Want an Altered Journal? (Giveaway)

A while back I was teaching altered journal classes in Iowa. I only did a few, but people seemed to really like them and I had quite a few people sign up for the classes despite the fact that we were in a pretty small town.

The owners of the shop convinced me I needed to make some blank/starter altered journals for people to buy. Apparently some customers had showed interested in the altered journals but didn't have time for the class.

Awesome. I got to work and made some, sold one or two, then made a bunch more.

And then the "demand" for the journals seemed to die. They sat for a while, got roughed up a bit, lost some of their bits of whatnot, then I pulled them from the store to take with us to Montana.

And now I find myself with 7 blank/starter altered journals and not enough space to store them. I am currently working in 2 (possible 3, but it's been a while so I can't be sure) altered journals so I really don't need any more.

Besides, I find that for my altered journals, they need to jump out at me and beg to be altered. While I love these altered journals that I started, none of them really call out to me.

So, I am offering a giveaway and a special deal.

First, the deal- I am going to offer the journals for sale here, for 50% or more off what I was asking for them in the store. I will also cover shipping. All of the journals include a little key chain and an envelope full of bits of whatnot to use as you see fit, pass on, or toss (just don't tell me if you do that).

Would you like to see what I have?
*clicking on the pictures will bring you to my flicker site for a larger view*

   

Create Altered Journal- 16 pages,  4" x 4" - $15 $6

This journal was created while Jared and I were on vacation. I crafted, he rode his bike. It was a wonderful vacation. It is made from a mini cocktail book and pages from an old novel. The pages are painted a washed out orange, and ribbon is used to create tabs for each page.

   

Red and Blue Altered Journal- 40 pages 5 x 7 1/2- $30 $15

This altered journal is a book from the early 1900's. I rescued it from a thrift store, took it home, pulled out the pages (as most of them were falling out anyway), glued pages together to make them stronger, then hand stitched them back into the book. The pages are pretty sturdy, but still need to be handled with a bit of care. Adding layers of paint, glue, collage, etc. will help make them nice and sturdy. (For the key chain, my brain was tired and I couldn't think of a word/phrase for this journal so I asked the hubby. His immediate response was "Bazinga." And so it was.)

    

Make Mistakes Altered Journal- 24 Pages 5 x 5 3/4- $12 $6

I like this journal. Made from corrugated cardboard, neglected paper, and my work surface. Throw them all together and what do you get? Mistakes, trial and error, and... ART! If I have learned only one thing over the last few years of being creative is that mistakes, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. So, take this journal, make some mistakes, and call it art :0)

   

Create Joy Altered Journal- 40 Pages 5 x 7 1/2- $25 $12

This is another book that I found in a thrift store with the pages falling out. Published in the late 1800's or early 1900's, I felt it needed another chance. Out came all the pages, a bunch got glued back together for more strength, then hand stitched back in. The spine of the book was also falling off, so I turned it into a bookmark. I know, smart thinking.

    

Inspired Scribbles Altered Journal- 16 pages 4 x 6 1/4- $15 $7

What do you do with a really old address book? Turn it into an altered journal of course. Add some paint, some random quotes, and, well, scribbles, and call it good.

   

Love the Journey Altered Journal- 18 pages 7 1/2 x 9 3/4- $10 $5

So this is just a "simple" composition book. In fact, it belonged to a 3rd grader that my MIL taught about 9 or so years ago. I have no idea why she held onto it for so long, but she did. I decided she didn't really need to hold onto it anymore, so I made a quick altered journal. 

      

Cookbook Altered Journal- 20 pages 6 x 8- $30 $15

So, if I were to keep one, it would be this one. I might even fill it with our favorite tired-and-true recipes. I removed some pages, glued some pages together, then took some interior primer to the pages. I love how the pages still show through a bit. I have included some of the removed pages.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these journals, send me an e-mail (kaotickrafter@hotmail.com) letting me know which one. 

Now, for the give away. Just leave a comment between now and January 5th, 2013 telling me which altered journal you like best and why. I will pick from the remaining altered journals and send it your way. If all of the journals sell before the 5th, I will make you your own personal altered journal (so spread the word!). 

Good luck, and have a great New Year!

Destash Swaps and Giveaways!

I know I have been horrible at keeping up with my blog this summer. I have a good reason, I was busy having a blast with my family :)

I did manage to make a bunch of stuff as well, which is sitting around the house taking up all the extra space I have. In order to make more stuff, I need to find new homes for the stuff I currently have.

Most items I will be willing to swap, some items I am just happy to clear out so I can make more stuff :)

Each item will specify if it is a swap or give. For the swap items, I will list items I would like in return, but I will be willing to consider any offers.

Swaps and giveaways will be on a first come first serve basis.

Check back on Friday for the pictures and list of goodies :)

(A few ideas of what will be listed are: blankets, bags, pouches, vinyl bowls, postcards, handmade notebooks, and much, much, more)

See you soon!

Schools Out for Summer...

It has been a while since I have posted, even longer since I have updated everyone on what I have been up too. Lately I have been spending lots of time in the yard, and with the family. Jared just finished up school for the summer, and this last semester was rough. Emma and I really didn't spend much time with Jared with all the homework he had, so we are excited to be able to have him all to ourselves again.

I have still be crafting and creating, I will have pictures up again soon.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Oh, I am looking for suggestions on my next tutorial. If there is anything I have made that you would like to know how to make, let me know. I will pick one of the suggestions for a tutorial next week.

And don't forget that I am still having a giveaway!
(it kinda dings the self esteem when I can't even give my stuff away, so check it out and leave me a nice comment:)

Giveaway - Bags Galore

Ok, sticking with the bag theme, I am giving away a 'book' bag, a clutch, and a tote (that I had planned to enter into the April Stash Bust Challenge, but I ran out of red thread and didn't want to use a different color).

The 'Book' Bag - This was my second attempt. I am not super happy with the way it came out, the fabric inside is a bit wrinkly. Still pretty darn cute though!

This bag currently does not have a closure, but if the winner would like one, I can probably whip one up.

The Clutch - This was my first clutch, and aside from it being pretty plain, it came out great! The glittery fabric is so much fun (but it does tend to glitterify everything).


The Tote - I made this from some of my fabric swatches. I love the slightly patriotic theme. Great tote for general use.


Entry Rules:
1. Leave me a comment before noon (central time) on May 31st.

That is all. If you decided to follow my blog, that would be splendid! If not, I am ok with that also.

If you like what you see, feel free to check out my ArtFire Studio.

Thanks, and good luck :o)

Handmade Journal and Stitched Book Giveaway

I have spent way to much time on the computer today. With that being 'said,' I decided to spend a bit more time to offer you these awesome items (well, mostly awesome)

Well, Emma and I also spent a bunch of time outside, so all is good.

Here are the two items I have to give away (don't mind the legs, I am too lazy right now to get up and take proper pictures).



I am so happy with all of the journals that I just got from Mary. They all came out great, except one. The edge of the paper that I made for the cover is a little thin and a few spots ripped where the binding is. See,



For the little Animal Cookies stitched book, I didn't line the pages up very well before I drilled, so there are a few holes that turned into easy tear pages (yeah, that's it!).


Both books are still usable, so if you are interested, leave me a quick comment (something nice maybe, because if you are commenting, I know you are interested in the items).

Anyway, please leave me a comment before noon on the 21st (that is one week from now). I will pick two winners shortly after noon and send out the e-mails. I will get the prizes into the mail as soon as I get an e-mail with an address from the winners really, I am making a pledge to myself to get better at the mailing part of this giveaway thing).

Thanks for hanging out on my blog!

Coming Soon...

to a KaoticKrafter Shop near you! (Well, I guess not physically near you)
*Make sure you read all the way to the bottom, I have stuff to give away*



My friend, Mary, and I make a great team. I make recycled paper, she has a zutter. What is a zutter? It is a nifty little contraption that allows you to bind, well, anything.

When I had started making homemade paper a few months ago, I brought some up to my mother-in-law, Karen, (or Gramma) so I could show off my new skill.

Gramma was impressed (she really is to good to me). I decided to show the paper to her friend, Mary. Mary makes awesome cards, so I thought it might be nice to have her input.

Mary liked it and had some great ideas. We ended up brainstorming for a while about all the possibilities. We decided to make some journals. We would use my paper (which is almost as thick as cardboard), for the covers, then Mary would add the insides and bind it all.

The books pictured above are some of the first ones we made. Actually, I gave the paper to Mary, she did everything else.

We both enjoyed making the first batch of books. Yesterday I made some more paper to give to Mary.
Paper in the process of being made
Paper Drying
My homemade drying setup :)

Mary and I are very excited about the colors for this next batch of books :) We hope to offer them in my ArtFire shop soon, but we have some things to figure out first.

Here is where the giveaway comes into play.

We need your help and as a thank you, we are giving away the pink book and the purple heart book.

To enter the giveaway, we need your thoughts on the following two things:

How to finish the books- A few of the ways we are thinking of finishing the insides of the books are:
Blank
Lined
Date Book
Address Book
Birthday/ Anniversary Reminder Book
Photo Albums

What to use for the inside paper- The three shown above have card stock paper in them. We want to make them more recycled, so some other thoughts we had were:
junk mail
used packaging paper
paper printed on one side

Oh, and one other thing we could use your thoughts on. If we offered them fully customizable (you pick the covers, you pick the insides, you pick the finish), would you like that option?

If all goes well, we hope to be ready to sell these by mid April. To meet that deadline, the deadline for this giveaway is going to be April 3rd at midnight. I will let you know on the 4th who the winner is.

So, for your comment to count, I need three things from you.
1. What finishing would you find most useful?
2. What type of material would you like to see inside?
3. Would you be interested in completely customizing your book?

Oh, and make sure I have some way to contact you if you win!

We are totally excited to start making these, and can't wait to hear what you think. Thanks in advance!

Giveaway Winners and Quick Update

So, on Sunday I used the random number generator to select my winners. I usually have Emma and Jared just pick random numbers, but they were asleep. Anyways, here are my winners:

Stash Mama won the brag books.

Beauty Vibes won the Granny Bag.

Abby won Flower.

Resweater won Buddy.

I will have lots more to blog about in a few more days. Emma is spending the week with Gramma, so I have been a full fledged KaoticKrafter for the last few days. Lots to show and tell about, so stay tuned :)

Oh, and way over due, but I wanted to share with you the items I won for the One World One Heart giveaway.


Thank you Deann at Caya Papaya! The art work is beautiful! I have them hanging up all around the studio. Emma has claimed one as her own, but I can't remember which one :( That's ok, her mama taught her how to share ;)