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!

baking recipe cards

i finished up the files for the next recipe cards! i would love to get one more thing done before i send the files off to the polymer plate makers. here's the french paper colors i ordered:

the recipe cards will come in packs of 8, with 2 cards in each color.

here's the front:

and here's the back:

and once again, the blue border is not part of the design, just to make the card stand out :) what do you think?

snowman card set

the new winter card set is finally done! these snowmen started as doodles and now they are gorgeous letterpress cards. check them out:

these 2 color cards were printed on french pop-tone paper in berrylicious.

the first color is a background of white snowflakes (hard to see in the pictures)

...and the second color is a soft blue.

they are folded 4 bar (3 1/2" x 4 7/8") notecards...

...blank inside, and come with a kraft paper envelope.

soooo who wants to buy a set? :) i hope you enjoyed them! i will be busy working on books & other goods for the shows this weekend...what will you be up to?

sneak peek

sorry for the late post! today (like everyday, it seems) has been busy...

i worked on a custom letterpress order for my friend christine - she wanted some thank you notecards printed with a blind (no ink) impression. i tested this by printing one page with no ink at all - the results weren't great. her logo & thank you were difficult to see...so i mixed up some white ink with a tiny touch of silver.

printing with this ink gave the impression more definition without looking like i used any ink. cool, huh?

the notecards are currently drying...once i get them all cut down & ready to mail, i'll show you the final results!

business cards!

the new business cards are done drying & ready to cut!

what do you think? i'm really happy with how they turned out and am glad i printed on the extra cardstock i saved from previous cards. sooooo anyone out there want to order some custom letterpress cards from me? :)

i was busy printing the new holiday cards over the weekend and am SO happy with the results! once they are dry, i'll take some pictures to show you all.

i've also been working on making books and thought i had about 60 left to make...but i was wrong. it's more like 90. plus jewelry boxes & a couple of photo album box sets. i'm hoping to get all of the book covers glued this week so i can focus on printing and binding for the next two weeks...but that's a stretch. especially since i still have to go to my day job. but on the bright side, i get to drink more coffee!!

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!

'puter & stuff

my big evil plan this week was to post a bunch of wedding pictures (we just got them in the mail!!) today...but i also thought my new mac would be here too. unfortunately, it is supposed to be delivered on monday and since the wedding photos are huge files, opening them basically stops my current laptop in its tracks. literally. so i will wait until my mac gets here, since i know it can handle crazy big files.

the paper & plates for the new notecards are on their way, so should have them by next week. i've also been making lots of books and will show you some new paper i just got in!

i haven't decided on what color to print the kitchen cards on...i was thinking of doing one color per design. i also wanted to have a colored background since the designs are simple. here's the color choices i was thinking of using:

left to right: orange fizz, lemon drop, gumdrop green, blu raspberry, grape jelly
(go here to see all of french paper's pop-tone colors)

thoughts? comments?

more cards...

uploaded all of the files for the next couple of sets of letterpress cards! my plates should be here next week. for the snowman cards, i'm going to try out a new paper, pop-tone by french paper in berrylicious:


and i ordered some of their speckletone envelopes in kraft for the set:


check out the other papers on french paper - it's a fun site to browse!

if i like the results of printing on this french paper, then i'll order more for this kitchen set. here's a sneak peek:

so much to do, so little time...i'm thinking i should stop sleeping and drink more coffee to get everything done in time.

weekend stuff

hello! how was everyone's weekend? i was incredibly busy and productive!! friday evening was spent working at the gun shop and then visiting with friends.

on saturday, i finally got to use a spa gift certificate from bfff (valentine's day gift) for a vichy massage and OMG it was incredible. if you don't know what a vichy massage is (i didn't), it was a full body massage then after that, the therapist uses water (like a portable jacuzzi jet) to massage too. it was SO relaxing. i am considering treating myself to something like that at least a couple times a year. i was in a totally different state of mind after the treatment.

the huge news...when i arrived home, the lady from the post office showed up with a package that needed a signature...and it turned out to be my WEDDING DRESS!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! so i ran inside, tore open the packaging, and tried it on immediately. and let me tell you, it is EXQUISITE! chrissy wai-ching made the dress and captured exactly what i wanted. i am so thrilled with the results! oh, and i don't need to get it altered either. if you ever have the need for a custom made gown, i highly recommend chrissy. go here and browse her catalogue. seriously.

sunday, i cleaned the house like crazy and did a million (slightly over exaggerated) loads of laundry. and made a ton of books for the upcoming art show. the puppies were little angels. vito even woke me up early...although unintentionally, since i awoke to that infamous dog getting ready to barf sound.

i also started on another project - a book that i'm making as a thank you for chrissy (hopefully she doesn't read my blog). here's some pics of the project so far:

i cut a bunch of circles from scrap chiyogami

gathered colorful thread

and sewed together the circles in a crazy pattern - i know it's hard to see the stitching but it's in there

i'm going to make another one of these circle sheets and then use them to make covers for the book. i'll post more pics as this project progresses :)

custom orders

finished my second round of custom orders yesterday! two small address books & one large address book, plus a photo album with a box, which is still in process. the box set is my last custom order of the year and it's turning out quite nice so far. i'm using a japanese paper with hues of green & gold, for the covers of the box and the album:

thanks to papermojo for the pic

then the inside will have two different neutral colors of mulberry paper with a tissue lace layer flecked with silver & gold over that. it'll be gorgeous!

i'm looking forward to get this last order done so i can do some serious cleaning. my studio looks like a bomb of paper exploded inside of it. and the mess has flooded into my office (aka storage room of random boxes). one of my goals is to have the studio & office organized and in working order by the new year. which includes moving the art stuff that has also invaded the living room. and kitchen table.

wish me luck! i'm going to need it.

paper!

just ordered more paper for the next show (crafts weekend at the museum - thanksgiving weekend) and am really excited about it! here's a sneak peek of what is coming:

images courtesy of paper source

i'm seeing a teeny tiny light at the end of the tunnel for the shows...it's about this big -> .

i'm down to 7 sets of book covers left to glue...then some binding, which shouldn't be too bad. overall, i'm in pretty good shape for this weekend's show. although, i'll probably be up in the wee hours of thursday night. i think, no matter how prepared i am for these shows, i'll always be up all night doing last minute stuff.

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.

thesis pictures

i ran across some old pictures from my senior thesis exhibition back in 2004 and thought i would share. the pictures were taken by my professor mat kelly.

here is the view from entering the gallery. i had such a good spot!

here's a better picture of my entire space. i handmade everything except for the mirrors. the rugs were woven (weaving is SO cool), the boxes were handmade, and there were lots of items in them representing the balance between my Japanese & American backgrounds. the hanging clothing was made from paper prints that i hand stitched together. the prints were created with a number of different types of printing including monotype & japanese woodblock (ukiyo-e).

here is a detail of the kimono - in my opinion, the prize piece of my exhibit. i incorporated my prints & origami paper and hand sewed traditional quilt squares. there is a front and back - and i designed the size based on my yukata (a casual summer kimono). i sewed for an uncountable number of hours and remember taking these little blocks everywhere i went.

hope you enjoyed the little journey into the past!

fall

this morning my car showed me that it was 49 degrees. ugh. a week ago, i was in 90+ degree weather. so as august slowly comes to a close, the outdoors is transitioning into the season of fall. which means, dreary, drizzly, rainy, cool & crisp weather. since i try to be optimistic, it also means warm sweaters, lots of hot lattes, and craft show season!

i worked on the secret belgian binding over the weekend and am pleased with how the books turned out. the books are 5.75" square - a good size for a bag, not too big for a purse. i'll get a few pictures up soon. i'm also going to work on another smaller size for this binding, partially because i would like the variation and partially due to the fact that i have a ton of paper left over from cutting down the book block that i can't use for my other books. and i hate wasting paper. i'm a paper pack rat. i save so many scraps, its getting a little ridiculous. but i always think "oh i can make something out of this!" and some pretty cool creations have come from it.

i'm also getting some books together for a new store that wants to sell my products! i got back in touch with my 4th grade teacher and learned that she now runs a store in her hometown. she really liked my work and wants to carry some of it in her shop. i'm SO thrilled! plus, it's wonderful to have reconnected with someone who had such a positive influence on me.

more soon :)