Journal Covers

At Staples, I happened to find a bunch of composition books for only .50 each. Since I'm often asked for journal covers, my bargain purchase made me decide the time was finally right to make some. These covers are made with light cork fabric and then embellished with dark cork that I have cut out and appliqued.

I think the leaf is my favorite. A standard sized composition book slips easily into the slots and can be replaced with a new one.

There are two ribbon bookmarks for keeping your place.

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Dark Cork Wine Totes

Wine totes are a unique way to give wine as a gift. Hopefully, the recipient will re-gift the wine tote so it gets many uses. But I've had many people tell me that they plan to bring the wine in the wine tote, but then take the wine tote back home with them. Sort of like a casserole dish, rather than as part of the gift!

I decided to make some wine totes out of dark brown cork fabric. Previously, I only used the light colored cork. The dark cork has a leather-like feel and weight. The handles are made of bamboo grown in a neighboring town, but I also made some with birch, from a large tree branch that fell down in our yard a month ago in a rain storm. Now that's upcycling!

Any preferences on number of stripes? One, three, or none? The stripes are pieces of natural colored cork fabric.

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