December Is Here

It’s amazing that it’s December already.  It doesn’t feel like it’s almost Christmas,  but at least the weather has cooled and the 80+ mph winds are making it feel like winter.  The Christmas tree went up last night.
It’s the first tree since adopting the puppy, so we shall see if anything is still standing by Christmas…so far so good.

Since November is over, it’s time to share the monthly calendar for the Calendar Challenge at The Kathryn Wheel.  I saw this color palette in a magazine a few months ago, and it reminded me of fall, so I used it for November.

I had hoped to spend my week long Thanksgiving holiday working in my journal, but most of the time was spent on my Christmas cards. 
It was worth it though as the cards are made, written in, and addressed – just need to buy the stamps.

I’ve been playing around with some bookmaking.  There are just two pages left in this year’s journal, and I am on the hunt for a new one.  I’ve been disappointed in the paper that was in the last few, so I thought, “Why not make my own.”  It’s been kind of fun to be making books, and I foresee several MORE blank books lying around my house in the near future. 
The little one was the easiest, as it was just one signature with a really simple stitch. 
  But with only one signature, I can’t add too much paper to it.  That will bother me.

The larger one was more work…
There are four signatures that needed to be measured and punched.
 Then sewn together with linen thread The signatures were smothered with bookbinding glue and clamped to set the binding before the bookboards were wrapped in masa paper that I had watercolored and bounded with gaffer’s tape.  Other than a few crooked folds, I really like how it turned out AND it has my favorite paper inside it.  The next one will be better.I like the way they both turned out, but I will most likely use the larger one to start 2012.

I also played with some collage this past weekend, just for fun.
 
2011 had its shares of ups and downs, but now that it’s just about over, I wonder how it got by me so quickly.  However, looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store.