Tim and Dotty...

With the end of the month drawing near, I figured today (or yesterday, as I am posting this today) I would finally make the Tim Tag for august, or should I say booklet as I prefer to make books. Don't get me wrong, I like tags as well, I just don't know what to do with them once they are created. Now books I can use and that's why I prefer to make those.

And since it's all about the technique, I guess it's alright. Tim has shown us some fabulous techniques in the past year, but this one has to be my favorite. As per usual I didn't have all the materials he uses in his tutorial.

So I had to be a bit inventive and make do with what I did have.

And while I was busy making one booklet I figured I might as well make two, so I also made one for the Dotty challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, monday challenges.

Hence the title, Tim and Dotty =). Here are some close up shots of Tim and Dotty.

WOYWW 221

Wednesday again Time for yet another WOYWW and I have finally found my way back into my art journal. Since I now made a new realy cool one and I won't allow myself to work in that one until I, at least, finish working in this art journal.

I have way to many things going on at once and I do feel it is distracting... too much to try out.

I realy need to stay on top of things and make myself more organized. So I bought an agenda a while back, as I showed you last week.

I've been good an I have been using it, but all I seem to do is make lists. Which is good, don't get me wrong, but I also nee to do some sort of time management thingy.

That's why I started looking at chronodex and spiraldex as a system.

You must break out...

The theme for Art Journal Journey this month is "Square/Quadrat".

I did not have a plan in mind when I started working on this. I didn't even work in my art journal. As I had some trouble getting back to normal life after my vacation.

I did take some progress pics while I was working on this and some detail shots... so be warned, this is a picture heavy post =).

Secret Belgian binding tutorial

A while back I made a little booklet as a test for a swap. The booklet was bound with the Secret Belgian binding method an I promised to make a tutorial for this binding method.

There are several fabulous written tutorials for this type of binding online, so I won't do that. Instead I made a video tutorial, showing you how to bind your book with the Secret Belgian Binding. I haven't found any other You-Tube videos with this type of binding, so I can't link it to any other videos for reference.

I hope you will find this video tutorial helpful.

I had to break the video up into 3 parts, because it would've become to long otherwise. I did think about cutting parts out, but I guess this works as well.

WOYWW 220

I wasn't going to write a post today, because there's not much going on realy. I've been taking a break from crafting and blogreading etc. Trying to prepare myself for going back to work next month. Trying to get into the right mindset.

I have been doing some painting, but somehow not in my art journal. Just on some old 12"-12" scrapbook papers that I didn't like.

On my desk you can see one of those art journal paintings. I do consider them art journal pages, because I do journal on them. That is, I dump the contents of my brain into my arm and out through my fingers onto the paper. I don't stop to think and just let it all out. The same way I write in my day book.

Just goofing around

Yesterday and today I have actualy realy been goofing around, doing everything and anything and nothing at all. I think because I'm sortoff postponing making the booklet for my next swap for the Hinges group at Milliande's art community for women. We're supposed to make a book with the secret belgian binding.

When I looked it up I was enchanted by it. the binding looks very appealing and intriguing. But I cannot, for the life of me, find any video's of it anywhere. Just some tutorials with photo's....in some foreign language. I lie, some are in english =).

I started a prototype booklet with the binding. Smaller than I want the real thing to be, no theme and not as elaborate.

I kinda like how it turned out and learned quite a bit making it.

Then I thought I would do a video of the making of the book for the swap... and so the stalling began. All kinds of questions popped into my head.

WOYWW 219

My last WOYWW was #215, so I missed quite a few desks while I was away, but I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I even played around with some paint again these last few days. Not to much mind you, because I first had to clear away all the mess I made before I went on holliday. So I could start making a whole new mess.

And a mess I made =)

Here's a birdseye view of my mess. On the right you can see my mothers hands. She came by yesterday to pick up my son for a sleepover with his nephews and to work a little in her travel journal.

My workdesk is on the left side and the clean and tidy workdesk I created has long gone. It's once again a huge pile of, well I don't know what. Anything and everything I use, or find, or think I might use. One day is all it took. I actually don't mind it looking like this, as long as I have a spot to work in, that's just fine. I just figure that's what it's for. If I want it to stay neat and tidy, maybe I shouldn't work on it, right?

On my desk you can see a bubble envelope I'm decorating, because I actualy just got my first ever order for 2 little books on my DaWanda site. Yay =).
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(spoiler alert for Susanna =) ...)
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Back home

We are back from our holiday in Italy. A little sad and glad at the same time. We had a wonderful time, such a beautiful country and such lovely people. I even understood some Italian this time around, though I realy should try and finish my course before I go there next time. I might even be able to say some words in Italian by then, other then bon giorno, ciao, prego and grazie =).

Back home I'm having some trouble getting back in my rhythm, so I thought I would start off with showing you what I made to take with me on my holiday.

At first I was only going to take a tiny little file folder journal, but since we bought this little printer for the holiday snaps, I realy wanted something bigger so I could journal and add some photo's at the same time.