It is time to spread a little sweetness and sprinkle some sugar on one of my lovely sponsors! Shirley, from The Orange Windmill and Trees. Hides., is the author of a pretty wonderful and crafty blog. By the way, isn't she too cute?! Love her little avatar! Someone I would love to have a cup of coffee with and craft together. Sorry, back to the feature...On her blog, Trees. Hides., she features many creative artists, does super cute DIY demos and has one of my favorite weekly link-ups where you can show off your latest craft creation. She also is the owner and creator of her own shop on Etsy called The Orange Windmill.
You will quickly be able to see why someone like me would love her creations. She makes beautiful little leather journals just waiting to be filled with magical stories, whimsical thoughts and flowery aspirations! At least, that is what I would fill them with. You could just as easily use them to keep your treasure trove of goofy doodles of the neighborhood grump yelling at kids from his front porch.
I'm going to let her to tell you a little about herself and how she came up with her shop name and how she creates her little literary treasure chests:
"Hi, I'm Shirley. The Orange Windmill is a place where I sell my hand-bound journals. I love journaling - I've been doing it since I was a young girl. The best part about Christmas for me was the excitement of receiving a new diary - fresh, blank pages ready to be filled with all my secrets!
I make all my journals from scratch. For my leather journals, I find the leather from a tiny local upholstery place, where they have leather remnants of leather in a bin. I take them and give them new life and purpose as a journal!
For my vintage hardcover journals, I use vintage books that are falling apart and breathe new life into them as journals - they are truly one of a kind! I tear each sheet individually to fit the journal cover, and then bind the pages to the cover.
This process is therapeutic and very rewarding for me, being able to create something new and beautiful from unwanted materials. I strive to be conscious about the amount of waste I create in making my journals. I have not thrown out a single piece of leather, as I'm sure I will be able to use it eventually.
I've named myself The Orange Windmill because I'm dutch (the windmill is iconically dutch), and my favourite color is orange. For all you windmill fans out there, sorry, I don't make windmills."
I make all my journals from scratch. For my leather journals, I find the leather from a tiny local upholstery place, where they have leather remnants of leather in a bin. I take them and give them new life and purpose as a journal!
For my vintage hardcover journals, I use vintage books that are falling apart and breathe new life into them as journals - they are truly one of a kind! I tear each sheet individually to fit the journal cover, and then bind the pages to the cover.
This process is therapeutic and very rewarding for me, being able to create something new and beautiful from unwanted materials. I strive to be conscious about the amount of waste I create in making my journals. I have not thrown out a single piece of leather, as I'm sure I will be able to use it eventually.
I've named myself The Orange Windmill because I'm dutch (the windmill is iconically dutch), and my favourite color is orange. For all you windmill fans out there, sorry, I don't make windmills."
Okay, did you all hear that? She is a local business supporter, handbinds these beauties, gives new life to vintage, AND tries to be eco conscious! I love this chick!
One of her newest ventures that she has recently embarked on is the creation of iPhone covers with the leather that she uses for journal binding. I actually find these quite charming. They have the same antique charm with the cute handmade quirkiness of asymmetry. Hand-stitched leather with adorable floral accents. I think pretty much everything in her little shop would make perfect gifts and stocking stuffers for the holidays. The journals are gender and age neutral so the whole family would love them. The same is true of the iPhone covers, so make sure to give her shop a good look over to see if any items would tic off a space on your gift lists.
To view her blog, Trees. Hides., click here.
To shop her store, The Orange Windmill, click here.
***********Stay tuned, gorgeous followers!!!***********
Check back tomorrow for your chance to get your hands on a beautiful leather journal of your own for FREE! Shirley has very generously decided to hold a giveaway! YES!!
If you are interested in becoming one of my lovely sponsors, please click here for more details.
If you are interested in becoming one of my lovely sponsors, please click here for more details.
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the giveaway, yay!! xx Coco
ReplyDeleteGood, stay tuned!
DeleteOh my goodness, please keep me updated on the giveaway! I love journals and stationery; I'm currently in love with moleskines but I could use a new journal. Lovely post! x
ReplyDeleted a n i e l l e | daniellewu.com
enter my giveaway to win a $500 shopping spree to FirmooGlasses!
Wonderful! I will!
DeleteAwesome I love her stuff. Have to check back for the giveaway!!
ReplyDeletexo
glamDevils
I love your blog, and i'm following you now ;)
ReplyDeleteCheck out my blog:
http://jusufovicminela.blogspot.com/
xoxo
Yay!! Thanks!
Deleteshirley's journals are great ideas for gift this yuletide season.
ReplyDeletewww.phioxee.com
I agree, she has some really cute mini journals I would love (including a bright green one!).
Deletethose journals are so cute!
ReplyDeletePlease vote for me at this
link for the Grazia contest!You can vote every day…thanks!
http://namelessfashionblog.blogspot.it/
http://www.facebook.com/NamelessFashionBlog
Those are lovely!
ReplyDeleteBisous
Suzanne
http://bisous.typepad.com/bisous/
Her iPhone covers are super cute too!
DeleteWhat a lovely post... it is so much fun to find out about artists who love what they do and take the time to do things right! Thanks for visiting my blog the other day, btw! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I completely agree! Merry Christmas to you too!
DeleteI love the vintage look! I would actually love to wrap a few presents like that.
ReplyDeleteCute right?! She offers that gift wrapping on her shop too! Wouldn't it be so cute to give a mini leather journal in that cute packaging?!
DeleteThanks for showing us these lovely journals--I would fill them with happy stories, too!
ReplyDeleteHeaded on over to her shop!
Thank you Amanda! I knew you would love them!
DeleteThank you for the intro! Those journals look so beautiful. x
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, glad to introduce you!
DeleteThank you so much for your kind words - I would LOVE to get together to craft and chat! Too bad we're about a 16 hour drive apart... (I've driven to Raleigh before)
ReplyDelete-Shirley
Yikes!! We would need a LOT of coffee... :)
DeleteWow her work is awesome!! I'll definitely be back tomorrow to enter the giveaway!!
ReplyDelete-Kelly<3
http://www.blartblog.com
Wonderful!! Thank you Kelly!
DeleteWow, these leather journal covers are gorgeous! I actually use a journal to compile all of my blog posts and ideas. Now following too :)
ReplyDeletehttp://cstyledesign.blogspot.com
That is a lovely idea!
Deletewhat beautiful items! i love her craftsmanship!
ReplyDeleteAren't they neat?!
Deleteooh i love all these bound journals! theyre so much cuter and unique than moleskins, i totally want one! :D btw im following you back! :)
ReplyDeletekatslovefashion.blogspot.com
Aren't they cute?! They would be so pretty on a shelf or coffee table instead of a factory notebook.
DeleteSo so cute!
ReplyDeletexx Karolina
caramode.blogspot.com
Yes they are! ;-)
DeleteThat is absolutely beautiful and very unique!
ReplyDeleteLanaya
www.raising-reagan.com
I think so too!
DeleteLovely ♡
ReplyDeletekisses :)
Thanks!
Deletei'm guessing our comments are going to your spam box...check that, and if you check them all as "not spam", hopefully in the future they will show up. hopefully that works!
ReplyDeleteIt totally worked! That was it, thank you for helping me! ;-)
DeleteAs a friend of Shirley's (don't be jealous, but I see her everyday at work), you wrote such a beautiful post about a beautiful friend. I too, love her journals and enjoy crafting together. Perhaps you should venture up here for a girls weekend ... we know how to throw a party, and there's a local, fair-trade coffee shop on the coolest street in our city (which is also where Shirley lives), run by our friends. So come on up already! :)
ReplyDeleteAww, that would be soooo much fun! Crafting, party, and awesome coffee shop?! Sounds good to me. ;-)
DeleteAmazing creations! Yay, for giveaway!)
ReplyDeletehttp://beautyofheworld.blogspot.com/
Yes, indeed!
DeleteNice post:) Thanks for following!
ReplyDelete~your three-hundredth member<3
xoxo_Laila
AAAAHHHHH!!! You ARE my 300th! Very cool! Thank you Laila! ;-)
Deleteagreed.
ReplyDeletethanks!
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful blog!! I'm your newest follower from the "Weekend Blog Walk" blog hop - this is my blog if you wanted to follow back: godsgrowinggarden.com
ReplyDeleteThanks
Angie
Thank you Angie!
DeleteWhat a great shop, Lovely post as well. I absolutely love those journals!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mohala! I thought would might like these. ;-)
DeleteI love the journals, very pretty! There is something so calming about writing and those colors are great :)
ReplyDeleteI agree. Sometimes just the fact that it is an charming journal makes me want to actually put my thoughts down in the blank pages.
DeleteThank you for letting me know about this awesome giveaway! I have entered! :)
ReplyDelete-Logan
www.southernsunflowersandcoffeebeans.com
So glad! It is such a neat journal!
DeleteI love how she uses the string in this image https://ny-image1.etsy.com/000/0/6443626/il_570xN.293803053.jpg
ReplyDeleteWell that comment looks lovely I meant to link to the picture with the red and white wrapping. :D
DeleteHaha! Her gift wrap really is very pretty. ;-)
DeleteWhat beautiful journals.
ReplyDeletehttp://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/
Aren't they?!
DeleteSo interesting proposes ♥
ReplyDeleteNice post :)
ReplyDeleteKiss
These are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHer whole shop is just so cute!
DeleteBeautiful colors and shapes!
ReplyDeleteThey are quite cute huh?
DeleteHow wonderfully lovely. I really like the cell phone cover idea, too - what a charmingly fun juxtaposition of old meets new.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a stellar Monday & week ahead, dear Jamie,
♥ Jessica
Yes, I really like the look of the mustard and moss combo for leather on the iPhone covers.
DeleteThank you, Jessica. Enjoy your week as well!
Beautiful blog
ReplyDeleteNew post on :
Http://Fashioneiric.blogspot.com
Coline.
Thank you Coline!
DeleteHelo dear!!
ReplyDeleteI like your blog so much! I follow you now! ;)
I invite you to see my blog! :)
Kisses from Spain!
http://eldiariodenuny.blogspot.com.es
Thank you!
DeleteJamie these are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLaurie
I'm so glad you enjoyed them Laurie!
DeleteOrange is one of my favorite colors too! :-) Nice blog you have here.
ReplyDeletewww.creativesideofme.com
Why thank you Olya!
DeleteThanks Lotte!
ReplyDeleteOMG! Her work is divine!
ReplyDeleteArra
http://arraabella.blogspot.com
Isn't it?! So pretty!
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeletethey really are charming, love the idea behind it and all that.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteNICE IDEE¡¡
ReplyDeletehttp://dolcevirginia.blogspot.com.es
baci
Thanks!
Delete