Craft – Page 41 – Travelcraft Journal

September 30, 2013October 2, 2013

Rebooting

Part of the reason I’ve never finished a scrapbook is that I stopped crafting altogether for a few years. In fact, I stopped doing a lot of things I enjoy during that time. Parts of me had gradually shut down.

There were lots of reasons for this. It’s kind of a whole tangled mess I’ve been trying to unravel since last year.

In January, I announced to a friend that this was going to be “MY year!” and then laughed because I wasn’t even sure what that meant. I just knew that it was the beginning of 2013 and 13 is my lucky number. Okay, I don’t really believe in lucky numbers, but I was born on Friday the 13th. I like the idea of turning the “unlucky” around, and it always makes me smile when a 13 shows up in my life.

As it turns out, this year has been about powering back on, opening up, jumping into new things, saying yes – even when I’m not sure why. It’s been about doing things I love. And not feeling I have to justify every single thing as being part of some Greater Purpose.

I still haven’t finished a scrapbook, but I’ve been crafting more. And taking last-minute trips (camping + conference). And sitting outside drinking tea in the mornings. And launching Travelcraft Journal. And picking out plants for our garden. And basically just doing things that sound awesome and not worrying so much about fitting my life into some constricting mold.

It’s a little weird out here outside the boundaries.

But I kinda like weird. I was born on Friday the 13th.

Photo of me by Phillip Liebold, while I was heading out the door to BlogHer.

September 21, 2013September 20, 2013

Paper bag journal: part 1(ish)

The idea of collecting trip mementos in paper bags has stuck with me since I saw it in Anna Corba’s Vintage Paper Crafts awhile ago, and I wanted to give it a try during our Colorado trip this summer.

Last year when we went on our Epic California Road Trip, we picked up a postcard for each day and wrote what we did on it. However, this time, I knew we couldn’t rely on always being somewhere with postcards for sale. Instead, I jotted down my notes about each day on brown paper sacks and tucked the day’s mementos (maps, cards, travel information, etc.) inside. I also collected a flower for (almost) every day to press during the trip and clip onto the pages later.

As we were getting ready to leave, I threw a stack of paper bags, pens, scissors and glue sticks into another paper bag. While Phillip drove, I numbered the bags 1-7 with the day of the week and wrote the date on each. Before I went to bed, the next day on the road, or whenever I found a moment, I would write about the day and doodle around the number with something related to what we did.

My notes got shorter toward the end of the trip, but the point was to write something – not to write a novel. I brought scrapbooking supplies, but I didn’t end up using them. The days were so packed it was all I could do to keep up with my basic journalling. I decided I could put things together when I got home and just kept the items I collected (except the flowers I was pressing) in each day’s bag.

If you wanted to give this a try, here’s what you need to create your own paper bag scrapbook:

A paper lunch bag for each day of your trip, plus one to store them all in. (Okay, maybe a few extra, just in case.)
Nice, archival-safe pens for journalling, doodling, or simply making a list of interesting things you saw that day.

Optional:

Clothespins or clips to keep bags together and/or clip things on outside of bags
Additional scrapbooking supplies (scissors, glue stick or double stick tape, etc.).
If you plan to collect a leaf or flower for each day, check out How to press flowers while traveling.

Now we’re back, and I have a record of what we did each day, a book full of flowers being pressed, and the other odds and ends I picked up along the way sorted by day.

Phillip says that if I never got the rest done, we’d still have a nice record of our trip. Me being me, I want it all finished and awesome. I’m still want to print more photos, weed out the bag contents, put the pressed flowers in clear plastic bags and attach them to each page. I don’t have a great track record with finishing scrapbook projects. But I’m crossing my fingers this post will have a Part 2!

September 10, 2013

Paper craft demonstration

Remember I told you about Craft Hack? (Yeah, I know you’re nodding while surreptitiously checking the link. I’ll refresh your memory.) It’s a monthly artist and crafter gathering. We chat and work on whatever craft projects we have in progress. Plus, each time there’s a different craft demo for anyone who wants to try something new.

Well, this time, I’m the demo-er. Demo-ista? Demotante?

Anyway. I’ll be demonstrating a few paper crafting techniques, while we pimp out paper sacks into holiday-worthy gift bags.

Should be fun times! Stop on by Gangplank Chandler for tomorrow’s Craft Hack, if you’re in town. Otherwise, I’ll be posting about it here later on.

August 28, 2013October 30, 2020

How to press flowers while traveling

Pressing wildflowers is a great way to remember the landscape you’ve traveled. You create a simple souvenir, a keepsake with more dimension than a photo.

Before you go/materials list:

1. Find a book you don’t mind destroying. You can use an outdated catalog or phone book, but just make sure it’s not too bulky to pack! This will be your portable flower press.

2. Find a rubber band that will fit around the book to keep it shut or several clips (or clothespins) that can hold a group of pages together.

On the road:

3. Look for leaves or “flatter” flowers with fewer layers (think daisies over roses) along the road, trails, or other places you visit. Pick a one or two or a few. Note where you found it/them or take a photo of the spot, so you can remember later. You may want to pick a flower for each day of your trip. After you pick one, I’d recommend doing a quick check for bugs. And, of course, don’t go picking on plants where it’s prohibited, like National Parks or people’s gardens.

4. Set the flower on top of one of your book pages. (If you’re picking one each day, you can press the first day’s flower in Chapter One, the second day’s in Chapter Two, etc. Or just make a note on whichever page you press the flower on.) Carefully close the book over the flower, so it’s positioned the way you want it to be pressed. You can put a few flowers on a page, but don’t put them on adjacent pages.

5. Band the book or clip a handful of pages around the flower to keep anything from falling out. Stick the book under your luggage, in between large items in your pack, or wherever you can put the most pressure on it.

6. If you add more flowers, place them in a different part of the book, so you aren’t moving the first one and are allowing additional pressure/weight between them. (Again, starting near the front and working your way back might be helpful.) Also, you want plenty of pages in between to absorb any moisture the flowers release while drying.

7. Give them a few weeks. When ready, flowers will be thin, dry and papery. If you get home before they’re ready, stick the book at the bottom of a stack of books or some heavy object that you won’t be moving around. Just don’t forget about them!

8. Pressed flowers and leaves would be a beautiful addition to your trip scrapbook or framed with your travel photos! They’ll be pretty fragile, so you may want to put behind glass, slip into plastic sleeves, or cover with contact paper.

July 8, 2013May 23, 2023

Craft Hack and mini envelopes

We stayed in town for the Fourth of July, which was a good thing for us, because our friends Bryan and Joanna made us a wonderful brunch. And it’s a good thing for you, because this blog has been a little heavy on the travel and light on the craft, and it’s time to balance things out a bit more.

So the first craft-related thing I wanted to tell you about is Craft Hack. I mentioned going to Craft Hack when I had my journal fail (I do want to follow up on that, since I ended up finding a journal-making solution that I think turned out pretty well.) Basically, Craft Hack is a time for people to get together, work on and show off their art and craft projects. If you aren’t working on anything currently, every month there’s a demonstration, and you can try that out.

It will be this Wednesday (and the second Wednesday of every month) at Gangplank Chandler at 6pm. You can get more details on the Craft Hack East Valley Facebook page.

I also created a flyer, using this envelope template and modifying it a little. You can print off the flyer, get the info, and then fold it into a little envelope for your business cards or to tuck into a scrapbook for small mementos of your summer travels (a presssed blossom? coins? ticket stubs?).

We handed these out last month when Craft Hack had a booth at the Chandler Art Walk (which has moved to different indoor locations to avoid the summer heat). I wish I could have stuck around longer and explored the other booths a bit more. It looks like there was some great stuff there! I’ll have to go another time, when I’m not getting ready for a camping trip the next day.

If you want to make your own envelopes, here is the envelope template I used for the flyer. I scaled it down quite a bit from the original 3″ x 6″ size, so that we could fit 2 on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. And also because the mini-envelopes are so stinkin’ cute!

I also came across this page with a ton of other envelope templates and tutorials. That could keep us all busy for awhile!