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.

Scrumptious Leather

The award giving caused quite a stir around here yesterday and I couldn't be more pleased! I had a record setting day for site traffic and possibly for comments as well!
Which could be viewed as the motivation for today, but it isn't- today I have this scrumptious leather journal to share with you. This journal, along with all the leather journals I will be posting and making for the next few months, are made from upholstery scraps. Which while they are luscious leathers sadly I have no information about them. I don't know what kind of animal they are of what kind of a finish they have on them.
This book is the structure I will be teaching in my upcoming classes at MECCA. MECCA should be releasing more details soon, but the first class will be September 9th and the leather workshop will run September 23rd and 30th.

My local Etsy street team held a meeting last night and we had a special guest stop by and I got some really fun toys. I don't have the energy or pictures to discuss it yet, but it's exciting. I'm packing up for a weekend trip to the Coast and Portland so I'll see you guys next week!