Finally, this week, I got around to using this lovely paper, and I did in fact cover a notebook with it. Just a cheap notebook from Daiso, with smooth, white pages, so it was a sort of upgrade. I added a label from Paper Source and some white vinyl tape over the binding, and it was done!

It was super easy, especially with a Xyron machine to put the adhesive on the paper, so I went ahead and did another one for the notebook swap I organized on Swap-bot.com.

My partner likes maps, and I found this one in an old atlas that I bought from a used book sale (intending to make envelopes or collages from it). I chose the eastern part of the US for the cover, to include where she lives, and the rest went on the back cover. The notebook itself is also from Daiso, and I picked out a few others from there that I thought she’d like.

Now I only wish the rest of my swaps would get going soon, so I can have something else to work on. In the meantime, I might poke around Send Something to find someone to send exchange mail with.

Here’s the first batch, finished on Friday:

And the second batch, finished last night:

I want to mix up the colors more, but this is how they’ve worked out so far. I really like the textured cardstock I have, especially the Japanese “tsumugi” style (I think I got these from Hanko Designs or a local shop carrying their stock), I don’t really want to use the smooth variety. I might need to get some more after these postcards are done!

I’m not sure how many more I want to make, partly because I’m not sure how many I want to send out beyond the ones for swaps. I started a list the other day, so I should finish that and make sure I have the addresses I need, and then keep going.

Beyond that, I came across some simple projects on the Martha Stewart site, listed among ideas for easy handmade gifts.

• Decorative Decal Pillar Candles (with matchboxes)
• Map Coasters

I have plenty of maps saved in my clipping boxes, but I’d have to buy the coasters and sealant first. The matchbox one, though it’s not the primary part of the project, would be easy, and I have some blank matchboxes. We’ll see though…

Here’s the first one, a combination of an old Family Circle magazine from the 60s, as well as a bit of an ad from a Japanese booklet of local businesses. I wish I’d done the circle stickers vertically instead, but so it goes.

I let that sit for a bit, and then came up with an idea to make postcards for New Year’s, as a little project to keep me busy. I don’t celebrate any holidays during December, but I’m all for ringing in the New Year when it comes. And I know that in Japan, it’s common to send a postcard to friends and family so it arrives on New Year’s Day, so I thought I would do something similar. (The postcards are called nengajo, and you can read more about them and other holiday traditions on Wikipedia’s Japanese New Year page.)

I’d like to make a batch of these postcards, to send to friends, so I thought it would help to have a template or pattern of some sort. I had a rough idea in my head of what I wanted, and put together a mockup in Illustrator, just to see if it would make sense. I found some Japanese-style patterns to use, and here’s what I came up with:

This is just a sample, but my intent is to use different colors, patterns, and images but stick with the same overall design. I have plenty of papers, clippings, and whatever else to work with, so this way I can focus on the selection and combination of those materials. I can even customize them for particular people if I want.

I put together my first card tonight, to make sure it worked all right in paper form, and here’s what I came up with:

I’m not feeling entirely enamored with it at the moment, but I think it’s actually ok and will work with other combinations as well. What do you think?

Meanwhile, I’ve also been looking for new swaps on Swap-bot, and tonight I happened across one that sounds perfect for me: 2010 Nengajo (Japanese New Year Postcards). I think I can manage to make 3 cards by the deadline, but we’ll see how the ones for friends go first.

Separately, I’m also running a notebook swap, inspired by one that was already running for European swappers only. This one’s for the US only, but you just send $8 of notebooks and get the same in return.

Just post a comment on their blog, and they’ll choose one random winner from there. You can find more info on their blog.

To push myself into making things, I signed up for a Paper Source class with a co-worker, at a newer location they opened up in Palo Alto, which isn’t far from here. They have these “girls night out” events, and this one was themed “Indian Summer,” to coincide with their new India collection of papers and rubber stamps.

The workshop itself was nice, though they tried to cram in quite a lot of activities, including making envelopes, heat embossing, and making lanterns. We ran out of time for some of this — though I was ok with skipping on things I already knew how to do — but I walked away with a neat lantern and a few cards, among other things.

I’ve also been joining in on a few swaps on Swap-bot, including one that was color-themed. You could include a handmade item, plus store-bought items, so I made one of my standard square collage postcards. The color was orange, which is a bit outside of my usual colors, but it was fun to play with a bit.

And last, but not least, I’ve been dabbling a bit with making envelopes and other things this weekend, partly to test out a new envelope template I found at a local Japanese shop. I got a little bored with the envelopes, but I finished it all off with a simple postcard, made from scrapbook paper and some stickers I had.

I’ve been sending store-bought postcards through Postcrossing, but it’s really up to you what you send. I thought having some pressure, like in a swap, would help, so I signed up for a handmade postcard swap on Swap-Bot. The theme was open, so that made it easier.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling very well this week and got so little sleep last night. So maybe it wasn’t the best idea to start crafting in the midst of this. I slapped together two postcards, using clipped magazine images, summer-themed stickers, and a bit of glitter and glue, but I really don’t like them. I’m going to chalk it up to feeling so awful, but so it goes.

What do you think? They’re pretty simple, so it’s hard to say much about them, I suppose.

I think for now I’m going to go back to the store-bought postcards, but maybe I’ll try again on some handmade ones soon.

On a side note, I updated the blog template, so if you see any weirdness, let me know. I poked around though, and it seems to be working ok so far.

What started out as a simple project turned into 30 intricately detailed pages in the first scrapbook I think I’ve ever worked on. It was kind of sad to realize that it was all done, but our friend really appreciated all the work we’d put into it. We also took photos of all the pages, so we’d be able to remember what it looked like.

It was really nice to actually see such a huge project through from start to finish, though the idea of actually buying supplies and using them up — sometimes the same day! — was a little new to me. I’ve always had a bad habit of collecting supplies I never used, so this was a nice change.

I might have one little project to work on in the next week, but I’ll have to wait until I post more about that. In the meantime, I’ve been buying a few things for myself on Etsy, and wanted to share some of the shops I’ve bought from.

I recently started thinking more about buying cute, dressy things for myself, so this was part of the reason for looking for items like this in the first place. And, as should be no surprise by now, they’re all Japanese in design and theme. The barrette and purse are both from Tago Design of Japan and the necklace comes from Ceeb Wassermann in Australia, who I’ve purchased a few necklaces from in the past.

My favorite paper store Hanko Designs will be there — as always — and there’s usually plenty to browse and shop for otherwise.

Update (02/16/2009): It looks like there was a last minute venue change. Fortunately, Rosewater Hall isn’t far from Napredak Hall.