Conference Swag!

Conferences are great opportunities to learn and to network but I can’t deny that one of the things I like about them is also the variety of conference swag. Biomedical and biotechnology companies give out a lot of quality office supplies and other knick-knacks and I’ve found that with a few well-placed stickers, this stuff can look quite cute and pretty too. 

Before...

After! Of course, their original purpose of advertising for the company is lost but...oh well. ;)

This was one of my favorite notebooks. Doesn't it have a lululemon inspirational feel?

Really, this was the only word missing. :)

Paint Chip Notebooks

I do not think there is a crafter out there who can resist the colourful lure of paint chips. All those vivid colours with evocative names like ‘Black Apple’ and ‘Celestial Sun’ – they are eye candy in the hardware store.

Anyone who knows me will also know that I have a great love of blank notebooks. (I have more notebooks then I have ideas to fill them. Clearly, that just means…I need more ideas :P) That is why, when I came across this cute idea on Pinterest, I just had to make it. It marries two of my favorite things!

They are so easy to make and conveniently, I happened to have a stack of paper scraps which were the perfect size lying around my room. I had originally just clipped the papers together with a bull clip and were using them as a scrap pad that way but now, the note pads are far more attractive. I can easily slip one of these in my purse for those earth-shattering, mind-boggling ideas I get on the go.  

I made two different sizes based on the paint chips I had on hand.

The paper stacks were too thick for a staple to go through (no matter how much I tried...)

In the end, I ended up sewing the pages together. A little more work but it holds together beautifully and also lies flat when opened.

Album of Scraps

Last week, I had a crafting session over at a friend’s house. She is a serious album and card maker and has a dizzying variety of cardstock, paperstock, envelopes, stamp sets, ribbons, washi tape, stickers and crafting tools. She even has a dedicated craft room! (I was so jealous.) I was fascinated by just the pieces left over in her scrap box and rummaged through it all afternoon. By the end of our session, I ended up making a notebook cover (which I will feature another day – I still need to sew in the pages) as well as this cute little album. These are all discarded papers from my friend’s scrap box, trimmed to size and glued together. The washi tape finishes everything off just perfectly. 

I was waffling about whether or not to add a strip of washi tape on the spine. Perendie said to go for it and she was right.

There was no coordination of colours - I just cut and glued whatever was in the  box in a random order. 

It's a small thing, measuring only 6.5 x 9.5 cm. Good for stickers, wallet sized photos and short notes.