Getting back in to the swing of things.

Hello followers and welcome to another post today. I know that it has been a while since my last post which I am very sorry for. I have been taking some time to organise things to accommodate my wheelchair "Serenity". I am starting to get back into some craft work as my pain levels are easier to manage because of Serenity.

During the adjustment and adaptation period I had some lovely friends help me out with various things to help with my mental state and wellbeing.  To thank them I made some easel cards. There was also a birthday girl amongst the list, who was so kind to take me out on her day off when she was working. I was very thankful to all who were there for me and helped out and I wanted them to know that I was so very thankful.

For these cards I have used the Kaisercraft After Five flocked paper which I totally love but am running short of but it is a beautiful paper with its richness.



 

The wood embellishments were what I had lying around some kaisercraft and others I have no idea who made them. But I painted them black and then coated them in Crackle Accents which is a fav of mine. I then went over the embellishment in spots with some silver and copper pigment ink on a dauber. Really loved that effect.



Butterflies, well you know me and butterflies. the brighter the better!



And there needed to be some bright flowers.



I am rather pleased with how they all came out and grateful for the therapeutic effect that the crafting hand on my mental health and physical wellbeing.

I have some layout plans which are sitting waiting for me to get through the list of other things I need to get done now that I am in less pain and more mobile. SO WATCH THIS SPACE!

Lets Talk About .... Midoris!

Hello Hello and welcome. Please sit and sip away at your hot beverage and let me INSPIRE you with projects and ideas!

Last year I got into the Midori Traveler's Notebooks. They have been around for ages, I have just been oblivious. Midori is a brand name for a planner system from Japan, but like many things people have worked out how to make their own. The original Midori is very easy to construct which is what I did after buying a LARGE piece of leather.

Making the booklets or inserts was rather simple too. The best part being that it is all very customisable for your personal needs and requirements. 

Then I found that people liked my book kits which needed to be resized to fit the dimensions of the traveler's notebook. So I bring you the next step in PRETTY Planners!



The book kits will be resized to be able to be printed off on A4 paper and turned into inserts. This one is available on the webstore for purchase and I will be making a few from time to time.

The Digital Pack is also available for download, without the ephemera. However the ephemera can be purchased separately as a download.

My Journey So Far

Hello everybody. I realised that I have been super quiet for the last month because of life stuff but I felt I should let you all know where I am at right now.

So, at the end of February I posted this on my Facebook Page. At this point I was waiting to see surgeons and find out what is happening with my pesky right knee.

For those of you who are unawares of what has been happening in my world, I suffered a knee injury in Oct 2015. It has not healed. When i can do some designing I do, but a lot of the time I am in a fair amount of pain. New content is on its way to the webstore and there will be much celebration when it does. Stay tuned!!!

A photo posted by Kerry-Jean Watson (@kerryjeanwatson) on Feb 26, 2016 at 8:27pm PST

Stay Tuned indeed!

There are complications to my knee and I have just have to wait for further doctors appointments. In the meantime I am determined to get on with my life as best I can in the situation I am in.

After being on crutches though for 5 months I was so exhausted every day I didn't do much. I am now in a wheelchair, which allows me more mobility and less pain. I am also able to be more active with less fatigue. As a result my entire workspace and crafting area is being altered to accommodate the wheelchair. So far after a week I am doing ok.

From a week ago. Head to the blog for more information. ・・・ Day 1. Waiting in the kitchen for my coffee to brew. Struggling to accept that I am an a wheelchair. I get that it is to make things easier and less painful but for an active person to be in a wheelchair is like chipping a bird's wings.

A photo posted by Kerry-Jean Watson (@kerryjeanwatson) on Mar 29, 2016 at 4:15am PDT

The great part is I am getting back into the swing of things and plan to have some new stuff available on my webstore very soon. I am having to have my craft desk lowered so I can use it but at least I have my computer desk sorted. It has been hard going but I am sure that things will work out in the end. Staying positive and looking forward to some creative times to share with you all.

Fun with Books

Well hello and welcome readers.

Have a treat to share with you. Ihave been making a lot of books lately. My binding techniquewas that of coptic stitch which I find very relaxing and enjoyable. 

As I needed a new book for psychology I saw it a better use of my time to make one rather than buy one. Also I was able to use the type of paper I like. 

    

For the two books above I made the books a little smaller than that of A5 as I wanted a convenient size for note making. The top book is made with 70gsm bleedproof paper printed with a dot grid for drawing and typography.

    

I also made this sketchbook using the large stack of tea stained papers and the box of a Diablo III collectors edition. My plans are to do some more of my typography in this book. 

After showing the first two books with comic covers I had a request to make one for some one. After some backwards and forewards regarding covers I ended up making this. 

     

I also have two handmade books for sale on my webstore.

You can have a look at the books in my flip through on youtube.

A gift to a mother

Hello creative people and welcome again to my blog.

Today I want to share with you a mini album I made for a customer. She was ordering this as a special birthday present for her mother's milestone birthday. After going through the color options and things her mother likes, I created the mini album.

The hardest part about this order was that the customer lives in CANADA, but her mom lives in Western Australia. Thankfully technology was there to help with YouTube and private listed videos. I also made a video flip through for you.

The album was given to her mother this week which now gives me to opportunity to show it off to me followers.

Here is a flip through, I you love it at much as my friends mother did when you got it.

A touch of Elegance

Hello all and welcome to another post on my blog. 

A few months back I was asked to my a card for a friend of my brothers. Knowing that the recipient liked Art Nouveau and that she has a wonderful expressive side I created this for her. 

I have had the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante for a while and it wasn't until now that I saw the roses in the one paper. I was a great easel card to make I am really liked it. What do you think?

Adventures in Winter

So before I injured me knee I was quite active and going out a lot. However it was during winter and I had to rug up really well to make sure I didn't get sick. Some mornings were rather brisk and required covering my nose to stop getting a very cold face. As usual I was doing my photo journals of my days.

An Extra Wide Mini Album

Hi there crafters, I am so happy to have another blog post for you. I know I am have been a little quieter that usually. For the last 4 weeks I have been on bed rest by doctors orders after hurting my right knee rather badly. There was even talk of surgery at one point but that was re assessed thankfully.

To keep my self a bit distracted from the obvious difficulties that this injury has caused I have been doing what little crafting I can. I also had a custom order which I was able to work on. Unfortunately I made a mistake when creating the spine and as the title of this post indicates, I made it extra wide, seems I wasn't reading my rulers measurements as well as I thought I was. I personally blame being tired.

All was not wasted, I had some extra supplies and was able to make the custom order correctly. As for the mistake, I kept it for myself and made THIS....

Isn't it gorgeous?!

Here is the flip through video. Remember to like, comment and subscribe!

The Birthday Cards on the birthday list

Hello lovelies. and Thank you for visiting again today.

I am currently resting up with a injured knee. To pass the time I decided to make a few cards for those in my life who have recently had or are having birthdays.

How I do Typography

Hello everyone and welcome to another blog post. 

This one is a little different as it isn't cards or layouts or even mini albums. This post is for my Midori fans asked about my typograph I starting showing in some of the facebook groups. But scrapbookers and cards makers don't despair I am sure you will get some thing out of this too, so stick around. 

A little bit of history about how I can to do letter form. I have been doing this since I was about 10 years old but I took a few years hiatus but started up again last year when my psychologist recommended I use the skill for my depression and stress management. 

These are some of the pages I did last year.

This year after becoming enamoured with Midoris and started making my my own inserts I started working on these quotes.

Ok so now down to the how do I do it. 

 

Now to where I get my inspiration:

People I follow on Instagram

Neil Secretario

Christopher Craig

Handwritten in Singapore

Type Gang

Daniel Palacios

Mimi Designs

Calligritype 

Patrick Cabral

R y o . K o i z u m i

Tammy Tutterow 

really like Tammy's stuff as it is very free and she does not come from a graphics typography background.

You can also just do google searches for typography. There are also design books on calligraphy and typography.

I hope you like this and that it inspires you to give it a try.