Home made Calendar

I hate paying $30 or more for my purse sized calendars, so for a few years now I have been making my own. I even reuse the cardboard from year to year. It's a simple book binding wrap, and you can download free calendar templates or use ical. When I did buy the expensive plain ones, I also found that I only used the month at a glance page. So that's what I use in my home made one.

This year I covered it in old atlas paper. This atlas used to belong to my grandma, so sometimes I'll find her handwriting or underlining of cities and places she'd been to.

It's almost September, so I decided to spend some time this weekend making it.

the front cover

I printed the inside cover using identification info should I misplace it. Nice to be able to customize it!

I have a tab maker punch that I used to make tabs for each page. I punched it out of the same paper as the front cover.

I added some fun washi tape for the blank spots on each month.

Making Paste Paper

So I've been pinning/reading about paste paper and was intrigued by the idea that I could cook flour and water and add paint to it and then use it like finger paint to create background papers for my visual journal. So a group of us decided to experiment and see what we could create.

We followed the recipe here on My Handbound Books- Bookbinding Blog.

I covered our working surface with plastic table cloth and cut large pieces of paper to work with.
We also used smaller card stock squares.

I found that cutting notches into gift cards were a great marking tool.

I found other mark making tools. 

Cooking the flour-water paste in a double boiler.

Add acrylic paints in small amounts.

Spread onto paper using a foam brush, a spoon, or a brayer.

Using a brayer to spread the paint to an even thickness.

Lego made a cool mark!

Adding two colours and swirling on top of swirls.

cake decorating tool

I pressed fresh hydrangea leaves into the paste.

I used old map paper to add paint to. More translucent paint (more paste, less paint in the mix)
would have worked better. 

Once the papers dried overnight (again on plastic table cloths I laid out on the pingpong table), the papers curled. I ironed them by using a low iron and ironing right on the BACK of the paper. I put down a towel onto my ironing board first.
Can't wait to use my finished papers as a foundation for something else!

Making note cards from scraps

It was all about reuniting. Two fifteen year olds, two former college roomates, two Solomon moms. We had a fun couple of days together. The funnest thing for me was having all of us gather around my dining room table and make cards out of scraps.
I love the surprise element of this craft- not really knowing what will it will turn out to be. I love how each of us had our own unique style, even thought we picked through the same scrap bucket.

What a creative, lovely mess! 

It's all about the gathering and layering of papers that you like.

And just like that! Summer is over.

I went into my new classroom today, to make sure my boxes were delivered, and they were! It all seems so bare and institutional. I unpacked about 10 boxes today, and I found it easier than packing them. I'm only unpacking the things I will be using. Uncluttering my classroom in a way. It's exciting to think about setting up the classroom to be a place of invitation and exploration and welcome. Here's what it looks like now, before unpacking:

Yay! No dusty chalkboards! Yay! Tables!

Yay! A smartboard! This will be my learning curve this year. Something I have always wanted to learn how to use in my classroom. Bring on the new ways!

YAY! A sink!!

Harvest Colour!

It is so rewarding to be harvesting our crops from our little urban garden! 

Garlic!

Digging for spuds.

More garlic and potatoes.

The first reddening tomato!

Grape tomatoes!

The massive potato family! And the very happy farmer!