Flip Through of Junk Journal for Ashleigh

 I just finished a junk journal for my 10 year old grand daughter. I am trying to get her to document some of her memories and so far, she hasn't really been interested. So.. I made this one in a fashion that is easier...she doesn't have to write, although there is space to write, but she can just put things in pockets or washi tape them to the page etc. No writing involved! Hopefully when she sees this one, she will get the point and start collecting!

 I just folded 8.5"x11 inch papers in half to make the signatures...there are 3 in the book. I used cereal box for the book and regular card stock to cover it.

 I can't for the life of me figure out why when I take pictures of things...they always come out yellowed. I have tried so many ways and lighting effects, but still... always this yellow cast.  I did download a YouTube video of it, and that can't out great! So...scroll to the bottom here and you can see that.  These are just a few pages in the book... this one with a collection baggie  and flip out pages........

 And this one with a McDonald's bag when Minions were "out"....made pocket page with it!

So check out the video of this junk journal...good color and I only talked about how I made the pages and things I used and didn't chatter on about brand names or where I got what from etc. Just lots of page ideas and low cost...this is just stuff I found around the house with some old scrapbook stuff left over from my scrapbook days 15 years ago! But you can do the same. I also show you about keeping mementos in the junk journals... check it out! Give me a thumbs up if you like and subscribe if you already haven't as I have 4 more of these to show you!

Flip Through of Junk Journal for Ashleigh

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories!   Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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Junk Journal for my Grand Daughter with a K You Tube Video!

I have been working on 4 junk journals to give to my grand daughters. I am encouraging them to jot down their memories or favorite things or special thoughts and things that happen. Most people don't journal as they just don't have time to write a whole page or more. With a junk journal.. you don't have to spend alot of time if you don't want to! A junk journal  is all paper so you can literally write anywhere on the book pages! Pockets and tuck spots and envelopes...perfect for putting "things" in ...forget writing about a movie you saw...save the ticket that has the movie name, date on it and slide that into a tuck spot. Only writing you need to do is the name of the person you were with or why you liked the movie so much etc.    Anyway...I am coming down the home stretch in getting the four journals done. I now have them all with covers and stitched together.  I just have to decorate the covers and add the blingy dangles!

So...here is a video of what I have gotten done so far in the first one. This one is for my 16 year old grand daughter.  Take a look, get some ideas and I hope you enjoy the show!!! However, it is only my second video I have ever done, and holding the camera with one hand while flipping the pages with the other...a bit cumbersome, but...still...came out okay! I will be posting more videos as I get the other journals done, so if you want to follow me...make sure you join my blog in the upper left side of my main blog page or subscribe to my YouTube channel after you watch it! Thanks for watching!

Junk Journal for my Grand Daughter with a K

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!

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Dog Play Quiet Book Page

I just finished this page and have not gotten it bound into the book yet, but I wanted to share it anyway! It turned out so cute! A lot of activity with this page...the dogs can go in to their dog house, get a bone from their feed dish, chase a ball, get a bath and take a ride in the wagon!


I used my personal creation of       to make the dogs.

Here is the video..take a look!

And the funny thing is.... I started this page theme with a color matching activity. I was going to make a bow on dogs to match the door or roof on a dog house! Just goes to show that once you get an idea....it might end up as you planned, but if it doesn't...just means you have a whole new idea!

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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Capes for the Girl Scouts!!

Hello everyone!  It has been awhile since I did a post last, you know how it goes... time gets the better of you! So much going on in life!  But I did want to share this with you all. Yes, my blog is about memories, but also crafts to make memories. Here is about my recent memory!

My grand daughters are 10, 7 and 6. They are all in Girl Scouts. 10 is a Junior, 7 is Brownie and 6 is a Daisy. That means green, brown and blue colors!  They are currently in Cookie Booth time selling Girl Scout cookies! Their favorite place is in front of Lowe's Home Improvement store!  Yes, they sell about 200 every time there! I am the "second in command"...the leader is their mother. They little ones do so well selling and not getting mad when people are rude to them.  I had mentioned to them to speak up and talk louder cause the traffic from the street and the sound the carts make on the concrete..it is hard to hear over that! Next thing I know,   I hear the 7 year old one talking to the 10 year old one, saying.."We have to talk loud so we can sell. Cute sells, and we are cute, so now we just have to talk  loud!". I had to walk away so they didn't catch me laughing! But how true it is! Those little faces and happy voices, get those grumpy old grandpas every time! They'd ask and the grumpy grandpa either ignores and walks by or says something grumpy to them and walks on... literally 9 out of 10 times...they will turn around and come back and buy a box! Some times they just give them $5 and tell them to buy themselves a box! But they got those old codgers every time!

 Well, I say that to say this. I decided to make them each a cape to wear.  It goes from hot to cold and back again, and I thought the capes would be good and I'd make them in their own colors. Sorry the pic is sideways, I don't know how to make it right! I am still in the 20th century on most things! We just developed the film back then and all was well with the world!

Long story short.. I finally finished them last week! They loved them! I made them reversible... the one side fleece in their Girl Scout color to wear when they are doing anything girl scout related, and the other side is a "ty-dyed" flannel print. The buttons are large so easy to button, but they look like gems so they think that is just the best! So.. here are two of them (the third one was sick this day)
I am sorry they are sideways. I took them with my cell phone vertically, the right way, but when they showed up in the gallery (later at home!) they were like this and my photo editor won't rotate them without cutting the taller ones head off! It was VERY cold this day!

Good memories here. And.. I will remember this too.. IF I EVER work with stretchy fleece again, it will not be reversible!  Boy howdy, did I have a time with it! I looked at it, and it stretched!  Now that I have calmed down, I might work with it again, but... lined with a thin broadcloth only!!!

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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How to Organize Your Scraps... and USE THEM!!

We all keep our scraps of fabric, no matter how small. Some use them as bedding/filling for a blanket for a pet, others, cut them into squares...down to even a 1"x1" square and then later, sew them together to make Postage Stamp quilts or just "scrap quilts". Either way...we tend to think of it as a chore. I admit, I kind of do! I let them pile up for a year... just stuff that plastic tote full as possible all year long. Then...I finally get energized to do some cutting and organizing and spend a few hours with the scraps and come out feeling great, energized and ready to start a new project!

Today, I did just that. I was going through all my fabric yesterday, getting ready for a move. I was adamant that I was NOT going to pay to move and possibly pay to store, this large plastic tote of scraps. So, last night I decided today would be my Scrap Day. I had done this last 2 years in a row and cut the pieces to 2,1/2"x2,1/2" squares, put them all in baggies of matching colors and then into a decorative photo box on the shelf.  I did make some quilts with some of them, but I had so many, I still have some left!  I made these "Postage Stamp" quilts with 2,1/2"x2,1//2" squares.

 These are all 40"x60" lap quilts.  I added the white squares, just because I am an over organizer, and all those colors next to each other just looks sloppy and junky! But the white was enough to organize the many colors to look nice. Then again, I always forget, just because I don't like it, doesn't mean others won't like it! I gave these to the ladies at my church and they loved them!

 The first one, the color squares were organized in a rainbow pattern.  This one they are in order of  just whatever came out of the box next.!

 This one I had to use graph paper to design the pattern for where the colored squares went to make the words, but it was really easy!

So, I intended to cut 2,1/2x2,1/2" squares and then thought.. why? I really don't like working with that small piece anyway! And I still have 3 boxes full of the little squares from last time, so I decided to cut this years stash into 3,1/2"x 5,1/2" pieces (rectangles)

This is 1/3 of the tote content! Doen't look like much, but I pressed them all last night and have them nicely folded and organized into stacks! There is more than it looks like!

 

I lay out 4-6 scrap pieces and use my 24"x3,1/2" template.  A note for a quick cutting spree..use a template size that is easy to work with. In this case, it is 3,1/2" wide so that is how wide my scrap pieces are. Then I used that removable tape (or just masking tape) to mark the 5,1/2" where I would be cutting the pieces.

Then the cool part starts! When I get them cut, I stack them according to color  so I have a place to start looking for color when I what to use them.  Really cool stack, right? It is inspirational to me... makes me want to just cut more!!!

And make more stacks!!!  

 Then, I put them in a decorative photo box, mark the size on the front and in no time... have a box of beautiful rectangles, ready to use!  This took me 2,1/2 hours to cut this many... and that was the fastest 2,1/2 hours I ever spent! I couldn't believe it was that long...I thought sure I had only been cutting an hour or so. But then when I saw the stack of beautiful rectangle...it was all worth it!  Then, mark the front of the box and Done and Done!!!!

 

I have other boxes of cut squares...2,1/2 and 3,1/2 and 4x4 and 5" squares. I cut all fabric scraps into the size I want, and then take what is left and cut those scraps into smaller sizes. I have a small stash (really small!) left from cutting these today and will hang on to those until I get enough to continue and cut 2,1/2"-ers out of those.

So, there you are. Organized scraps.. the fun and easy way!  Hope you are inspired to go cut your scraps!  It is such a inspiring feeling or "ready to start sewing now" to see that empty scrap tote box!


Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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Quiet Book Page - Snow Theme with Pull String Feature

Just need to finish the aesthetic features of this page but I wanted to post it and show how I did the pull string features. This snow theme page has pull strings for the mountain climber to climb the mountain, and for the snowman (Olaf) to pop out of the side of the mountain to play with the other hikers!

How I did the pull string of Olaf:  Usually creators will use an eyelet to make the hole for the string to go through, but.. I don't have that and don't need to spend the money on MORE tools if I can do without them. So...for this page, I put fusible interfacing on the back of the felt, then another layer in the same spot for strength. The fusible interfacing (My BEST FRIEND in my sewing room!)  make for a solid area, no fraying, and strength to keep the hole from fraying. Then, I positioned the tree so that the hole was just slightly covered by a tree branch. Bingo!  A nice pull string! The snowman (Olaf) is "hiding" behind the snow mountain.. for this, I did not sew that area down so that there is a "gap" for him to hide in.

I also use my idea of making what I call 3-D images for the removable figures.
                                              You can read about that here....  

I don't know that I "created" this idea, but I figured it out and love doing it...since I don't have an embroidery machine to do it for me!

  I hope I can offer you some idea of more ways, maybe even more efficient, but for sure more cost effective, ways of creating your own Quiet Book Page for your child!


Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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Quiet Books from My Past!

I am all about memories.. and here are two! 37 years ago, I made these quiet books for my daughter. She loved them! I saved them just for out of house times when I had to take her and she had to be quiet, or sit still or not be able to play much for an extended period of time, like doctor's office, church, resturant, road trips, etc.

Check them out... some things never change! Some of the same pages ideas in this quiet book are still popular in quiet books today! The difference? Back then, we didn't have the internet so to get patterns we relied on McCalls or Simplicity and coloring books! But...it worked!

Check out these two videos and leave a comment...tell me what you think! I made them 37 years ago... keep that in mind!!!

To see all the quiet book videos I have done for quiet books I have made... this link will take you to all of them here on my blog....   Quiet Books Handmade    
                                      
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Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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How to Make a Pizza for your Quiet Book Page!

I have been working on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle page in my grandson's quiet book. I saw this fabric in the store and grabbed it! how perfect! I cut out enough "slices" to make a whole pizza (8 slices!) and then I pressed single sided iron on interfacing to the back to fuse the threads all together so there is not frayed edges or dangling threads when I cut it out.  Then...cut out the pizza but leave about 1/4 inch outer edge on it. Then.. to make it more sturdy.... I used double sided iron on interfacing (Wonder Under) and fused the pizza image to another fabric that would be the visable back of the image. In this case.. I had some white flannel..and used that. But...if you want it stiffer, fuse it to felt. If you want velcro on the back, sew the velcro to the felt FIRST, then fuse the felt to the image.  Watch the video to see how it all works!

Makes a perfect pizza!!! Use it in a kitchen setting or grocery store page or a picnic page!

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE This post is linked to the Linky Party for the day. Click on the "Daily Linky Parties" tab at the top of my page and join us!

The Solar System - Quiet Book Pages

I bought this solar system fabric while back...been itching to make the pages! Pages are 11x11 unfinished. I used chalk to make the curved lines and then used a close zigzag stitch to sew them on.

The planets were a fabric, and I cut the 9 planets plus sun out and made them into "pieces" with velcro on the back. The child can remove them and put  them back. Child can learn the names of the planets and what order they are in. 

 I cut the piece to include the planets name along with the planet. And then on the right side, I used iron on interfacing to fuse the names....in order..so the child can learn them and learn the order the planets are in.

I think my little grand son will love this page. What child doesn't love thinking about outer space and all that is there!

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
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How to Make Your Quiet Book Squeak!

My  You Tube video explains it all!

I have been ordering from AliExpress a few times now. They are out of China and the products are amazing!!!! I love their felt particularly. Stiff enough to work with very well and hold shape, and still soft enough for little hands to play with! 
Here's the main page if you are interested...they all kinds of craft supplies...sewing and junk journal embellishments and scrapbook materials!  Take a look if you like! They offer free shipping in many cases and I have gotten things in 2 weeks!  

 AliExpress

   This is the felt I LOVE!!!    

(click on the link to see it)  this is 8x8 but you can get it larger or smaller sizes.

I just ordered more! It is perfect for quiet books and sewing small figures and such

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on preserving those memories! Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE