I've been Smidged!

Click here to check out my Matryoshka dolls album on Smidge!

Brides.com

This 6"X9" wedding guest book is on it's way to Australia for a wedding and is also the featured book for an article on theLocal Scout Atlanta blog for Brides.com. Thanks Melissa for featuring my handmade books as that "something new"! Look closely at the spine. It has a silver metal locket for pictures of the bride and groom!

New Wedding Guest Book...

Completed a wedding guest book this week:


Working on more and will post when complete!

New Thread...

I love my spools of waxed linen thread from Belfast! Volcano Arts has a yearly sale on their thread and this year I took the opportunity to stock up on more colors. Now I have even more choices to offer customers of my bespoke albums and journals!

Bird crafts...

My little guy Cameron (5 years old) is a huge bird lover. He watches and photographs them. In fact, there is a Mockingbird that he has "adopted" as his own and has named it Ticked (sounds like ticket without the "t"). Everywhere we go he finds a Mockingbird and thinks it's his own Ticked. He really thinks he's always seeing the same bird in our travels, as if Ticked is following us everywhere we go. While I encourage imagination, I have tried to explain to him that the birds he's seeing is not always the same one - there are many Mockingbirds in the world - but he insists I'm wrong! Well, I've been wrong before!

To Cameron's delight we start the Spring every year with swallows that build a nest on our front porch. Inspired by these bird friends I made these earrings for myself!


And, inspired by this blog post, I sewed (by hand) one of these birds for a shelf in our foyer. You can make one too - here's the tutorialfrom Spool Sewing.


Finally, follow this link to one of my favorite whimsical bird artists ever, Gennine!

Another Meme - One Word

Another meme that I got from my faraway friend's blog.

YOU CAN ONLY TYPE ONE WORD!
Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answersto suit you and pass it on. It’s really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to send back to the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? unsure
2. Your significant other? flying
3. Your hair? unwashed
4. Your mother? hilarious
5. Your father? quiet
6. Your favorite thing? people
7. Your dream last night? confusing
8. Your favorite drink? coffee
9. Your dream/goal? heaven
10. The room you’re in? study
11. Your hobby? creating
12. Your fear? loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? earth
14. Where were you last night? Eucharist
15. What you’re not? uninspired
16. Muffins? banana
17. One of your wish list items? flooring
18. Where you grew up? South
19. The last thing you did? talk
20. What are you wearing? tshirt
21. Your TV? samsung
22. Your pet? energetic
23. Your computer? Mac
24. Your life? blessing
25. Your mood? thankful
26. Missing someone? Deb
27. Your car? garage
28. Something you’re not wearing? earrings
29. Favorite store? Anthropologie
30. Your summer? hot
31. Like someone? lots
32. Your favorite color? green
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? goodbye
35. Who will respond to this? unsure

And to leave you with a photo - here's a fun album I just completed as a custom order for a brand new little boy born last week:

Eucharistic Congress...

Can't wait for tomorrow! The kids will see The Donut Man! And hubby and I will be here.

And Happy Anniversary Sweetie! (We were married 11 years ago - June 21st!) You are an amazing gift in my life and I treasure every single day together! Check out the smile almost too big for my face!

Flickr Meme...

1. for the girls at Kristin Devitt Public Relations, 2. happy chinese new year, 3. High five! Anyone? Anyone?, 4. ♫ YO Yo yo, there's no place like a green penthouse... so i told the genie i wanted to be well hung. ^o^ ♫ nah... wildlife from singapore♫, 5. John Denver Greatest Hits, 6. The Cup Of LOVE.., 7. Birger Jarls Torg - Stockholm, 8. 4 New Flavoured Ice Cream Plush Toys from Chocolate Log, 9. The Storyteller, 10. Of Earth And Sea And The Oceans Free, 11. He Reigns, 12. Operation: Decatur Book Festival

I saw this meme on my cool friend's blog JavaNutKnits and was so happy to see her blogging again that I decided to join her in the meme!

The rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

The Love of My Life...

I love to draw caricatures of my family. I've been practicing and did this one of the love of my life! Aren't those eyes the most amazingly kind and gentle eyes you've ever seen? And that sincere smile is what caught my eye over 17 years ago! And what a wonderful daddy he is to our three kids. I make a point to tell the children often what a great man he is! He really is! Happy Father's Day Sweetie!

Etsy Front Page!

I just signed onto Etsy and found my Blue, White, and Red Brag Book on the Front Page! I quickly learned to make a screen shot -Easy Peasy! (On your Mac, just press the Command, Shift, and number 3 keys all at the same time - you know the picture has been taken because you will hear a camera sound! You will find the PICTure file on your desktop.)

And to top it off the Ice-Cream Truck drove by in the middle of this post! The kids and I are all slurping our treats in cool satisfaction!

Updating shop and other crafty things...

It's been a great day to take photos outside with my new lightbox:

I made the lightbox today after reading this blog post by Etsy seller Folk Photography. It's a great tutorial for taking better pictures of your products. I didn't know it was so easy!

Here are the two books I added to my Etsy Shop today using product photos from my new lightbox:


In other crafty news, hubby and I are loving the new mouse pad I made from fabric that I had left over after making this bulletin board to keep track of our schedules, homework, notices, etc. in the study.

Here is the mousepad, made by reusing an old mousepad that had worn the paper off the top, and attaching the fabric using No-Sew:

Etsy Bloggers Blog Carnival

The May 12 edition of the Etsy Bloggers Street Team blog carnival sports the theme “Spring Bloom”. Now, I know I mainly talk about handmade books, journal related topics, and a bit of family here, but I thought I'd share some of my other handmade endeavors too. This week I made these copper and Czech glass earrings in honor of spring. I found that I was purchasing lots of fun earrings from many wonderful Etsy sellers, wanted to spend less money, and decided that I could make my own. I don't wear much jewelry except my wedding ring, a fun anklet I bought from Dornick Designs on Etsy, and my collection of fun earrings. My daughter things that these earrings look more like lamps than a "Spring Bloom", but I'm happy with them! And the other earrings below are some that I've made since purchasing supplies. I need a lot of work on my wire wrapping skills, and have no intention of adding earrings to my Etsy shop, but I'm loving wearing these fun, new earrings and so will the girlfriends that I make them for.

New Handmade Stamp...

I've been commissioned to make a guest book for a wedding occurring in September. I love carving stamps for my books and thought I'd share this one that a carved yesterday to compliment the book's paste paper covers.

Here's one of my favorite artists, Geninne in Mexico, and her tutorial for making handcarved stamps. Browse her blog for fun stamps, colorful bird drawings/collages, and other whimsy!

Mother's Day with the Etsy Bloggers...

This is my submission for the Etsy Bloggers Street Team Blog Carnival for this week. According to the team...

"The theme for May 5 is “Mother’s Day”. Blog about anything that we have gave or received as a mother, or given to our mothers that was/is very dear to you. Ex. a memorable phrase, a gift, a special handmade creation you received/or made,pictures, spoken word/story/drawing,writing, a video of a special occasion, etc….something that you will never forget that was done for you as a mom (doesnt matter who you received it from) or something that YOU have done for your mother..or any mother."

I've been wanting to show you the wonderful dress that my amazing mother-in-law made for our oldest daughter's first communion last weekend. She was instructed to make it simple and pretty. She did:

Something special about my mother-in-law: She treats me like her own daughter! My own mother passed away 14 years ago. My mother-in-law (I wasn't yet married to her son - so she was my boyfriend's mom!) knew that it was a tradition for my mom and I to talk on the phone (loooong conversations with lots of sharing and giggling!) every Saturday morning. I won't forget that my mother-in-law made it a point to call me for several Saturday mornings after my mom's passing. She just took time out of her busy schedule to fill a void. I was touched!

Here is a drawing I did last year from my mom's high school graduation photo:

Recently I asked my dad for my mom's old sewing machine, that HE hasn't used in 14 years! I should be picking it up soon. I have never really learned to sew, but I mom was an avid maker of clothes for me as a child! I loved wearing those clothes, but whenever I saw the sewing machine on the table I knew I would be hearing some "bad" words! It seemed to frustrate my mom so I never wanted to learn. Well, now I do. Hopefully I'll have some things to show off here before too long that I make with her machine!

A shout out to my beautiful step-mother too! She has done so much for me I can't begin to list them all. After marrying my dad (after my mom died) she has taught me much about giving of myself, just by watching her example! I don't have a photo to share, but I couldn't let that go unsaid. Thank you Jerry!

My own children give me gifts beyond comprehension. My favorites are the kisses and blessings and prayers at bedtime, the cute words that they say, the dancing in the kitchen at dinnertime, telling Mommy and Daddy that we are their favorite Mommy and Daddy, gentle touches while I help them with something - the hand on the arm or the head on the shoulder. I could go on and on!

April 23rd was World Book Day...

(drawing above is one I did of a book puppet that I made to introduce my preschool storytimes! He sings a great little song to signal the fun!)

Read what the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team shop says in the shop announcement:

"April 23rd is World Book Day! To celebrate this day, the BEST team is having a challenge. Participating members will make a book honoring either William Shakespeare or Miguel de Cervantes. To finish off the celebration, the team is having a World Book Day Sale on April 23rd, with many members offering 10%-15% off or free shipping. For a list of participating shops, please check our blog, http://etsybooks.blogspot.com/."

April 23rd is also William Shakespeare's birthday! Way back in 1564! And Cervantes died on that day. Read more on the origin of World Book Day on Wikipedia.

While I did not participate in the challenge (because of other previously committed challenges!) many other of my team members did! Check out their work on our team blog here. And check out the sellers who are participating in the World Book Day Saleby clicking here! Happy shopping!

More books and recycling and crafting...

Have you seen the new blog of Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord (of Makingbooks.com) called The Creative Year? She posts ideas and directions for creative projects that use recycled materials from around the house. The picture above is my version of her First Day of Spring Flowers. I used fabric that I had acquired from a yard sale years ago, twine from the garage, and a couple branches from our pruned Crepe Myrtle outside our bedroom window. I made this to add a splash of color to our Easter get together, but it is still being enjoyed and periodically moves around the house. Right now it is in the foyer welcoming guests. Now it welcomes you to my blog!

If you're looking for a book project see her post about St. George's Day on April 23rd.

Happy Earth Day 2008!

I love Earth Day! We were all about worms and dirt in my preschool class today! Now, as a bookbinder who uses new materials, I am always on the search for things to do with my leftovers. That extra bookboard and the extra papers. I do not like waste. I do recycle, but I love to find ways to reuse things at home. So, in celebration of Earth Day 2008, I'm happy to share with you one of my own recycled notebook creations - a dos-a-dos book made with all reused paper - recycled from school, home, and library papers.

Included with the reused paper for writing in the notebook are reused junk mail envelopes that work beautifully to hold receipts, business cards, or love notes! I had a ball carving my very own stamps for the images on the front and back of the notebooks. Stamp carving, I found, can be very relaxing and calming. You can see more pictures and read more about them here and here in my Etsy shop.

Now, does anyone have any ideas for things to do with your leftover small pieces of bookboard? I have one idea that I may be showing you soon, but I'd love to hear how you use your paper waste!

Have you visited the Planet Green website yet? This is what they say about Planetgreen.com, "PlanetGreen.com is filled with solutions-oriented tips and information that can help you make your life a little (or a lot) greener. Our eco-minded community includes fan sites, articles about how to go green, and forums where users can interact." It will be the "first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network" launching in June 2008. As a very basic cable customer I won't be able to watch this network, but I have enjoyed searching their site and reading the articles. Particularly this one called "Repair Damaged Book Binding"by Jasmin Malik Chua, of Jersey City, USA. You will find a link to the information on WikiHow. I love old books, especially those that were given to me by my family. These books were read and loved by my husband's family.





The first book titled, "Bible Symbols", belonged to my mother-in-law's own mother and was generously given to me by my sister-in-law. Just look at the beautiful endpapers! The second one is a tiny prayer book used by my mother-in-law and by her mother-in-law before her. I can just imagine the hands holding it as heartfelt prayers were lifted! There is no binding on this any longer and it's been held together by tape for as long as I've had it! Again, no binding! Now, do I actually repair the binding or leave these precious books as they are? For now, I think I still have to leave them as they are - with all their character.

Introducing...

Should I get a drum roll? I am introducing my new line of handmade bookcloth albums - the Fabric Collection of Life Stories Books! This is what I've been up to with the fabric that I showed you a few posts ago (here). I just love these japanese cotton/linen blend fabrics! I turn them into bookcloth using heat n bond and Unryu paper. The texture feels so good in your hands - I wish you could reach out and touch them! All are available in my etsy shop.

2 Cute!

OK, I admit it - we are big American Idol fans here - the whole family. This is the cutest conversation I had with Mackenzie (age 5) the other night while we watched the results show. Jason Castro had just walked on stage:

Mackenzie: You like him, don't you?

Me: Yes.

Mackenzie: Do you like his song, or do you like his face?

Me: I like his song.

Mackenzie: I like his face.

I keep a journal reserved just for the memorable things that our kids say! This is definitely in there!

Other family Idol fav's:
Sierra (8): Brooke White
Cameron (5): doesn't know yet
Daddy: David Archuleta

What She Likes!

I'm so happy to have been featured on the webzine What She Likes! In Freya's own words, the editor of the webzine, "What She Likes is an online mag for women. This webzine is for and about women(of all ages) who love the arts basically. This webzine promotes the arts by featuring women who are active on the web and who are doing a great job in the field of arts, crafts and fashion, featuring art sites and much much more!

What She Likes gives women wonderful oppurtunities to express themselves. You can request for topics, get your work featured here if you are doing something related to arts, crafts, fashion or blogging and even write for What She Likes!"

Click here to check out what she said about my books, as well as all the other great artists and items she has featured!

I have been working on these books, and more, that will be listed on etsy once we get our new camera. I just don't like to list without closeup photos of my books and the iphone has no macro!

And what, do you wonder, will I be doing with these yummy japanese print fabrics? Stay tuned to find out!

Happy Easter and old books...

More iphone photos (can't wait to get a new camera - but the iphone's not too shabby, huh?!)... Ok, so these are not handmade books, but they are some of my favorite old books my dad gave me. I finally decided to display them on our mantle because I thought it awful that they would be hidden away in a box. They belonged to my great grandfather and some of the inscriptions in them are dated 1910. Most of them are books by Horatio Alger and were Christmas gifts almost 100 years ago. I just love the worn look of them with the colorful angels that used to belong to my mother (the angels were Christmas decorations that I could not bear to pack away this year - I love the colors!). Knowing that these books belonged to my great grandfather who I never met makes them feel like a treasure. I added some more modern Easter decor that I have acquired from a few students through the years and I have a colorful mix of decor that makes me smile.

Camera not well...

Here is what our camera looks like after hubby tried to fixed it which was after Mackenzie (5 years old) tried to video herself performing an original song for the world! Not sure what happened and neither is Mackenzie, but this is what we are left with! We use our camera daily - me for photographing books and art and kids and hubby for video taping kids to edit into fantastic video scrapbooks! We are lost without it. Any suggestions for a new upgrade are welcome. Video and macro are essential. This was a Canon PowerShot SD550. How did I take this picture? With my yummy iphone! (no macro or video unfortunately!)

Once Upon a Time...

I'm preparing for some storytelling and puppetry at an elementary school tomorrow. On my list of stories I left on the counter my husband spotted "Once Upon A Time..." and it inspired him to write his own short story about our life. He left it right there for me to find on a sticky note. He gave me permission to post. Can I just say I married an adorable man that is just perfect for me!?

Our Story - Once upon a time, there was an angel that flew very low one day. That angel was caught by a man and they fell deeply in love with each other. God blessed them with one angel to replace her in heaven and three children on earth for them to love. They all lived happily ever after. The end.

I like our story!

I'm working on new book designs and a blog and etsy store makeover - new and improved!

One of my favorite Christmas gifts...

Here is one of my favorite Christmas gifts. A leather handmade book filled with handmade paper. I've never made a leather book and I've never made my own paper so this is very unique for me! It was given to me by my husband's Uncle Marc, who has many talents (writing and astronomy to name a couple). He purchased the book in NY. I wish I had a link to some of Uncle Marc's writings for you to read. Perhaps he'll start his own blog for that - hint, hint! Anyway, this book has encouraged me to do more writing in my journals and to sketch with pen (no pencil) just for the pure spontaneity and fun of sketching without being worried about the outcome. I will also rarely if ever add color to the sketches in this journal as I like the simple tactile feel and look of the book. Just look at the gorgeous handmade paper that is so lovely to touch and write/draw on! Thank you Uncle Marc!

Happy Holidays Sale from BEST...

The Bookbinding Etsy Street Team (BEST) is having a holiday sale with various shops offering discounts or free shipping. My shop is offering free shipping on my recycled notebooks! For a list of participating BEST shops check out our blog here!

Recycled books...

In an effort to satisfy my effort to recycle I am beginning a line of recycled books using covers from old interesting books no longer being read, and notebooks filled with recycled paper. As a teacher and artist I have access to so much paper that needs to be recycled. It's one of my joys to turn old things into something useful and attractive!

This book shown above will not be listed in my etsy shop, but will be given as a gift! The owl illustration on the cover is hand drawn and cut by me using my own painted paste paper. The endpapers are the same paper as the owl. The signatures are drawing paper, each wrapped in a red coordinating decorative paper. Keep watch - I'll be listing recycled books and notebooks soon on etsy and will still be offering my custom journals and albums using the same fine papers for writing, painting, and scrapbooking - all acid free as always!

New books...

I've actually been busy making books lately! Here are a couple new ones I've added to my etsy store:




The top photo is our fireplace mantle decorations for Thanksgiving! I'm in the midst of cooking and cleaning for tomorrow but thought I'd wish everyone out there in American blogland a Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things! I hope you are too!

Custom Art Journal Complete...

This custom art journal is on it's way to an artist in Hondoros! It is 6"X9" and has 40 pages of Fabriano Artistico 140lb. cold press watercolor paper. Wish I could see it filled with her artwork! Thanks Deni!

New binding...

These are some 4"X6" notebooks that are adhesive bound using PVA glue and single sheets of graph paper for making notes. I got the tutorial from five and a half. I made these for my Etsy shop but I've kept the brown and green one for myself (keep it in my purse and write down ideas for new books when they come to me, grocery lists, cool quotes, appointments that I need to remember to put in my daytimer at home, etc.). The very first one I made my daughter has taken over after my hubby tried to keep it. I'll have to make him one soon! Am working on a custom art journal order now - so should have photos in a few days.