Time to Slow Down

I've been working pretty hard the last few weeks and now I finally have the pictures to prove it! The pictures in this post is part of the wholesale order I've been feverishly working away on. I love the picture of all the leather journals. The red one in the middle is by far my favorite. I didn't purposefully mean for it to be centered and the eye catcher of the picture, but it's funny how your subconscious works like that.

In other news I need to start getting ready for the classes I'll be teaching in less than 2 weeks! I have all the materials set aside at Mecca, I just need to go in and do some prep work so the covers are cut and the pages are all the right size.

It's been grey and kinda rainy since we had our heat wave and it's been kinda nice. Not to hot and surprisingly not to humid either. It's been a nice change, albeit rather strange. One of my brothers ended up in town on business yesterday and had a long lunch so we went to play some disc golf and I ended up with totally soaked shoes as the course was covered in standing water.

Now that I've completed the large order I need to go restore order to my studio and get some work done for my own store!

Another Busy Weekend

I had another weekend where I went into my studio Friday evening, blinked and it was bedtime on Sunday again.
The good news is that I've almost completed the wholesale order! An hour or so of work left and up onto Etsy it goes.

I had been working on an interview for the BEST blog slowly for the last few months and finally got it completed this week as well. You can learn my guilty pleasure.... if you dare....

I also finally decided that it's time for me to part with this lovely book I teased you with a few weeks back. I've had my fill of drooling over it and it's time to let someone else love and fill it. You can find all the details for the book here.

I'll be back in a few days with some pictures of the wholesale order!

Productive Weekend

I've had a crazy productive weekend! I have all the leather and cloth covers completed for my wholesale order, half the paper for the text blocks folded and punched, and all of the brag and chopstick books done!
I also sold the build your own kimono book listing on Friday so I got that book constructed and finished as well!
It doesn't end there...
Have you ever spent an entire weekend locked in your studio to look up and find that every surface is totally covered in stuff and absolutely none of your floor can be seen?
Well thats exactly what happened to me. So I decided to clean the studio up as well.
Should have stopped there... but I didn't. I'm working on my first set of ATC's for a swap at the Book Arts Forum and I have been wanting to try coffee staining for some time so I boiled up some water- I don't actually own a coffee pot- and threw some coffee in. I crumpled the pages hoping that the "bruised" paper would stain darker. Sadly that didn't work out as I had hoped and the pages aren't as dark as I thought. I think I'm gonna dunk them a second time tomorrow to see if I can get them darker.

Sometime in the middle of all my crafting today I also got a new book listed on Etsy! It's a lovely recycled leather sketchbook. You can see the upclose detail of the part I love above. It has this one little corner where you can see the layers what went into tanning the hide.

I'm off to see if the kimono book is dry in my press yet and hopefully get some photo's of it before I'm off to bed.

Success!

I'm feeling pretty darn good right now. I sold my first pair of earrings on Etsy!
To celebrate I listed another pair! The second pair of earrings I love just as much as the first. I almost kept this pair for myself to wear to school in the fall to match the lovely orange the tree's turn here. Then I remembered that I never actually wear the first pair I made for myself and decided that someone else would be much better off with them instead of myself.

In other crazy news for today I cut my hair off to my chin, in a little bob. No pictures yet as I had it done by a co-workers daughter while I was at work today and I can't seem to style it right. Haven't decided if I love it or hate it yet. I'll keep you posted.

Home Again Home Again

I'm home from what I think is the last of my long weekend trips for the summer. I went back to where I grew up for a late wedding reception for my "second family" and all of us kids were home so it was a good weekend. Lots to eat and drink, and all were merry!

Lot's has happened on the crafty front over the weekend as well! I'm hard at work on my first wholesale order which I am very excited about- and I'm now the proud owner of a button maker! I don't have any parts to make the buttons yet, but I've got the machine and thats the first step.
I've also becoming involved in a movement to get more people excited about shopping local designers/crafters. More details on that as they become available...

I also took my first venture into the jewelry category on Etsy. The lovely earrings above have been listed as I've had requests from non-locals for them. I have several more pairs ready, I just need to finish doing the photo editing.

Bookbinding Team Sale

The Bookbinding Etsy Street Team is having a sale this weekend! As I'm leaving town for the weekend I'm a little ahead of the game and have everything already set up and on sale!
My sale for the weekend is 15% off my case bound books, which includes this lovely recent addition to the right!
I've already marked everything down so no need to wait for an adjusted invoice or a refund!

If you've been lusting after one of my case bound books this is the weekend to pick it up. My sale will run today August 7th- August 11th, the teams sale runs the 8th-10th.
Stop by the BEST Blog tomorrow for more details on specials from other shops!

First Round of Classes!

The MECCA newsletter went out over the weekend with the details of my first two classes in it! I couldn't be more excited!
They spelled my name wrong- most people do- so if you got the MECCA newsletter that's why it looks different...

Intro to Bookbinding with Kiley Gwynn. Tues Sept 9 from 6-9pm. Class cost is $20. Member cost: $15.

In this class you'll make 4 different books, from the pamphlet stitch and an accordion or concertina book with variations on those structures. This class teaches the very basics, folding techniques and simple sewing, and prepares students for an intermediate class.

Leather Journal with Kiley Gwynn. Tues Sept 23 and Tues Sept 30 from 6-9pm.

Class cost is $40. Member cost: $35.

This class will teach a version of the long stitch binding. Long Stitch Bindings are beautiful and practical bindings that can be made with no specialized equipment and only a few hand tools. Constructed without adhesives, the sewing thread connects the sections directly to the spine of the covering material. Traditionally these bindings included a fore-edge flap and a tie to keep them closed. Workshop participants will fold and punch sections, measure and cut recycled leather for the cover and a tie, and learn the binding. If time allows participants will be allowed to embellish their journals.