Categories
Books Craft Notebooks Paper Stationery Weddings

Handmade Wedding Guestbooks – now available!

Floral ribbon guest book - £18
Floral ribbon guest book – £18

Lately I’ve been working on my wedding stock and I’m pleased to announce that I’ve got the first handmade guest books up for sale on etsy!

These have both been covered in beautiful paper, with lovely open-view hand stitching and ribbon fastenings.

Wedding book pink heart ribbon

Guest book stitching

These ones are A5 and are £18 each – P&P is £2.50. You can order these ones from my etsy shop, or contact me directly for custom orders if you would like a particular colour/style.

 

Categories
Craft

Beginner Bookbinding: Hints & Tips

There are many, many tutorials out there, covering all your beginner bookbinding needs; and so I thought I’d do a hints & tips section to complement them! These are things I’ve learned and picked up along the way.

  • Invest in a bone folder. This will be your new best friend.

Bonefolder love

  • You can use grease-proof paper for waxed paper. It’s very handy for pasting onto.
  • PVA is great while you’re learning. Proper book paste can be quite pricey, and when you’re just starting out PVA is absolutely fine for practice work.
  • Get a basic set of different size brushes. You can pick them up fairly cheap from places like The Works, and it’ll help you get a feel for what you need and what you feel comfortable with.
  • Always have a couple of pieces of clean kitchen roll to hand! It’s sturdier than tissue and less likely to shed little bits everywhere. It’s good for wiping down surfaces and hands and things. Keep a sheet separate for using on your books to avoid smearing.
  • It’s best to use waxed thread. If you can get a block of beeswax from somewhere, you can wax your own thread. This works out a bit cheaper and gives you more options.

Beeswax

  • Get into the habit of fraying the loose end of the thread after a knot. This will keep it from coming undone- I use my needle for this and just tease it gently.

As with everything, the internet is a wealth of information when it comes to bookbinding tutorials. Here are a few good ones:

Super simple all-in-one pamphlet book from My Handbound Books

5 hole pamphlet stitch from Design Sponge

Coptic stitch from Torta Gialla

Simple staple-and-glue hardback from Instructables

Good luck and happy binding!

Notebook 001

Categories
Craft Inspiration Tutorial

All Things Spring! Crafts and Inspirations

Spring is one of my favourite times of year. There’s so much newness going on it’s hard not to get inspired! From colour palettes to tutorials, I’ve started scouring the web to find the best ideas of the season. Here are a few of my favourites:

  • Painted twigs

Spring twigs

So pretty – and such a simple idea!

  • Edible flower lollies

Lollies

Adding edible flowers (e.g. rose petals, lavender) to your homemade lolly molds looks gorgeous. Hopefully it will be warm enough for ice lollies this spring…

  • Pom pom bunny

Pom pom bunnies

Because pom poms. And because bunnies. Tutorial found here.

  • Spring weekly planner

Spring planner

Oh planning, I love planning. This pink spring set is available from WendyPrints over on etsy. Time to get those to do lists looking fabulous!

  • Plant shelves

Spring ladder

This idea of using an old ladder as shelves for your potted plants looks stunning. A great way of adding some spring colour to even the smallest garden.

You can follow my spring Pinterest board here for more ideas.