Harry Potter themed Journal

 My 9 year old niece loves all things magic! She is an expert on Harry Potter, Worst Witch, Unicorns, Pegagus and anything else magical and mystical. I wanted to make something for her that would encourage her to  engage in her own learning about different aspects of magic and the natural earth. I wanted to make her a journal that would be her own space for writing, drawing, and creating. I made it with the hope of enticing her away from TV and computer screens, and to give her opportunities to connect with nature. I bought a plain A5 spiral visual diary for $2.50, and a pack of metallic card for $4, and set to work transforming it into a book of magical learning.

I covered the front and back covers with magical themed card, and got out my chalk pastels to colour random pages to make them look old.

I printed off some things to do with Harry Potter, such as a list of required equipment for first years; spells; quotes, etc, and pasted them in throughout the book.

 I have written headings on some of the pages, to inspire my niece to undertake research and learn more about different aspects of magic, such as properties of herbs and plants; properties of stones; psychology of colours; phases of the moon; and star constellations.

There are plenty of pages for Miss 9 to write and draw in, to engage in creative writing, make up her own spells and potions, or to use as a diary; jot down notes; to draw from observation; or whatever.

 


There are a number of different things to learn about as you go through the book, such as sacred geometry and mindfulness; the planets; potions; and spells.

There are pockets throughout the book with little tags in them. Some of the cards are blank, for Skylar to write notes on, while other cards have things written on, such as mindful exercises, or prompts to do things, eg. to connect with nature through activities such as creating a herb garden.

 

There is plenty of room for Miss 9's creative writing, poetry, and to jot down notes, ideas, and interesting facts and information that she comes across.

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Rock Painting

          

I am a member of a few rock painting groups on Facebook, and I love seeing all the creativity and variety of rocks on there. Some people are exceptionally talented. One of the children in my class paints rocks with her mum and hides them around the city for other people to find. She loves it, and she brought a rock in to hide at school, for the other children to find.

She inspired me to paint rocks for all the children in my class, and for each of my colleagues, as a farewell gift when I moved to another city. I needed to find a gift that would not cost much, or be too time consuming to create, as I needed 40 gifts. But I wanted it to be personal, and painted rocks met all my needs perfectly.

 I was living in a van at the time, and my companion and I would go and stay at a beach each weekend. One beach just out of Auckland, Kaiaua, was full of beautiful smooth stones, so I gathered up some stones to paint.

I started by painting a white base coat on each rock, followed by a second coat when they were dry.

I had a small paint tray with blobs of various coloured acrylic paints, cotton buds, and some matchsticks. I didn't have a paintbrush.

I painted a background colour on each stone. You can experiment with background colours, and use two complementary colours together, such as yellow and orange, or blue and green, to create an interesting background.

The easiest thing for me to paint using cottonbuds and matchsticks was dots.

At first I wasn't sure what I was doing but as I kept going I became more confident and started generating ideas for patterns and images.

The sunset was deceptively easy - the background was orange and yellow, and I used black paint for the foreground. You don't need a smooth line, so the cotton buds and matchsticks worked well.

If I wasn't happy with my rock, I wiped the paint off with a damp paper towel and started again.

On the backs of the rocks, I wanted to write whakatauki, or Maori proverbs. I realised that this was virtually impossible to fit on a small stone, so I found small phrases to fit, such as "Kia Maia - be brave and bold".

My favourite is the koru. I made several koru rocks, but made each one different.

I painted a rocket ship because some of the boys in my class love space and rocket ships.

You don't need to be creative or artistic to paint beautiful rocks. You just need to be willing to have a go and have fun.

For more of my craft posts and tutorials, please click on the link here.

Felted Bookmarks

 These felted bookmarks make reading a pleasure, and were fun to make. They also make great gifts for readers.

 I was given a bag full of "accidentally felted" merino wool. My mum's friend was dying her wool green and it accidentally felted, creating long strips of pre-felted wool.

 It was a very large bag full of it, and I have been wondering how to use it. 

But one morning when playing around with ideas in my head in those moments before you fully awake, I thought I could make bookmarks with them.

I wet felted the strips using hot water, dishwashing liquid, bubble wrap and a sushi mat. It didn't take long to fully felt, because it was already partially felted.

I decided that I couldn't use acrylic felt to make flowers for merino bookmarks, so I also wet felted some coloured wool roving to create flat sheets for making embellishments.

Flat sheets of felt for embellishing the bookmarks.

 I also tried wet felting designs onto the merino strips during the felting process, which turned out quite well.

 Having a pile of little bookmarks to play with and decorate and embellish meant I could explore my beginning embroidery skills, and decorate with beads and flowers.

I used a large turquoise felt circle, a small yellow felt circle, and a bead, to create a flower for this bookmark.

These bookmarks are so easy and fun to make as there are no rules. You can cut out uneven circles, layer colours and different sizes on top of each other, and add beads. Play around with broken jewellery, buttons, and embroidery cottons. Have fun! 

They can also be turned into bracelets with the addition of a button and a loop of ribbon.

You can see all my other craft posts here.

Journal Making

It has been some time since I have made books. I tend to go through phases of craft making - I delve into one type of craft such as card making, and then move onto something else. But I spent a lovely weekend making little journals, in an effort to use up my excessive stash of paper, and got hooked on bookmaking again.

 This is a fantastic resource with pictures and clear instructions on how to make a whole variety of books, from simple booklets to albums, with a wide range of binding. It also offers inspiration and possibilities for what format books can take. This book taught me how to make photo albums and travel journals, which made wonderful Christmas gifts to family and friends.

 

After making some small journals, I began making larger journals, and even leather bound journals with several signatures.

 A leather bound journal.

 I began with making these little books. They were simply made from four rectangular sheets of paper folded in half for the insert, and a piece of card the same size.
I covered the card cover with decorative paper.
Fold the paper for the inside of the book in half.
Use a ruler and pencil to mark 3 dots, evenly spaced, for binding.
Using a push pin (or tack), make a hole with the pin through all 4 layers of the paper.

 Thread a needle with strong cotton. Start at the back and thread the cotton through the holes to bind the pages together.
Knot the ends of the cotton together at the back.

 Place the paper signature inside the journal cover. Glue the front and back pages of the signature to the inside of the cover.

 Use a push pin to push through the layers of the paper to create holes, ready for binding with needle and thread. Depending on the size of the paper, make 3-5 holes, to ensure stability and keep the pages secure.

 This journal was made in the same way, with a single cardboard cover, covered with decorative paper.

 This blue journal was made with slightly larger paper, and I needed to use two separate sheets of card cut to size for the front and back covers. The sheets of card were covered with decorative paper, and a strip of paper glued between the two covers to join them.

 The signature (the inside pages) were bound with needle and thread, and the front and back pages glued to the inside of the covers.

This was another journal made from two separate pieces of card for the front and back covers, and joined with a long strip of paper for the spine.

This leather bound journal had two signatures which were tied together, before gluing the page ends to the covers. A strip of leather was cut wide enough to allow for the two signatures, as well as for an overlap of the front and back covers. I used PVA glue which worked fine with the leather.

 

These little books were made from four heart shapes cut from card, and joined together with a split pin, or brad. The pages open up like a flower and close into a heart shape.

 

This raindrop book was an experiment. I created a raindrop shaped cover from two pieces of card with tape around the edge, to keep the book safe.
I created a raindrop template and cut it out on blue paper.
I made a hole on the top and bottom of each raindrop.
The front and back covers, which were made from dark blue card, were tied together on the side.
I threaded blue yarn between each raindrop to attach them together.
When you pick up the book, or hold it up, it is meant to look like raindrops falling.
The raindrops fold back up to fit inside the little pocket.

 

You can see all my other craft posts here.