Does Size Really Matter?

It seems in notebook and planner terms it really does, especially when travelling with art and craft supplies, when you need to justify every inch!

I’ll admit it takes me a long time to warm up to something and I’m quite sceptical about most things in the craft industry, putting them down to fads and phases. Micro and tiny sized travelers notebooks are nothing new but have been something I’ve wanted to explore for a while now and a recent flood of pictures on social media recently of cute mini tn’s had me longing to make one of my own!

Yesterday the weather was so awful, gardening was off the menu, so I was forced to spend the day in the basement studio making scrapbooks for my up coming KUKI stand. The materials were all out on the table and a little pile of discarded leather pieces sat looking at me so I decided to cut a micro sized piece just to see how it looked. Of course one thing led to another and I had to make inserts too otherwise how else would I be able to test it out? An hour later I had my micro and four inserts made from scrap papers and sketch paper.

I have a book of sketch paper, one made from mop up and scrap papers, one in watercolour paper and a fourth, the blue backgrounds all from a large piece of pre ink sprayed paper.  So plenty of choice of backgrounds depending on my mood and where I am and this little chunky will travel with me when I’m away this Summer.

Using scrap papers and my ready made background papers makes it already feel familiar to me so I won’t have any trouble filling it.

Here you can clearly see the progression in sizes, from my Carpe Diem by Simple Stories at the bottom which is my every day planner, Prima Jet Setter for journaling in, Prima Misty Rose for my hand bag planner and now the micro for on the go journaling. Simple Stories and Prima are found at Paperpenandplan on Etsy as well as the planner accessories.

Have a good weekend

Jaine x

Spring Inspiration!

Happy Friday and hello spring? The end of February was glorious where we are, warm, sunny and dry. I think we got a little carried away with ourselves and started to imagine outdoor activities and ice-cream! I know, I’m guilty of pushing the woolly pullies to the back of the wardrobe.

However, March came in and whoops!! Stormy, wet and cold weather was back. My wardrobe is a mess, as the woollies have been dragged over the spring garments and scarves pulled out from under thin tops. Ah well, it was a bit bonkers to be honest not to mention worrying.

My morning walks with Cooper are a good opportunity to watch the season change however and gather some inspiration along the way.  The pine branch above will find its way into my sketch book and may even be used next Christmas.  The fern will be used in a print I think and already I’ve added a small piece in my Simple Stories planner layout. I touched it with a brayer and a little white ink to tone it down and help it blend into the page better.

It fitted perfectly with my spring like theme for March and the Simple Stories Spring Farmhouse collection ephemera from Paper Pen and Plan.

I also used a little on my WOW! Embossing Powder Facebook challenge piece. This month the challenge is all about foils and I was desparate to use mine in an abstract way. I love abstract backgrounds and using them this way over a smooshed ink layer was so much fun.

I’m declaring March Nature Inspiration month just because I can! Why not try including a little nature in your work?

Have a good weekend

Jaine x


Getting Ahead For Christmas

“Stop the year I wanna get off!!”…… just kidding! Seriously though, does it feel like being on a very long slide with Christmas at the bottom and you just keep on getting faster? Maybe it’s just me or maybe it’s because of the insanely gorgeous Autumn weather we’ve been having that it became difficult to visualize Christmas.  Or maybe it’s the crazy routine in publishing when you’re planning December in July and by November it’s already Spring! 

Anyway, this was a discussion of sorts way back in July with my fellow teammates from Paper Pen and Plan. We were wondering why we never get to finish up our December Journals/planners even though at the beginning we always seem to be so focused. We came to the conclusion that if we planned things earlier and in a more organized way it should make the rest fall into place. So we’ve each taken a topic and week to showcase what we’re using and how we’re using it. I was up last week and I was talking about Inserts.

I decided to make myself a felt notebook cover in a standard size and of course I made my own inserts to go with it using a Simple Stories collection called Cozy Christmas which you can find at Paper Pen and Plan on Etsy.

To go with my theme I made a little video tutorial which you can find below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhkXI8gS1Vc

If you want to join us then head over to Facebook and join the Paperpenandplan group where we’ll be more than happy to help inspire you. I’ll be showing inside my planner and memory book as I add to it and I’d love to hear if you make one of your own or have your own ideas for December planning.

Have a good weekend

Jaine xx

An Update From The Studio

Good morning from a the sunny Dutch coast where we’re taking a few days break to recharge and rest. It’s the first time taking the dog too so his reaction to the sea will be priceless.

This week it was my turn to post on the WOW blog and the theme for the month is Embossing Glitter. I’m really embracing my glittery side and find myself adding some to almost everything these days. I never thought I’d say that.

I have this awsome stamp set from Jane Davenport which I used on this card and thought it reminded me of Asian art which inspired me to go for this Asian design.

Continue reading An Update From The Studio