Do you doodle?

Poor old sketchbook stuffed full of notes & doodles waiting for their turn to hop out & try to make it in the 3D world.

So it's been a bit quiet on the blog-front, but doesn't mean my sketchbook hasn't been getting a workout! I admit I'm a planner & draw to try to work technicalities out on paper before reaching for clay, wire, or pliers. I'm also trying to get into the habit of taking notes while working on projects to make it easier to create/recreate variations of something & organize my tangential thoughts.

Last night I just needed paper to write some notes on for a project & found only the back cover of my sketchbook was left, whoops! As I'd picked up a replacement earlier (I like the size & how it has spiral binding) this sketchbook sadly has a rather flimsy cover. The plan was to quickly reinforce it with scrapbooking paper & go back to my clay. As with many of my "simple" sounding ideas, this one became a doozie!

Cover with ribbon tie closure - Oh So Girly, I don't know whether to cringe or giggle at the excessively pink & fluffy-ness!

The front cover is a pocket & has a "If lost please return" tag.

Why is the back always considered the dark side?

Happy Birthday Sketchbook!
A couple hours of paper, ink, & glue - crazy makeover is complete & waiting for more doodles to be added!

She's gone crafting

So it seems this whole blogging thing will take some practice! Either way, here's a some of the shenanigans that has been bouncing 'round my brain:

In the debate over cupcakes or scones today, the winner is scones!

These are Mango-honey scones, recipe adopted from http://tinyurl.com/mangoscones
I really like how the dough puffed up & became ginormous after baking! As I haven't made scones before, I'm not sure if the dough was stiff from over mixing or from the frozen mangoes, seems to taste ok though.

Last weekend I hung out with a friend at the craft store she works at & got in touch with my crafter roots again :) They had blank canvases decorated with paper, fabric, maribu, etc. What started as a started as a mini-folding screen idea, somehow turned into a jewelry (or scone!) box of sorts.


The canvases are 8x10, the side with the mesh is a regular artist's canvas, & the other side is a deeper gallery style canvas. The insides of the canvases are painted with black acrylic paint, & the hardware cloth attached with a staple gun.

The little the hinges & upholstery tacks ar so cute! <3

Surprising to me, only 1 "fat quarter" of fabric was needed, which included some overlap so the edges of the fabric could be folded in neatly. The fabric is attached to the face of the canvases with spray mount & at the edges with upholstery tacks. The latch & hinges screwed easily into the the canvas & fabric.

No plans for jewelry stuff & look what happens, go figure! :P