Monochrome Mini Magic

Happy Week 23 Bloglanders

OK, maybe you are counting differently but what's important is that we are nearing the middle of 2016. Time to get going and get things done.

I just came back from a mini holiday / maxi weekend and decided to get my pictures and memorabilia into my Project Life album right away!

Most of my pictures went into 6x12 Project Life pockets but I decided to put the journalling, more pictures and memorabilia into a mini book (well sort of) and add it to my album. Like I did here.

I just cut an old school exercise book to 6x12 and sew it to a page protector.

Everything except the page protector is from my scrap stash - I even recycled a printed paper bag from my previous birthday's pressie.

Now just for a bit of decorating:

I decided to go for a monochrome look inspired by the SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge. Normally I'm not a natural kind of girl but because this was all about an outdoor, camping trip in the wild of Sunny SA, it worked perfectly.

Did you spot more of my "secret sewing"?

And it's in my 6x12 Project Life album:

I hope to have a video soon of all my holiday pictures. I'm sure you would love to page through it with me. In the mini book are loads of brochures, maps, notes and more pictures.  The maps and brochures are BIG and folds out or fit into glassine pockets that I've added to the inside pages.

That's it. Another project done and dusted!! Thanks for visiting my blog today and please come back to play. In the meantime, have FUN and craft on. I'll be back later this week to show my super sexy picnic basket. All handmade by ME and in a monochrome colour-scheme as well. Love it!!

PS. For those of you who want an inside peek, this is my VERY first attempt at a video. Please bear with me - I'm sure I'll improve with every one I make!!

Secret Sewing

Happy Wednesday Bloglanders

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

As promised, a pic of Goudmyn (GOUD=gold; MYN= mine) near Robertson (Western Cape, Sunny South Africa) where we've been camping this past weekend.

And now for my post on SECRET SEWING.

If you follow my Instagram feed, you would have seen it by now but if you haven't, I'm here today to explain how to do it.

I print all my comments on a 6x4 sheet. In "Word" adding a table and filling up the spaces with what I will need as well as some extras for future use. Now start stitching.

The GREAT thing about this is that even if you don't have a sewing machine, you can ask a friend to help you out or do a stack when visiting your mom or aunt who does have one stashed away somewhere.

I use all my "scrap" thread for these. You will see that I've used orange on top and pink at the bottom and halfway through my project, I had to replace the bottom thread - now that one is yellow. I like the IMPERFECTNESS.

I also like that the stitching doesn't go all through to the back page. No need to cover up unseemly threads.

Now start cutting them apart.

All that's left is to glue your stitched titles onto your projects. Keep what's left in a mini storage bin - they will come in handy in future projects. I use them on my PL spreads, PL cards, mini books. layouts and in my planner.

And ............ meet my SECRET SEWING mini book:

I will put some more SECRET SEWING projects up on my blog throughout the week.Just check back and all will be revealed.

That's it - I'm off to have some crafting FUN. Have a wonderful day and please come back to play.

3x4 Project Life Travel Mini Book

Hello Bloglanders

Happy Friday to you all!! Wynand and I are on our way for a camping weekend. He's a VERY happy camper!!

But, I'm not checking in to tell you about our trip - you can check my Instagram feed to see what it looks like and I'll be sure to share some pictures next week. I do want to show my Project Life Travel mini book.

I do love mini books but they tend to sit on my coffee table and I miss out on their picture in my Project Life spreads as I don't want to duplicate. SO, I came up with the idea to include mini books in my PL spreads. You can see more of them here.

This one fits into a 3x4 PL page protector:

After our camping weekend, I'll show the whole page. Just check back and all will be revealed. Let me show you how I made it.

One piece of rather sturdy cardstock of 3 x 4-and-a-bit (add a bit to the length of your card where you can sew on the pages) Cut a few pages - I did different lengths as I wanted the bottom ones to peek out. I used ordinary copy paper but you can do cardstock if you want to. Now fold the copy paper pages in half.

Now stitch / staple / bind. I use paperclips to keep everything in place.

Now ............................................ let the games begin!!! Embellish your mini with scraps / new stuff / pretties you've been hoarding ............................... just GO!! And this is what mine looks like:

My caravan and car comes from a previous Silhouette cut and paste project, the rest are die cuts from scraps of paper and SURPRISE (drumroll!!!!) ............................ in my next post I'll share my Sewing Secrets. Check back - you will not believe that adding sewing to your photos / layouts / journaling could be so easy. BUT, that's for next time. If you are curious, see if you can figure it out from my Instagram feed.

And a sneak peak inside my PL mini book:

And here I'll be adding info about the campsite:

That's it!  I have to GO. People to see, things to DO, places to GO. Happy weekend to you all and I'll be back on Sunday with some pic's and my promised Secret Sewing post. In the meantime, have FUN and remember to try something new - TODAY!!