show display

i've been thinking a lot about my display for the upcoming bad girls show. i know that i will have one table, probably a 6', which isn't a ton of space, since the variety of items in my inventory has grown. i also decided that i need some signs this year to differentiate between different types of books. here's what i was thinking about using to hold signs:

picture courtesy of MoMA store

something fun & different - plus they don't take up a lot of space. hopefully i can find something in town like that, since i don't think they'll get here in time if i order them...unless i pay through the nose.

weekend

lots of good things happened this weekend! to start, i updated the tama press website with the new logo and it looks great! it definitely fits the website better than the last one. and i also updated the custom page with the book & box (and the customers LOVED it!)

i also did a bunch of book making over the weekend and managed to finish 18 books, including 3 that were custom orders from the first friday show. i still have 24 books & 6 boxes to make, 5 linoleum blocks to carve, & about 350 cards (maybe 450 if i'm lucky) to print. and 11 days to get it all done...plus packaging, pricing, and picture taking. but, hey, who's counting? trying not to stress too much...

also managed to get together with some friends over the weekend. we played guitar hero, which i have to admit is a lot of fun, even though i originally thought it was stupid when it first came out - oh, and i love the drums! also went to see a movie - paranormal activity - which was terrifying. the theatre was packed too, so everyone was screaming at the scary parts, which was fun.

ok back to planning and work!

office hankering

with the two big shows coming up, i've been living and breathing art - books, cards, book board, paper, glue (not the kind with the fumes), needles, binding...

and i've been getting these urges to CLEAN and ORGANIZE the house. strong urges. like the ones you go with because you don't know when you'll ever be that motivated to clean something ever again. but i've managed to put them off.

bff and i have been talking about having an organized, usable office - as opposed to the dumping ground for paperwork and randomness for a lot of my stuff. a while back, i found these super cool pictures (it was either on hgtv's site or design sponge - if they are your pictures, let me know & i will gladly give you credit!) i was looking for some inspiration for an office that isn't drab and boring.

it's blue. 'nuff said.

i like the bright colors - although yellow might be a bit much for me. however, the use of wall space as storage (& as a desk) was pretty cool, especially since the room for our office is small.

this one is probably my favorite. i like the little splashes of color, plus the extremely organized wall space. makes me want to go out and buy a ton of office stuff.

bff & i will have to consider a few things - will we use this room as an office for both of us? and how will we make that functional? will we keep the giant (and extremely heavy, cumbersome) desk that his old roommate left behind? or start fresh? do we paint the walls? (i vote yes)

perhaps this will be my project after the shows are over. or maybe i will just catch up on tv & knitting. eh.

dreamweaver is not my friend

why does dreamweaver hate me? what did i do to this program to make it so uncooperative? i've tried to nourish it with fun pictures & bright colors in the midst of the upcoming gray winter ahead. woe is me!

ok enough of that. made a few attempts to add the new logo but am having a few set backs due to widths of my tables constantly changing. and when i go to make widths consistent, the width numbers change, but there are still 2 numbers, instead of turning into 1 number like it's supposed to. so i'll try, try again. i have so much respect for web & graphic designers and the work they do.

logo

since i've started learning how build my website, i've thought "gee i need a logo." well, now that i'm learning to use this online program harvest (for time keeping & invoicing - i'm really happy with it so far), the logo issue has popped up again.

after a few tries, i made something simple, but i like it. and since i don't have much experience doing anything besides cropping & slightly adjusting photos in photoshop, i figured it would be good to stick to something simple. so here it is:
the symbols in the box are japanese hiragana - meaning "tama". tama was my great-grandma's name. i'm working on putting it on my website and will get everything uploaded with the new logo soon.

and i'm hoping after the shows in november, i'll be able to buy the boxcar press base and try out ordering my new logo as a letterpress plate. and then i will proceed to print it on everything.

custom gift box & album

i just finished up a custom photo album & matching monogrammed box and it turned out great! it is a 30 page photo album (landscape orientation) that will be given as a baby gift. the majority of the paper and book cloth had one of my favorite shades of blue. here are the results:

box cover with hand carved linoleum block printed "C"

photo album (pool bookcloth & plum blossom chiyogami)

inside of photo album - glassine cover pages so photos don't stick

box & album together

photo album & inside of box

time is really flying by and i've been busy working away on the inventory for the upcoming bad girls of the north show, november 6 & 7. 18 days left and 45 books to go, along with about 300 cards to print. whew.

here's the puppy, talking back as usual :) i didn't teach him that.

new program

thanks to the biz ladies articles on design sponge, i was introduced to an awesome new online program called harvest. it's used for tracking time, projects & invoicing.

i'm trying it out for 30 days to see if i like it and if it's something i would like to continue with down the road. and so far, it's fantastic for my purposes, especially for custom order projects.

i love that it creates & tracks invoices & payments...things that are doable in excel, but a giant pain in the butt. plus, the time tracking will be very helpful. i always feel like i'm not getting enough done and it'll ease my mind to see where my time is going. we'll see how it goes...

website update

yay the website is updated! so here's a quick run down of the new stuff:

- josephine's website is now listed on the contact page.
- the book pages has lots of new pictures!
- check out the new blanket stitch books
- small, medium & large japanese stab binding books
- post bound photo album pics are finally up!

medium japanese stab binding books!

large japanese stab binding books!

enjoy the updated website!

busy-ness

it is SO foggy today - kind of eery, like mother nature is gearing up for halloween. the fog also reminds me of college. walla walla would get this intense, thick fog. the airport would cancel flights and i remember barely being able to see out my window. it was pretty cool.

i'm chipping away at my inventory numbers - i have 55 books left to make for the bad girls of the north show. i'll also be receiving some more note cards tomorrow (new ones from paper source! i hope they are as good as i imagine!) and will be prepping some linoleum blocks tonight for the new card sets.

in the meantime, i also have a couple of custom orders...some address books, thanks to the first friday show :) and a photo album & box!

seriously, i need to just stop sleeping so i can get stuff done. i really will try to get a couple things up on etsy and will also put more book pictures on the website soon too.

a day in vito's life

so yesterday vito and i hung out. he gets to hang with bff all morning and is usually nice & calm. i think he saves up all of his crazy puppy energy for me. i get home and i hear the "thump thump thump" of his tail, like he's winding up....then he comes racing out of the kennel like a rocket ship blasting off! i get my usual shower of kisses & puppy wiggles then he's off to do his rounds...

he checks out the neighborhood...

then it's time to go get some exercise. we go to his favorite park and burn off some extra energy with lots of sprinting. then it's time to work...we practice commands "sit stay come" and he does GREAT! the best i've seen in quite some time. we've really been working on "come" so he can be off leash. the cheddar dog cookies probably didn't hurt either. then..

we try things off leash in the field...and he was wonderful!

we go visit his bffs bear & gauge for a bit. he got to hang out with them for a few days while we watched the boys and did stuff like this:

even as a tiny puppy, he loved jumping into the tub to investigate

then it was time to go home and work in the studio. he was a little tired.

"i'm tired & pathetic" puppy eyes

then off to bed!


the end.

new book pictures!

i'm about halfway through editing book photos for the website. whew. here's a few collages of the new books:

small books 3.5" x 5" - perfect size for a purse!

blanket stitch books 5.5" x 8.5" - open flat for writing & drawing

and last but not least: post bound photo albums!

i'm SO happy with how this last batch of albums turned out. i'm using new book cloth and i love it! it's easy to work with and comes in tons of bright, cheerful colors.

back to work!

first friday show wrap up

sorry i didn't post over the weekend. i was up to my eyeballs in books! the puppy was being VERY good - i didn't even have to bribe him to behave.


the first friday show at bella was good! quite a few people came by to show their support and i sold a variety of books too. the display looked great (thanks annie!) i already have ideas for the upcoming shows in november. here are a couple of pictures (thanks to mandy for remembering her camera!)

the main display table

me & the goods

i will work on getting more pictures from my dad. i had the camera sitting on my pile of stuff and moved it for two seconds...and then left the house without it. oops.

overall, the show was a good experience and i'm so thankful to have had the opportunity. thanks BELLA!

felt & wire online shop

thanks to the pie bird press blog, i was introduced to an amazing new webshop call felt & wire. WOW. it is a curated collection of paper products ranging from prints & cards to wrapping paper & letterpress printed books. go here for a list of pie bird press products on felt & wire.

maybe i'll apply for this shop someday.

first friday is here!

october 2nd is finally here!!! first friday show here i come!

i dropped off the stock for the show yesterday. bella looks awesome - lots of new stuff in. after delivering the goods, i took a look around and found some new stuff for myself :) necklace & earrings (made by one of bella's owners - annie) and a kickass bracelet that actually fits my tiny wrist. i will model my new jewelry tonight and post some pictures of the show over the weekend.

here's the show details: 6 - 9 pm at bella boutique, 2601 spenard road!

hope to see you tonight!