Giveaway Part Two

It's time for another giveaway, and I've been trying to think of something special enough for it.

Here it is: my first LINED journal.

I bought a Florentia bookblock a few days ago and the paper is creamy and wonderful, and the best part is that it's lined and "normal" sized (i.e. 7 inches by 5 inches).

The paper is cream but the endpages are pale yellow, like tuips--so I covered the spine with chocolate brown bookcloth and the covers with ornately decorative paper to match.

If you're interested in winning this journal, here are the rules of the Giveaway:

1. The giveaway ends on Valentine's Day, 2012 and the drawing will take place the next day.

2. To win, earn points (each of which will get you one entry into the drawing):

1 point - "Like" my facebook page
1 point - "follow" me on twitter (@MakingMyRent)
1 point - add me to your circle on Etsy
1 point - follow my blog
1 point - comment on this blog post

Also, I'm doing a roll-over drawing from my first giveaway, so if you've already done the above, you are still entered to win!

Good luck to everyone!

A Notebook for Me!

Today was the first day back to classes, and my last first day as an undergraduate! So, in honor of that I made myself a notebook recycled from old Clairefontaine notebooks and bookcloth I made this weekend. 

For Christmas, I got several bolts of vintage fabric from my Grandmother and backed them with rice paper. Instead of glue or wheat paste, which tends to bleed through the fabric, I used Heat-N-Bond adhesive and an iron I picked up at Goodwill for $1.50. It worked wonderfully!

Book of the Week: The Life of Pi Necklace

One of my favorite Bloomington shops, Moonstones consistently  
features a friendly staff, great (sometimes handmade) merchandise,
and the best eavesdropped conversations/people watching.

I made a book necklace a few weeks ago from a charm I found at a tiny local jewelry store (the same, in fact, which supplies all the silk cords for my necklaces) and when my sister suggested it would go perfectly as a Life of Pi themed necklace, I agreed immediately. At the same store, called Moonstones (shown over there <--) I found a little jewelry box that matched it serendipitously and was made in India--perfectly reflecting Life of Pi!

Though I originally listed it in my shop, a series of factors (one of the most important being that the necklace/box combination very closely resembled Bibliographica's work) led me to give them as a Christmas gift to one of my best supporters instead. Here's a little photo shoot of the pair:

Though the holiday season has ended, I suspect the popularity of my necklaces won't reduce entirely, and I'm looking forward to many more necklaces to come. (Some of the vintage findings in my last post will undoubtedly be featured!) Here's another little homage to the other necklaces that sold in time for Christmas:

The Alice Cullen Necklace

David Copperfield

Jane Porter from Tarzan

Legolas from Lord of the Rings

The Time Machine Necklace

For the Twelve Days of Christmas, My Grandmother Gave to Me...

The best thing about Christmas is rifling through my Grandmother's pack-rat rooms looking for things to use in my bookbinding adventures. Here are a few things I salvaged, as well as some other miscellaneous bits I received for Christmas:

12 Vintage Buttons

11 Sewing Bobbins

10 Bolts of Fabric

9 Family Photos

8 Metal Findings

7 Holiday Stamps

6 Cozy Leaf Teas

5 Not-Necessarily-Golden Rings

4 Antique Laces

3 New Tools

2 Little Elephants

And 1 Letter Secretary