April 23rd was World Book Day...

(drawing above is one I did of a book puppet that I made to introduce my preschool storytimes! He sings a great little song to signal the fun!)

Read what the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team shop says in the shop announcement:

"April 23rd is World Book Day! To celebrate this day, the BEST team is having a challenge. Participating members will make a book honoring either William Shakespeare or Miguel de Cervantes. To finish off the celebration, the team is having a World Book Day Sale on April 23rd, with many members offering 10%-15% off or free shipping. For a list of participating shops, please check our blog, http://etsybooks.blogspot.com/."

April 23rd is also William Shakespeare's birthday! Way back in 1564! And Cervantes died on that day. Read more on the origin of World Book Day on Wikipedia.

While I did not participate in the challenge (because of other previously committed challenges!) many other of my team members did! Check out their work on our team blog here. And check out the sellers who are participating in the World Book Day Saleby clicking here! Happy shopping!

More books and recycling and crafting...

Have you seen the new blog of Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord (of Makingbooks.com) called The Creative Year? She posts ideas and directions for creative projects that use recycled materials from around the house. The picture above is my version of her First Day of Spring Flowers. I used fabric that I had acquired from a yard sale years ago, twine from the garage, and a couple branches from our pruned Crepe Myrtle outside our bedroom window. I made this to add a splash of color to our Easter get together, but it is still being enjoyed and periodically moves around the house. Right now it is in the foyer welcoming guests. Now it welcomes you to my blog!

If you're looking for a book project see her post about St. George's Day on April 23rd.

Happy Earth Day 2008!

I love Earth Day! We were all about worms and dirt in my preschool class today! Now, as a bookbinder who uses new materials, I am always on the search for things to do with my leftovers. That extra bookboard and the extra papers. I do not like waste. I do recycle, but I love to find ways to reuse things at home. So, in celebration of Earth Day 2008, I'm happy to share with you one of my own recycled notebook creations - a dos-a-dos book made with all reused paper - recycled from school, home, and library papers.

Included with the reused paper for writing in the notebook are reused junk mail envelopes that work beautifully to hold receipts, business cards, or love notes! I had a ball carving my very own stamps for the images on the front and back of the notebooks. Stamp carving, I found, can be very relaxing and calming. You can see more pictures and read more about them here and here in my Etsy shop.

Now, does anyone have any ideas for things to do with your leftover small pieces of bookboard? I have one idea that I may be showing you soon, but I'd love to hear how you use your paper waste!

Have you visited the Planet Green website yet? This is what they say about Planetgreen.com, "PlanetGreen.com is filled with solutions-oriented tips and information that can help you make your life a little (or a lot) greener. Our eco-minded community includes fan sites, articles about how to go green, and forums where users can interact." It will be the "first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network" launching in June 2008. As a very basic cable customer I won't be able to watch this network, but I have enjoyed searching their site and reading the articles. Particularly this one called "Repair Damaged Book Binding"by Jasmin Malik Chua, of Jersey City, USA. You will find a link to the information on WikiHow. I love old books, especially those that were given to me by my family. These books were read and loved by my husband's family.





The first book titled, "Bible Symbols", belonged to my mother-in-law's own mother and was generously given to me by my sister-in-law. Just look at the beautiful endpapers! The second one is a tiny prayer book used by my mother-in-law and by her mother-in-law before her. I can just imagine the hands holding it as heartfelt prayers were lifted! There is no binding on this any longer and it's been held together by tape for as long as I've had it! Again, no binding! Now, do I actually repair the binding or leave these precious books as they are? For now, I think I still have to leave them as they are - with all their character.

Introducing...

Should I get a drum roll? I am introducing my new line of handmade bookcloth albums - the Fabric Collection of Life Stories Books! This is what I've been up to with the fabric that I showed you a few posts ago (here). I just love these japanese cotton/linen blend fabrics! I turn them into bookcloth using heat n bond and Unryu paper. The texture feels so good in your hands - I wish you could reach out and touch them! All are available in my etsy shop.

2 Cute!

OK, I admit it - we are big American Idol fans here - the whole family. This is the cutest conversation I had with Mackenzie (age 5) the other night while we watched the results show. Jason Castro had just walked on stage:

Mackenzie: You like him, don't you?

Me: Yes.

Mackenzie: Do you like his song, or do you like his face?

Me: I like his song.

Mackenzie: I like his face.

I keep a journal reserved just for the memorable things that our kids say! This is definitely in there!

Other family Idol fav's:
Sierra (8): Brooke White
Cameron (5): doesn't know yet
Daddy: David Archuleta

What She Likes!

I'm so happy to have been featured on the webzine What She Likes! In Freya's own words, the editor of the webzine, "What She Likes is an online mag for women. This webzine is for and about women(of all ages) who love the arts basically. This webzine promotes the arts by featuring women who are active on the web and who are doing a great job in the field of arts, crafts and fashion, featuring art sites and much much more!

What She Likes gives women wonderful oppurtunities to express themselves. You can request for topics, get your work featured here if you are doing something related to arts, crafts, fashion or blogging and even write for What She Likes!"

Click here to check out what she said about my books, as well as all the other great artists and items she has featured!