Tag: Carpe Diem

Autumn Term From The Studio

I love Autumn especially living here in a country blanketed by forest. When the leaves turn it’s magical.

We do tend to get nice weather in Autumn and as I sit here it’s the first of September already the sky is blue and the garden is calling.

This Autumn I start a new chapter in my life which I’ll go into in a bit more detail about next week but for now I need a new planner set up to help me get ahead so I thought I’d work in my Carpe Diem from Simple Stories along with the new Forever Fall collection.

It’s an absolute gorgeous collection and the colours are right up my street.

I decided to make myself a wrap around for one of my inserts from a file folder which is so easy to do. I can’t take all of the credit for this one, I saw it once on the internet but for the life of me I can’t remember where I originally saw it so sadly can’t give the credit where it’s due.

To make a wrap around pocket cover you’ll need to get hold of a card file folder. With school starting there are plenty around and you can pick up a pack of colourful ones for very little money. I just happened to have a few old ones which I found in the recycling centre which is what I’m using here.

The first thing you need to do is take out the metal and plastic holders if that’s possible.  If you can’t do that with yours I suggest you work it into the finished design and take advantage of it.

Next mark off where you need to cut and fold. Measure the wrap around using your insert and fold the two side pockets in. When it comes to cutting off the excess at the bottom leave a flap of about two cm’s at the bottom of each pocket. Cut a diagonal piece off each pocket.

Put double sided tape or glue along the bottom flaps and fold them in and that’s all there is to it. Now you get to do the fun bit which is the decorating.

It wraps around an insert perfectly and also makes a nice cover if as I’ve done you slip the covers into the pockets.

All materials come from PaperPenAnd Plan on Etsy which you can find here and if you use the code JAINE10 you can get an extra 10% off your order.

Have a good weekend and I’ll speak to you soon

Jaine xx

 

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A6 Travelers Notebooks And Ephemera

I decided it was about time I moved into a more seasonable colour of Travelers Notebook cover and the obvious choice was the bright green one.  After cutting out the felt for the covers I had some strips of felt left over and used one to make myself a pen holder. It’s a perfect addition too on the front of my notebook and gives me the idea to make a few more in other colours to co-ordinate with the covers.

I’ve actually managed to get four books in this one quite easily with some extra bands as the size is slightly bigger than my old one.

If you’d like one of your own I’m selling them in my Etsy shop at the moment and I plan to add more colours to the range too.

One of the books I have inside is a mini notebook which came with my Sweet Treat box from Paperpenandplan.

It’s gorgeous, hand stitched by Ali-Beth and even though it was already a beautiful blue colour I thought I’d give it a bit of a distressed beachy feel and dry brushed some white paint over the cover. I gave the letters the same treatment before layering my elements together.

From the same kit I also decorated the pages of my Carpe Diem planner

I love all the elements from this kit, including the extra little snippets of washi tape which closed the packet tops. Nothing should go to waste.

For the past few weeks I’ve been experimenting with making my own stickers too and finally I think I’ve got it.  It’s all my original artwork and I’m really happy how they turned out.  I’ll be adding them to my shop in the near future so keep a look out.

Also from my shop I had a bit of a sort out of my ephemera packs repackaging them to present them a bit better.

They’re great for Junk Journaling or mini book making and are full of bits and pieces.  Each pack contains 50 elements which include book pages, playing cards, vintage postcards and tags as well as lots of other ephemera and ribbons.  They’re in my shop here.

I hope you all have a good weekend and I’ll be back with more news soon.

Jaine x

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Happy February From The Studio

Wow February is here and I for one am truly happy about that. January is such a dismal month with most of it spent trying to either catch up on stuff not finished from last year, feeling down because already the promises made on January 1st have fallen by the wayside plus the weather is usually dull and dreary like the mood. So…..February is here folks so fear not, all will be well.

February is the month of finding the first signs of an eventual spring. Only this morning I swear I heard the croaks of a bull frog coming from the pond next door. There’s alot to look forward to this month and yesterday was Candlemass or Liichtmess as it’s known here where light is brought in to the home to see us through those last weeks of winter and to hurry on the Spring. Here it’s a big thing with the children who walk from house to house with lamps chanting the song and asking for sweets. Like trick or treat without the trick! It’s a colourful and light filled occasion and of course the kiddies love it. Then at the end of the month it’s pancake day (shrove Tuesday). I love pancakes, who doesn’t?  In the middle of the month I’ll be off to Birmingham for the Stitches show at the NEC. This time last year I was all nervous and excited to be part of it on a stand of my own as part of the CHA designers section. I’ve learned alot in a year and realise how naive I really was back then. I’m happy to be going this year as a visitor, it’ll be more relaxing for sure.

Right now on the Canvas Corp web site, I’ve a little project using scraps of paper and fabrics to make prayer banners. They include motivational words to help carry me through the year and the banner hangs in my studio.

I’m pleased to say my planning is right on track and I’m really enjoying the process. I think I’ve found something which suits me and my style and is really working. It’s only taken a year of experimenting to discover what I actually like but I’m now using my A5 Carpe Diem properly but putting my own stamp on it, my Travelers Notebook from Websters Pages which holds my sketchbook and my personal which I’ve totally renewed making all my own dashboards and inserts for.

I’ve very pleased to say I’m involved with a wonderful community of people called Paper Pen and Plan who bring monthly planner goodies to you in the form of a subscription box. They have a web site here Paperpenandplan and a great Facebook group too.

My February planner pages have been created using stickers and downloads from their February Sweet Treat box the theme of which is Rainbows and Unicorns. What could be more adorable? They are also running a challenge within the Facebook group with the opportunity to win prizes. You can join the group here.

Have a good weekend everyone and I hope it’s a colourful one.

Jaine x

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My Simple Stories planner

I’m itching to start my new planner but before I do I thought I’d open it up and give you a little look at what’s exactly in it. There’s a ton of space to write, stamp, stick or what ever you fancy in there and I’ll be making good use of every centimetre.

If you’d like to order one for yourself you can find it in the Basement Studio Shop here.

Jaine x

 

 

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