Category: Notebooks

Castle Ashby Craft Fair, May 29th & 30th 2016 -Date for your diary!

Post author By Jenni
Post date February 22, 2016
1 Comment on Castle Ashby Craft Fair, May 29th & 30th 2016 -Date for your diary!

I’m pleased to announce that The Craft Fantastic has a stall at the Castle Ashby fair the the end of May! This craft fair falls on the Bank Holiday – Sunday 29th and Monday 30th May. Also, THERE WILL BE FALCONS. Falcons!

Run by Palladian Events, the fair will be set in the beautiful Castle Ashby walled gardens, and over the 2 days there will be a fantastic range of quality crafters from all over the country, plus food, music, demonstrations, a falconry display… what more could you want?

I’ll have a full range of handmade notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, miniature notebook necklaces, as well as origami flowers for all occasions.

It will cost just £5.50 for adults (£5 concession, under 10’s go free) to gain access to the show and gardens. Cross your fingers now for good weather!

Tags Bank Holiday, Castle Ashby, Craft Fair

Craft Notebooks Paper

New design! Hand bound map journal

Post author By Jenni
Post date February 12, 2016
No Comments on New design! Hand bound map journal

Up till now, I’ve been making simple notebooks or amending existing templates to create my own notebooks. But now I’m working for myself, I’m starting to have time to create my own designs and templates. This is the first!

Friends and family have kindly donated old leather bags for me to up-cycle; as soon as I saw this yellow leather, I knew it would work beautifully with the map print paper I bought in Amalfi a few years ago. I’d been hoarding the paper for the right project and this was definitely it.

Taking what I’ve learned over the years I’ve been making notebooks, I combined a flexible leather spine with solid boards front and back, covered in that beautiful quality map paper, finishing off the corners with leather for durability (and because it looks gorgeous!).

Hope you like it as much as I do! I’ll be making more of these and also designing new books, so keep a look out 🙂

Tags Bookbinding, Handmade, Journal, Leather, Notebook, Sketchbook, travel journal

Craft Notebooks Origami Paper Stationery

New on Folksy!

Small Coptic Stitch Book - £4

Finally! After taking a gazillion photos and agonising over my product descriptions, I have managed to get my first lot of stock up on Folky.

Check it out here.

Etsy to follow very soon… unfortunately my camera battery has run out and I’ve lost the charger!!

Tags Folksy, Gift tags, Notebooks, Origami

Craft Notebooks Paper Stationery

New Year, new notebooks

I’m currently working to stock my online shops with my handmade notebooks, plus I’ve got some products into a shop in town – so it’s all go! Here are some samples of what I’ve been doing:

Tags Bookbinding, Handmade, Notebooks

Craft Craft fairs Notebooks Origami Paper

Festive Craft Stall: Northants Christmas Sparkle Fair

Post author By Jenni
Post date December 3, 2015
No Comments on Festive Craft Stall: Northants Christmas Sparkle Fair

Sunday’s Christmas fair at the Benham Sports Arena was really fun and festive! Lots of different stalls and music throughout the day.

Here are a few pictures of the stall and my handmade goodies. The first one was taken early on… I’d only just got my coffee!

Tags Christmas, Craft stall, Handmade, Paper craft

Craft Notebooks Paper Stationery

Handmade Wedding Guestbook

Post author By Jenni
Post date November 10, 2015
No Comments on Handmade Wedding Guestbook

After working my way up to doing bigger notebooks and sketchbooks over the years, I got the chance to try my hand at a wedding guestbook (yep, for the same friend I did the flowers for!). This was a great opportunity and I found working with a specific purpose made me push myself more.

I chose a song that was special to both of them for the inside cover. The cover itself was navy sewn with silver thread, to match their colour scheme. Opting for a Japanese stab-binding method, I found this fantastic tutorial for the spine. It’s not as complicated as it looks, I promise, and it’s well worth the effort. I’m incredibly grateful for the tutorial.

Here’s the result!

Tags Bookbinding, Handmade, Wedding

Craft Craft fairs Notebooks Origami Paper

Northampton Christmas Sparkle Fair

Post author By Jenni
Post date November 4, 2015
No Comments on Northampton Christmas Sparkle Fair

This fabulous event is ticket only and y’all will want to book up and get the date in your diaries, I’m sure. Yes, it’s the Northampton Christmas Sparkle Fair and it’s only just over 3 weeks away!

There are going to be loads of fabulous stalls there, music, food, festivities… and of course handmade goodies from The Craft Fantastic! I’ll be there with a stall full of festive paper creations, including gift tags, decorations, and present ideas. Please come and see me on November 29th!

Tickets are only £2.50 adult, £1.50 child and are available here.

Tags Christmas craft fair, Festive, Handmade, Paper craft

Books Craft Notebooks Paper Stationery

New Notebook – hand stitched spine with key closure

Post author By Jenni
Post date May 8, 2015
No Comments on New Notebook – hand stitched spine with key closure

Finished this beauty recently! Handmade from sketchbook paper with an up-cycled leather-look cover (used to be a handbag), fancy hand stitching on the spine and a key closer attached with a suede cord that goes into a place holder inside.

Tags Book binding, Handmade notebook, Notebooks

Craft Notebooks Paper Stationery

Top 10 Stationery Essentials

Post author By Jenni
Post date May 1, 2015
No Comments on Top 10 Stationery Essentials

If you’re reading this then it’s likely to assume you love stationery – and you may already be aware that this week it has been National Stationery Week. It really has. I ran out of stock of my handmade Coptic-bound sketch books on Notebook day, of all days!!

Depending on your needs, there are a massive range of stationery products on the market, but here I’ve outlined what I think are the essentials.

Pen. A good pen, for writing or for drawing. I love a fountain pen for handwritten letters, biros for crosswords; but my favourite all-rounder has to be the Mitsubishi uni-ball eye. Smooth writing, waterproof, fade-proof, comes in various colours.

Pencil. A decent pencil is indispensable! And with it you need the following:
Eraser – often the one you get on top of the pencil is absolutely PANTS. So invest in something soft and non-smudgy, that doesn’t tear the paper!
Sharpener. To keep your pencil happy. I quite like this one: double hole, a home for the shavings and a lid so they don’t spill out.
Notebook. Sketch book/journal/jotter – whatever you call it, you need somewhere to write and draw your ideas, plans and thoughts. Handmade books are my specialty, so here are some examples of my work:

Ruler – this needs to be sturdy and long lasting. Metal ones are great for craft work.
Paperclips. Handy for when you don’t want to staple things! The more fun shaped, the better. Paperchase and (perhaps surprisingly) Ikea do some great ones.

Stapler. For when you want to permanently paper-clip something together.
Hole-punch. For those of us who like to print things and put them in files 🙂
Post-its. Other makes of sticky note labels are available! Sometimes you just need to stick a note on something. Perfect for reminders.