and the winner is...

i tried to think of a really clever way to draw a winner's name for the giveaway, but sometimes you've just gotta go with what works best.  so, all of your wonderful comments went into my favorite bowl and my sweet dutch boy offered to do the honors...

...and it looks like tess is the winner!  congratulations!  i'll be sending your journal out to you very soon!  and, thanks so much to everyone who participated...i really appreciate all of your kind words and best wishes!!  :)

one hundred fifty: time for a give-away!

there's a give-away extravaganza going on in blogland right now!  firstly, have you heard about "One World, One Heart"?  this is an annual event coordinated by lisa swifka for the soul purpose of  providing a way for all of us in blogland to meet each other!  plus, when you visit a participating blogger, you have an opportunity to enter in their give-away!  check it out here.  when you visit her blog, you'll see all of the participants listed on the right!  secondly, i noticed that the very sweet jenn over at noodle and lou is offering a chance to win some of her cute, cute valentine cards...don't miss this chance to own some of her fabulous artwork!  and lastly....

yesterday was my 150th post and i'm celebrating!!  i SO appreciate all of your support and encouragement, and i'd love for you to have this fabric journal that i recently made!  please leave me a comment so i'll know you want to participate in the give-away!  comments will be closed late wednesday night,  january 21st at 11:59 p.m. (east coast time) and i'll announce the winner's name on thursday, january 22nd!  good luck, and thanks for helping me celebrate!  :)

edited:  comments are now closed.  thanks everyone for participating!!  :)

card keeper

it's hard to believe that five weeks have gone by since i began my online journal class with sue bleiweiss!  this is my final project...a fabric book that's bound in a way that allows pages to slide in and out as you need them.  actually, i should have done this last week, but i got too busy and even considered waiting until january to complete it.  and then i decided since i can add pages as i go, this would be a great book to house all of this year's holiday cards.  i've placed some Christmas paper inside and tucked in some of the cards that i made this year.   

these photos show what the book looks like inside.  this book is about 14" tall...it's definitely the tallest book that i've made so far, and definitely out of my comfort zone!  click on the image to see it larger

online journal class - week three

remember my pollyanna's garden series?  it's been a while since i drew and watercolored those quirky little flowers...and it's been a while since i put "make a book using pollyanna's garden illustrations" on my to-do list.  so, this week i decided to combine two projects into one.  

my sue bleiweiss online fabric journal class is in its third week now, and my project was this simple hinge book.  the covers are made from some of my favorite polka dot fabric and the illustration was printed onto a piece of canvas and then sewn to the front.  inside, each one of my illustrations is printed onto italian velata paper and separated by a piece of moss green canson paper.  

here are some extra photos...i hope you like it!  for a larger slideshow, click above on "view all images" 

online journal class - week two

i've just finished my second project for sue bleiweiss' online journal class.  this is a fabric book with pockets on the inside, making it a perfect "take along" journal.  i've decided to use this journal as a watercolor sketchbook, so it's filled with watercolor paper, and i've added several divider pages to give it some interest.   my watercolor pencils and waterbrush fit perfectly in the pockets inside.  and...it's all held together with binder rings, so i can always add more paper or remove finished projects!  fun, fun project...i can't wait for next week's assignment!

here's a peek inside my journal...i'm so excited that i was able to figure out how to use this slide feature!!  :)

online journal class

i've been taking an online journal class with sue bleiweiss, and i've just finished my first project.  this week's lesson was a fabric journal with a wrap-around cover.  there are three signatures inside that i decorated using various papers and stamped images.   there's also a fabric pocket on the inside cover to hold important papers.  i really enjoyed this project...i've been making so many hardcover blank journals lately, it was great to do something fun and different!  i think that my favorite part was "decorating" the inside pages and i'm going to try to do more of that in future journals.  for a peek inside this journal, check out my flickr account here.  let me know what you think!