Tag: notebooks

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Prolong the life of your notebook with my 5 top tips!

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“I don’t want to ruin it, it’s too nice!” Anyone else feel like this about using their notebooks?! I know I have! But as lovely as your notebook may be, they are there to serve a purpose and we should use them! To get the most out of your notebooks and prevent damage, here are my top 5 tips on caring for your books.

1. Pop your notebook in a book pouch.

A pouch will protect your notebook from the other contents of your bag. I purchased a canvas bag and personalised it with an appropriate phrase in my Retro from Scratch font! You can buy book pouches online or you make one easily yourself – there are plenty of tutorials out there. Or maybe I should start supplying them in my shop?

2. Add book corners.

The corners are a really vulnerable part of the book and often the first area to show wear. Adding metal corners makes them super strong and keeps your notebook looking neat!

3. Keep them clean.

If you have a plastic coated notebook, apply some antibacterial spray (I like to use a very diluted Zoflora) to a cloth and gently wipe over your notebook cover. Never spray the book, and don’t attempt this on a paper / matt cover!

4. Don’t stick a pen in the spine!

I know it’s so easy to do, and convenient but the pen can bend your notebook wire out of shape and cause even worse damage if you open your book without removing the pen from the spine first!

5. Add a bookband.

My elasticated book bands not only add a bit of sparkle and make my notebooks look pretty, but they serve a practical purpose. They hold your book together, preventing it from opening in your bag and getting damaged. And they can also be used as a handy bookmark!

It is of course inevitable that your notebook will eventually come to an end when you’ve used up all the paper. My top tip? Buy another one!

Becky x

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Ladybird Books are Rubbish!

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Instagram can be a wonderful thing! As you know my business is all about recycling and reducing waste. So when I saw on Instagram last month, that Linzi Loves Books was throwing away some of her Ladybird Book collection – I was quick to ask if I could have her old covers.

A little note from Linzi with many wonderful covers which so many of us would have read when we were little

I’ve been following Linzi for some time on IG and she has thousands of Ladybird Books in her collection now, so much so she can afford to get rid of doubles, and the ones that are so damaged they’re not worth anything. (To collectors at least…)

She had removed the original papers from the books to use for paper crafts but the covers were destined for the bin. She didn’t know if I would be able to save any, but we both thought it was worth a try, so I paid the postage and she kindly sent them over.

Amazingly there were very few that I had to get rid of. The rest, although well loved, will make fantastic notebooks and are available to buy from my online shop, now.

Some of them needed a bit more love than others. For example this Little Red Hen book had an unfortunate sticker on the front cover (often the cause of damage for old ladybird books – charity shops are a nightmare!) however I was overjoyed at successfully removing it!

Before…
After… it is the same book, promise!

Let’s face it, we all love Ladybird Books and I think Lawrence Zeegan, author of Ladybird by Design, explains it perfectly: “A Ladybird book evokes strong feelings; deep-rooted memories of a time and a place when a simply designed and cheaply produced book could resonate across generations of readers.”

These books have passed through many generations, and it’s a lovely thought to know they can get a new lease of life as a notebook. As they are a little extra worn and don’t have their original pages, they are just £4 each. (Instead of £6) I have also added a drop down menu on the shop listing if you would like to add metal book corners for an additional £1.

Here’s one I made earlier…

They can be purchased with any of the upgrades from my shop; so they could come with lines, or as an address book, a diary etc.. just add the upgrade to your basket before you checkout.

There are so many things you can make with vintage book paper…

And if you fancy a bit of recycling yourself, you can purchase bundles of leftover paper from my notebooks to make all sorts of wonderful things. I hope to show you some craft ideas in future blogs -watch this space!

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2019 – a 6 month review of achievements!

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As we near the end of June I thought I’d take time to reflect on what I’ve achieved these last six months.

New Years resolutions aren’t for everyone but this year, I set some! I like having goals whether it’s for work or personal, but I’ve never actually written any down and then gone back to check if I have achieved them! Until now…

My list (any excuse for a list!) was:

📝 Get my head around twitter
📝 Visit somewhere new
📝 Fund-raise for charity
📝 Reach my Slimming World target weight
📝 Do some yoga
📝 Learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube!

So how have I done…

Twitter – I’m trying! But I’m not finding it easy. I have actually found it easier to learn how to use it through my personal twitter account. Being a small business and a handcrafted one at that, it’s not easy to find time to be on so many social media platforms. Instagram and Facebook are my most successful and favourite ones to use.

I have managed to get my head around the conversation threads on twitter though and it has been quite helpful for meeting like minded people on a personal level.

Visit somewhere new – not yet, but we plan to have a break later in the year to the Peak District – I’ve never been before but it looks beautiful and so dog friendly – the boys will love it! Any recommendations of where to stay / visit do let me know!

Fundraising – I managed to successfully get myself in the local newspaper for fundraising for the MS Trust, and raise money for them! By selling limited edition notebooks, £5 of every sale is donated to the MS Trust. So far over £200 has been raised – there are still some copies left so for more details and to buy a notebook please head to my online shop here.

Reach my Slimming World target – yeah that hasn’t happened yet… I got my SW food diary out though and I have lost 3.5lbs so only 10.5 lbs to go!

Do some Yoga – this is funny because I nearly ended up doing Yoga on TV! I was interviewed by Sky News for MS awareness week – the focus being on how exercise and being active can help benefit your health when you have MS. Just before they arrived they asked if I could do some yoga in the park. My immediate thought was of me with my bum up in the air on telly! I couldn’t do it. So instead me and Bert were filmed having a walk. My interview was heavily edited so everything I said about exercise was cut out and they went with the marathon runner’s more interesting story!

I did want to go to a Yoga class but finding time is hard! I have also bought a Pilates DVD to try at home, but I’ve only got as far as the introduction at the moment! Ha!

Solve a Rubik’s cube – yeah I’ve not done that yet, I have managed to make one whole side completely white, so that’s a start… There are loads of tutorials on YouTube – I just need to find time to sit down and watch them!

I have of course achieved more than this – because some stuff you never plan…

Like receiving Highly Commended for our entry to the Women’s Institute photography competition, coming runner-up in The Brentwood Belles WI Challenge Cup, and being part of the wonderful Brentwood Art Trail – exhibiting my crochet items in a yarn bomb and running my new pom pom workshop!

I’ve also started regularly litter picking and recycling my crisp packets with Walkers Crisps, as well as finding other ways to reduce plastic waste – there’s lots to say about that which I will save for a new blog post.

So 2019 has been a pretty successful year so far but that’s not to say it hasn’t been challenging. We’ve had our fair share of family health issues and worries. I feel like social media has not been on my side, and that makes business harder. And the weather has certainly not been on my husband’s side – he’s an ice cream man!

I only mention this to get across that the last six months have been far from a bed of roses, they have sometimes been very difficult; but I try not to dwell on the negatives, but look at the positives. What I have achieved and of course, what I hope to achieve. Which I do believe means that I need to make another list! 😉

What’s on your list for the rest of 2019?

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Finding one’s marbles…

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Last Sunday I took part in a marbling workshop at the Baytree Shopping Centre in Brentwood. Amazingly, it was a FREE workshop provided by the Brentwood Art Trail.

The last time I tried marbling was when I was at school. We did it A LOT! So much so it wasn’t hard to find some that I did when I was 7 years old…

It’s not about the dragon…

My love for old books means you often find marbled paper inside them, or on the page edge. And when I did a book binding course a few years ago at the Essex Record Office, we got to work with some beautiful marbled paper as you can see here.

I loved using this marbled paper to make my notebook.

The workshop didn’t disappoint. Run by Julie (@ladyvermillion on IG) she showed us some of the examples she had made and briefly explained what we needed to do.

The equipment is simple so you can easily have a go yourself at home. You just need a washing up bowl or tray of water, some nail varnish and some things to marble.

This is a brilliant way of using up old nail varnishes – I know I’ve got some stored away – random colours that seemed like a good idea at the time! All you have to do is pour the nail varnish onto the water surface – that’s the important bit, getting it on the surface, not dropping to the bottom of the bowl. I found the easiest way to do it was to pour close to the surface rather than at a height and to wave the bottle friskly!

It can get messy so gloves, apron and newspaper are a good idea!

It was very much a case of trial and error. Waiting for the paint to disperse definitely gave a more ‘natural’ marbled look, but, left too long and it would set on the water and not adhere as well. (Some peeled off my paper)

The concentration….

More paint gave brighter images, I tried some swirling with a wooden stick to create some patterns, but again speed was the key, if I wasn’t quick enough I found myself collecting the paint onto the stick.

However the stick method was handy for cleaning the water surface when you wanted to change colours. You could just push the excess paint to the side of the bowl and start a fresh, no need to change the water each time.

I mostly marbled on watercolour paper as I liked the texture – but being absorbent it did take longer to dry! I also marbled a glass jar which dried really quickly, it’s now a pen pot!

We were each given a notebook and the idea was to make a bookmark from our marbled paper at the workshop but we ran out of time with the drying so I waited until I got home to decorate my notebook and used the left over paper to make my bookmark.

I really like the swirls on the bookmark.

I left feeling eager to marble more! Although I love the idea of using up old nail varnishes, I think using a marble kit may be better for creating the papers that I would like. I was going to say they’d probably be more predictable but I don’t think marbling can ever be predictable and that’s the whole point, you never know what you’re going to create!

Some of my other work made from the workshop

If you’ve thought about marbling, I hope that maybe you might like to give it a go now. It’s so simple, and if you’re after inspiration on things to marble, just have a look on Pinterest! And if you make anything – I’d love to see it so please share and tag me in!

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Don’t judge a book by it’s cover

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From April 22nd until April 29th it was Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness week. To help raise awareness and £500 for the MS Trust, I made some limited edition notebooks!

Balancing – all part of having MS!

This is really important to me as I was diagnosed with MS in 2009, a year after temporarily losing the sight in one eye.

When I was diagnosed, I’d had heard of MS but I didn’t actually know what it was. I was adamant not to ‘Google’ it, so I turned to the MS Trust. They provided me with free leaflets and a newsletter which gave me the help and support I needed, and still need today.

I was given a large number of old books which were going to be thrown away, and I thought that although the covers would plain compared to my normal style, their covers would still make beautiful, sophisticated notebooks. 

I wanted to give something back, so I contacted the MS Trust to see if they would support my fundraising idea. I can’t run a marathon, or do a sponsored silence (I talk too much!) but I know how to make a notebook.

The notebooks, are £10 each and come in a variety of bright colours, each containing a different anecdote from my 10-year experience with MS. £5 from the sale of each notebook will be donated to the MS Trust.

I want to raise awareness of MS because some people are afraid to ask what MS is, what it does, can it be cured, etc … or they make the wrong assumptions about you, and the disease. People tell me how positive I am about having MS, so I just wanted to help reassure people and break some of those boundaries.

MS is a disease which affects the nervous system. Almost three times as many women are diagnosed with MS than men, and in the UK approx. 110,000 people have MS.

My notebooks have already raised over £200 and are still available to purchase online now whilst stock lasts, I really appreciate your support! Thank you.

Becky x