Super Stamps, other Updates and a Request for Opinions!

My Etsy Shop News
  

My Dragonflies journal was sold - to a fellow blogger! It's on its way right now and I hope she will love it.

I also took the plunge and listed my Lino-cut stamps in my shop. I decided to offer one stamp and a set of 3, chosen by the buyer from the designs I had already made.  I will make the stamps to order, from the same circles of lino material.  I made up some "example sheets" and posted them on the listing.  We'll see how it goes... 

  

Wish me luck!
  

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Scrap Club
 

We had our Scrapbook Club meeting on Sunday.  I only stayed for the morning, as DH was away and J. wouldn't have enjoyed a whole day there.  I worked on the next two pages of my "The Project 2009" mini-album.  Must put more effort into that, or it'll never be finished.

  

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Current Projects
  

I'm working on a couple of Wedding Guest Books just now.  The first will go in my shop.  It's a sort-of "dry run" for a commission piece, as I want to be sure the techniques I use will work and look nice etc.  That doesn't mean  the book I make won't be a good one - if it's not up to scratch, I won't put it in the shop! But it will be a nice little extra to add to my stock.  I plan on finishing that tomorrow, then getting stuck into the Commission book on Wednesday.  Hope to finish that by the start of next week at the latest (other commitments permitting!!).
   

The first book is going to be 8 1/4" x 7 1/4" (21 x 18cm). It's covered with cream damask-effect paper, which is really quite pretty. 
  

It has 20 pages of good, stiff cartridge paper in a soft white.  I will use a Japanese stab binding.  This is all ready to be done. 
  

However, I can't decide on the rest of this book.  The Commission Book will have cream linen covers, with green silk on the bound edge (like on my Japanese Snow Blossoms Notebook ). 
  

I can't decide whether to add a silk edge to the smaller "test book", or leave it as just the damask paper. If I do add silk, I'm not sure what colour to use...
  

If I don't, I can't decide what colour thread to bind it with! I also had an idea to use a piece of vintage-style cotton lace to embellish the bound edge, where the hinged part is (it has a hinged cover to make it easy to open).  The sewing would go over the top of the lace, but I would use matching linen thread, so it wouldn't spoil it.

 

Not the best photo, but it'll give you an idea of what it will be like.

  

See, it has no binding yet... It is a sort of ivory colour, btw - in case your monitor struggles with the poor quality photo!
 

So, if you have an opinion on this - now is the time to share it! I'll finish the binding tomorrow afternoon.  What would you like to see, if it was for you, or your friends' / relatives' wedding?

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Poorly Piggie

Lastly, please include Ginger the guinea pig in your bed-time prayers.  She was a bit off-colour yesterday and quiet this morning.  This afternoon, I didn't like the look of her and lifted her out of her cage.  She didn't run away, as she normally does, and was freezing cold.  She warmed up as we held her and was grateful for some juice-and-warm-water out of a syringe, but it was obvious she was really not well.  I rang the vet and we took her there at 6pm.   
 

The vet was concerned about her and thought she might have had a minor stroke. She seems a bit confused, doesn't stand or walk properly and has suddenly lost weight and got dehydrated - in spite of drinking plenty yesterday and seeming to be eating fine etc. They have kept her overnight, to try and feed her a little, re-hydrate her and observe what she does, how active she is etc.  She may recover and be able to be nursed at home; or she may not.  Tomorrow will tell...