Fairy Scrapmother Gift

 I have learned a lot this year. Starting to blog is a bit intimidating. And then there is the whole how do you want to blog subject. Like do you want to just post your project or do you want to share why you did what you did? Or go a bit farther and take it down to a personal level? All good choices that work.

Me personally, my goal is to be real. Those are the posts I like to read the best. And when I say real, I don't mean DRAMA real. I mean, really real like the Velveteen Rabbit. The kind where a little fairy kisses you on the nose real. The good kind of real. And, my guess is if you are reading this, I am reading your blog and you are posting real stuff so a huge thanks from this fan!

Anyhow, that sort of brings me around to my next gift.

This little book is long since in the mail to Helen in South Africa.

She pops in almost daily to my brain in my inbox or on blackberry messenger chat or in blog land on her blog. It is an interesting thing to connect with someone so far away you may never meet in person.

I just didn't think she should wait to see her present. It could take WEEKS! I have this horrible problem where I want to give presents IMMEDIATELY to the person who is getting them. Picture me hopping on one foot right now, wanting to hit the POST button and then text Helen to go read my blog NOW!

Helen blogs about real stuff too. I am pretty sure our 11 year old girls are related somehow and that both our cats may be competing for crazy cat of the year award.

I like to see her as my Fairy Scrapmother. Who else can I text and get the answer to whether it is journaling with one "l" or two? And her opinion on which one to use since it is most certainly jargon to the scrap industry and not technically a real word.

Anyhow, this is a smash book. Or, my version of one. I have watched a lot of people do smash books in blog land and they look like a blast. I have also read posts of them having to modge podge pages together since the pages are thin, so I decided to come up with my own for Helen. Not sure if she will want to try her hand, but if she doesn't, I am sure she can use this for something creative. Sketches maybe? Thoughts? Who knows.

The actual book came from Big Lots. We just got one in our town and it's funny for me to say what a BIG DEAL it actually is since our other choice is Walmart or an hour drive. They had these pretty little books and I fell in love with the vintage cover. Of course, that is just about all that is now left, just the front & back cover! Everything else I've changed up!

I replaced the photo pages with real heavy duty smooth cardstock. AND, those little black ribbon thingies on the cover screw out so she can take the pages out to play with. Hand dyed the pink ribbon which is the US version of seam binding with some inks and also dyed the lace behind it a mottled green. The little red ribbon rose & silver eye lash ribbon came from Shirley and other two are from a local shop who sells handmade flowers.

And, the little girl on the cover isn't Helen when she was little, it was an image I found out on the Graphics Fairy that made me laugh and laugh. I also pulled a trick out of Helen's book and used nail polish to change up the gold circular frame to match the rest of the little metal pieces!

Anyhow, thanks Helen for being a great bloggy friend from thousands of miles away. Have a very merry Christmas with extra glitter on top!