Favorite Things Fan Book With Pumpkin Spice Paper

I try to surround myself with things that inspire me, bring me joy, comfort me, and make me peaceful. Whether they be photos, quotes, blessings, scents - I keep them close, a special place of respite and renewal, safe from the chaos of this world.

Today's project is based on that idea. A little book filled with good things, like favorite Bible verses, and special blessings - formatted in an easy to read "fan" style.
The paper is handmade, and infused with pumpkin spice tea leaves for a comforting, warm and spicy scent. I used the Arnold Grummer Papermill Complete Kit and a few Bigelow Pumpkin Spice Tea bags to make the handmade paper.
For a basic tutorial on how to make handmade paper, go to the Arnold Grummer Papermaking Blog and let Mr. Grummer show you how easy it is. While you're there visit the Arnold Grummer website, and take advantage of the BEST DEAL of the summer - 15% off your entire order! Sale items excluded. Use promo code AGIS89 at checkout. Hurry, sale ends Aug 30!

Let's get started. Here's what you'll need:

 

 

Several sheets of handmade paper 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches. I used 7 sheets.
Hole punch
Post screw. I used 1/2 inch aluminum screw post.
Pencil
Stamps
Ink pad
Glue stick
Some favorite things that make you happy! Flowers, photos, quotes etc.

Next, fold your papers in half, short end to short end and score them, then tear in half carefully. Now your one 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 sheet has become two.

Take each of your two new sheets and fold them in half LENGTHWISE, and score them. Then carefully tear them in half lengthwise. Your original 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 sheet has now become four long rectangular pieces. Do this with all of your 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 sheets of paper.

You should have a pretty little stack of papers looking something like this...

Ok, time to grab a sheet and punch a hole in the center of one of the ends. Then use it as a template to punch holes in the rest of the sheets of paper.

Now stack your papers so the holes align and slip the post part of the screw through the holes in the paper. Then screw the screw part into the post snugly and your fan book is assembled. Screw posts come in different sizes depending on how thick your stack of papers is.

Ok, get out your favorite things and stamp, paste, and write till your pages are filled with everything that makes you happy : )
Here are a few pages from mine...

 

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In the short time since I started My Creative Mommy, we have had over 1000 pageviews from 15 different countries. I want to offer many thanks to all my readers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Malaysia, Italy, the Bahamas, the Philippines, Sweden, Egypt, Columbia, and the Netherlands! It is both humbling, and exciting to know people are actually reading what I'm writing, and hopefully trying out a few of the projects.

My goal is to take the whole world on a creative journey, one project at a time!

Many Blessings,

Jana : )

Quick And Easy Homemade Freezer Jam With Farm Fresh Fruit

One of my favorite things about being a Jersey Girl is the cornucopia of locally grown Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables available. Growing up I marveled as I watched my Mom turn baskets of produce into dozens of beautiful glass jars filled with preserved fruits, vegetables and jams. They would be lined up on our basement shelves bringing our family a taste of summer all winter long. Now I'm the Mommy, and it's my opportunity to share this wonderful life skill with my children, and with you. Fortunately, my Mom is close by in case I get jammed up (pun intended!). With the diminished economy, an increased interest in emergency preparedness, and a desire to embrace a simpler life, home canning has seen a resurgence, and the undisputed go to place for information on home canning, drying and preserving is Ball's Fresh Preserving. Home canning supplies are readily available online, in grocery stores, hardware stores, and even the big stores like Walmart and Target.

Since I have an abundance of sweet, juicy nectarines and organic blueberries we'll be making Lemony Blueberry-Nectarine Freezer Jam from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.  Freezer jam is a great way to get started in preserving because it's quick, easy and fun, and absolutely anyone can do it! You will gain instant rock star status when you tell your friends you made your own homemade jam.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 cups chopped, pitted, peeled nectarines (about 4 medium)
• 1 cup of crushed blueberries (about 1 pint)
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 5 tablespoons of Ball Instant Pectin
• 5 half-pint freezer jars

After you crush the blueberries, and peel, pit and chop the nectarines, grate a tablespoon of lemon peel and squeeze a teaspoon of lemon juice. Now combine those first four ingredients in a medium sized bowl and give them a stir. I like jam with pieces of fruit in it, but I zapped the mixture in the blender to smooth it out a bit because my kids are suspicious of any food with lumps or chunks in it.

In a smaller bowl, stir together the Ball Instant Pectin and the sugar, making sure there are no lumps left . Don't be tempted to use a different type of pectin you might have on hand. The Ball Instant Pectin does not require cooking and is not interchangeable with other types of pectin.

Now pour the sugar/pectin mixture into the fruit mixture and stir for three minutes.

 Ladle your super tasty jam into the plastic freezer jars, leaving about 1/2-inch of head space. The Ball freezer jars actually have a horizontal line on the side to make this extra easy for you.

This is what a full freezer jam jar with 1/2-inch of head space looks like. The lid sits down in the jar a bit so stick with the line on the jar and you can't go wrong.

Now screw on the lids, let the jam stand for about 30 minutes to thicken, then label and freeze! It's that easy : ) You should have five half-pints of homemade, all natural, yummy freezer jam.

Your freezer jam is good for about 12 months in a freezer maintained at zero degrees or lower. Not that your freezer jam is going to be in there that long because it is so darn good your family and friends are going to gobble it up real quick! I keep one in the refrigerator and then when I need another one I just take it out of the freezer and pop it in the fridge to thaw out. It's great on toast, bagels, on oatmeal, in ice cream or right off the spoon!

I enjoy interacting with my readers so feel free to leave comments or questions on my blog.
Be sure and share My Creative Mommy's blog posts with all your friends to help us grow, sign up as a member to follow my blog, and visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MyCreativeMommy and click the "Like" button while you're there.

Many thanks to all my readers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Malaysia, Italy and the Bahamas!
My goal is to take the whole world on a creative journey one project at a time!

Many Blessings,

Jana : )

Handbound Leather Wrapped Journal With Summer Gold Handmade Paper

I'm very excited to bring you my first blog post for the Arnold Grummer Design Team! Today's post combines beautiful handmade paper with my love of bookbinding. The result is a rustic handbound leather wrapped journal filled with gorgeous handmade paper.

The journal's leather cover is premium Italian Lambskin from Italy. I used the Arnold Grummer Papermill Complete Kit  and Arnold Grummer's Summer Gold Botanicals along with a warm, creamy, medium weight scrap paper to make the handmade paper, and then bound the leather to the paper with waxed Irish linen thread.

Let's take a look at the materials for this journal:

• 5 sheets of absolutely gorgeous 5 1/2 x 8 1/2"  handmade paper
• Leather (can use leather from an old handbag, or jacket)
• Bone folder, popsicle stick, or fingernail
• Scissor/Rotary cutter
• Awl
• Waxed Irish linen thread
• Needle (with eye large enough for thread)

Once you have your materials together take one sheet of paper, fold it in half, and score the paper by running the bone folder down the folded edge to give you a sharp edge that will tear easily. Now carefully tear the paper in two along the folded line you just scored.

Now your one 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" sheet of paper has become two smaller sheets. You will repeat the folding, scoring and tearing with each of your two new, smaller sheets of paper. When all is said and done, you will have a total of four even smaller sheets of paper all from the one original sheet you started with.

Repeat this process with all five sheets of 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" paper until you have a lovely little stack of twenty of the smallest sheets of paper. They should be about the size of a business card.

Now, this next step is exciting because you will begin to see your handbound journal begin to take the shape of a book! So let's get started making the pages! Take one of your twenty little sheets of paper and fold it in half. Press down the folded edge with the bone folder, or your fingernail. Repeat this step for a total of five sheets of paper.

Now place one folded sheet inside of the other over and over until all five sheets are stacked one inside of the other like a little book.

 What you have just made is called a "signature." You are going to make four signatures, meaning four little stacks of pages that resemble a book. Each of the four signatures will be made up of five sheets folded in half and stacked one inside of the other.

These are finished signatures. You are making four. I know there are six in the picture, but as I was writing this blog my son started throwing up so I had to make a quicker version : )

When you stack your signatures together you get an idea of what your journal will look like. After you make your first book, you will begin looking at books in a different way - you'll start to see the structure of a book. And then you'll know you're smitten.

With our signatures prepared, we can now figure out how much leather we need for our journal's cover. It is not an exact science - that is what makes art beautiful.

Make sure your leather is squared off, then lay the stack of four signatures along the top and side edge of the leather (the corner). The edges of the paper are not even, but do your best to even them up with the edge of the leather.

Next, carefully flip the paper and the leather over.

Then flip the excess leather over the top of the journal.

Now you can decide where you would like the "wrap" part of your cover to end. I usually cut it about 3/4 of the way across the book. Mark your spot with a little slit then unfold. While you have the signatures still lined up in the corner of the leather, mark the bottom edge of the book with a slit on the leather, then remove your signatures from the leather. You can use a pencil and a straight edge to continue out the slits you marked on the cover. Then cut out the rectangular shaped cover with a rotary cutter or scissor.

Once the cover is cut out, wrap it around the journal and see if you like it! It should look something like this...

You can leave the end straight, trim it, rough it up - try different looks to find what you like best.

You can also use different materials for the strap that wraps around your journal and holds it closed. I use a strip of matching leather, but you can experiment with ribbon, raffia, baling twine, or even use buttons or other types of closures.

It's time to mark the inside of your signatures and punch the holes for sewing. You'll do this with the leather cover also. Make a pencil mark along the center fold 1/4" from each end, and then make another pencil mark along the center fold 1" from each end. Repeat this with all four signatures.

Then take your awl, or needle and punch a hole through each pencil mark all the way through all five sheets of paper. Repeat this with all four signatures.

Stack all four signatures one on top of the other, and place them at your left edge of the rectangular leather cover as even with the edge as you can get it, level with the top and bottom. Now your going to punch four holes in the leather in a vertical line corresponding to the holes on the spine of your signatures.

You're doing great! Once you've completed your four vertical holes in the leather cover, remove the stack of signatures. Now you are going to make three holes 5/8" apart in a horizontal line next to each of the four vertical holes. It's easier than it sounds : ) Look carefully at the picture below and you'll see what it should look like when you are finished.

Time to bind our cover to the paper - let's get sewing! You'll need to thread your needle with 18" of waxed Irish linen thread. Then insert the needle into the top right-hand hole entering from the outside and exiting on the inside.

As you bring your needle through the inside of the leather cover, place one of your signatures inside the cover and push your needle through an end hole of the signature from outside to inside, just like you did with the cover. When pulling the thread through, leave a two inch tale of thread hanging from the outside of your cover.





Now bring your needle down and through the next hole in the signature and continue through the next hole in the cover. Your needle will be on the outside of the cover again and ready to go through the third hole in the cover, and signature. Continue this with the last (4th) hole in the leather cover and signature and your needle and thread should be on the outside.

When you've finished binding the first signature to the cover, give a gentle tug on both ends of the thread to make it taut. This is what the inside and outside of your journal will look like...

Now move the needle over to the next horizontal hole and push it through the cover and the second signature. Continue sewing in and out of the holes in the cover and signature just like you did before. Then when you get to the bottom, gently pull the ends of the thread taut again, and move the needle to the next horizontal hole. Repeat the process until you have sewn in all four signatures and you have two ends of the thread hanging out of the outside of the cover. Tie the ends of the thread together with two square knots and snip the thread off about 1/4" from the knot. I hold the journal between my knees while I tie the knots, it's just easier.

Now tack the strip of leather you will wrap around your amazing journal to the cover. A few simple stitches will do. Tie your thread off, and snip it off. Wrap it around your journal and smile, because you rock!





You just made a handbound leather wrapped journal filled with 80 pages (front and back) of gorgeous handmade paper!

                                    

I love bookbinding, and I fall in love with every journal I make. I make and sell these journals in various colors, sizes and styles. Please contact me if you would like to order one.

I hope this post will inspire you to give papermaking and bookbinding a try. Both are ancient art forms steeped in history and never fail to "wow" people with their beauty.



I enjoy interacting with my readers so feel free to leave comments or questions on my blog.
Be sure and share My Creative Mommy's blog posts with all your friends to help us grow, sign up as a member to follow my blog, and visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MyCreativeMommy and click the "Like" button while you're there.

Many thanks to all my readers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and Malaysia! My goal is to take the whole world on a creative journey!

Many Blessings,

Jana : )