More Duct Tape Journals

Are you addicted to making duct tape journals yet?

I've made a few more since my earlier post, and can't wait to see what comes my way from the Mail Me Art swap.

This first duct tape journal is already on its way to a new home, where I hope it will bring a smile to the recipient.  I managed to snap a few photos before sending it away:

I'm showing my hand to give you a sense of its nice hand-held size.  I am hoping it has a soothing vibe!  Here are some pictures of the pages inside:

Here are another couple journals that I made around the same time:

I absolutely love the little tiny butter journal!

The long narrow pages are hard to photograph, though!

I kept most, though not all, of the pages in the gingerbread box book Christmas-themed.

So far, I've really only thought about choosing attractive papers for the journals.  I am only starting to explore the possibilities for embellishing the pages.  I will have ample opportunity to practice though, because as soon as my girls saw the duct tape journals on my worktable, they asked me to make them each one for Christmas!  I guess I better get to work.

Election Day!

"Voting is a civic sacrament."

Theodore Hesburgh,

American clergyman, University President

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone,

and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

John Quincy Adams,

6th U.S. President

"To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants,

not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain."

Louis L'Amour

"The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter."

Dwight D. Eisenhower

This and That

My husband gets top billing in today's blog post:  He resolved to make better use of his basement workshop, and he has kept to it.  First he customized shoe storage for our back door, then he created wooden jewelry boxes for the girls.  Most recently, he built a fence for outside to hide our trash can and recycle bin at the back of the house!

 It's kind of nice to know that there's a handyman around the house!

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The Mom-Hosted Holiday Bazaar took place on Friday night, organized by my friend Melissa, and including eleven vendors at Ashbridge Manor.

In terms of income, it was fairly similar to last-year's bazaar.  And better than the fiasco of the firehouse flea market!

While I did not sell a lot of any one thing, I did sell a lot of different things:  a stitched collage, some Layered 'n Stitched cards, a binder ring notebook, a set of matchbook notebooks, an airmail envelope notebook, a set of embellished binder clips, some sets of decorative greeting cards, a set of gift tags.  One of just about everything sold, but no popular favorites, which I found interesting. 

I'm still thinking that craft shows may not be the best venue for my things.

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My girls are into Knock-Knock Jokes.  (Yes, Heaven help me, I know.)  If you know any good ones for the three- and four- year set, let me know.  So far, our favorite is:

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

Impatient cow.

Impatient cow who? 

(But while they are in the middle of saying

"impatient cow who?" you have to "moo" really loudly.) 

 

Get it?  Huh?  Huh?  :-)

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We went to the library yesterday to look for Knock-Knock Joke books, and I happened across the strangest book in the grown-up section.  It's called Forgotten Bookmarks:  A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages, by Michael Popek. 

It is exactly as its title suggests:  reproductions of all the different kinds of things Popek has run across between the pages of the books he has handled as a bookseller. 

There is a chapter for photographs; letters, cards, and correspondence; notes, poems, lists, and other written ephemera; receipts, invoices, advertising, and other official documents; and objects, like razor blades (!) and four-leaf clovers. 

Popek also has a blog where he shares his findings:  www.forgottenbookmarks.com, but I haven't checked it out yet.  The book is a fun read to pick up from the library and browse through.

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Source

And finally:  I abandoned my jogging for the entire month of October!  I decided yesterday that it was time to get back out on the track and re-establish my running routine.  Prior to my "exercise sabbatical" I was running two or three times a week, and had gotten to the point where I could jog three miles without stopping, under proper conditions (e.g., flat track, cool temperatures).  Well, yesterday, after my month off, I managed to run three miles, but I stopped to walk a lap between each mile.  I have some re-strengthening to do, but I was happy not to have lost my ability to jog completely.  I have to thank you, Blog Readers:  the only reason I managed to run as far as I did was my desire to tell you that I made it three miles!  If I had not wanted public bragging rights so badly, I would definitely have stopped earlier! 

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Wishing you a great start to a new week!