Heartstrings Anything Book

Here's my freshest Anything Book straight from the studio. (see Heartstrings in my Etsy shop)

An Anything Book made from a recycled Mike and Ike freezer pops box.

 Today, I was inspired by the bright colors on this recycled Mike and Ike freezer pops box to make a cheery Anything Book. This book is 7 3/4 inches high by 4 1/4 inches wide, making it the ideal format for journaling. It has four journaling sections for writing longer thoughts and memories, mixed into its 50 items. With each item, you can scrap or journal on each side, giving you 100 pages (or sides) to work with.

The charms include a glass bead, a music note, a bone bead and a leaf point.

The trim on this one is a charm on plumbing chain and it includes a musical note. The open edge has many colorful tabs, file folders, and ribbons as page markers. You can write on the tabs to identify sections of this book.

The mix of materials include papers, file folders, book pages, and marketing materials.

Most of the pages in this Anything Book are full size, but there are a few places with layering. In the photo above, the pineapple is part of a file folder cut down as an overlay over a brown cardstock page. On the reverse side, the file folder has a green leaf scroll patterns.

There are recycled reply cards, a return mail envelope and this air mail envelope waiting to hold treasures.

 This delightful Anything Book contains a wide range of patterns papers, cardstock, book pages, and marketing materials linked together by color. Under the air mail envelope in the photo above is a page from a foreign language book. You can see the variety of tabs along the edges on both sides.

A page decorated with a stamp and overlaid with a product tag.

Each two-page spread is color coordinated to give you a beautiful backdrop to add your words, found items, photographs, and memories. Each turn of the page reveals yet another striking combination of fun and inspiring materials waiting to hold your treasures.

Found items like calendars, greeting cards, and playing cards get a new life in this Anything Book.

The Heartstrings Anything Book takes its name from an item inside the book. I'll let you discover the item on your own. Its pages are embellished with washi tape, postage stamps, paper remnants, business cards, and clips to give it a unique look.

The unique bar code identifier and name make this one-of-a-kind journal even more special.

 Like all of my Anything Books, Heartstrings is signed by me and has a bar code with it's unique identification code. It also comes with a book belt, a lime green rubber band that holds the pages closed and keeps your treasures safe.

Tabs make it easy for you to jump right to the section you want. Write on them for easy access to your memories.

You can add your own words with the ultra-fine tip permanent marker included with this Anything Book. I'll also send you an archival quality glue stick so you can add in your own found items, photographs, and even the menu from your favorite restaurant.

A glimpse at the range of materials and colors waiting for you inside the Heartstrings Anything Book.

Because of the book ring binding, you can insert your own pages. Simply open the rings and take out a page for a template. Use a standard hole punch to add holes to your treasure, and insert it into Heartstrings where you want it. If you book starts to get too bulky, you can upsize the book rings to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch book rings which you can find at most office supply stores or in the office supplies section of discount and department stores.

Check out my Etsy shop for the Heartstrings Anything Book and others like it. They make wonderful gifts.

Melody Anything Book

Meet Melody, a musical Anything Book straight from my studio. (see Melody in my Etsy shop)

My Melody Anything Book comes with ring fringe and a polka dot book belt.

Melody is sweet like the strawberry fruit bars that make up her cover. Recycled from a Dreyer's Fruit Bar box, Melody is filled with upcycled and recycled materials from front to back. You can use Melody as a journal, an art journal, a scrapbook, or anything else you can imagine.

Melody comes with book ring binding adorned with ring fringe.

 Made with book ring binding, Melody holds 50 items which means you have 100 pages to fill with your words, photos, everyday items, quotes, and other treasures. She has a snappy polka dot black and white book belt to hold her pages together and keep your memories safe.

The variety of materials inside Melody make this a special journal.

Each two-page spread is color coordinated to give you a beautiful backdrop for recording your memories. Melody has several pages made from sheet music, along with patterned paper, book pages, photographs, menus, greeting cards, marketing materials, product packaging, paint chips, envelopes, vellum and a shipping tag.

Small touches adorn many of Melody's pages. 

The pages have small embellishments to inspire you to fill them up. They include washi tape, page tabs and dividers, clips, postage stamps, baker's twine and labels. There are 4 separate journaling sections where you can focus on collecting your thoughts, stories, quotes, or anything else that you want to remember.

A page made from a map showcases the tabs lining other pages in this art journal.

Melody comes with an ultra-fine permanent marker and an archival quality gluestick so you can start adding your treasures right out of the shipping package. Most of the pages are full size, but a few are smaller so they overlay the other pages, adding depth and layers to your journal experience.

A paint chip adorned with baker's twine sits on top of a cardstock page ready to hold your treasures.

You can use Melody's pages to hold your treasures, but you can also insert new pages. Simply open the book rings, take out a page for a template, and use a standard hole punch. Then, insert your new page into Melody. If your journal starts to get too bulky, you can upsize the book rings for 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch rings available at most office supply stores and in the office supply section of most discount stores.

Melody's name comes from inside the journal and appears on the back cover.

Like all of my Anything Books, Melody's name is taken from a word inside the journal. On the back cover, you find her unique bar code identifier, her name, and my signature. Melody is a one-of-a-kind journal designed to inspire you to collect your life's treasures.

Won't you visit Melody in my Etsy store and check out my other Anything Books?

Travilla Anything Book

Here's a great Anything Book for the logical, left-brained, and mathematical person. Travilla is an Anything Book made from a calculator box!

The Travilla Anything Book has a ring charm and a book belt.

The Travilla cover has a shiny plastic coating, so it was a bit tricky to photograph it without lots of glare. My apologies for this. It measures 5 3/4 wide by 7 3/4 tall and has a ring charm with an assortment of beads and an elephant charm.

An air mail envelope provides a space to hide treasures safely inside.

The larger and nearly square size of this Anything Book makes it great for a combination of journaling and scrapbooking (or smashing) your daily treasures. Many of the two-page spreads have layers, meaning that there are narrow pages in-between the full size pages. This give you more space for attaching things.

On the right is a page from a photo book layered over the full size page underneath.

Like all Anything Books, Travilla has 50 items inside, meaning you get 100 sides to hold your thoughts, inspiration, photographs, and items from your every day life. The green book belt holds the book closed, and keeps your treasures safe as it gets bulky. The ring binding also allows you to insert your own items. Simply remove a pag for a template, and use a standard hole punch to make holes.

A look into the variety of materials inside Travilla through the binding.

Travilla contains a wide variety of materials including patterned paper, solid paper, journaling (blank) pages, foreign language book page, file folder, luggage tag, playing card, shipping tag, and a library pocket. The pages are embellished with washi tape, baker's twine, recycled silk yarn (from Nepal), postage stamp, tabs and clips.

Patterned paper joins with a greeting card to create an interesting mix of materials to inspire you.

Travila would make a great smash-style journal. Let the pages and items be the background for capturing the story of your daily living. You might use a two-page spread for a week and attach items like your grocery list, a photo of you with your friends, the ticket stub from a movie, or a recipt from your dinner out. Your imagination is the limit. Travilla would hold a year's worth of memories.

The edges are lined with paper and ribbon tabs to help you move through Travilla and label sections.

Are you making a lifestyle change? It doesn't matter if you are stopping smoking, training for a marathon, losing weight, or going vegan. Travilla would make a great journal to record your thoughts and progress towards you goal. Be sure to add in photos to capture your progress along the way.

A page from an outdated San Francisco travel guide provides a beautiful background for your own items.

By adding in pages from books, like the San Francisco travel guide page above, each time your turn the page you discover a surprise. Why not add in new pages that tell the story of your life. With ring binding, it's easy to incorporate new pages. You can even upsize the book rings to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 rings you can find in most office supply stores or the office supply area of discount stores. Travilla can grow with you!

On the left you an see a vellum page that lets you add some transparency to see through to the page below.

You can use the vellum page (seen here on the left) to hold a collection of stickers or stamps or anything else small. You can line up things on each side of the page so you can see through the gaps to the page below. The vellum gives you a fun page to experiment with your artistic flair.

A library pocket with a shipping tag has recycled silk yarn from Nepal.

Inside the library pocket you'll find a decorated shipping tag from my studio. You can use it hold wallet size photos, or other small items. Or perhaps you can write your favorite quote on it and use it like a book mark in Travilla or another book. There's plenty of room inside the library card to hold other items, too.

A postage stamp adds color and interest to a Travilla page.

Travilla has two journaling sections where you can collect more of your thoughts or inspirational quotes or stories from your daily living. Need more writing room? Add more journaling pages. Travilla can be anything you want it to be.

Like all Anything Books, Travilla has a unique identifier on the back along with its name and my signature.

I sign and date each Anything Book before it leaves my studio. I keep an inventory of the Anything Books using the unique identifier in the bar code label. My Anything Books are truly one-of-a-kind and unlike any other journal or scrapbook you will find.