A little known fact is that I’ve had miserable luck as a gardener. And the thing is, that up until this year, I left a lot of it up to luck. I’d plant things whenever, wherever. Even though I knew such casual practice would lead to casual results. Well this year, I decided to take diligent notes. I wrote down when I planted all my seeds, when I set them outside, and how well they did. I even wrote down my garden map–where I planted what.

It’s already been so helpful. For one thing I actually remember where I planted seeds and what those seeds where. And I know for a fact I still have three open areas or 7 square feet total, that I can fill with seedlings I buy from the store or some annual flowers to help with ground cover and pest prevention (marigolds are so cute!).

The thing is, my journal was getting pretty disjointed, the info was scribbled on multiple pages and the info was easily referenced because I was just jotting down whatever, wherever. I knew that I wanted to transfer the pertinent info to a new journal. I was thinking all my “homestead” notes could go into this one book: the garden, chickens, notes on the weather, notes on preserving veggies come harvest time. I feel like a little farmer saying that “come harvest time.” Ha.

Anyway, as chance would have it, Jason and I opted to go to Market Day and the Farmer’s Market last Saturday. We loaded up on delicious fresh veggies of course, but we also got to take in our fill of amazing indie craft and art delights.

One of the vendors was the talented Paper Cake Creations, you can go check out the Paper Cake Creations shop on Etsy. She takes old books and rebinds them into sketchbooks. Now while I’ve seen this done quite a bit–it is a super great idea. What really stood out to me was the craftsmanship that she put into each book.

Because of the way that she cuts the spine out and redoes the inside of the book, it’s a nice clean finish. She must trim out the spine with great care to preserve enough of the fabric so she can wrap it over the edge. She then re-papers the inside flap and includes an old fashion library check out pocket with card! I love those.

The book that instantly caught my eye was a square book, about 11 x 11″ called “Wake up Farm!” I love that name! She had preserved the whole story from the kids book too. So not only is it the perfect sized Little Woods Homestead journal/sketchbook, it’s good for a giggle about the little birds waking the rooster who wakes the hens who wakes the cow who wakes the…you get the idea.

She’s agreed to refill my book when I run out of space. She said she could put in a larger comb and add pages, or swap out old pages for new ones if I want to “file” them. I would just have to pay for book shipping and the comb and little fee for labor. Seems reasonable. And I love this book so much and the idea that I won’t have to shelve it when it’s full is so appealing. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have bought it if I didn’t have the option.

It’s always fun getting to meet people in person. The owner of Paper Cake Creations is really nice, we got to chat a little bit. I’m hoping to interview her in the future for the Craft Leftovers Podcast, now wouldn’t that be fun!

This book has already inspired me to get my notes organized. Here, look:

Planting Schedule

Veg and herb bed map

Chicken care schedule

Chicken coop plan

Yard Map

And now I’m going to go play in the garden and check on my new chicks!

Happy crafting!
Kristin Roach