free for you!

To the first 2 people who comment, I will send one of these 2 notebooks. And since there are only about 3 of you who read me on a regular basis, your odds are really good!

I made these, and a few others, that I planned on putting on my etsy shop. Then I chatted with Angie, owner of The Creating Place. After I lamented over the spots on my notebooks where the glue gun got away from me, she was kind enough to give me some advice on adhesives & techniques. I have all these ideas in my head (sadly, most are already being sold on etsy ~ sigh) but what I see in my head doesn't always materialize in real life. In real life, there are glue globs, and poorly-cut felt flowers because a.) when I bought them, I thought they were stickers & now I have to cut them, and b.) I was cutting them late at night in a dimly lit room.

So, I'm not quite ready to sell my wares yet, but I will gladly give them away to 2 people kind enough to continue reading my nonsense! I do love how these notebooks turned out. Lately I've been really drawn to reds & blues, especially blues with a hint of turquoise. I think it started when Honey bought me The French Inspired Home for Christmas, and I fell in love with Kaari's Plume Bleu.

PS, I'm waiting for them to manufacture the mossy-green paint in their bedroom photo, which Jon says they hope to have out soon. Yeah, I'm on a first name basis with Kaari & Jon. I exchanged e-mails with them a while back regarding some paint samples I ordered. I was so damn excited that I got an e-mail from the real, live Kaari, that Honey teased she was my new best friend & we could surely stay at their house the next time we vacationed in California.

More recently, I e-mailed them to see what in the heck happened to their paint line as it had disappeared from their website. Rest assured, their beautiful paints have returned. Even better, is that when I told Jon my kitchen/dining room is painted in their Boulette & Lily Pad colors & that I loved what a happy color combination they made, he asked if I had pictures. Pictures!! Jon of freakin' French General wants to see photos of my kitchen! Can you imagine? That Jon & Kaari are still "real" people, who care about their customers is so great to me. Needless to say, that has kicked my butt into gear to finish the space so I can send photos & post some here as well.

ANYWAY! Talk about digressing!

Notebooks!

The Joy notebook was made with a scrap of my fancy wrapping paper that was too small to really do anything with. I say fancy because it was ridiculously expensive, but when the kids come 'round selling gift wrap every fall, I'm a total sucker. Plus, it's really good quality wrapping paper! So, I save it for special occasions and for people who I think will appreciate it. Except now I've taken to scanning the gift table when I arrive at an event & am subsequently disappointed when someone else has brought a gift in my fancy wrapping paper. The nerve!

This notebook I am keeping for myself because even though I really love the paisley & the red polka dot ribbon, it has too many mistakes for me to even give the thing away. I am finding that it's very hard, and perhaps impossible, to be a perfectionist & a crafter. Can the two co-exist?

This notebook I made for my brother's fiance, the mother of his baby, Michelle. She picked this paper from a couple choices because she said it looked like cherry blossoms. I think this was one of my favorites.

This sweet little journal was one of my firsts, made for my mama so she could write & escape from some of the craziness from the past year. Can you tell I like rik-rak & buttons?

See, I really DO make stuff!