Paper trinkets

I live in a house built in 1980, so my basement is not really full of some gorgeous vintage stuff, but at least I found this box with my paper trinkets when I was looking for a pair of great black lace up shoes I own and would really like to wear now ( I did´t find them). 

So,what I found was: letters set with Japanese flowers print, lot of napkins, some of them very good for decoupage, Sanrio tissues with Little Twin Stars and origami paper. This origami paper has a very interesting story: Eva from Hungary gave it to me when I met her in USA, and she get it from Hiroshi from Japan whom she met in London. So, this paper seemed to travel a lot before settle down with me in Croatia.

Handmade notebook

My first crafty project in 2012 was this brown paper handmade sketchbook. It´s very simple and easy so I decided to show how I made it.

First, cut brown paper to A5 size and fold it in half.

I made three signatures, each containing 8 folded papers.

Put signatures together and secure with paperclip. Mark four points. Remove paperclip, open signatures and drill the holes with sharp sewing needle (carefully).

Sew signatures together with needle and thread. Start at the bottom hole of first signature, putting the needle inside. Take it outside thru the second hole and go back inside thru third, outside thru fourth. Then, go inside top hole of the second signature, outside thru second and then go back inside to the third hole of first signature, outside thru second hole and back inside on the second signature. 

When sewing is done, secure with paperclips again and put some glue to the signatures and cover with a piece of cheesecloth.

Glue decorative paper to cardboard for cover.

Finally, connect pages with the cover. Glue peace of paper to the cover and part of first page. Repeat on the other side. Put your notebook under a heavy book overnight.

Birthday Card

I decided to make a card for friend´s birthday. I was inspired by shabby chic and vintage, but wanted to keep design clear. The colors complemented gift wrap. Here´s the result: