Things I Didn’t Buy 74

I really liked this old sci-fi book—two books in one. Each side of the book was a cover for a different story. I just love the art on these covers. The first side: The Light of Lilith.

The second side: The Sun Saboteurs.

Next was the book: The Joy of Nothing.

It’s really just an empty notebook.

Really nice design on this Good Housekeeping Cook Book.

I liked this Building America book cover.

This home appliance book cover is so simple and bold.

Fun With Decorative Tape

Buying crafty items on a whim that I might use “someday” is not uncommon for me. I try to resist, but sometimes I think something is interesting and just want it. That’s how I happened to buy a set of decorative tape with different number designs on it; I bought it over a year ago and it just sat in a drawer unused until I finally got around to using it.

Flashback to 1990s TV Shows Notebooks

Every so often I’d catch a stray episode of The X-Files on some random TV channel and was reminded of how much I liked the series. Many years had passed since I’d really watched it and I decided it was time to watch it again from the beginning (as I’d forgotten pretty much everything about it). The show still makes me smile; I find the weird and creepy stories quite entertaining, and enjoy the government conspiracies with its many shadowy figures. And of course, I like Mulder and Scully (as individuals as well as working as a team)…they amuse me.

Evil Twin Notebook

How do you distinguish the “good” twin from the “evil” twin? Beards, moustaches and goatees all denote evil. It’s all about facial hair. Facial hair covers the face so it can mask the person themselves and their true maniacal intentions. When I think “evil twin”, I think about the parallel universe in Star Trek where evil Spock has a goatee. It’s been a long time since I saw that episode, but the “facial hair is evil” moral has stayed with me over the years.

Knock on Wood Notebook

I’d been eying this “wood” paper at the paper store for some time now. I’d pick it up, lustfully look at it and then reluctantly put it down because although I wanted it, I didn’t have a plan for it. The problem with the paper is that it’s not terribly versatile; it’s dark, heavy and textured—not good for printing. But it was pretty. And I like pretty things. So I finally decided on using this specialized paper in a project that would utilize its “wood” properties, and what came to mind was the idiom “Knock on Wood.” [I know. (Sigh.) I’m slightly addicted to using idioms in my designs.]

Vintage Advert Notebook

I finally broke down and bought a binding machine. I’d been eyeing one online for quite sometime and when it happened to be on sale at a local store—I gave in. I’d resisted the urge to get one for a while because I didn’t need one but as with most crafty items I wanted it. [Sigh.] I really just tried to avoid the inevitable…and that never really works.

Since my mom’s birthday was just around the corner, I thought it was the perfect time to test my new binding machine by making a notebook. My mom enjoys classic Hollywood films from the “Golden Age” of cinema when screwball comedies and musicals reigned supreme, so I wanted to reflect that time period in the notebook I made for her. I had purchased a stamp that had various newspaper ads from that 1940’s and thought that I could use it to create a cute cover.

Retro Fake Ad Mini-Notebooks

Last year, I created mini-notebooks based upon my Retro Fake Ad Calendar. So in addition to the six fake ads I already had: Mad Cow Burgers, The Rabid Robots from Outer Space!, Princess Purge Dishwashing Detergent, Apollo Cigarettes, Candi Doll and Tasty Sucker, I created two new fake products: Spiked Punch and Mocha Mayhem Cereal.

It’s Golden

Dressing up a kraft Moleskine notebook is pretty commonplace because it’s just such a great blank slate to work with. Stamping, screen printing and drawing directly onto the notebook were all options I considered, but I decided to emboss the cover.