua-Net hair, and fuchsia lipstick and eyeshadow, those were the days.