my birthday

my birthday was a few days ago and usually i'm pretty excited about it - as in, i do a countdown and "remind" close friends and family on a somewhat annoying basis. but this year was a little different. being so far away from home made a big difference. plus, i turned the big 3-0.

i don't even feel grown up enough to be 30. but i suppose i'm doing all of the things grown ups do. refinancing a house, moving halfway around the world, eating real meals instead of mac & cheese every day... and i'm fortunate. lucky even. and i certainly appreciate and am extremely thankful for my life, my hubby, and my family.

this birthday was special for a number of reasons, but a huge one was due to my hubby. he's awesome. he worked all night, came home, decorated the house AND a homemade confetti cake. YUM! he also got a ton of family & friends on skype at the same time & surprised me with my loved ones wishing me happy birthday!

he also bought me a great present - a kindle! i'm looking forward to getting back into reading on a regular basis...and i have to say, buying books on the kindle provides instant gratification (since i bought 5 in the last hour - thank goodness for gift certificates). i tried to pick a few books that would give me some options depending on my mood. here's what i have so far:

- the girl with the dragon tattoo by stieg larsson

- the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by mark haddon

- a million miles in a thousand years by donald miller

- MWF seeking BFF: my yearlong search for a new best friend by rachel bertsche

- an object of beauty: a novel by steve martin

overall, my birthday was wonderful - i had a relaxing day with my pups & hubby. time to get reading!

wedding set

this wonderful couple contacted a few months ago for their wedding guest book...and then ended up ordering a ton of other things too! i just finished up the whole set over the weekend. here's the final pieces:

the guest book is about 12"x9.5" inches - probably the biggest one i've made! they chose a sturdy belgian binding, giving their guests plenty of room to doodle.

they also purchased a cake cutting utensil set from a local artist in town that does amazing work with polymer clay - and they wanted a box to display the utensils at the wedding.

here's the outside:

and the inside:

they asked me to print recipe cards, which they mailed with their invitations and asked their guests to bring them to the wedding filled out with their favorite recipes. so, i made a box to house their recipe cards and a matching box for their wedding photos:

here's the whole set:

i love how everything turned out! it was such a pleasure to work with them :)

guest book

i just finished a custom guest book for a lovely bride getting married in july. she chose hiking as their wedding theme and wanted a guest book to reflect her & her fiance's love of the alaskan outdoors.

i chose an olive green japanese bookcloth for the spine & bound the book with chocolate waxed linen thread. the birch trees were drawn then emphasized with sewing - this cover certainly took some time! i'm so happy with how the finished book looks. happy wedding to jen & her fiance!

guest book cover

i'm currently working on a guest book for a client. her wedding has a hiking theme and her colors are brown & a light olive green. last night, i focused on the cover. it's a sketch i did of some trees on cream paper. i'm in the process of hand stitching a couple of the trees so that they pop out a bit more:

i've really missed sewing on paper.

reading...

i've been doing quite a bit of reading lately, in between schoolwork and lots of other more pressing things.

i finally finished the twilight series...full of teenage angst? yes. overly dramatic? yes. call it a guilty pleasure read. lots of people were all for team jacob....but i have a thing for vampires :) go team edward! besides, my father-in-law's name is edward, so i'm biased.

i also received a book for my birthday called "the art of racing in the rain" by garth stein. i sped through (haha) this in just under a week. it's written from the perspective of a dog named enzo as he tells the story of his life and his family. i really enjoyed it, although i did cry a few times. made me think of my own pups...

pic from amazon

anyhow, if you're looking for a new book to read, you might want to try it. if you're a dog person, you'll get a kick out of enzo...and will probably start talking to your dog a lot more.

books

hubby and i switched offices a couple of weeks ago so he could get some peace & quiet downstairs and since i've been working upstairs anyway. he bought me a bookshelf (and put it together) and i moved a bunch of books up into it. as i went through the books, i realized there were quite a few that i haven't read in years; some from college, from high school and even elementary school. i'm now trying to decide if i should keep them or sell/donate them. i've had the itch to clean house lately...

some questions popping up in my head: will i ever read them again? are they good reference material? i already have them, so why get rid of them?

i LIKE my books, even though they haven't had much face time lately. some remind me of the time i spent on guam, others of the friends that gave them to me. kind of the same way a song plays on the radio and you're taken back to some event, big or small, that's stuck with you for years.

so, you bookworms out there, do you keep all of your books? or pass them on? how do you decide what to keep?

weekend & boots!

hello! hope everyone had a nice weekend...i was a busy bee...worked out, went to a meeting, worked at my friend's shop for a few hours, had dinner with friends & met their super cute puppy.

on friday afternoon, i received a phone call from a older gentleman who heard through the grapevine that i rebind books. i met with him later that evening to inspect the book and see if it was something i could fix. the book is an old Bible given to him by a friend that he's used for decades & the covers had fallen off. i took the job :) it was a pleasant surprise to hear that my book binding skills are making it out into the world by word of mouth.

on saturday, while waiting for our table to open up for dinner, hubby & i browsed in a few stores. and i found these:

source

i've been on the search for new dressy boots, since my old ones finally died. i had found some gift money that i had stored away a long time ago (when i was switching my stuff to a new wallet) and decided i had better get the boots! they're comfortable and make me about 3 inches taller which is awesome.

sunday was great - hubby & i relaxed all day together. even though we had a ton of stuff to do, we've been so busy lately that we needed to spend some time together. i wonder sometimes how we are able to add more activities to our already crazy schedules. how was your weekend?

shakespeare book rebinding

finally! i finished the enormous project of restoring & rebinding the shakespeare book. here's the story: my neighbor's family friend purchased "the complete works of shakespeare" many years ago at a garage sale. the 900+ page book was printed in 1890 and was a bit of a wreck. he wanted to have it rebound as a christmas gift for his niece, an english teacher. even though i had a single book rebinding under my belt, i decided to go for it - so i did my research and did the best i could to get this ancient book back into a readable state. below is the process from being to end:

as you can see, the covers were literally falling off. when i first examined the book, i was horrified at the fact that the binding consisted of rusty staples & cracked old glue. i thought it would have at least been sewn together.

i started deconstructing the book, carefully scraping off old chunks of glue and taking out staples. i made sure to keep each signature (section of pages) in order. as i made my way through the book, i found this weird flattened thing:

i used a special thin, but strong, japanese paper to repair the fold of the signatures & other sections & tears throughout the book. i hand cut the pieces into 3/4 inch wide pieces...

applied wheat paste to the japanese paper & then placed it on the fold of the broken signatures. i put the repaired sections under weight to dry and trimmed the edges once they were dry.

from there i made a guide for the sewing holes & used an awl to punch the holes through each signature. and WOW there were a lot of signatures!! i also made some end sheet sections, since the original piece didn't have them.

i rigged a makeshift sewing frame from cardboard boxes, packing tape, & a wooden loom piece (my nickname is macgyver) and started sewing the sections together.

more sewing....and the final height of the spine was 4 1/2 inches! i put a thin layer of glue on the spine and let that dry overnight.

after the book was dry, i measured (& double & triple checked the measurements) and proceeded to cut the board & bookcloth for the covers. glued everything down...put on headbands, strengthened the binding a bit more, made a hollow tube for the spine, then cased in the book - the hardest & most nerve wracking part. i glue the end pages into the covers & hope (pray) i don't get glue somewhere it shouldn't be, or place the pages crooked/backwards/upside down and hope that i measured everything correctly so the book will close how it's supposed to. and it did :)

the final piece - i put a little title plate on the front & used some sweet marbled paper that complimented the japanese bookcloth.

as with all new projects, i learned a TON of new stuff and am inspired to try making a few books this way. i also decided i need this sewing frame and book press for future books. hope you enjoyed the post :)

museum show 2010

wow i didn't realize this until just now, but yesterday's post was number 300! and i bet about half of the posts have to do with my pups :)

here's some pics from the museum show over thanksgiving weekend. every year i've been chosen to participate in this show, my space & products line has increased. (and every year i also freak out and worry like crazy that i didn't make enough stuff - ask hubby, he will confirm it.)

this year, i was lucky enough to have a 6' table & 8' table to display my work:

i had books on the left....

and cards & boxes on the right.

i made a couple of photo album box sets....i really love how this one came out.

the black & red piece is a box set as well...on the bottom left are post photo albums, bottom right are secret belgian binding books.

i also introduced new letterpress note cards & recipe cards, as well as some hand built jewelry boxes & recipe card boxes.

like every past year (this is my 4th year!), this show was a pleasure and honor to participate in.

now i just need to get my etsy store up and running....

so much to do...

last weekend before the museum show and have a ton to do!

i printed the first round of recipe cards & will print the backs of the cards tomorrow (since they have to dry in between runs) - they look SO great!

also made a couple of photo album box sets that turned out quite beautifully!

i have many more boxes & books to make before the big show next weekend...wish me luck!

Bad Girls of the North show!

what a crazy busy weekend! the bad girls of the north show was a major success :) it was a lot of fun. i had the chance to see many familiar faces, artists & customers. friday night was packed - it looked like everyone really enjoyed themselves. one of the coolest things about this particular show is that on friday night, drinks & appetizers are offered to customers.

and here's what you've been waiting for - pics of the show!

my table

linoleum block printed cards

new pamphlet books - featuring vito :)

letterpress printed kitchen cards

letterpress kitchen & snowman cards

address books & japanese stab binding books

i always learn so much from every show and this one was no exception. i have a lot of new ideas for projects in addition to some things i'm planning to debut at the museum show in a few weeks. i took sunday off to relax and catch up on some much needed sleep, but i'll be hitting the ground running to have everything ready for the next show.

weekend

got a lot done this weekend - glued lots of book covers and finished cutting all the book board & paper for the rest of the books. also cut down & packaged christine's notecards and mailed her package off this morning! i have 66 books made, 26 books in progress, and another 48 to glue. and one more weekend before the show. eek! i'll get everything done....just gotta keep my nose to the grindstone.

hubby & i also did a bit of decorating for halloween! this is the first year we will be giving out candy. i love that he is so excited about decorating for holidays & starting up festive traditions :) we put up a little trick or treat banner in one window & some lights in another:


you like the sweet ripped up blinds? that was a gift from vito a while back...but it actually makes the halloween stuff look better, don't you think? haha

still haven't decided on costumes yet. we don't want to be those people that dress up their dogs...yet we almost bought a hot dog costume for mia. it was actually pretty funny...but would also last for maybe .2 seconds.

i'm on day 6 of my experiment....and so far so good! starting my day off a bit earlier is having positive results. i'm more relaxed and my attitude seems more optimistic. when i got up this morning, the pups didn't even want to get up...they actually stayed on the bed and snoozed! hopefully i can continue this momentum...

new book paper

i've been busy preparing book materials and wanted to show you some of the new papers i got in. forgive the flash...but it's late, and fall in alaska, which means NO natural light :(

book board cut for about fifty books

japanese paper!

my favorite is the one on the left. reminds me of hello kitty.

have a wonderful weekend!

new book

yesterday afternoon, i had an idea for a small, simple book...so as soon as i got home, i made one.

cover

binding

spine

i was thinking of introducing this as a new product at the upcoming art show - sold as singles or in packs of three. they would all be different and bright :) what do you think?

business reading

the last week or so, i've been doing a surprising amount of reading (partially because anything else makes me cough a lot).

i just tackled the work chapter in gretchen rubin's the happiness project (here's an earlier post on this book) which went right along with this book:

the anti 9 to 5 guide: practical career advice for women who think outside the cube

and this one:

craft inc business planner

while i have a long (LONG) time until i can run Tama Press full time, i've been inspired lately to get off my butt and start making plans. business plans. projections. marketing ideas. line sheets. you get the picture...even though i can't jump head first into my art and throw caution to the wind, i CAN start preparing and taking baby steps for the future.

and here's one more book i would like to start (it's gotten rave reviews):

creative, inc

what am i really enjoying about these guides is that they are not overwhelming, have helpful advice, and break things down step by step...so when i grow up, i CAN be an artist (not the starving kind) :)

the happiness project

attempted to pursue one of my goals for the year, i'm reading more - and am happy to see a tall stack of books (threatening to teeter over) on my nightstand. on a recommendation from brandi of not your average ordinary, i've started reading "the happiness project" by gretchen rubin. i just finished the first chapter last night and am a bit relieved - gretchen touches on a lot of the same things i worry about, feel guilty about, etc. not necessarily big things either - some are so tiny and mundane, most people wouldn't bother acknowledging them. but i'm a worrier...

credit

and since i've been on this kick to get things cleaned up around the house, her first chapter gave me some good, manageable tips & tricks for getting things done. i'm really looking forward to the rest of the book!

sketchbook project!

look what i got in the mail!!!!!!! my sketchbook for the sketchbook project!


i'm so excited :) i can't wait to get started on it...i have to finish it by january 15th of 2011.

type is AWESOME!

*in a feeble attempt to be more consistent with blogging, i'm trying to post whatever catches my eye or inspires me immediately...otherwise the idea will fade away...*

i'm going to nerd out for a second here so bear with me...

so, here's something super cool: a typography book called HYPERACTIVITYPOGRAPHY FROM A TO Z

there is a chapter per letter with all sorts of fun info and activities...it reminds me of a coloring/activity book for grown ups. i would LOVE a copy but sadly the first addition is sold out :( click on the picture and go to their website - you can flip through the book there!

thanks to design crush for posting about this book!

reading

i actually started reading a book for fun over the weekend. and that book was (please don't make fun of me)...twilight. yep.

amazon

i love me some vampires & some major teenage angst. when it first became popular, i thought the whole twilight thing was stupid. but i decided to see what all the fuss was about and be a bit more open minded, and i'm glad i did! i won't go into the story since you'd have to be living in a cave to not have heard about it. i just finished it last night and i realized how much i miss reading for fun. it was a good escape from the stresses of the day. and then i promptly hopped on amazon and ordered the other books. and am somewhat irritated that i didn't order them earlier since now i have to wait to see what happens next. AH! but now i have no excuse to procrastinate on art.