Handmade Book of Cards

A friend of mine, Maria, gives me handmade cards every week! Yes, every week. She blames me for her addiction to making cards as I introduced her to the craft. I wanted to celebrate her artistic flair and wanted an excuse to make a handmade book. So I combined the two in this book. Her favorite color is pink, so of course I used some of my prettiest pink scrapbooking papers to cover the book covers and spine. I used pink ribbons to tie the book together when it is closed.

The spine and end papers (inside the book) match.
For inspiration, I looked to one of my favorite books, Expressive Handmade Books, by Alisa Golden. The cover is called a split-board binding (see pages 128 and 129). I used the accordian structure she describes. I added flags to the accordian structure so that I could attach the pretty cards to the book without changing the cards in any way. See Alisa's Single-Flag Book topic (pages 57 through 59) for tips on how to incorporate the flags.

I wanted to be able to open the cards so I could read the sentiments inside and the cards were not the same size. I attached the cards, back-to-back, two cards to a flag. I matched the card size as best as I could and adhered the backs of the cards together. This gave the cards strength for flipping. I will treasure this little book for its contents and for its cute look.
Think about the possibilities for some treasured event like a birthday or wedding. You could collect the cards in one place for sharing.

Journal and Card Workshops

I truly believe that journaling at a young age saved my sanity and my life. Journaling is the way that I focus and ground myself. I sleep better when I journal before bedtime. Journaling is a personal history, an exploration of my life. As I look back over time through my journals, I have found that my prayers have been answered and I've learned to be much more thankful for all I have and for who I am becoming.

I enjoy teaching and sharing, especially anything about journaling. A couple of years ago I conducted a journaling workshop at a women's retreat. The only problem with giving workshops is that I see all the beautiful things others are creating and I have no time to create during the workshop. However, at this particular women's retreat, I was able to create two quick journals (pictured above). I was able to share in the creation experience with the lovely and talented ladies who attended.

In my neighborhood, there are several ladies who love to come over and make cards. We sit and chat while working on our stash of birthday and thank you cards. I usually give a quick little demonstration on how to use tools or techniques that they can try out. As they get more accomplished at card creation, I have more opportunity to relax and create with them. I am very blessed to be able to teach and create. I am also blessed to have such wonderful friends.

My Secret Garden

These are photos of an altered book I created named My Secret Garden. In the book, I used my own photographs that were altered to look like watercolor drawings. I was very transparent in my thoughts about how I deal with the world - inviting the reader to continue only if they were not put off by what they had already learned about me. I added an insert with rocks and twigs; symbolizing my internal rock garden. This was my first altered book and there were things that did not work as well as I would have liked, for example the gated page. I did not put enough support on the folds, so the folds are a little fragile. I may go back and fix this at a later date.