My Month in Numbers 2013: September

Well hello there.

Come in come in and close the door before September slips out past you and disappears on us for another 12 months.

And I know I'm not alone in thinking that this month has been doing a pretty good vanishing act all round. But rather than bemoan the freakishly speedy passage of time ... how about we just document some of the moments and experiences we did manage to fit in? All with the aid - of course - of a number ... or 2 ...

Let me begin with my Communal Count results in reverse order:

[b] 500ml bottles of milk [approx. 0.9 pints] in my local shop cost 50p this month and our household drank approximately 22 of those. Give or take a few cartons I might have forgotten to mark down before throwing them into the recycling!

And as for how far I now live from my first ever school ... I knew the answer would be 'not very far' ... but I didn't expect it to sound so near:

I like how the route looks a bit like a question mark ... which just about sums up how I generally felt about school!

And while we're on the subject of schools ...

Almost 60 years = the amount of time elapsed between visits to Lingfield Point:
James and I visited the first day of the debut Festival of Thrift held at Lingfield Point in Darlington.

The festival described itself as "The first national Festival of Thrift is a FREE fun celebration of everyday living with upcycling, recycling and finding the sassiness in sustainable living!" ... so you can see why I wanted to visit.

The site was once the home to the wool and knitting pattern makers Paton & Baldwin ... hence the rather cosy-looking camper van decoration!

Afterwards, when I was chatting to my Mam about the festival and where it was held I mentioned how it used to be the Paton & Baldwin factory ... when she suddenly remembered that she'd visited it on a school trip when she was little! A story I'd never heard before. She remembered how they'd got to watch the wool-dyeing process and memories of great vats of coloured dyes and dripping yarns came flooding back to her.

Funny how there can still be new stories unlocked by the most unlikely events!

And, speaking of unlikely events ...

1005g = how many brambles James and I picked one morning. For the record: I picked 580g while he only managed 425g. Not that anyone's counting ...

We'd seen so many people foraging  in the hedgerows this year, with their little Tupperware boxes filled with blackberries that we thought we'd also take advantage of the mast harvest - the bumper crops that there's been in the UK this year.

On his travels James had spotted an area covered in bountiful bramble bushes so we made plans to spend a Sunday morning in the great outdoors collecting free fruit. Sounds idyllic doesn't it?

Well, it would have been ... if the glorious weather of the day before hadn't turned grey and blustery.

And if it hadn't rained.

And if I'd worn a more suitably-bramble-coloured coat.

And if there weren't as many heavy-industrial buildings nearby:

But hey, at least I can't be accused of one of those bloggers who only ever presents a perfect image of their wonderful lifestyle. It's quite possible that my nose was running in this photo. [What? TMI?]

 

Like I say, these brambles were growing close by an industrial area which, I'd joked, could have made the fruit radio-active! So, imagine the apprehension when, back home in our kitchen, I opened up the boxes and found a spider crawling across the fruit ...

 

As James took the box outside to dispose of the spider I could be heard shouting after him: "Be careful! Remember what happened to Peter Parker ...!!".

 

While we're on the subject of the changeable September weather ... 

 

10.09.13 = the first day of the Autumn season where I had to succumb to the cold and put the fire on! The only trouble with an exceptionally warm and bright summer ... is that it makes for quite a contrast when the days turn grey and chilly.  If I 'd been alone I probably would've just struggled through: maybe throwing on a scarf or a spot of running up and down the stairs! ;-) But I had company. And she didn't feel too well. And, I'm guessing it's the same where you live, but here it's definitely thought of as rude to send your guests home with hypothermia ...

 

A problem with the 3rd rib on my back = what caused me to wake in the middle of the night with a pain down my left arm.

Last month it was a nightmare that woke me around the same time.

At this rate it can't be long before I introduce a regular blog feature called 'What woke Julie in the night this week?'!

And this 'prominent' 3rd rib, which was annoying a nerve, led to my next September statistic ...

2 visits to the osteopath: fortunately [for my back and my bank balance] those 2 visits seem to have done the trick. The osteopath recommended I get occasional massages as a preventative measure ... and who am I to argue? So I'm now on the look out for a good masseur!

 

3 = the number of books I read.  All can be found on my Pinterest book board.

 

34 = the number of geese, in formation, I heard flying over our estate:

I was in my workroom, with the window closed, when I heard them pass above me, not even especially close-by or overhead. When I heard their chattering I'd thought "What's that noise? It sounds like geese". And, as I looked out of the window ... I realised why!

And finally ...

7 out of 8 = how many treats I managed to eat during Afternoon Tea with friends:  That 7 included 2 perfect scones:

I was the only one, of 4 of us, who couldn't manage that 8th treat [a slice of chocolate cake] ... and I was also the youngest person at the table and so ...

... when the waitress offered to wrap my cake to take home one of my friends explained to her that they'd all eaten theirs as: "We've been doing this longer that she has".  It's encouraging to know that my capacity for cake-eating will only increase over time!

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So, those are my month's statistics - to share your own ...

•  please visit the full 'How to join in My Month in Numbers' guide here.  
• There aren't many 'rules' - rather just a few ways you can join in the Month in Numbers community and help me out at the same time!
• [I may be a little slower than usual visiting your Month in Numbers posts this month but, as always, I'll make sure to get around to you eventually. Promise!]

Right then, I'll depart now to a symphony of the synchronised zipping-up of boots and buttoning-up of cable-knit cardies in preparation for October!

October's Communal Count will be here tomorrow ... so I'll see you then!

Julie :-)

30 postcards to myself : behind-the-scenes tips for making creative projects happen!

Hello you.

Over the last week or so I've been sharing the pages so far from my '30 Postcards to Myself' / 'Learn Something New Everyday' album.

[If you missed them you can catch the album contents here; Week 1 here; and Week 2 here].

And, as some of you might be considering making something similar or better still, if some of you might be scared to make something similar, then...

This post is intended to show ways you can not only begin ... but continue with ... this kind of extended/daily type of project.

• These ideas might come in useful if you're planning to make a journal in the run up to Christmas this year. Perhaps you're planning to follow December Daily from Ali Edwards or Journal Your Christmas from shimelle.com
• You've got plently of time to apply some of the principles which I'll set out today in your own festive book;
• Or else use the tips to prepare any journal on any theme - such as a travel journal;
• Basically what I'm saying is ... why not 'pin'/save this post to refer to when you need it?!

Right ... back to the post itself ...

Later on I'm going to suggest that 'organisation' will help you with these kinds of projects ... but to be honest that's too much like telling you to run before you can walk.

In my experience ... the storm comes before the calm!

Any large scale creative project  I tackle usually begins in complete and utter mess, chaos and, very often ... sheer terror and creative despair!!!

Even if [and that's a big 'if] I can decide upon which format to use [notebook or minibook? Tags or postcards? Junk journal or scrapbook? Somebody help me choose!! ... and so on ...] I'm someone who needs to browse through the majority my supplies in order to get a feel for what I want to use. [I wouldn't  want to overlook that perfect something or other would I?!]

And ... as I have quite a collection of supplies and like using lots of ephemera ... that can take me quite some time!

And some debating with myself.

And during that time, my house will invariably look like this [except this is after tidying!]:

My table and/or floor tends to look like this because, once I've narrowed down which stash to use [check out the supplies I set aside in my 'album contents' post] ... I daren't put it away!

Here's how I make a start on a 30 day-type project: [this is just how I do it ... it's obviously not going to be same for everyone ... but see if anything here is useful to you.]

1. As far as is possible I set aside a whole afternoon / block of time to set everything up in one go ----- I  think it helps with momentum ... and prevents a simple craft project from taking over my entire week's worth of free time or even my life!
2. I set aside enough supplies to complete the entire 30 day project from the start ----- the last thing I want to do is dive back into all my boxes again in the days ahead, so I set aside enough to do the full job from the kick-off!
3. Barring the occasional extras I restrict myself to only using what I selected at the start ----- otherwise it could end up in an entire re-assessment of my whole stash once again. And that would mean more wasted time!
4. I set out all those supplies where I can see them on the same table / across the floor / any available surface ----- if I can't see them I can't be inspired by them rendering all the time I've spent on the previous steps pointless! I'll admit that the sheer scale of the mess is sometimes daunting ... but I keep telling myself it's only for a day or so!]
5. I decorate all 30 pages before the daily element kicks in ---- granted, this can take a few sittings, but I don't stop until it's done. I know that, once those 30 days begin, I'll only have the time and inclination to record the memories rather than getting involved with more 'titivating';
6. Once completed [and this is where the 'organisation' tip comes in], I store the pre-decorated journal plus all my additional supplies together, in some sort of dedicated bag or box -  this makes it easy for me to grab before flopping down on the settee in the evening. Then I can add that day's wording to my pages while relaxing!

This year I'm using this cute little plastic tray I found in a charity shop last month:

When it caught my eye I immediately recalled that Carmen [of Whoopidoings] had mentioned that someone had suggested that old school lunch trays work well for organising craft supplies. And while this isn't quite that ... it's good as! And, for just £1.50 I didn't hesitate. Thanks for the idea Carmen!

While they're not in these photos I also keep my alpha-roller stamp; date stamp; ink pads, journaling pen plus scissors and glue [in case running repairs are needed] in there too making it super-easy to keep up-to-date with my 30 postcards when ever the mood strikes!

So I've talked through how I set myself up initially ... and how I keep everything together for the duration of the project ...

... but before I go let me quickly tell you about something I occasionally do when I'm crafting in general, but which I really made a concerted effort to do during this particular project:

I used up my scraps!!

Yep, I achieved the holy grail of crafting!

• I used up my scraps. 
• My leftovers.
• My oh-no-I've-already-used-that-on-a-big-project-and-now-I -can't-possibly-face-using-it-on-new-projects bits.

Do you know that feeling? It's when you've used a particular paper for something that, afterwards,  it can get a bit: 'been there done that'. And then the leftover sections of it end up languishing in your stash for the next year?

So, with that in mind ...

• after decorating my 30 pages I forced myself to sit at the table and not start anything else until I'd used up all the leftovers and elements I didn't get around to using.

And here's a selection of what I made:
I'll post a few detail shots in my much-neglected Flickr gallery, but these give you the general idea:

 They're basically just a lots of strips and scraps with a vintage image or a phrase as a focal point:

I'm not entirely sure what they are yet. They may eventually become ...

• business cards [with my details glued to the back]
• tiny original collages to sell [for a low price point] if I ever dare take a table at a craft fair!
• tiny cards to pop into parcels;
• ... and a few have already been used as birthday gift tags.

So, whatever they turn out to be ... at least all those scraps have a new lease of life already, while they were out on the table, while I could still bear to look at them! Where they escaped the recycling bin!

Do any of today's ideas alter how you might feel about tackling a month-long project?

• does it seem more manageable now you've seen how a mini-book can eventually rise from mess, chaos and despair?!
• would the mind-set of allowing yourself [and yes, I think it does take a battle with the conscience to just let go and trash the place like that!] to make all the mess that's necessary because it only lasts a few days ... help you to really make a dent in the project at the start?
• does the idea of binge-crafting and really focussing during in the days that you do have a few hours spare, help you see there's a way to making something easy to keep up with throughout the rest of the month?

Whatever your reaction ... I'd be interested to hear ...

Julie :-)

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p.s: Going Postal will take a tiny break from now until next Wednesday[Oct 2nd] so I can make room for September's My Month in Numbers and a new Communal Count which may or may not also be under a postal influence this time around!

 

So this weekend might be which is the ideal time for you to catch up on anything you've missed ... or to make your own contribution to the series.

 

 

If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

Going Postal 2013: Postage stamp flower gift tag

Hi hi hi.

If you've been following  the Going Postal series so far ... no ... actually, if you're familiar with my blog at all, or my shop, or even my wardrobe ... basically me in general ...  then you might have realised by now that I'm pretty fond of putting things into colour themes.

And, needless to say, this has extended into my stamp collection! Of course it has!

I find that whenever I can't think of a theme for something [eg. my Fabricky Bits kits], or I'm sitting there faced with a lot of supplies and I can't think of an interesting way to pull them all together [as in my 30 Postcards minibook] ... I turn to arranging things into colour families ... and I take it from there!

Here I wanted to make a flower design with some stamps and, to make sure that idea was nice and clear ... I selected ones in similar shades:

And, because of the similar colours, they hang together nicely and make sense as a flower rather than looking simply like randomly placed stamps.

More ideas:

• Stamps can add a quick extra level of interest to any project where you might otherwise use small pieces of patterned paper;
• You could make pretty postal petal embellishments like these in advance, mounted on to a disc of cardstock and decorated in the centre with buttons, gems etc. Then they're always on hand to add them to all kinds of paper crafting projects [cards, tags, gift-wrap; scrapbooking];
• Sort and store a bundle of stamps in colour order [in clear bags or in a divided storage box] to speed up choosing which ones to use.  Otherwise you may just find yourself browsing your entire collection every time. [Ask me how I know ... !]

One additional thing I like about storing stamps in a rainbow spectrum is ...

• you begin to see how many pretty, bright and unexpected colours they come in!
• I was surprised to see so many oranges, pinks and purples amongst my collection;

this allows you to easily add a vintage-yet-bright touch to more modern paper-crafting styles. I think the 'vintage postage' theme is often used in dark, grungy, aged-effect type projects ... but, as I hope this tag display, they really can be combined with pastels too!

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I'll have more of my '30 Postcards' pages to share later in the week, until then ...

 

• Do you sort and store your supplies in colour families?
• Just certain ones? Or everything?
• Or nothing?! Is colour not as big a creative influence on you as it is for me?

Julie :-)



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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

30 postcards to myself: Week 2 of LSNED

Hi there.

I'm kicking off a new week - Week 2 of Going Postal - with the next set of 7 'lessons' I've recorded on postcards in my Learn Something New Everyday journal. [LSNED is a class hosted at shimelle.com each September].

As ever some of my lessons followed on from thinking through Shimelle's prompts while others ... like the first one here ... are just something I 'discovered' ...
 

Week 2

 

September 8th 2013:

There were two reasons I didn't write what that 'something' I found [with un-gloved hands] actually was. And they are:

1. because I thought it might put you off your breakfast and ...
2. because I didn't want to write 'cat poo' on my nice collage [Oh! See what you've done. You've made me say it now! My apologies to your breakfast].

September 9th 2013:

On the reverse of this card I've written about the encounter I had with an elderly lady while buying bread buns in the bakers'. When the shop assistant served us both at once the lady nudged me, smiled and said: "Isn't she good? Serving us at the same time? She'll go to heaven she will .... oh, but not just yet!".

September 10th 2013:

This page was part of the White Stuff catalogue I talked about cutting up in my introductory post to this mini-book project. The stag horn . bird illustration was too nice to cover over so I just added a few tiny collage details to it, like the stamp, number paper and alarm clock.

September 11th 2013:

The magazine James was reading had no quiz in it ... and I fancied a quiz ... so he made one up by covering over brand names and making me guess which fashion house the adverts were from. He really is the best Julie Whisperer there is!

 

September 12th 2013:
Now then ... with this one ... I was inspired by one of Shimelle's prompts to document a 'you had to be there' moment, a private joke, something that you could choose to explain ... or else leave vague . And I'm not sure what to do with this one ...

... you've probably got your own speculative explanations whirring around your head right now ... it might spoil you fun if I told you the mundane truth!

September 13th 2013:

Sometimes I like a list. Other times a list terrifies me!

And finally ... a nice happy lesson to end on ...

September 14th 2013:

It might take time to decide what to take to a crop, and even longer to pack it all into my trolley and bags ... and it may mean I have to get up early ... and find something to take for lunch ... and all those supplies may well need unpacking again once I get home ... but, for me, crafting in company once a month is worth it. 

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I've been really intrigued at all the comments about how very 'Julie' this project seems to you!

 

Don't get me wrong - that's a good thing.  But the idea that I have an identifiable style always comes as a relief and a surprise! But it does make me glad ... makes me feel I'm being true to myself ... which can't be a bad thing!

 

I know some of you were going to have a go at this kind of book, so you might be interested to know that later this week I'll share a 'behind-the-scenes-of-the-project' post is intended to show ways you can not only begin ... but continue with ... this kind of extended/daily type of project.

 

But if you're new to it you can catch up here:

• The introduction, complete with supply ideas and tips to make your own;
• Week 1 - 7 x completed postcard page examples

There's another posty post to come in between now and the behind-the-scenes post though ... so I'll be seeing you soon.

 

Julie

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

Cardmaking: Hang out the happy-mail bunting

Hello hello.

I can't believe we're only at the end of the first week [of 6] of Going Postal ... it feels like I've been talking about it forever!

And that's probably because I have!

I've had some of these projects ready for months and I kept promising that another series for us post-lovers was 'coming soon' so, now that it finally has ... allow me to hang out the bunting to celebrate!

Bunting is a trend that shows no sign of leaving us anytime soon. It's settled its crafty-little-pennants in for the night, and it's not going anywhere just yet.

And,  between us, we've probably turned everything into bunting by now haven't we? Ranging from the original triangle flag shapes across to hearts, flowers, skulls ... basically, if you can hang it from a line of string ... you can call it bunting!

So why not postage stamps?

Stamps make perfect, ready-made, colourful flags for creating bunting in a hurry,  you can just pop a 3D foam pad on the back and sit them on top of a length of twine and you're done! I added two little bird stickers at either end of mine but you could try brads or mini-pegs too:

It's just another way to sneakily introduce some vintage paper 'ephemera' into your modern papers and supplies.

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Thank you for the support of the series so far - from your comments, to the Facebook chat and the pins on Pinterest. It's good to finally let all my projects see the light of day ... and to have them received so generously. Thanks!

 

See you in Week 2 of Going Postal!

 

Julie :-)

If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

30 postcards to myself: Week 1 of Learn Something New Everyday

Hello hello.

Did you catch my previous post where I introduced my '30 postcards to myself' journal which is home to my Learn Something New Everyday lessons? In that post I shared the 'ingredients' I'd gathered together to form each of the 30 pages then, following on from those basics, I added scraps of patterned paper, tickets, journaling blocks and focal images until ... well, until I had 30 pre-decorated pages on to which I can add my 'lesson' for each day.

Some days I take direct inspiration for my topic from Shimelle's prompts [Learn Something New Everyday is a class hosted at shimelle.com each September] while other days I wrote whatever came to mind when I sat down to document the onset of Autumn in 30 postcards to myself.

And here's what was on my mind for the first 7 days of the project ...

Week 1

September 1st 2013:

Did you notice the tiniest sliver of postage stamp up ^^ there?  Even just a hint of perforated edge adds a nice posty touch!

 

September 2nd 2013:

I wanted to leave some of the original postcard on show, so tore the patterned paper to reveal the image beneath.

 

September 3rd 2013:  

September 4th 2013:

At the moment I have a thing for slicing into images, like the collector's card above. I love the disjointed feel it gives to have layers run off the edge of my 'canvas' like that. It's a very easy technique to give a slightly more edgy and modern feel to a design.

 

September 5th 2013:

I loved recording this lesson. It came after two of my friends - who don't know one another - reacted to something I told them with almost the exact same words. They both interpreted the story I'd told them as being evidence of how nice people can be, and it made me think ... their reaction really showed how nice they are that that was their immediate thought!

 

September 6th 2013:

This was one of my favourite old postcards in this project, so I tried not to cover over too much of it.

 

Also ... 'treatier' may not be a real word ... but still, I bet you know what I mean by it!

 

September 7th 2013: 

This nugget of wisdom came from being about to write something about the simple pleasures of eating well and watching good TV on a Saturday night ... then I remembered that I wrote the exact same thing in my LSNED journal last year!!  Well ... if it aint broke ... and all that!

 



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Join me later this week for an entirely different posty project ...

 

See you then.

 

Julie :-) 

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

Going Postal 2013: Easy vintage postage stamp wall art

Hello hello.

Today's instalment of Going Postal coincides with my day to post on the 3DJean shop Design Team blog ... so it makes perfect sense to share a posty-project I made featuring one of the bare Collections Elements chipboard hearts available from Jean.

But, naturally ... I gave the naked chipboard some postal-themed clothing!:

For all the details on how I made it you can hop over to my post on the 3DJean blog.

A few tips for making something similar:

• stamps give a nostalgically romantic twist to any simple chipboard shape;
• a large chipboard letter covered in stamps would make a very handsome monogram;
• you can add alphabet stickers as a greeting or seek out an appropriate 'snippet' from an old book page ... or else leave it plain if you'd like the heart speak for itself; 
• as the stamps are thin even a basic glue-stick is strong enough to stick them down;
• when the glue is completely dry gently sand the edges to really flatten the paper down;

A stamp-covered heart like this would make a sweet love token or a unique house warming or wedding gift and while you could definitely apply the general idea to the front of a card, popping it in a frame quickly and easily transforms it into a unique gift to keep forever.

And here's a close-up:

It's a very quick, very simple project which requires very few supplies ... and, as is so often the case, the end results of such a basic idea can be quite striking!

 

I hope it's given you a few ideas of what can be done with [a] chipboard shapes  or [b] old postage stamps ... or both! Do let me know if you give it, or something similar, a try! 

 

Drop back tomorrow to see inside my '30 Postcards to Myself' mini book which I introduced yesterday.

 

Julie :-) 

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

30 postcards to myself: tips on making a postal-themed mini book

Hello  hello and welcome to day one of Going Postal 2013! 

It's the 3rd time I've run this themed blog series celebrating all things post-related and it's so nice that some of you have let me know already that you're planning to join me on your own blogs at some point between now and Sunday October 27th when I'll draw these 6 weeks of posty-correspondence to a close. Thank you!

In the past I've run the series through the summer but this year I thought that leaving it a little later might work for us all.

• Now that the air is starting to turn a little chilly I thought it would be nice to have something creative and even nostalgic to focus on when we're tucked up in front of the fire!
• Plus I thought it might coincide nicely with the time of year when preparations are being made to make and post-off Christmas cards! [Yes, I said it. It's out there now. Christmas. Look! I just said it again!].

And it also meant that leaving it a little later meant I could share the post-themed journal I'm making in response to Learn Something New Everyday : a series of life-documenting prompts delivered by Shimelle Laine each September.

So, allow me to introduce my 2013 journal which, by the end of this month, will contain 30 postcards I've written to myself. One a day throughout September:

Rather than just leap in with the finished item, I thought I'd share with you the 'bare bones' of this project in case you'd like to do something similar with all those postal supplies you've got in your stash.

And if you haven't got any postal supplies in your stash well ... this might just be the excuse you need to go and get some!

[If Ilfracombe, North Devon is familiar to you, you might be interested to know there are 2 vintage postcards from the town in my shop today].

A proportion of my 30 pages began life as various vintage / reclaimed [blank] postcards:

I'd always intended to collage on top of some of my postcard collection ... and this gave me the push I needed to finally get around to it!

The remainder of my pages began life as the covers of a 'White Stuff' fashion catalogue which landed on my doorstep while I was planning this project!

As it featured lots of lovely autumnal animal illustrations it was too nice not to use - so I simply trimmed its cardstock covers to postcard size:

Other pages include: scrapbooking journal cards, kraft cardstock and two old Cluedo game cards. Basically:

• anything vaguely 6"x4" sized and sufficiently sturdy can be used for this kind of 'junk' style postcard mini-book;
• have a good rummage around all your craft supplies and your junk mail pile for anything suitable;
• even the cardboard inserts inside packaging supplies can come in useful here.

TOP TIP: To help create a cohesive feel to this type of 'pick & mix', 'bit of everything', 'found materials' project ... limit your colour palette.

Restricting yourself to a specific colour scheme will:

1. prevent the finished project from looking too unfocused, and ...
2. help you narrow down which supplies to use in the first place. Sometimes having too many options can scare your creativity into hiding!

To continue with the postal theme ... I set aside a handful of my old postage stamp collection which matched my colour scheme:

Along with matching my colour palette of blue, green and naturals the stamps I chose also reflected the overall theme and feel of my book which was 'animals/nature' and 'landscapes'.

A selection of vintage collectors' cards and a handful of landscape photos [all from my ephemera collection] came in useful to add a postcard feel to those pages which weren't postcards:

Finally, and predictably ...

I dipped into my Plundered Pages to snip images from and to use as collaged layers:

These included sheets from a beautiful old French botanical book, my ever-useful number books and a Judy comic. [I'm happy to create custom orders for any and all of these items if they've caught your eye.]

And finally ... once I had 30 postcards in need of a home I needed to find some book covers.

And what better way to safely store a collection of postcards than inside an old shoe box?

I'd saved this box, from a pair of James's trainers, for years because I loved the printed design [of tiles and a cement floor I think!] knowing that at some point I'd find a use for it.

And now I have!

I just trimmed it to size, wrapped the spine with corrugated card, punched holes and then clipped everything together on a book-ring.

Over the coming weeks I hope to inspire you to try out this type of journal by ...

•  sharing photos of each of my 30 postcards, each of which has been decorated / collaged upon and had my Learn Something New Everday 'lesson' stamped on the front;
• plus I'll share how I went about decorating 30 pages in advance, all in one go ... to offer up a way you too can tackle ANY 'daily' kind of life-documenting project;
• and I'll even give you an idea of how you can deal with all your leftover scraps!

I'm looking forward to sharing more of this album, plus lots of other completely separate posty projects with you in the coming weeks.

See you very soon.

Julie

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

Have you seen ... 'Do What You Love's' Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap?

Hi hi.

I thought that registering for this handmade postcard swap hosted over at Do What You Love [a lovely, inspirational website] could be the perfect thing to get us all limbered up before the launch of Going Postal 2013 on Monday morning [16th Sept]:

Click the image to read all the details over at Do What You Love

So, aware that the swap registration deadline [Sept 25th] is edging nearer, I'm just sneaking in to share it with you now, in case you get chance to grab some free time over the weekend to sign up and then make a start on your postcard!

It's the 6th year that this swap has run and, while I've heard all about it, I've not joined in before ... but this year, if I can grab some spare time I'll give it a go!

How about you?

Visit this post over on the Do What You Love blog for comprehensive details on how to register for 'The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap' plus information on this year's theme and how the swap is organised. 

Right then ... I'll leave you to your posty crafting and I'll see you on Monday!

Julie :-)

How'd you like to go a bit postal with me again?

Please note the new end date!

** If you're a company / shop owner / designer maker etc who'd like to sponsor a postal-themed giveaway during the series then do consider getting in touch. Or maybe offer a discount code so all us posty-lovers can treat ourselves to something from your shop.Going Postal for some reason, has always elicited very kind and unbidden offers in the past. I think it must be the idea of getting to send out some 'Happy Mail' that brings out the generous spirits! [That, or like me, you've never got over your love of the Post Office play set you had when you were little!]

And to everyone else ... come in, sit down ...

If you've popped your head around my Facebook page door in recent months you might have heard me trailing the return of my postal-themed series for ... oooh ... well ... for  months now!

And, as I'm of the philosophical school of "promise little: do much" ... it's been eating away at me that I'd said it was going to happen and yet there was no concrete sign of it anywhere. But now there is! And that scratchy / breathy sound you can here is the combination of me crossing a big To Do  from my list while breathing a sigh of relief!
 
If you're new here and you don't know what Going Postal is, let me quickly fill you in on the details ...

• It's a blogging series during which I indulge in my love of things postal related;
• It's craft projects and, in other years: giveaways, stories, photos and ideas;
• It's postage stamps, envelopes, postcards, memories  ...
• It's me posting my ideas ... and other bloggers joining me with their own posty posts!

And, perhaps most importantly ...

• It's starting next Monday! [16th Sept]  

 If you'd like to join me at any point over the coming 6 weeks of postal goodness ...

Here's how you can Go Postal with me:

• Start thinking of a way you can blog your own response the theme;
• Blog a story about a memorable correspondence;
• Blog a photo with a posty tale attached;
• Make something posty related and blog it;
• Think of any other creative way to play along!!

**If you link up to my blog in your own Going Postal post before the end of the series [Oct 27th 2013]

• I'll add it to the Going Postal Pinterest board [which currently has 755 followers ... so it might be a good way to attract some new readers to your site.]

 Right ... I'm going to leave it there for now ... needless to say I've got a lot of posty-preparation to get on with before the series begins.

Any questions, thoughts, ponderings and ramblings ... just let me know either here or on FB and I'll get back to you.

 [Please note: I can't use the direct 'reply' function in the comments - but I will leave a general comment as a reply somewhere under yours!]

See you soon postal lovers.

Julie :-)