I’ve had a small absence on this blog recently! I’ve been five days last week and over the weekend at the Hamilton Quilt & Craft Show, and then came home with a terrible cold, so I have taken the last few days a bit easy with lots of sleeping. I’ve got another big weekend in front of me, but luckily I’m 95% back to normal!
Today I wanted to share with you one of the projects that I had on display at the craft show and is something near and dear to my heart:
As many of you know, I have three teenaged daughters, and I am well aware of many of the internal struggles and esteem issues girls face, as well as being one myself.
A friend asked me to prepare a book for 200 girls to make at an esteem-building retreat coming up, and this is my prototype. Each girl will start the retreat by making this book and then the rest of the workshops and activities will centre on filling up the pages with esteem-building lists, information, quotes, and personal thoughts.
The papers used are the Pretty Petals series; the book has 30 pages, half are plain cardstock and half are pretty printed papers.
The title has a double meaning, which I love. I made this up using the very COOL Alphabet Rotary Stamp (see below), where you can spell out anything you want!
I made a pocket on some and added mats to a few of the pages for easier writing on some of the printed papers.
The front and back cover are thick cardboard backing boards, covered in printed papers.
It’s simple and inexpensive to punch our circles from the scraps and make little tabs. I think the girls will really like that feature. They will also get to make a coordinating pen. I cant’ wait to see what they make and am confident the girls will treasure their books for many years.
It’s one of those times when I feel really grateful for the resources I have and for the skills I have developed. I am grateful to use them in a way to give back and help someone. And your support has kept me going and makes all this possible, too!
The supply list is short; I tried to keep this as inexpensive as possible.
For more information, please feel free to contact me at mail@stamphappy.co.nz. I do answer all emails.
Thanks for reading!
A really lovely idea Jacque. I made 50 little smash books for my daughter’s youth group girls last year. I also got the opportunity to share a bit about my journey as a woman. I’m pretty sure I got more out of it than they did! There is not much better than encouraging the next generation. Blessings to you. Elle from Western Australia.
I was totally in love with these gorgeous journals as soon as I saw them and agree it is for an amazing reason you are making them. You are so generous, not only with your time and resources, but with your spirit too. You are amazing ♥