I've never done book folding before so thought I'd give it a go after seeing this type of thing on YouTube. I'll probably never make another one, but it was fun to do and I now have another nice display piece for next Christmas. 

 

The glasses were given to me as a gag gift, so I decided to use them on the cover.

Ten page groups were blanket stitched together, working from each end of the book. The remaining middle pages were folded to make the tree shape.

This is the spine dangle I made to finish it off.

This year's Christmas boxes for the families, 2 Santa's sacks and 2 boxes. I later made another sack for my granddaughter, now that she has her own new home.

   I got this money box as a giveaway, and couldn't resist that cute face. Her name is Mootilda, I was thinking of Cowmilla but she's too cute for that. I'll wait until I find a plain, drab looking cow to use that name.

I found this ceramic bell at an op shop for a couple of dollars, so I pulled the sad decorations off the top and danglefied it. It looks so nice hanging in Christmas Corner in my craft room.

Christmas Corner in my craft room.

    After making my first tassel back in February, I didn't get around to making any more until a few months ago. I made a couple in the regular style, then 2 months ago I thought of using an old set of Santa salt and pepper shakers that I had sitting unused in a cupboard for years. I quickly became addicted to making these and now have quite a collection of salt shaker tassels festooned around my craft room.

 

Mine is Hauntensia and Boo was made by my granddaughter.

This one reminds me of the first telephone our family had, back in the mid 1960's.

hugs and kisses has charms that have been given to me by some of my grands.

the fanciest one so far

  

last one for now - celebrating my favourite fruit.

  Since my last post, I've been really getting into the junk journalling and I'm loving it. 

 

This is the finished cover of my first JJ, I'm so happy with it. Also a detail of the flower. Sil flowers always manage to show the plastic stem, so I filled that little gap with a bow.

I had an old earring that belonged to my mother, so I used it to top the dangle I made for the spine. I love that my first JJ has a connection to Mum, she would have loved these.

 

This is the cover of my 2nd journal, this one has been made totally from junk. I added another of Mum's jewellery as a closure, but it was a bit too fragile to be opened all the time, so I've replaced it with ribbon. I'll save the brooch and chain for another project.

This little gift card holder is a quick make using an envelope and a simple ribbon closure.

A couple of tags I made using tea bags, they're so dinky and cute. They're double bags so have 2 pockets.

Last but not least, what I'm calling a Frame Card, made for my son who just turned 50 (YIKES!!). I'm not usually a card maker but wanted him to have a memento of his half century. I'm SO happy with it.

    Junk Journalling is the creation of a journal or album using junk. Whatever you have around the house - boxes, old newspaper, labels, magazines, ribbon - you name it, you can use it. It's been a popular hobby for at least a couple of decades, but I never saw the point in it, to me it was just a waste of time.

   But about 2 months ago, I was talking to someone about them and the lightbulb moment happened. I had a revelation as to what I could use one for, so I started collecting stuff and made several pages. I know a "real" JJ is totally made from scrap materials, but I cheated a bit and bought an A5 size planner from Kmart rather than making the cover from scratch. But I did make a practice one from scratch, so I don't feel too guilty lol. 

   Mine is going to be used to house all the bits of memorabilia I have that can't go into a regular scrapbook album. Mostly the things that are a bit bulky or that aren't photo safe. I've had a lot of fun making tea died paper and turning things like envelopes into pages, it's a good creative outlet, I'm quite precise and very minimalist with my scrapbook pages, which is how I like them, so JJ's is my "wild" side where I can let loose. So now I "get it" and can see how it becomes addictive. I'm looking at old mags and newspapers in a different light now lol.

   Here is the one I'm currently working on. I've started to decorate a few pages, but am going to do each page as I add items. 

 

   I've also just discovered Altered Playing Cards. Artist trading cards have been around for decades, and the APC's are an alternative to them. I never got into ATC's either, but I stumbled across the playing card group a few days ago, and now that my junk brain has kicked in, I've made 2 cards and will be doing more, they're quite addictive too. These I'll keep in a trading card album.

   After waiting 30 years, I finally got my hot air balloon ride the day before my birthday. I was supposed to go up for my 40th birthday but there had been a cyclone up north, which interfered with the air currents down here, so the flight had to be cancelled. 

   I never got around to rebooking, but some of my kids and grandkids chipped in to get me a ride and I finally go to go up, up and away. My DIL Booth arranged it and booked 2 tickets, so she came with me. It was a super experience and quite different to how I thought it would be - mainly the silence up there.

   I found the jigsaw and thought it would make a great basis for a framed collage. 

    I had fun making these sweet mini teabag boxes for the Women's Group "biggest morning tea", I did the cups last year, so it was only fitting to do the tea[ots to go with them. We raised over $1,000 for cancer research - a great effort.

    My brilliant Aunty Dot turned 104 last month, this is her with the card I sent. I'm hoping to go down to see her in the next few months (she's in a different state). She's a marvel - lived at home until she was 100, and given her current state of health, I won't be surprised if she sees her next birthday in January 2025. If that happens, I'll definitely be going down for that. Gotta be grateful for the longevity genes on Mum's side of the family, for the females at least. All the gals live into at least their late 80's and 90's.

This years first paper crafting project was 43 Valentine boxes for the social group girls. I love these adorable little milk cartons with a sweet treat inside.