I just finished my fattest journal ever. I've had this one for about two months. It contains lots of text, photos from my birthday, flower petals, collages, drawings. It ends with the death of a loved one. A lot of sadness right now.
I want to start my new journal on a happier note, with some light....

some birds sing alone....
and I think they like it that way.
Nobody's there to complain
or say you're not singing good enough,
or you're singing too loud,
only sometimes
they want to sing with somebody else.

This is me stepping out of the polymer closet
(or something like that), so, hello!

I made these books a few years ago; the one on the left is the first book I ever made!

After having seen lots of boyfriend books on jr_nal I decided to make one for myself. Only mine is a "me" book. (Not that I'm in love with myself.)

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Okay, why are the pics so small? I'm using Craftster Photo Hosting.
Here's the link to my Flickr photo set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14348107@N02/sets/72157607267968182/

and here is my jr_nal post with LARGE images: http://community.livejournal.com/jr__nal/4213398.html
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all images, text etc are (c) me (except the fairy paper on the cover).

Please come visit me at www.afiori.com

watercolour / collage


Because sometimes it's hard to communicate what you want

Jellyfish, they sparkle

Hey, would you like to come to my -cough- blog? Link below. (Not selling anything; it's writing, discussion, photography.)

Two weeks ago I was suddenly whisked off to France and got to stay in an amazing apartment by the ocean. I took lots of photos of shells and scenery, and today I made a beach-inspired photo album.

Materials used: structured paper, thread, a bit of glue in the spine, thick scrapbooking paper. I attached the photos with double-sided tape. The shell on the cover had a natural hole in it, so I just strung it on waxed cotton thread. The fleur-de-lis is a brad.

I improvised the stitching on the cover. The pages were bound using the coptic stitch.

I work a bit as a teacher and just finished making this planner. I cut and printed the pages myself, and the cover was made from scrapbooking paper with my name computer printed. The planner was spiral bound at a copy place and has a frosted plastic cover.

Front:





Tabs cut from a file folder and corners rounded:





Calendar:





Schedule:





Class attendance / results list (my own photo as a background. There are several others as well.)





Lesson planning (subject & topics to the left, homework / assignments to the right):





Blank pages (I hate lines):





Squared pages (just a few):





Red envelope pocket with blank notes (unnecessary to rip out entire pages) and contacts list (courtesy of www.diyplanner.com) to the left:




Back cover with sparkling fairies!




From the scraps I made a notepad, size 14.5 x 19 cm.
The planner is 16 x 20 cm.


Notepad / sketch pad:

I made a tote to carry my laptop and lots of other stuff. It's not very big, 33 x 38 cm, but magically roomy I could fit some books and a sweater in there too without problem.

Edited to add: there are so many pockets I forgot to mention two of them. See the little black one to the left of the laptop? There's one tiny secret pocket on each side where I can fit, for instance, a USB memory stick.

It looks a bit long and narrow in this pic but there isn't really a lot of difference between height & width:

I made this bag yesterday from a sketch I drew. It's not big but holds a LOT of things and I think I came up with some pretty good solutions.

(This is the first time I used a magnetic snap and it worked well. The brooch is from Hennes.)

...you can pull out a pencil holder!



...which is on the back of a hanging zippered pocket!



here I've turned the lining inside out so you can see the hidden pocket beneath the hanging pocket - perfect for a journal / notebook or some craft supplies! There's also a key holder.



and finally, on the opposite side, mobile phone + mp3 pockets:

I just finished this bag - finally, after messing up the lining four times! Gah!

I wanted it to be a bit jewel-like but still practical and suitable for everyday use. No pattern.

Inside: mobile phone pocket, mp3 pocket, 2 pockets for pens, key holder (black ribbon with clasp), one larger pocket which you can't see in the pic.