Books – Page 14 – Karla's Cottage

Drink Me

Books, magazine pictures or articles, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 14, 2010

There was another little glitch with the tag books. I think these bottles are too fragile just to tie on the books! So, I spent time wrapping each one up in bubble wrap, then in pretty paper. I'll slip them into the bubble mailers with the books, and I'm afraid all the swappers will need to tie them on their own books. Its just safer that way.

It has been such fun making the books! I made up most of them yesterday. Today and tomorrow is the packing and labeling. Trouble is, they are so pretty, that I have to stop and look at each one again and again as I wrap them. Of course no two are alike, that is what makes it so interesting. I just wish you could see all the books together.

Some of the tags still haven't arrived in the mail yet, so what I'll do is finish the ones that are here and the latecomers will all be swapped with each other.

So this first "wave" of books will be sent out tomorrow. More the next few days. I simply don't have the concentration level to do all the packing, then all the mailing, so I need to break it up. I'm doing about 20 packages at a time, then starting on the next 20. I'll get to the PO each day to drop off a boxful, instead of waiting till all are done.

Feel free to go ahead and post photos on your blog (plus flickr) if yours comes early! We all want to see the finished books.

As promised, here are a few photos of the house from the day Carol was here. Now, her pictures are top of the line, done with a camera that costs more than a whole roomful of my furniture (of course, everything I own is from garage sales, so lets make that a couple roomsful of furniture at least!)

These photos are from my camera, which I love to pieces, but it sure doesn't compare with hers.

They are for Somerset Home. Hopefully. I hate to jinx myself, because you never know with a magazine until the type is set!

For the shoot and for the baby shower we had last week, I "made" a new table cloth. There was so much going on in the table settings, that I wanted something a bit more toned down.

So, I cut a square of burlap a bit smaller than a vintage crocheted cloth that I usually use. No sewing, I just layered the two.First, I put the burlap in the dryer with a wet cloth and a fabric softener sheet, to take the stiffness out. All I had to do after that was pull a few threads to fringe the edges and layer the burlap over the lacy cloth.

We did photos in the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and I focused the story on using ephemera in your home.The article should be out in August.

But like I said, you never know until you see it in print if it is a go or not!! I've got a few articles dangling around out there still unpublished. One is of my bedroom and another was done at Christmas a few years back at a Victorian mansion. Maybe they'll turn up someday, maybe not.

Ooops, I lied. This little metal table is not 2nd hand! I got it at a garden center on 75% clearance at the end of the season.

Everything here but the Gothic arch window are from garage sales. The alabaster lamp was only a few bucks and the chairs were $100. The arch is from my favorite antique store Rusty Chandelier and was a major splurge at $150. More than I paid for the couch.

Another non junk store or garage sale purchase in the room is my TV cabinet. Sorry, no picture. It was a scratch and dent piece from a furniture store that I repainted once I got it home.So yes, Carol's camera is worth a lot more than this room full of furniture and the dining room as well (that table and chairs was $600 from a friend's consignment shop)

Twinkle was hilarious all day while Carol was there. That dog never gave up on posing as long as Carol had the camera out.

We humored her and took a few pictures of her. Carol has a good one on her blog now. You can see what I mean about how good her camera is! And not just the camera, she's got mad skills.

Charlotte the bunny fairy?

Books, fairies, swaps

By Karla Nathan / March 13, 2010

Today, I am sending out this little Peat Pot Pretty with a Charlotte fairy to Amy. If you've ever seen her blog, you know she LOVES bunnies. So, I made slip on bunny ears for the fairy to wear.

Thanks for all your purchases, I love making these guys, and have plans for some pots covered in rosy wallpaper too. I'll let you know when they are listed.

That is, after I finish these!! Isn't that a pretty pile? Suz sent the book, and I can't wait to read it. but first, I am organizing tags into piles that look nice together.

While putting them together, I try to chose tags that look good together, but are still a nice assortment. I do take the assembly seriously, its kind of like picking out wallpapers or millinery flowers to put together in packs, you want some coordination, but still variety.

And I did keep the notes about special instructions to follow too. I just can't promise that I will be able to keep all of that in my head too, but will try. Please forgive me if you get your own tag back and you didn't want one of them.

But honestly, all of the tags are SO stinkin cute, you will love your books, I'm sure!

If I have loaded this correctly, you should be able to click on the collage and see it larger.

Okay, back to work for me. I have tags to play with! I also need to add the "Drink Me" labels to the little bottles. I'm going to drop a heart shaped key in each bottle, there was a bit of a problem with the keys I ordered. Apparently, I'm not very bright when it comes to metric sizes. These keys are miniscule!! If I tied them to the package, they'd just be lost. I need to either glue them to the covers, or drop them in the bottles. They are cute, just way too small.

Good Goodies

Books, give away, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 4, 2010

The Alice Tags are starting to arrive at my doorstep, and it gets more fun every day! Not only are we getting some gorgeous tags for our books, I'm blown away by some of the packaging too. Like Samantha Miranda's tags wrapped in a sweet hankie, and including some chocolate bunnies! She and I had similar ideas, about Alice and the small door opening but we each had different takes on the theme. Aren't hers pretty?

Some thoughtful gifts came too, which was a nice surprise, especially after the week I've had. How can I be feeling down and yucky after opening all of this?

These are from Suzanne Crowley, and the box smelled lovely, from the gift of verbana soaps she included! I'm saving all the tissue paper that she used, it has the scent of flowers on it, and will make packages I send out smell wonderful too. (I try to recycle as much as I possibly can, and this time it will be a joy to do!) Look at how she has made Alice hang out over the edge of the card. I love it when people "color outside of the lines".

Suzanne also sent a fluffy pet for Sugarwings, and a towel set to go with the pretty soaps. To top it all off, everything was tied with soft old ribbons and hand made crepe paper flowers.

Kitty, who I've had the pleasure of meeting when I went to PA to visit her daughter, Heather, (and who is just as talented as that girl of hers) sent these. She included gorgeous, vanilla velvet ribbon wrapped up and packaged in an old album mat, then pinned with hat pins she made with crystal beads.

And this loveliness is from Laurie. Along with her pastel Alice tags- look at how cute that doily is!- was this Cottage sheet music and pink rose wallpaper!

The colorful bunch of tags are from Karen. She also made stationary set with the images she used on the tags.

I repeat- blown away! Thanks, ladies!

Yep, some very pretty things are showing up at my doorstep. I can't show you all of the tags that come in, but here is a Flickr site if you'd like to see what everyone is making. So far, we have 22 members, I hope that more of the 80 swappers will add their photos. Yes, I did let the number GROW again. Very much like Alice eating the cake, the swap grew, and grew, and grew.

These tags are from my Sissy. All of that red is very fine glitter, I wish it showed up better in the photo.

You can see the glitter better here. She has great little details in her tags, like the vintage crown charms hanging from heart shaped punch outs.

Now, you'd think that was enough mail excitement for any one person, but look at these! Vicki sent me a passle of her Shadow Box frames with fairy collage sheets. I'm going to have a craft day party with these and we can all see what we come up with. Won't they be fun to play with?

My photo shoot with Carol is rescheduled for Monday and I have not done ONE THING for it yet. I woke up today, again thinking I was fit and happy and ready to face the world. Then, I started to droop.

Ignoring my droopiness, I thought I'd try to clean up and foof the living room, but after dropping and breaking a couple of things, I gave up. But I knew that there was no way on Earth I could face another day of bed and TV.

So I took myself
off to the salon to get some new hair, as Sugarwings calls it. I figured that sitting in the beauty shop chair would get me out of the house, dressed, and maybe perked up. I know myself well enough to realize that if I'd stayed home, I wouldn't be resting, I'd be working, whether I was up to it or not.

Plus, being so sick from just the flu made me feel extremely OLD. Some highlights to hide the gray helped a bit. I'd probably feel less old if I wasn't so tired.

Before I forget, I need to announce the winner of the February Giveaway, the Alice Tag Kit.

Here is the sweet comment left by:

Pattyjo

I would love to win the giveaway…so I am hoping you will add my name
in the hat! Thank you for your blog and all the gorgeous projects you
show us. It must take so much of your time. I think I can speak for
most everyone on your blog that we appreciate it so much!
Pattyjo

Now, I really need to sit at the desk and get out the glue and paper to make a few small projects for Monday.
Wish me luck on being ready for the photo shoot! I'll need it.

Sweet Charlotte

Books, collections, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 25, 2010

EDIT: If you came by the Boutique looking for Charlottes and they were sold out, I added some more, so most are stocked up again. There are no more tiny ones or the largest ones, thanks SO MUCH!

When I made this Valentine fairy from an old Frozen Charlotte, I decided I wanted MORE of these little girls to play with.

So, I found a source to get a few…. well, maybe 140 of them.

These are dug up near the old German factories where they were manufactured between 1850 and 1900. Seconds were tossed in the heap, and are now being searched for in the ground like buried treasure!

I'm loving these cuties, even their dirty little bottoms. (which could probably be soaked clean, but I like the old patina from the dirt)

Some will be used in making my centerpieces for the photo shoot on Monday. But I sure don't need this many, so I have listed them in my Boutique.

They are $3.50 each, plus postage. If you order mulitples, I'll send you a refund for the excess postage, because they sure don't weigh much.

These little girls were fun to play with too. I'm repainting the tiny plastic figures into Alices.

And I am still making Alice tags! Even though I have plenty now…

Is this one too obscure? Its Alice falling down the rabbit hole.

This is my favorite one, so far. Its the doormouse in a teapot, that I painted. The ribbon under the label (cut from a chapter title in the 1923 book) is a snip of old, red velvet.

That book from Beth was ideal for this tag swap! I just can't imagine doing all these without it. I've loved looking through the illustrations, reading tidbits to get ideas, then snipping out words here and there.

I've also used the text as a background for many of my tags. And since it was such a thick book, I should have plenty of pages left to use wrapping paper for the completed tag books when I package them up.

Even though my 75 limit was met, (Yes, I know it was a 60, then a 70 limit first!), I'm still going to let a couple more people in if they want. I had #77 ask me to come in today. How could I say no, when I had 79 tag covers made, and I paid for plenty of little bottles and heart shaped keys to tie on the books?

So, if you are on the fence, you still have time to get in. Since I got a bit carried away in making the tags! Two spaces are available. Of course, when I get the 60th book put together, wrapped, packaged, and labeled, and still have almost 20 left to do, I might be kicking myself for this….No, I'll enjoy it! It is going to be SUCH FUN when all the tags start arriving at my door!!

Edit: The swap is filled up, as far as I can go! Thanks so much to all of you who joined in from all over the world. I just can't wait to see them all pouring in!

Here is a little something for you, if you are getting started on Easter projects. Click on it to enlarge before printing!

And remember, you can win an Alice Tag making kit by leaving a comment.

Also, I'm joining in on Cindy's Show and Tell Friday. Go visit her for links to other show and tells!

Bright and cheerful despite the snow

Books, magazine pictures or articles, swaps

By Karla Nathan / February 23, 2010

Thanks for all the shopping yesterday! Today I spent some time wrapping up things to mail, as well as finishing my Alice Tag Book Swap covers.

If you are in the swap- please photograph your tags and add them to the Flickr site before you send them out!

Also, people have been asking me about ribbons. The last time I did a tag book swap, I told people to leave the ribbons off, since I was tying the books together. But some people added them anyway, and I have to say, it improved the book. So ribbon them up, or not, either way is fine!

Even though my tags have been photo copied from my little painted Alice, no two will be alike, because I used markers and inks to gaudy each one up.

I did say, "gaudy" didn't I? Red hearts, blue swirls, and all sorts of foofery got added to each tag. All 75 of them. I made the "drink me" labels on Picnik, then printed them off in a postage stamp size and am in the process of gluing them all onto these cute little stoppered bottles.

Each and every one of the tags got a bit of blue lace from my Great Aunt Caroline's stash of pretty trims. I think that I can set these all aside now till after the 10th when the tags pour in to be compiled into books. It feels good to be ready ahead of the deadline! I just couldn't rest until these were done. Now, I can move on to some other projects that have been whispering in my ear…

This is the Alice altered book that started my obsession. I have just listed it in the shop, if you are interested.

There for a while, I was on a book altering streak, thanks to Mary and the great old books that she gave to me.

For some reason, I've not gotten around to listing them. So, today I took the time to add a couple.

As well as one of my altered Journal/Ledgers. (These were featured in the last issue of Somerset Life)

But that doesn't put a dent in the piles of crap hand created treasures that I have around here that I need to try to hawk. offer for sale in my shop.

I have to tell you, they are a lot more fun to make than to photograph, list online, and ship! But, on the other hand, it really does feel good when I send one of my special creations out to someone who cares about it. That is pretty nice. Thanks!

I kept one of these ledgers for myself. It stays next to the computer, with all my passwords, codes, etc in it, as well as postage rates.

Postage rates are so hard for me to get right. The website adds each item in increments. So, I am trying to send refunds of postage when multiple purchases drive up the shipping too high. I don't want you to get gauged by over priced shipping.

This was a colorful posting, wasn't it? These Alice tags sure have brightened up my studio, I'm not used to so much red. Its kind of nice, with all the snow outside (still!) to have some bright cheery tones indoors.

I'm not an orange person either, but sure love these happy little guys! They got added to the boutique today too.

Now, I've got to run, only 20 minutes till the Postman makes his stop at my local grocery store.
I need to get the packages there before he is gone.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to win your own Alice Tag Kit (photos in the previous post)

Oops, what about the February giveaway???

a lapse of memory again, or am I just careless?, Books, holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2010

Where is my mind? Here it is February 22nd and I just realized that I never announced a giveaway for this month! Maybe it has something to do with making 75 tag book covers, doing 4 watercolors of fairies, having my fairy grand baby for about 5 days each week this month, or from helping my son move to a new home, or maybe just because I've had a rotten cold and am just not thinking straight.

Some months are busier than others, huh? But at least I didn't forget completely. Since my mind is filled with making Alicey things right now, I thought maybe you would enjoy making some too. So, as a gift for this month, I'm offering a stash of supplies to make Alice tags.

Yep, I panicked and just swept up some stuff from my desk to give you. But, hey, its good stuff! You'll get 4 large tags, 2 small tags, a copy of one of the tags I was making up for the covers, 3 pages from the old book, some red gummed labels, blue flocked wallpaper (which reminds me of Alice's dress), a key with hearts, a heart charm, and some coordinating vintage trim (from my Great Aunt Caroline's stash).

Leave a comment to enter if you'd like to make your own Alice themed tags.

Today, I started to gather up a pile of stuff that had been accumulating on my "to sell" table. I've neglected getting photos done. So, I told myself that I was going to photograph and LIST every bit of it.

Five hours later, and my shop is newly stocked! I even deleted the "sold" items to clean house a bit and make it easier to shop there.

This week, I won't have Sugarwings as many days as I have had recently. I'll miss her, but I honestly need the time to get caught up. I dropped my husband off at the airport today, and I am kind of looking forward to a week alone to be a whirling dervish of activity.

Because, not only do I have a watercolor to get done this week, I need to clean up my house and get ready for a little photo shoot. My good buddy,Carol, who is a talented photographer, will be helping me with it next Monday.

I'd like to come up with something really interesting for the dining room table that will work for the pictures, plus for a baby shower I am hosting the day after the pictures. So, I'm hoping to get some "arty" time to create some centerpieces that will do double duty.

My little helper will be here for a couple days, so I'll still get my Sugarwings fix. I couldn't go a whole week without her. She seems to be adjusting to her new house with her Daddy, and its looking pretty cute. He was lucky to find a cool old house to rent, where he can have a massage therapy room for his business too.

I'll leave you with a few collages of the new goods in the shop. And then, I need to get back to gluing tags. Its exciting to have the whole evening ahead of me, no one to take care of, no dinner to fix, just me and my glue bottle and the TV. I'm almost giddy. I love my family and enjoy them when they are here, but I do treasure my studio time, and haven't gotten much lately.

Alice Tags

Books, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2010

Do you know what the best part of craft day is? The food. Well, not really, I guess. The hanging out part isn't bad either. We have such a good time, just chatting away about this and that while everyone works on what ever they brought to do that day. But I have to say, the food is great!

Beth made chicken salad. Marilyn made a fruit concoction that was sweet and decadent. Shawn brought beer cheese soup with home made croutons. And home made pretzels! To pretend we were eating healthy before diving into a coconutty Italian cream cake, we crunched on a veggie tray that Mary brought.

No, Alice is not a zombie. I know it looks like her brains are missing… once the ribbon is tied on this tag, it won't seem as gruesome.

Today, I worked on my 6 tags for the swap. I always do a few extra just in case I count badly or something else goes wrong.

Mary brought gold gesso to play with, and I had fun using it on some of the tags. That and I used some red paint to make hearts that symbolize the Red Queen.

For most of the tags that I did today, I used the text from the old book that Beth had given me. To spiff up the black and white illustrations, I used markers, inks, and watercolor.

And of course, I can't make tags and not use vintage wallpaper! Since one of the stories in the book is about the cards painting the white roses red, I figured that I'd use plenty of my red rose wallpaper.

I'm also responsible for the covers of all the books, so I got a start on those too.

The swap isn't full yet, I've got space for about 60 total. That is how many little tiny bottle charms I ordered. Those will be tied to the books with the words "Drink Me" written on them.

If you'd like to join us in this tag book swap, the info is Here

Although, since I am the one making all the covers, I wonder why I am having such a high number of people allowed in??? I might just be kicking myself about when I start to make number 50 or so. Nah, I'll be glad I did it, this is fun!

Before everyone got here, I took some wallpaper photos and added a few to the Boutique. My wish is to get more listed tomorrow…. but I have Sugarwings all afternoon, that that could be a pipe dream.

3 years, 700 posts, a swap, some puppies, and a bonus giveaway, all coming up!

Books, celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), give away, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps

By Karla Nathan / February 9, 2010

A year ago this time, I was posting puppy pictures. Here is Twinkle and her one true love, Teddy, with their one year old daughter, Bella (middle). Isn't she a pretty pup? Hopefully, we'll have a few more little dorks running around the house in 60 days or so. I'd better have some puppies, 3 are already spoken for!

Last year this time, I was hosting a Puppy Love Tag Swap. It was such fun, I'm thinking about hosting another, but since I don't have puppies around yet, how about an Alice swap? No, not this little Alice! I mean an Alice in Wonderland tag book swap?

The rules will be very similar to last year's swap. I'll write them up and get back to you for a sign up, I just wanted to plant the idea for now. Anyone interested?

As a Tim Burton and Johnny Depp fan, I'm so excited about the Alice movie coming out soon! The previews have been glorious.

Along with the details, I'll also post some pages from a vintage Alice in Wonderland book that Beth gave me, if anyone wants to print those to use for their tags.

This swap is just what I need to celebrate my 3rd anniversary in blogworld!

3 years and 700 posts are both coming up this week, so I'll have a special gift for you too as a thank you for keeping me company these last 3 years.

If you'd like to win a copy of my book, please leave a comment on any post between now and Valentine's Day. If you'd like to sign up for the swap, I'll have details coming and a separate post coming for that.

All comments all month count toward my regular monthly giveaway, whatever the heck I come up with for this time. I seem to be so short on time in the studio, that I never quite get done what I need, and still haven't got a gift pulled together yet. But I will….

Cinamon and Paprika Soap?

antiques/junking, Books, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / February 1, 2010

The ideas for Five Romantic Decorating tips for Valentine are coming along well. Its a VERY short segment on the local Lawrence, KS TV station. So short, that the ideas can't really have any explanation or how-tos, just time enough to see the pretty ideas.

One of my ideas will be an arrangement of heart shaped candy boxes in the kitchen. I'll add something next to it, (photos when I figure that part out…)

This one came about because I bought the red vintage box over the weekend at the Farmstead Style retreat I talked about in my last post. The other boxes are empties I saved from last year's half price, after Valentine's Day candy shopping spree. (the emptying didn't take long) I've foofed them up with old wallpaper, ribbons and flowers.

Did you notice my newest French netting score!!??? There are two of them, both from Saturday's fun shopping/crafting trip to Platte City. (they are both pillow cases, one was $10 the other $4)

Here is the 2nd piece, I'm lining this terra cotta pot with it. The sheet music, ribbon, and rhinestone buckle were added for the TV segment I mentioned. For that day, I'll put a pot of mini roses in it.

For today, I've filled it with homemade soaps. Book club is tonight, and we are discussing The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Pie Society. In the book, one of the characters makes use of a dead pig by making it into much needed soap, and wrapping up the bars with red yarn to give to the other members.

Well, I didn't have red yarn, or a dead pig. But I made some soap, using glycerin bars from the craft store, melted in the microwave. Instead of pig fat, I added olive oil, and some powdered goat's milk, with a splash of epsom salts.

In the book, the soap was scented and colored with paprika and cinnamon. Sounds awful, huh? But I tried it, and actually, its kind of nice. I hope the book club agrees with me, I'm bringing these as gifts tonight.

Today is crazy and hectic, I have Sugarwings, for an unplanned afternoon, and errands to run before I pick her up. So, this is a quick post. I wanted to let you know that these medals are listed in my Etsy shop now, 4 for $2. I have about 50 of them, so if the shop is out, please email me to let me know if you need some.

I also need to announce the winner of the January Giveaway-

Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered

Who, by the way, has a GREAT blog. I love her style.

Info about the February Giveaway will be coming up. All comments are entered. My giveaways are kind of loosely done. Sometimes people win and didn't even know they entered.

Making Memories Last

Books, fairies, family, how to's, show and tell, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 29, 2010

The last few days, I've gotten caught up on a year's worth of photos! January seems to be a good time for me to get organized. But it would be smarter to glue pictures into the albums throughout the year instead of dealing with a couple hundred at once…

Since I had so many to arrange, I kept the pages very simple, quick and easy.

Printing a page of collaged photos saved a lot of time! So did using the black pages as a background, and not trying to cover them up completely. On this page, I doodled some flowers in Gelly Roll ink in the corner and slapped some glue on the picture and stuck it down.

For Sugarwing's Snow Princess picture, I used a two sided card stock to make a card. One photo went on the top, and then I trimmed it in some of my Great Aunt Caroline's old lace.

I glued the back of the card into the album, and added another photo to the inside. Next, I glued down an envelope that holds a copy of the story I wrote for her when we had our Snow Princess Tea Party.

The pastel Gelly Roll pens really worked well on the black paper, so I made use of them a lot.

I don't really consider myself a scrapbooker. But, I do have tons of books that I've made (mostly about Sugarwings, but there are some other pics in them too) so I guess I am.

My goal when assembling an album is to get a lot done, fast, simple, quick, and cute.

First step is to sort the pictures. I arrange them in piles according to event or person. I work my way through, one pile at a time, and have a stack of papers nearby to coordinate. Normally, I don't use stickers, but these were just so right for this picture of Sugarwings in her Snow White dress, that I couldn't resist sneaking them from her supply stash. Sometimes, I think that kid has more art supplies than I do.

Instead of glue sticks, I use a bottle of Incredibly Tacky, and run a bead of it along the edges of each bit of paper, then zig zag it around the middle before putting it into the book. It seems so much more durable to me than a glue stick.

Hobby Lobby has booklets of sparkle paper cut in just the perfect, time saving, size to add a photo to. I made use of about a whole book full of those.

Cutting people out of some of the photos adds some variety too. I don't cut too many out, though, because part of the fun of looking at an album 20 years later is seeing all the backgrounds, and remembering a chair, or table or wall color from years ago.

Textured papers add some interest too.

The best part of doing this was enjoying all of my favorite photos from the past year.

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You can probably tell that I don't spend a lot of time cutting or measuring…. I eyeball the paper and snip away, and just don't worry about it being perfect. Like I said, cute and quick. (this is more sparkly paper, in a larger size)

Notice the beautiful card? It was one of the 100 hand made cards sent in to my Great Aunt for her 100th birthday. When she passed away this summer, I got a few of the cards to take home and thought the album would be a good way to save them and remember the occasion. This one was done by Nancy. I glued it down, and then added two more pictures of Sugarwings and Pixie Pie to the inside of it.

Cards are a good way to fit more photos onto one page. For the Christmas pages, I saved holiday cards that we got in the mail and used those to hold pictures.

Not all of the pages got much attention. Some were pretty simple.

Others had more going on. There are 4 pages about the Fairy Berry Trail and I wrote a little story to go along with it. It might have looked better if I'd printed it out, or at least wrote more legibly, but like I said, there were hundreds of photos and I was going for quick and cute.

After making 4 photo albums in 3 days, I think I've had enough for a while. I have a feeling that I will not be keeping up throughout the year after all. I'm a bit burnt out. I'll probably have another big stack to deal with next January!