Sweet and Short

Yes, I (too) send my love by mail.....
and tis post is short (for me) and sweet...

You in the mood yet?
Here are a few ideas to get you started....You could make a pocket folder with a Valentine theme ....like this one.

Make some handmade cards....I die cut some red envelopes and put a message in them...

I have a punch to make tiny, teeny little envelopes and I put it to work here.

Little envelopes need to be filled!

I made some postcards and mailed them off in see-thru sleeves.

Origami hearts!

Don't you love these vintage LOVE stamps?

The new love stamps are nice too....(but they aren't eight cents!).

Check out that Valentine postmark!!! So cool. This just came today from @PaperTams on IG.

And what would YOU like for Valentine's day? Forget the roses and candy, I'd like a big bag of old postage stamps! I'm easy that way.
Good thing my sweetie doesn't read my blog or he might see his Valentine.
So, there are a few sweet ideas for you -- now go cut out some hearts!
The World needs more LOVE!

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2019 Planner -- and Planners of the Past

I've got to have an old school planner. Yes, I have a smart phone and everything else but you know I like paper. But these ugly ones will never do.......I buy them every year at the Dollar Tree and then I dress them up!

I don't keep journals any more....too busy making collages and books and mail art....but these planners are the next best thing. They are fun to hold on to and look back at what you did -- or didn't do -- year after year. I try to do a lot.

The 2018 Planner is going to bed...

I make two... the smaller is for personal life planning and the larger is for art project planning...

For some reason, I like to wrap them up in a ribbon when the year is done...

I used to make a few of these for various friends but everyone told me that they don't use paper planners....really?
How can that be? We are paper lovers here. So, now I just make them for myself.
Maybe you will want to make one too.

This year I went with a Kraft paper and collage theme -- and I added tabs!

Those plain tabs were just a little...well, too plain... so I added some postage stamps on them. That looks better, doesn't it?

The inside cover of the art planner....

The back cover

These are the two I just finished up. 
A vintage rose on my personal planner..

Inside cover
I just finished them in time because I've got lots of things to write inside already...
(thanks to CJ for the Asian collage)

Like lunch dates!!!!
(This is pork belly ramen at Coco's in SF.)

And I have to write all the Vintage Paper Fair dates...of course! And friends are coming to visit SF and I am going to travel and there are those mail art meetings every month....
Lots of places to go and people to see!
So, what do you think? Are you a paper planner person?
You could do the same thing by covering a notebook and making lists! Did I mention I love lists?
Hummmmm....maybe I need another one for making lists?

So, what's in your plan?
Hope you have some fun things to look forward to and maybe some trips in planning stages.
I'll keep you posted!

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Pocket Folder Tutorial

OK,  you asked and I'm answering. Here's a little tutorial for these pocket folders.
Warning: They are addictive to make
I just keep coming up with different ideas for them. They are such fun to make and so easy.

And , I think it's such fun to fill them up. I always love themes so I like to make the folders with different themes in mind...For that French folder in the first photo I filled it with teeny tiny vintage French envelopes I bought in Paris...Can you see them?

Here we go with a horse theme.......

This one might be nice for a little girl, don't you think?

What about for a birthday? You could put dollar bills inside the pockets and little notes to the birthday girl. I bet even a BIG birthday girl would like that.

What papers can you use?
My personal favorites are book pages. I used an old postal stamp stock book here . I like when both sides of the pages are interesting. But you can use any paper you want....I have used origami paper and old airmail envelopes and some of those paper pads from Tim Holtz.

And why five?
I like odd numbers and I like five. You could easily do this with three pockets. Seven would probably work ok too but these are just paper and not really strong so I think that would be pushing it...

Step 1
Start with FIVE pieces of paper and fold each piece in half as shown.

Step 2
You need to decide what piece will be your cover and which will be the last  page. These are really the only two that count since most of what's on the other pages will be hidden. 

Step 3
Trim off the rough edges.
Also, if there is a lot of while space this is the time to trim the pages down if you want to.

Step 4
Now you put double stick tape on two sides of each page and close it up. Each page will be a pocket -- open at the top.

Step 6
Now you put a piece of double stick tape right down the center of the pocket you want on the bottom of the folder with the opening at the top and press the next pocket down on top, lining up the tops.
Continue doing this with the rest of the pockets till you get to your front cover.

Viola!
You now have five really cool pockets and you are almost done.

At the very bottom, put a piece of decorative tape to reinforce the bottom. I used masking tape here which wasn't a great example because you can't really see it. I love masking tape and couldn't help myself.....

Now you can decorate the cover as little or as much as you'd like. I was thinking vintage math flash cards would have been great in here but I couldn't find my stash. 

Fill 'em  up!!!!

Here are four pocket folders I whipped up in just a few minutes.  You can see the tape at the bottom of these better. You can use wide washi tape, masking tape, decorative duck tape.....
I was thinking it would be great to put recipe cards in that Green Salad folder...
You could put zines in these folders....or ATC's or decorated rolodex cards....or a letter.... Really, the possibilities are endless.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU
to all of you who answered my questions in the last post. It is very much appreciated. And, for ALL of you (and you know who you are) who haven't yet weighed in, I would still love to hear from you.
Let's keep this blog going -- and fill it with things you are interested in. But, I can't do it alone. You've got to tell me what you like seeing.

I'm off to the Vintage Paper Fair on Saturday and you KNOW I will have something to post about that. If you're local, it is this coming Saturday & Sunday (Jan 6 & 7) in Golden Gate Park.
Look for me there!

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&
Happy New Year!!!!

Arts and Crafts

French Handmade Journal

Lovely warm weekend. A good time to work on some projects.

Handmade notebooks

Handmade envelopes

Minis

A French card inside a notebook:

French card