Now folks, this is January, granted the last day of January, but still January. Rain and high temperatures are not normal for this time of year in this area. We have to acknowledge that there is more change happening than just the normal ebb and flow of the weather.
I was listening to some videos on YouTube about how the weather has affected crops worldwide and it wasn't pretty for 2024 and predictions for 2025 are that it will be even worse. Coffee, sugar, olive oil, vegetables, fruits and nuts will all be more expensive than they are now. Maybe it's time for victory gardens again.
The last prompt for 'Getting It Together is on the sidebar. Remember, if you didn't get to all the prompts, the entire set is in the sidebar under 'pages' GETTING IT TOGETHER.
The February Challenge is all about decluttering but in an easy way. This challenge is to choose one (or more) item(s) a day in specific areas which will be posted on the sidebar under 'Where To Declutter. The idea behind this is to take as little time as possible and to find items that are no longer of service, importance nor give you any pleasure.
Find three boxes and place them in a convenient area. Label the boxes: DONATE, DICARD & CONSIDERING. Pick up an item in the specified areas and put it in the appropriate box. If you pick something that you are not sure of, place it in the 'CONSIDERING' box. At the end of the month, pack the box up and store it for three months. Then review the items again. That's it. Very easy and quick.
To finish the tiny junk journal, you will need an awl, bulldog clips, needle & embroidery thread, two different sizes of beads and two straight pins with the tips removed and tacky glue.
First assemble the pages, holding them together with the clips. Using the awl, carefully make three holes...one in the middle and one on each side. As the cover is fabric, you do not need to make the holes prior to stitching.
Thread the needle (I use an embroidery needle which is larger than a regular sewing needle.) with all the strands of the embroidery thread. Place the pages in the cover and push the needle through the middle hole from the inside of the pages through the cover and out leaving a large length of thread. Thread three/four beads on the needle and embroidery thread before going down the top hole through the cover and pages. Next, push the needle up through the bottom hole of the pages and cover coming out on top. Add three/four beads before pushing the needle down again through the middle hole. (Note: You want enough beads on the spine of the cover to make a straight line.). Remove the needle from the thread, and making sure that the two ends of the thread are on opposite sides of the middle line of thread, pull tight and knot. This sound complicated but it really isn't. If you need more help, google 'three hole pamphlet stitch' on YouTube.
I used two pins pushed through the large beads to make them stay straight, one on each end with a drop of glue to make them stay secure...
To make the closure, talk a piece of embroidery thread (all strands), long enough to loop from the top front down (with small beads added) the back and loop around the large bead on the front decoration, back up the back, tied around the large beads on the spine of the journal with enough thread to add the small beads as shown...
I think it took me longer to write down the instructions than to actually do it! And I am not sure if the instructions were that easy to follow. I hope so.
That's all for this week...actually, this month...
Have a great weekend, remember to declutter one item each day...
Talk with you on Monday...