baby shower

i'm going to a baby shower this weekend - the second one in the past month! and i've been working on a couple of baby blankets for my friend....who is having twins, a boy & girl! i finished the first little blanket last night and really like how it came out; i made it with the little girl in mind. the second one is still in process for the baby boy.

i'll try to post the pics of the both blankets soon.

is it just me, or is there a sudden boom of pregnant women? i know NINE people who are currently pregnant. pretty crazy.

weekend

this past weekend, we actually managed to get a few things accomplished AND be social. usually it's one or the other. we had dinner with friends and both times were able to bring our pups along - which we appreciate a ton. because even when we aren't home for a bit, we still worry about them. plus, they had a couple opportunities to get out & meet new people & pups - always a ton of fun for them.

custom order: i carved up a linoleum block, making a smaller version of one of my heart card designs, and printed it over the weekend. i did a very small run, so i hand inked everything - but it did give me an opportunity to print letterpress & a lino block at the same time, which turned out well. i'll post some pics soon.

sunday night, vito snuck into the dining room and ate a pound of raw bread dough. he's eaten a lot of things over the past two years, so i didn't think much of it. but (thankfully) hubby looked up the consequences of eating raw bread dough and two major ones kept popping up: the dough will still rise in vito's tummy, causing bad pain (or worse) & a major possibility of alcohol poisoning. OMG. so we had him at pet emergency about 15 minutes after he ate the dough and they gave him something to make him throw up all the bad stuff. poor pup was a wreck for the next couple of days - he couldn't get comfortable all night & his tummy was making some awful noises. vito is back to normal now - playful & perky! we had a couple of scary days and are glad to have our sweet mischievous puppy back in action.

masons boys

early last week, our friend's brother-in-law passed away suddenly. he was only 32. he left behind a loving wife and three little boys under the age of three.

a family friend set up a website (www.masonsboys.org) to honor mason's memory & provide a way for others to help this devastated family during a very difficult time. if you are interested in helping or just want to send some encouragement their way, please visit masonsboys.

also, if you remember from a couple weeks ago, we were pet sitting for a friend who had two dogs & a cat. the cat, nala, was sadly laid to rest due to being sick a couple days ago. RIP nala.

so much tragedy makes my heart hurt.

pets

we've been busy keeping an eye on some pets for a friend of ours - two little (hilarious) dogs named miley & mozzy and a very tolerant cat named nala. here's some pics:

miley the mom

mozzy the spunky daughter

here comes trouble :)

nala the extremely patient cat

alaskan eye candy

here's a video of miley begging while i was eating lunch. she kept talking to me so i tried to capture it on tape...she says something at the end but it might be hard to hear.

all three of these sweet pets are looking for new homes due to an unforseen tragedy that our friend is recovering from. miley & mozzy are looking to move to their new home together. the dogs are very sweet and loving, definitely enjoy attention, and are lap dogs. nala is a sweet kitty and one of the friendliest cats i've met. she likes attention too and purrs a ton. all three of them will try to sit on your lap at the same time. and the dogs will clean nala's ears like crazy. so if you live in the anchorage area and are interested, send me an email: stephanie(dot)tama(at)yahoo(dot)com.

my MOH gift

so i need to talk about my maid of honor jamie...she was AMAZING. seriously, she kept me sane and was SO organized and on top of every little detail. i have a hard time not worrying about...well, everything...so having someone i could depend on was such a relief. and she did so many things to make me feel special throughout the engagement and our wedding trip...i can't thank her enough for everything she's done.

i wanted to design something special for her...so i bounced some ideas off of her husband and decided to make her a jewelry box (for him to fill..heh heh). its the most complicated box i've made yet.

i used teal lokta paper with gold chrysanthemums to cover the box and a butter gold japanese bookcloth for the box hinge as well as lining the lid sides & the monogrammed "J".

the lid opens to a six sectioned, removable tray lined with teal paper, for smaller items like earrings & bracelets.

with the tray removed, the base of the box has four equal sections that are also lined in teal paper. the sides of the box and the walls separating the sections are covered with the teal lokta with gold mums.

i used the butter bookcloth to hand cut a monogram for jamie...i wanted to personalize her jewelry box without overdoing it.

so what do you think? i also tried something new with the photos (the idea inspired from pobke photography). have a wonderful weekend!

gift from my penpal!

my dear friend brandi (of not your average ordinary) sent me the coolest gift ever - and it was such a surprise! check out the packaging (YAY japanese masking tape):


this perfectly described my life in the last couple of years...i'm happier than i've ever been in my life. i have a wonderful life filled with lots of joy and love, from my bfff, my puppies, family & friends.

i'm in love with my best friend...and we are getting married in the near future, starting our happily ever after :)

and i'm home - since i left my parents home for college, i never really had that settled feeling of being home...until i moved in with bfff.

thank you brandi for such a sweet thoughtful gift. i can't wait to put it up in my studio :)

wedding planning

big, huge strides in the world of wedding planning have been made in the last few days! in addition to nailing down a date, bfff and i have our location for the big day just about figured out (a couple of small things to check on before the final final decision). the invitations are in process...i'm almost ready to send off the files for the first batch of letterpress plates. catering proposal is being figured out...

and the big GIANT news: WE HAVE A PHOTOGRAPHER!!!! it's official! she booked her flights :)

her name is christine pobke and she's an old friend of mine from college. and she does some seriously killer work. it's absolutely gorgeous. check out her website: pobke photography and be sure to visit her blog - there are a ton of pictures on it. i'm ecstatic to be seeing my dear friend in the near future. she's going to do a fabulous job!!

ski weekend

this past weekend, our friends rented a little cabin about an hour outside of our town. we met them out there for a little mini get-together and it was a blast!! bfff & i decided to attempt skijoring with the puppy, since all he ever wants to do is pull anyway. for those who aren't familiar with skijoring, i'll explain: vito has a harness that connects to us with a lead. we hook that into a harness we are wearing. and then he pulls us while we ski behind him. in order to get him used to the harness, we've been taking him sledding and having him pull up the sleds when we get to the bottom of the hill (partially training, partially because we are lazy).

our friends cross-country ski. bfff had never tried that type of skiing. and i hadn't done it in over 10 years. and quite frankly, i really didn't like it when i did ski 10 years ago. i learned how to cross-country ski in high school and HATED it. loved the people i skied with though, they were great. but the actual skiing part sucked. i wasn't good at it, the head coach of the team didn't give a rat's ass about you unless you were good, and the competition side of it wasn't fun at all. however, this weekend completely turned around my outlook - i had a blast! first, i actually remembered how to ski, which was a surprise. second, this was something we could do together as a family (me, bfff & vito) and with our friends. there wasn't the stress of racing and it was fun to see vito in his element. bfff picked it up SO quickly - he did so much better than me on my first couple of days on skis. he seriously impressed me. and was brave enough to have vito pull him around too.

i eventually had him pull me and that puppy hauls ass! he was SO receptive to my direction and if i fell, he'd stop and check on me. instead of dragging me through the snow on my face. so, overall, it was a pleasant experience.

poor pup is tuckered out. our friend got some video of us skiing a bit but i don't have a copy of it yet. so here's a pic of vito on our way back from our trip:

we usually can't even get him to sit down for more than 0.3 seconds when he's in the car.

college memories part 2

i'm been spending quite a bit of time in my studio lately and it's interesting how it reflects so much of my college experience. i have a ton of photos, show announcements, magazine cut-outs, ticket stubs, and other random bits & pieces that i've kept over the years.

one piece in particular came to mind the other day. it's a written piece by a friend of mine that just recently started blogging. he's a phenomenal writer and you can read his blog here. my junior year of college, he lived across the street from me and we became close friends over that year. he wrote a piece on being a barista and it literally made me laugh out loud. still does to this day. we managed to keep in touch until about two & a half years ago...i was married at the time and i distinctly remember it was right before the shit hit the fan and the rapid descent into darkness started. i flew down to seattle with my mom for a little birthday vacation. it was such a fun trip! he and i met up and spent the day together, catching up and generally just enjoying each other's company as good friends do.

i lost track of him soon after that. fast forward to today....i've gradually fallen out of touch with a number of friends from college (and high school for that matter) and i miss them. these people were my support structure with whom i spent countless hours with laughing, crying, bitching, talking, and drinking colossal amounts of coffee. i suppose we all grow apart and move on at some point.

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 :)