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Ingredients: Tab, old books, adoring and smart father, Zutter Bind-it-All Version 2.0, time, patience (provided by said father), inspiration, and love of ephemera.
Several years ago I ran across an old book that had been turned into a journal. Ever since, I have been on the quest to make my own. Research was done, time passed, interesting books were gathered, conversations were had, and finally it was the right place and time to proceed.
Let me say at the outset that this project would have never come to fruition without my Dad. He is a genius at measuring, spatial thinking, and craftmanship.
My Dad deconstructed the books in a manner that preserved the entire book. 
He made sure that the pages came out so that they could be used. 
I brought four books for our trial run and they turned out fantastically. Above is the book my friend Noreen picked. These are our prototypes. Eventually what I want to do is add blank pages (using plain paper, patterned paper, old maps, etc.) and then use my stamp collection to add journal prompts. There are so many old books out there with great covers! 
My Dad and I are going to try to work out a system whereby I send him the books, he does the hard work, and then I decorate them up. I do believe that I will always leave the covers as they are orginally; they just look great exactly as is.
Here is the team; Jacobs and Daughter. We had a great time and I can't wait to keep working on this project. Thanks Dad!!!!
I know, I know! I have been gone for weeks only to return with a picture of cut up apple pieces???? What kind of return from vacation post is this? Well, we only have my PC to blame. It is running at the speed of a person entrenched in quicksand....very slowly in other words. I only have the patience for one picture to upload because they are all turned this way and that and straightening them out would take hours!
So, here is a picture that was right side up. It is a good picture of my vacation to Bainbridge Island because I never ate so many apples in my life! You must know that I do not like to eat fruit. Yuch. Boring. Anyway, out in Washington my Dad's wife, Mary, cut up apples in these little pieces and low and behold, they were really tasty. I don't know if it was the shape or the type of apples, but it was really fun to eat apples this way. We had "john-a-golds" or something like that. I came home and tried to recreate this great snack with a Gala apple; and yuch. It was not good at all. I am going to have to go to the grocery store and really look at the names of the apples.
I had a really wonderful trip. I would like to show you a day by day picture-log; but that does not seem possible with the computer issues. I will try to catch you up with a random picture or two a day.
Wahooo! Tomorrow I leave for a vacation on Bainbridge Island! That is where my Dad, and his wife, Mary live! Their house is not as grand as those pictured below; but it is wonderful and I love this area. I don't know why, but I feel totally at home there. If someone told me I had to move there tomorrow I really wouldn't mind!
The other excitement stems from my new Iphone!!! This is truly the greatest invention known to mankind! I am in love with it! I can do everything with it; talk on the phone, listen to podcasts, watch videos, check email and about a billion other things. It is a wonder.
I am excited to get on this ferry tomorrow afternoon. It is one of my most favorite things to do! So relaxing! I fly to Seattle and then take this ferry over to Bainbridge Island.
This is the cross-stitch project I am going to bring along with me. It is called "Colonial Gardner" and is by Annie Beez Folk Art. Love it! 
While hanging out with my Dad we are going to work on some special projects, one of which I have been thinking about for two years. I want to take old books and turn them into journals. I will be sure to post pictures of what happens. This is a perfect father/daughter project; especially because I am finally going to use my Bind-it-All for the first time!!! Yes, I am hauling it and my portable Ott light with me. One of the days that I am out there I will get to have lunch with my friend Carolyn! She is a total stitch and a total sweetie all wrapped up in one person. She started out as my Mom's friend, but now she is a great friend to both of us. 
Then, towards the end of my stay, my best friend, Noreen, is going to come to visit! She lives in the L.A. area so often times when I go see my Dad she comes up for several days. We have known each other since 1977; so she knows me inside and out.
Say what you will about Oprah, and I agree sometimes she is over the top; but one thing she has done changed my life. Her book club. If Oprah had not picked the books on this entry; I would have never found them. I would have missed my best book of all, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.
I actually remember where I was when I started the book. Mike and I had gone to Costco and I bought the book there. Then we went across the parking lot to look at a furniture store. While Mike shopped around, I sat in a chair and started the book that was to become my #1 read of all time!
Stones from the River: I remember Mike and I were living in our first apartment together. I was working at the hospital then, 3-11 shift, so I got to see the announcement of the new book that morning......I absolutely love this book. I love the zweirg, Trudi. 
On a couple of occasions my friends and I were lucky enough to get tickets to go to Oprah's book club show! On one occasion we got the new book that was just announced, We Were the Mulvaneys. I probably would have never read a book by Joyce Carol Oates if not for this. She is brilliant. 
Ahhhhh, Wally Lamb. What a man, what an author. These books of his are perfect. I remember reading I Know This Much is True one summer in our first house. I remember the feel of the pages and the fact that I could not stop reading.
I think I had The Poisonwood Bible on my shelf unread. When Oprah announced my interest peaked; and may I say that this is a Must Read! I remember we were between our first house and our current house; we were staying in a cheap, kind of yucky apartment to save money. I was reading this book then. 
House of Sand and Fog. Could not put it down. 
So, that is why this morning when I heard there was going to be a new pick I was really excited. I was at work so I had to surf the net to find out what Oprah picked. 
Above is the current book club pick, Say You're One of Them. Needless to say; I am off to get my copy tomorrow! It looks totally fabulous.
I am interrupting the blow by blow recap of last weekend to talk about cross-stitching for a minute. My Mom and I were able to spend last weekend in a great little apartment on the second story of the quilt shop, Country Sampler. It is an ideal place with a huge work table, kitchen, fireplace, and three bedrooms. It could accomodate 7 people. All weekend we were imagining our friends being with us.....it would be a really grand time!
Well, I brought up every cross-stitch project I have. I thought I would get so much done and I also just wanted to ooh and ahh over my stash. The top picture in this post is a look at everything all jumbled up. Well, I must have brought out at least four pieces and each time there was something wrong. The linen was too small for me to see; there was some counting mistake and stitches were off, etc., etc., etc. It was very frustrating. I could not get a good flow of stitching going. 
Above is my Mom doing her first backstitching. She found these ornaments in a magazine; a bunch of Swedish ornaments. So cute!!!
Anyway to make a long story short.....I struggled and struggled with linen projects....I had this lovely little number above started a long time ago with a 25 count Lugana. I decided that I am going to work on this piece exclusively until it is done. I feel bad that linen is sort of kicking my butt right now; but I have to have something that is not too hard to stitch right now. So, that is where I am at in cross-stitch land. I have taken a couple of steps back.........but I vow to keep trying and conquer the linen!
Here are a few of my "early works." These are three of the pieces I made for my Dad and Mary. They still have them hanging in places of honor; isn't that sweet? Above is a Prairie Schooler I did for my Dad. He was in the Navy and now has a sailboat. He loves the sea. I still love this piece very much. I think it is one of my favorites. 
This is a sampler I made for Mary. I guess I have loved samplers for a very long time as this was made in 1990.
I believe this is one of the very first pieces I did. At the time my Dad and Mary had a sheep ranch near Mt. Shasta in California. 
