200 Hugs

I am so used to using Michael’s 40% off coupons that buying anything without one seems like a travesty. However, I have to be truthful and admit that I occasionally waste money. Never on purpose, but every now and then I buy something on impulse…and later regret it…a lot.

Like that pair of adorable shoes I bought on my last trip to NYC. Black leather ballet flats with an embroidered red rose on the toes, how could I resist them? But those blisters were not adorable. The shoes are now in a box ready to be donated to Goodwill. And don’t get me started on those wildly expensive coils I bought thinking I would be able to use them with my Cinch. Big mistake. Guess where they are? If you guessed sitting next to those shoes in the Regret Box, you’re right!  

Now anyone who knows me also knows that I LOVE Hug Snug Seam Binding. And, for the last year I have been thinking about ordering the 200 Sample Color Guide of Hug Snug Seam Binding from Zipperstop. What has stopped me was the fact that the sample color guide was $24.95 and for that price I could buy 4 rolls of Seam Binding, so I figured why waste my money? Did I really need it?  

This Blog Post has a very happy ending because after much angst I placed my order with Zipperstop.com. And dear friends, let me share with you the wonders of this 12 ½” x 18” 200 Sample Color Guide of Hug Snug Seam Binding. It is nirvana for someone like me who online could not tell the difference between Trophy Gold and Antique Gold. I can now. 

 

 And who would have guessed that it wasn’t Fig Brown Seam Binding that I needed for my Wine Themed Wedding Guest Journals but Log Brown?

 Or that for the Pin-Up Gal Journal I needed Caviar Pink,

not Rose Petal Hug Snug Seam Binding?

Ladies and Gents, this was the best $24.95 I have spent in a long, long time. My only regret now is that I waited so long to invest in the Color Guide…and that I bought those shoes. Do you also love Hug Snug? What’s your favorite color? Oh, you don’t know because you don’t own the Color Guide?

Nine Months, Two weeks and One Day!

I was 9 months, one week pregnant when my OBG told me he was going to induce me if I didn’t go into labor the following week. He asked me which day I preferred, Saturday, May 10^th or Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11^th ? I told him that I wanted to have a wonderful Mother’s Day so we agreed on May 10^th.

Cassandra Marie was born at 2:34 PM on May 10th and it was, as he predicted, a wonderful Mother’s Day. Every year I am reminded that the greatest Mother’s Day present I ever received is my beautiful daughter. Having said that, I have to add that my new Mother’s Day Vintage Floral Album comes in a close second. 

I won the original 1880’s Vintage Floral Album on Ebay and like Cassandra, it was love at first sight. I scanned the front and back cover, attached them to chipboard and then lined both with the ever romantic Miss Empire paper from Kaisercraft. Inside are 25 tea dyed papers, assorted tags and misc. paper ephemera.

 

 I even made a tiny Mother's Day Card!

Now that I own the covers I see many more Floral Journals in my future and in my Etsy shop Inside The Beehive. Matter of fact I think I will add a tag on the back inside cover - Limited Edition #1-2014. Cassandra, like this Journal, is a limited edition and in my book will always be #1!! Wishing all an early Happy Mother's Day.

Raise Your Glass

I love weddings and have long wanted to add a Wedding Guest Book to my repertoire. I thought long and hard, over a glass of wine, what kind of Guest Book I should create. Did I mention that I love wine? I do and as I took another sip of Chardonnay I had an epiphany, not the Winery Epiphany which incidentally has wonderful wine, but the other kind of epiphany...why not make a Wine Themed Wedding Guest Book?  

 

I already had a ton of wine themed stamps so off I went to the Beehive and I am now ready to make a toast to my Wine Themed Wedding Guest Book. Won't you join me?  

 

I used a ton of purple grape seam binding.

 

Pockets for the tags offer lots of room for wedding wishes!

 

I love this quote and had to put it on the cover.

 

Love the script cork paper I found at Michaels.

I added a gift for the couple, a large tag in a muslin bag.

Ever been to a Vineyard Wedding? If you know of someone who is planning one please send them over to my Etsy shop Inside The Beehive where I have just listed this for sale.

Going Going Gone

Before the 2013 holidays one of my YouTube Followers asked me to make her a custom Tea Dyed Journal. Her favorite movie of all time is Gone With The Wind so that was the theme she requested. I don’t know how other artists create, but for me I start out by scouring Ebay and Etsy for rubber stamps, books, graphics and paper ephemera.

It took me weeks to find the right vintage GWTW book that if in perfect condition would have cost a lot more than what was in my budget. However, it was damaged which made it affordable and not so traumatic when I gently tore it apart.

Of course I did make a mistake. I call it the revenge of The Green Velvet Ribbon.  I bought two shades of green ribbon, light and dark. I wanted to add streamers on the cover but no matter how much I fiddled with the ribbons they just didn’t look right. In a fit of frustration I ended up throwing them in the trash and ended up substituting my all time favorite ribbon - crinkled seam binding.

I love the way the GWTW Journal turned out and I hope that Jessica agrees. If not, I will have no problem putting it in the Beehive where it will happily reside next to my Wuthering Heights Journal. Two Journals inspired by two wonderful books that I have read over and over again.

Do you have a favorite book that you have read more than once?  

Well Jessica, what do you think?



 

I took a blank page from the book and made it into a tiny envelope

and then filled it with hearts made from book pages.

 

Shoeless

Ever heard the saying, the shoemaker's son goes barefoot? Well, that's me. Only it's not shoes, but handmade Journals. Despite the fact that several of my dear friends have gifted me with gorgeous handmade Journals (thank you Michelle and Allison) I have had my heart set on a Queen Bee Journal for the longest time.

I started out by finding the perfect cover. Who knew that there was a novel titled The Queen Bee? Then it was just making the time, which proved to be much more difficult.  Like two years difficult. But despite my time challenge I managed to finish it this weekend and wanted to do a Blog Post Show & Tell.

 

I am in love with my Queen Bee Journal. I added all my favorite things; crinkled seam binding, my Queen Bee charm from Articakes, some of the gorgeous digital papers from Ephemeras Vintage Garden and lots of Bee themed ribbon.

I added the lock and key but they are just decorative. Which suits me just fine since I am unable to keep a secret.

Hope you'll stop on by Inside The Beehive and check out my latest creations. And no, the Queen Bee Journal is not for sale!