My 3 year Etsy Anniversary is two days away, I am amazed at how fast the last 3 years have gone by and how much my life and goals have changed over that time. Watching this date approach has caused me to step back and look at my shop & business and do some serious evaluating of priorities. I am very thankful for the business I have and customer base I have built making my DVD Folio's, however I am not sure it is the direction I want to be focusing my energy. I have been contemplating trimming my customer base and only working with a few photographers so that I have time to be making books again. Walking into my studio no longer brings me feelings of joy and stress relief as it used to. It has actually been a cause of much stress this winter and I think the stress has contributed to my catching several colds this season.
I've decided that for the next 2 months I will not be taking any new folio orders as I finish up what I have and start working getting everything in order for April.
March & April will be very busy months for me, that I hope will return my love for my studio. In April I am teaching 5 classes at M.E.C.C.A. and will be part of a Book Arts exhibit they will have in the gallery all month. My goal is to have 2 recycled materials books for the exhibit and a display of my recycled book earrings-plus I will have to get models made and the materials prepped for my classes. Phew, just reading that makes me realize I've got a lot to do!
The classes I am teaching are;
Introduction to Bookbinding; Saturday April 3rd 2-5pm
Star Books; Saturday April 10th 2-5pm
ATC Albums; Wednesday April 14th 6-9pm
Leather Journals; Thursday April 15th 6-9pm
Coptic Journals; Wednesday April 21st & 28th 6-9pm
I'll be posting pictures and descriptions of each class over the next few weeks.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Always up for a swap
Many months ago I signed up to participate in a Girdle Book swap on the Book Arts Forum. Somewhere in the back of my head I filed away that it was due to be shipped in January but never actually put it on a calendar.
The deadline sneaked up on me (and luckily a few others) and I thought no problem this is going to be easy...
Famous last words right?
I picked out a fun piece of yellow leather, tied a knot in one end and measured out the other end to give a nice hang. Then I untied the knot to make casing the book in easier, finished the book and popped it into the press.
A few days later I took the book out of the press and tried to tie the knot back in.... Much to my surprise and dismay the leather left on the end of the book was now too thick and short to tie into a knot!
It's back the workbench with me tomorrow, to prep a new text block and work on getting Hilke her book in the mail for the swap.
On the agenda for the future is what to do with this book. I know I can save the leather, the text block might be a loss.
The deadline sneaked up on me (and luckily a few others) and I thought no problem this is going to be easy...
Famous last words right?
I picked out a fun piece of yellow leather, tied a knot in one end and measured out the other end to give a nice hang. Then I untied the knot to make casing the book in easier, finished the book and popped it into the press.
A few days later I took the book out of the press and tried to tie the knot back in.... Much to my surprise and dismay the leather left on the end of the book was now too thick and short to tie into a knot!
It's back the workbench with me tomorrow, to prep a new text block and work on getting Hilke her book in the mail for the swap.
On the agenda for the future is what to do with this book. I know I can save the leather, the text block might be a loss.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Craft Hope for Haiti
I know I've been silent for awhile, but I promise you I've been hard at work here! I have two orders for folio's currently in process and I've finished a book for a swap on the Book Arts Forum.
I promise to do a more detailed check in soon, right now I'm trying to fight off a cold and wanted to share something with you.
I am sure you have heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12th, 2010-today I was introduced to Craft Hope for Haiti, which is an Etsy shop filled with wonderful items that have been donated from crafters & artists from all reaches. Craft Hope is donating 100% of the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.
If you're an artist/crafter interesting in donating something to the shop information can be found here.
I promise to do a more detailed check in soon, right now I'm trying to fight off a cold and wanted to share something with you.
I am sure you have heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12th, 2010-today I was introduced to Craft Hope for Haiti, which is an Etsy shop filled with wonderful items that have been donated from crafters & artists from all reaches. Craft Hope is donating 100% of the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.
If you're an artist/crafter interesting in donating something to the shop information can be found here.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Star Books Class!
I wanted to share the exciting news that I'll be teaching a quick holiday class at M.E.C.C.A. in Eugene next Thursday (17th) from 6:30-8:30pm!
I'll be teaching how to make 2 styles of Star Books and we will make templates so you'll be well equipped to go home and make an army to decorate your house in or give as gifts.
The class is $12 with all materials included. If you're intrested in registering for the workshop give M.E.C.C.A. a call at (541) 302-1810 and they can take care of you. You can also leave a comment here I can email you the registration form.
I'll be teaching how to make 2 styles of Star Books and we will make templates so you'll be well equipped to go home and make an army to decorate your house in or give as gifts.
The class is $12 with all materials included. If you're intrested in registering for the workshop give M.E.C.C.A. a call at (541) 302-1810 and they can take care of you. You can also leave a comment here I can email you the registration form.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Breaking the silence
Rhonda of My Handbound Books was encouraging me last weekend to break the blogging silence, and I am now finally sitting down to do so! I really must apologize again for my lack of dedication to blogging these last few months, life has been such an exciting whirlwind with a new job, new house, and a new puppy that I just haven't had a lot of time to take it all in-let alone share it with everyone else.
I've been hard at work making lots of bright & colorful star books, which make fantastic holiday decorations!
I think one of the reasons I love making these stars so much is I love the paper I have been using to make them-Lokta- Lokta is a handmade traditional paper of Nepal. Lokta is a native fiber which is a very long and has remarkable strength. Each batch is hand dyed and normally a sheet has a different color from each side making each star unique. Lokta is sustainably harvested & has no impact on the forest eco system of Nepal. I could go on and on about the paper, but I can't tell you how happy it made me to buy several sheets in all the colors they had! I've been slicing them up and making lots of different color combination's.
There is new section in my Etsy store with an ever growing collection of star books. The star book craze came about because I was looking for something special to send for my contribution for the BEST Holiday Book Event. I was looking through my example book box and was just delighted when I found the one of these I first made in June.
Speaking of the BEST Holiday Book Event it is being held Nov 27th - Dec 5th.
If you purchase books from participating shops during this time, you have a chance to win prizes from BEST team members and gift certificates to participating shops!
A drawing will be held with the winners announced December 7th on the BEST Team Blog.
For every $10 you spend in participating shops, between Nov 27th - Dec 5th your name will be added to the drawing. For example, if you purchase something for $50 your name goes in 5 times! If you put "BEST Holiday" in the note to seller box then you can have an extra ticket in the drawing!
Here is a list of the participating shops:
ParksideHarmony
I've been hard at work making lots of bright & colorful star books, which make fantastic holiday decorations!
I think one of the reasons I love making these stars so much is I love the paper I have been using to make them-Lokta- Lokta is a handmade traditional paper of Nepal. Lokta is a native fiber which is a very long and has remarkable strength. Each batch is hand dyed and normally a sheet has a different color from each side making each star unique. Lokta is sustainably harvested & has no impact on the forest eco system of Nepal. I could go on and on about the paper, but I can't tell you how happy it made me to buy several sheets in all the colors they had! I've been slicing them up and making lots of different color combination's.
There is new section in my Etsy store with an ever growing collection of star books. The star book craze came about because I was looking for something special to send for my contribution for the BEST Holiday Book Event. I was looking through my example book box and was just delighted when I found the one of these I first made in June.
Speaking of the BEST Holiday Book Event it is being held Nov 27th - Dec 5th.
If you purchase books from participating shops during this time, you have a chance to win prizes from BEST team members and gift certificates to participating shops!
A drawing will be held with the winners announced December 7th on the BEST Team Blog.
For every $10 you spend in participating shops, between Nov 27th - Dec 5th your name will be added to the drawing. For example, if you purchase something for $50 your name goes in 5 times! If you put "BEST Holiday" in the note to seller box then you can have an extra ticket in the drawing!
Here is a list of the participating shops:
ParksideHarmony
NatalieAsIs
BookWraps
Re:Paper
Three Gift baskets, each with 9 great prizes, will be given to three winners! Click the picture below to see all of the prizes. The separate baskets will be highlighted in three different posts on Monday-Wednesday.
You could also win one of two $30 Gift Certificates to the participating shops above!
Re:Paper
Three Gift baskets, each with 9 great prizes, will be given to three winners! Click the picture below to see all of the prizes. The separate baskets will be highlighted in three different posts on Monday-Wednesday.
You could also win one of two $30 Gift Certificates to the participating shops above!Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wow
As the title of this post says, wow.... I can't believe it's been a month since I've last posted it really feels like it was just a few days ago! Thanks to everyone who is still with me, I am going to try to get back on a once a week schedule.
While I haven't been around online I have been working away in my studio and at my day job. Things in both the studio and my day job have been very exciting lately. As I think most of you know I work for Luna & Larrys Coconut Bliss and things have been a buzz with our Night of Bliss preparations-which in retrospect I feel terrible for not telling all of you about.....
If you live in Eugene you should clear your calendar for Novermber 7th to attend our local Night of Bliss event, because we have a rocking party planned. Actually it's a community benefit/party with endless Coconut Bliss Sundaes, so if you are in the Eugene area be sure to spend the evening with us from 5-9pm enjoying some Bliss and helping out some great people at the same time!
In other work related news you follow my Twitter feed you may notice from time to time that there is a tweet in there that probably should have gone out by @lunaandlarrys instead of me. One of the many reasons I have one of the best jobs in the world is that I get to work from home a few hours a day while my puppy grows up and gets used to being alone for long periods of time. So please bear with me while I get used to having two accounts on my home tweetdeck, I promise to be better about it now that I'm over the flu :)
Back to the studio, the last few months has found me working on an order of 50 wedding dvd folio's for Rich & Alyssa of Nickle City Studio & a smaller order of 10 for Leah of Leah Lariccia Photography. The photo on this post shows the folio's I made for Leah. They are an elegant black silk case with a translucent white paper that has a silver flower and vine pattern on them. I love these folio's to me they feel like a timeless idea of what a wedding was to me when I was a little girl.
I promise to get back on a more regular schedule and to have pictures of Rich & Alyssa's folio's in the next post!
While I haven't been around online I have been working away in my studio and at my day job. Things in both the studio and my day job have been very exciting lately. As I think most of you know I work for Luna & Larrys Coconut Bliss and things have been a buzz with our Night of Bliss preparations-which in retrospect I feel terrible for not telling all of you about.....
If you live in Eugene you should clear your calendar for Novermber 7th to attend our local Night of Bliss event, because we have a rocking party planned. Actually it's a community benefit/party with endless Coconut Bliss Sundaes, so if you are in the Eugene area be sure to spend the evening with us from 5-9pm enjoying some Bliss and helping out some great people at the same time!
In other work related news you follow my Twitter feed you may notice from time to time that there is a tweet in there that probably should have gone out by @lunaandlarrys instead of me. One of the many reasons I have one of the best jobs in the world is that I get to work from home a few hours a day while my puppy grows up and gets used to being alone for long periods of time. So please bear with me while I get used to having two accounts on my home tweetdeck, I promise to be better about it now that I'm over the flu :)
Back to the studio, the last few months has found me working on an order of 50 wedding dvd folio's for Rich & Alyssa of Nickle City Studio & a smaller order of 10 for Leah of Leah Lariccia Photography. The photo on this post shows the folio's I made for Leah. They are an elegant black silk case with a translucent white paper that has a silver flower and vine pattern on them. I love these folio's to me they feel like a timeless idea of what a wedding was to me when I was a little girl.
I promise to get back on a more regular schedule and to have pictures of Rich & Alyssa's folio's in the next post!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Folders
Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a great day with my toes in the sand :)
As I had said in my last post I got a new teflon folder from Dennis Rudd, it is the boxmakers tool that he sells. I really enjoyed the one box I made and am hoping that having the new folder will motivate me to make some more.
This is a picture of all the folders in my possession as of now; the three cream colored tools facing the white tools are my actual bone folders and the white ones are my teflon folders.
The bone folders I purchased at various craft & hobby stores in Eugene & Portland. I had just these three until about 2 months ago and love each for different purposes. The one in the middle is my favorite for scoring, it has a very fine sharp edge on the front of it. I used it to make all the little boxes for my wedding and took a chunk of out it. I can't remember where I found it and thus far have been unable to replace it.
The teflon folders I am still honestly getting used to! They don't feel anything like a real bone folder, they are much slicker and take some wrangling for me to hold on to. The closer of the two tools I purchased from Talas and was the first in my collection. I've come to love it for smoothing out the covers on the folio's after I've cut the slots for the ribbon. The advantage of a teflon over a bone folder is that it doesn't leave shiny marks on your paper or book cloth like a bone folder will.
While I'm still getting used to the teflon I think it time it will become my preferred tool because it really doesn't leave a mark at all. I have plans to purchase a mircospatula from Dennis Rudd to add to my collection very soon.
As I had said in my last post I got a new teflon folder from Dennis Rudd, it is the boxmakers tool that he sells. I really enjoyed the one box I made and am hoping that having the new folder will motivate me to make some more.
This is a picture of all the folders in my possession as of now; the three cream colored tools facing the white tools are my actual bone folders and the white ones are my teflon folders.The bone folders I purchased at various craft & hobby stores in Eugene & Portland. I had just these three until about 2 months ago and love each for different purposes. The one in the middle is my favorite for scoring, it has a very fine sharp edge on the front of it. I used it to make all the little boxes for my wedding and took a chunk of out it. I can't remember where I found it and thus far have been unable to replace it.
The teflon folders I am still honestly getting used to! They don't feel anything like a real bone folder, they are much slicker and take some wrangling for me to hold on to. The closer of the two tools I purchased from Talas and was the first in my collection. I've come to love it for smoothing out the covers on the folio's after I've cut the slots for the ribbon. The advantage of a teflon over a bone folder is that it doesn't leave shiny marks on your paper or book cloth like a bone folder will.
While I'm still getting used to the teflon I think it time it will become my preferred tool because it really doesn't leave a mark at all. I have plans to purchase a mircospatula from Dennis Rudd to add to my collection very soon.
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