Two Crafty Brownies

Napkin Decoupage

Hello treasures....... how are you doing? Thank you so much for your emails of concern after Wednesday's horrible events in London. I work at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and was at Guy's at the time (about a mile away). Reports started flying around by email about what was happening. St Thomas', which is right beside Westminster Bridge went into lockdown, and we all waited to see what would happen. By 6pm, people were being allowed to leave, and we were told to get ourselves home. I must say, darlings, I had a moment of panic as I went down into the Underground. But all around me, my fellow travellers were calm, quiet and going about their business. It made me so proud to be a Londoner......we will not let fear and hatred win.

And so despite what happened, it is business as usual here in Two Crafty Brownieland. I am still drooling over Lucy's rhubarb recipes, and of course have been busy making things alongside my day job. As you may have noticed, I am still obsessed with making books. The longest I've ever gone with one craft without getting bored!! I've been experimenting with different covers, and my absolute fave is using napkins.

 It's such a quick and easy way to prettify card or paper, and there are so many gorgeous designs!!

What you need are

Some pretty napkins

Index cards, tags, card or even just paper

PVA glue or Mod Podge

a soft bristled brush

 

What you do is

Peel apart the three layers of the napkin, you'll be using the top, patterned layer only. Lay the napkin on top of your paper/card. Apply the glue on top of the napkin with gentle strokes, making sure the glue goes right to the edge.

Leave to dry, it takes about half an hour. Trim around your card or paper with scissors and admire the pretty effect!

I have been making book covers by gluing napkins to envelopes, and it makes such a lovely, pliable cover.....

I finally made myself a planner to use after my Christmas Journal got full.....

In other news, it's nearly been a year of sewing my own clothes! I'll be doing another post about this soon, but in the meantime, come close and let me tell you a secret......sometimes my dress matches my underwear!! (this one's especially for you, Kelly!!)

I have been baking No Knead Bread......

And finally finished this mermaid for my goddaughter that I have been making for the last year!!

Well, that's it from me, lovelies, because, guess what, I'm off to buy some napkins!!

Kisses all over your lovely faces......

Jenny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Junk Journal Adventures

 

Hello my lovelies! How are you doing? We are all good here in Two Crafty Brownieland. We have been making and creating, and generally feeling much happier with things this year. We have some new plans in the pipeline, read on till the end and you'll find out!

Lucy has been playing with leatherette, wasn't that pouch gorgeous!?! I'm so hoping I get to road test one, for research purposes of course!

If you follow us on social media, you may have noticed I have become a bit obsessed with book binding. I have been mulling over this and thinking back to how it all started.

I think it first began in this gorgeous little shop, Number Four, in our beloved Scottish Borders. This shop is near the little town of St Abbs and whenever we go to stay there we have a little visit. They sell lovely handmade things, and two little books (pic above) caught my eye. One was the little red notebook. It had obviously been made by hand, with a block printed cover, sewn in signatures and an elastic closure. As I examined this book, I began to wonder if it was as tricky as it looked to make. You know how it goes, darlings……..the Ideas Fairies start fluttering around in our heads…… then I saw the black sketch book, which has gorgeous Coptic binding (are you impressed?). This looked more tricky, but I had been toying with the idea of starting to draw and paint, so that one fell into my basket too.

Back home, I searched on the fabulous Creativebug site, which I subscribe to for the princely sum of $5.00 per month. They had several classes on bookbinding and making bookcloth and I was hooked. Things got a bit crazy in the run up to Christmas, but in those lazy days after, I decided to give it a go. I wanted to make a journal to round up Christmas and start off the new year. I dug out my favourite pointsettia fabric and started gluing and folding papers. The result was the book above, which I just love.

Quietly alongside this Lu and I have been dreaming of running some workshops. We love talking to people, and the markets we did, where people seem to be afraid to catch your eye in case they have to buy something just didn't do it for us. As you know, we are passionate about sharing what we have learnt. Coincidentally, our local garden centre, which is a beautiful little oasis in the city, approached us about running some workshops. We are so excited! I have been putting together a gardening journal to teach people to make.

I used an envelope and some gardening mags to make the collaged cover......

Pretty paper on the inside, and string to hold the pages in.....

The pages are from a selection of papers..... and slide under the string....

I have added some charms and a pretty ribbon.

I love the potential of these journals. They could be used for so much…..planning, organising, documenting, scrapbooking.

Meanwhile, Lu has been also working away, and on Monday I went over to hers to learn how to make this gorgeous wall art. Isn't she clever!!

So, darlings, that's it from me. If you are in or around London and want to be kept in the loop about upcoming workshops, let us know at [email protected], or send us your email via the contact tab at the top of the page.

Hugs and kisses!!

Jenny xxxxxxxxx