Buttonhole Stitch Journals

My new favourite journal to make is the Buttonhole Stitch Journal. I recently took an online class by Bari Zaki  on Carla Sonheim’s website.I have made one or two Buttonhole stitch journals before but was not happy with the way they turned out. I absolutely love Bari's technique and plan on making lots of these.

Felting Fail

I wanted to try wet felting some bird pods this week but apparently it was an epic failure. I followed some excellent instructions from Jeanne Harlan-Marriott but somewhere I went off track.

My daughter came over yesterday and while looking out the window asked me why I had dead rats hanging from the tree. These dead rats were the 3 bird pods I made.

I do know where I went wrong (mostly) and hopefully with a lot more practice I can perfect my wet felting skills or lack thereof. The first one I made wasn't too bad but I did not like my colour choice of roving. The second one I decided to use some fleece I had been given for free. This way I thought I could practice without spending any money. I lost the ties on this one partway through the felting process. The table I was using was not very wide and the ties were hanging over the edge and with the weight of the water they fell out of the pod. I was able to put a couple of them back in and tied the others on. The third one was the worst of all. I went off script and went for a different shape. I again used the fleece but made this one way too thick. I also cut the hole for the opening in the wrong spot. Many lessons learned on these pods.

I know the birds don't care what they look like but I do so I would like to make at least one I am happy with before I got back to work in September.

A few more

Same book different lighting.
The journal is actually upside down in the picture on the left.

Some recycled books for the United Way sale

Recycled an old book into a purse

Barrettes for a bat loving friend

A few things I made for the United Way sale at my daughter's work.

Secret Belgian Binding with Mica covers