BEST book swap

It was book swap time again recently and I received my book this week. I look forward to the BEST book swaps as it gives me a chance to make a new, and different book. Oh yeah! and I also get a gorgeous book in return!! (BEST is the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team)

Look at this beautiful book! It is from Anna from PurplebeanBindery and is so cleverly made. The paper is quite special too. This is the little gem that arrived this week from the swap - lucky me!

(photo from the BEST blog)

It has a nice tall format - a bit bigger than a cheque book - it sits nicely in my hand.

Lovely Rhonda from MyHandboundBooks coordinates our BEST book swaps every time - she does such a great job - thanks Rhonda!

Here is my little offering for the swap: it's an accordian-bound book with pockets and three little stab-bound journals. I made a little 'paper bag' for it too.


I used cartridge paper and bits of ephemera for the pages of the little journals. My favourite bits are the coloured squares of book pages. I also like how it wraps up on itself. And, like a lot of the things I make, it is all rather small as you can see in the photo!

EDIT: I've just discovered my book went to Buechertiger (I received her little books last time!) and she's blogged about it too - her pics look a lot better than mine!!

I've also been making a few more stab-bound journals for the BrisStyle Indie Designers Markets (not long to go now!!), but these are slightly bigger and feature lovely vintage ladies, I'll post photos of them soon.

Handmade Book Swap #6

Yesterday I received my book for the 6th BEST Book Swap. It was all the way from Bonn, via Canada to my door! My book, well, two books actually, were made by Hilke from Buechertiger . They are so stylish and lovely. The books are quite small (which I love!); the biggest one fits in the palm of my hand!


BEST is the etsy street team of book binders; we have been having swaps every three months and I've participated in every one of them. I love the idea of making a new book (usually something I haven't made before) and then packaging it up for it's journey! The book I made this time was Japanese stab- bound with the covers covered in 1940's wallpaper with a little peep-hole in the front. (I made one similar to this, but smaller for our recent BrisStyle 'lucky-dip')


You can see the rest of the lovely books from the 6th swap at the BEST bookbinders blog.

Happy Friday everyone!

Springtime pretties

The lovely warmer Spring weather that has arrived has inspired me to some pretty Spring making.
With the warmer nights, I realised recently that my poor little girl had no summer pjs that fitted her! So, after trawling through my patterns and choosing from my stash, I made a very pretty little set of pjs for her.
I used the McCalls 8941 pattern (view D) and changed the neckline, so it now has a slit at the front closed with a button (Missy was very happy with the 'buttie' on her pjamas!) I used a lovely, soft op shop sheet which is printed in bands of different pretty pink flower designs. Because of the patterning, I was able to use different patterns for the pants and at the bottom of the top. Sweet eh?!

My second piece of Spring prettiness is a top I made for myself using the Built by Wendy Simplicity 3835 pattern. I've had this pattern for a few months and have really been looking forward to making it up after seeing all the variations on Flickr - so many great ideas! I modified it a bit as well, adding the neck to view C and closing the back with a button. Next time I think I'll make the next size up so it's more 'roomy' and I don't have to suck my tummy in (which I should've done for the 2nd shot mmm, nice!)!! We're going for a day trip to Redcliffe tomorrow, so I think this new top will be the perfect springtime attire!


Something that's not sewing - and some are not particularly pretty - are these bikkies I made with the kids yesterday.


We had so much fun! The kids loved cutting out the shapes (and Missy loved mushing them in her hands!) and then selecting the mini m&ms for decoration. Miss Em seemed to like to concentrate her decorating in the one spot ... and some of those mini m&ms really needed some pushing down (look at the poor dinosaur's head)!!

And I have to say that this is one of the ugliest gingerbread men I have ever seen!!! Hee hee!

Lastly, the BEST bookbinding etsy team is having their 4th book swap in which members make a book around a them and send it off to be swapped. My book for the swap is currently featured on the blog (I had so much fun making this one!) and you can see the books from the other participants too .. hmmm, I wonder which one will make it's way to my mail box?!

If you've made it to the end of this rather long post .... thank you ! :)

BEST Books Sale

As well as our BrisStyle EEE sale next week, I'm also taking part in the BEST book sale which runs from Friday to Sunday. I'm offering 15% off + a free ATC with purchases over $15.

BEST is the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team, you can see more info on the blog. Here is a list of the participating members - I'm looking forward to grabbing myself a good booky-bargain too!

bluevalentinepress - free shipping and free gift
spacedogstudios - free shipping to USA and a free bookmark
kupokiley - 15% off case bound books
scodioli - free shipping
bound-to - 15% off if you mention BESTbooks
prairiepeasant - 15% off OR free shipping on orders over $40
yatsu - free shipping
jellygnite - 15% off & free ACEO with orders over $15
thisisbexx - 20% off if you mention BESTbooks
catharticslant - set of gift tags or note cards with purchase
kristincrane - 10% off and a free greeting card
thecraftykitten - 20% off & free shipping for orders over $50
myhandboundbooks - free shipping
dragonflycrafts - 20% off all books
subu - 15% off if you mention BESTBooks
la paperie & cozy - BOGO 20% off