I actually don’t know much about St. Patrick’s Day. But I do like rainbow cupcakes–even though I’m not sure food is supposed to be such bright colors…

There’s still time to enter the giveaway down below.

A few things I really should be doing: + making the beds for Katie and Will + cleaning the bathroom + [...]]]>

I actually don’t know much about St. Patrick’s Day. But I do like rainbow cupcakes–even though I’m not sure food is supposed to be such bright colors…

There’s still time to enter the giveaway down below.

A few things I really should be doing:
+ making the beds for Katie and Will
+ cleaning the bathroom
+ getting Kristina’s guest book ready for the book press
+ filling my shop with butterfly notebooks
+ ironing Chris’ shirts
+ taking a nap

It’s spring cleaning time around here. The trees and bushes are on the verge of full bloom and so I’ve got a serious case of the cleaning bug. The next few Tuesdays I want to share a few of my favorite DIY organizing projects. First up: the easy envelope organizer.

Cathe Holden thought up this great [...]]]>

It’s spring cleaning time around here. The trees and bushes are on the verge of full bloom and so I’ve got a serious case of the cleaning bug. The next few Tuesdays I want to share a few of my favorite DIY organizing projects. First up: the easy envelope organizer.

Cathe Holden thought up this great project. The full how-to can be read here and you can download the images for the labels here. All you need is a handful of no. 10 envelopes, glue and labels! How easy is that?

I followed her directions with a few personal twists:

+ Instead of attaching the envelopes to each other, I glued them to a few sheets of cheerful Amy Butler paper.

+ Since I don’t have a color printer handy, I used a different label border (also one of Cathe Holden’s free downloads – you can get it here).

+ My envelopes are hanging in my studio.

+ I used part of  one of my favorite scriptures at the top.

Happy organizing! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway in the post below…

That’s right! Me!

Poppytalk has a wonderful blog and hosts a themed market each month. For the next 30 days you can visit Book Bound Bindery there. Make sure you check out all the other vendors – it’s a great collection of handmade goods.

And seeing as [...]]]> Guess who has a table at Poppytalk’s Spring and Easter Market?

That’s right! Me!

Poppytalk has a wonderful blog and hosts a themed market each month. For the next 30 days you can visit Book Bound Bindery there. Make sure you check out all the other vendors – it’s a great collection of handmade goods.

And seeing as this is my 100th post (hooray!) I think we need to celebrate. I want to send one of you a surprise package from the studio. And I promise it will not be full of paper scraps.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Go visit the Poppytalk Handmade Marketplace. (button is over there in my right sidebar —–>)

2. Leave a comment on this post by Monday, March 22nd about all the amazing things you saw/bought at the market.

Ready. Set. Go.

In January, I filled an order of bird and butterfly notebooks for a friend from church. She is the leader of the young women’s youth group at our church and she wants to give them to the girls for their birthdays this year.

I really enjoyed making books for girls I know. I hope they love [...]]]>

In January, I filled an order of bird and butterfly notebooks for a friend from church. She is the leader of the young women’s youth group at our church and she wants to give them to the girls for their birthdays this year.

I really enjoyed making books for girls I know. I hope they love them!

Here are a few photos of my favorites. In true Book Bound Bindery fashion, each one was different.

I have two little kiddos who love to make things. They draw and paint and color. Most of the time I’m working int he studio, they are there too working on their own projects. So, we have a LOT of kiddo creations around the house. I hate to file them away somewhere so I came [...]]]>

I have two little kiddos who love to make things. They draw and paint and color. Most of the time I’m working int he studio, they are there too working on their own projects. So, we have a LOT of kiddo creations around the house. I hate to file them away somewhere so I came up with this frame that is easy to change out the art so we can rotate the new drawings into the display. This one is black, but it can be any color you want it to be.

SUPPLIES

+ a wooden frame without glass  (The one I used  is from an old art project that I had in my closet. You should hunt for one at a thrift shop or garage sale – remember you can always paint it to be the color you want it)
+ 2 eye hooks
+ enough wire to string through the eye hooks
+ paper cut down to the size of your frame
+ double sided tape or hot glue

HOW TO MAKE THE FRAME

STEP 1: Decide if you want your frame portrait or landscape and choose the side that will be the top. Measure 1.5″ down from the top on each side of your frame. Twist in the eye hooks in those spots.

STEP 2: Attach the wire to each eye hook. Make it as tight as you can.

STEP 3: Tape or glue the back side of the frame and lay the paper on the back. SIDE NOTE: This was the trickiest part for me. It’s tough to keep the paper tight and stretched out completely – but you can do it!)

STEP 4: Add a clip or clothespin or paperclip and hang in some artwork.

A few notes:

+ I did this in my garage because it was raining. Not a good idea. My frame and paper got so dirty. Especially because the boys kept riding their bikes into the rain and them back through my project.

+ Now that I have it up on display, I wish the inside of the frame was black too. It think it’s a little distracting to have the unfinished wood in there.

+ I can’t wait to make more of these. I plan to make all different sizes and hang them together so we can have our own kiddo art gallery. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I know I’m a little late on this post, but I’m still going to share! For Valentine’s Day this year, I kept it simple. I drew a few cheesy valentines on smallish pieces of paper (I think they were about 2.5″ by 4″) with my trusty Sharpie. Then I left my almost-four-year-old with his markers [...]]]>

I know I’m a little late on this post, but I’m still going to share! For Valentine’s Day this year, I kept it simple. I drew a few cheesy valentines on smallish pieces of paper (I think they were about 2.5″ by 4″) with my trusty Sharpie. Then I left my almost-four-year-old with his markers at the kitchen table and this is what he came up with! Notice how some of the names he wrote have the letters scattered all over the paper? He wanted it to be a game so the person would have to hunt for their name. How cute is that?! Oh, I love this kid.

So, Happy Valentine’s Day.

(better late then never…)

I’m having a hard time believing it’s March. Where did February go? I totally missed it! Oh well. Things have been crazy busy around here – hence the lack of blogging on my part. Sorry! I promise there will be a tutorial this Tuesday (I’m such a slacker!).  I had my first sinus infection since [...]]]>

I’m having a hard time believing it’s March. Where did February go? I totally missed it! Oh well. Things have been crazy busy around here – hence the lack of blogging on my part. Sorry! I promise there will be a tutorial this Tuesday (I’m such a slacker!).  I had my first sinus infection since high school a couple weeks ago and it wiped me out. I really hope that doesn’t happen again. Ever. (I can hope, right?!)

Anyway, I’m back on my feet and back to my usual business.

A few nights ago, I was working on some new notebook designs in my studio. The boys were all in the back yard playing some baseball so I had my window open (to listen in on the fun). I heard a really interesting bird call so I turned to look out the window. Right then, I see a bird coming full speed toward me/the window. Yep. You guessed it. He hit the window and dropped to the ground (my studio is on the second story). He hit so hard he left feathers on the glass.

I ran downstairs and outside to find the bird. Sure enough he was in the grass – alive. He flew away a few minutes later. Chris took this awesome photo of the bird before he flew away. The bird had two bright red markings on each wing and bright yellow markings on his tail feathers. Really beautiful bird! I’m glad he’s ok.

Now, I just need to find out which kind of bird he is! Any ideas?

***********

ps – Thank you, Julie, for the Book Bound Bindery feature on your blog!

Just finished up this custom wedding book for Leah & Eliot way over in the UK. Leah had such a beautiful vision of what she wanted her guest book to be and I think I made it reality.

The covers are covered in a cotton fabric with a white lacy pattern printed on it. I used [...]]]>

Just finished up this custom wedding book for Leah & Eliot way over in the UK. Leah had such a beautiful vision of what she wanted her guest book to be and I think I made it reality.

The covers are covered in a cotton fabric with a white lacy pattern printed on it. I used my favorite paper for the inside – frankfurt white. It has the most beautiful texture and feel to it. Every other page has a photo of the bride and groom on it. Opposite those pages we included some of Leah’s favorite quotes about love and marriage. One of the great things about the link stitch binding that I use to sew my wedding guest books is this: it lays completely flat. The binding will never break or crack or fall apart. Plus, the braiding on the spine is beautiful.

Congratulations, Leah and Eliot! I wish you all the best!

Tomorrow there is a very special party at my great auntie’s house. She’s calling it, Pink Party. On the surface, it’s a celebration of the pink dresser that was a Christmas gift given to her and her sister (my grandma) when they were girls. The pink dresser is famous in our family – [...]]]>

Tomorrow there is a very special party at my great auntie’s house. She’s calling it, Pink Party. On the surface, it’s a celebration of the pink dresser that was a Christmas gift given to her and her sister (my grandma) when they were girls. The pink dresser is famous in our family – and the story that goes along with it. Aunt Ellie wrote it down and you can read it here or here (the pdf is very slow so give it a second to load). I wish I could be at the party! My mom will be there and I hope she takes a lot of photos.

Aunt Ellie asked me to make a book for the party. (umm, yes, I would love to!) It’s about 8″ square with a silk cover. It’s a beautiful silvery-green (Steph, that’s your wedding fabric!) with white pages. The first half is for guests to sign while they are at the party – there will be four generations of Ashton girls there. The back half is for photos of the party Aunt Ellie can add after the day is over. The pages in the back are thick to hold the photos. The back cover has a pocket to tuck other mementos she collects from the party (the invitation, etc). I designed the title page and drew a simple line drawing of the dresser. I’m in love with this book!

I’m happy to know that a piece of me will be at the party after all.

I love my family!