studio toys

i decided it was finally time to order a couple of things for tama press....

pic from hollanders

sewing frame: i did a restoration of a giant book a few months back and didn't have a sewing frame. so i constructed one out of cardboard boxes and other stuff i had laying around. no good. so i decided it was time to get a real frame. plus, i've been itching to try some new bindings.

pic from talas

awl guide: i punch a lot of holes in paper by hand. and sometimes, they aren't straight. and boy, does that irritate me. this awl guide takes care of that frustration. plus, it'll beat using an old phone book as my guide.

pic from talas

book press: i've been making books for a few years now, and haven't had the luxury of a book press. instead, i've been using old yearbooks as my weights (at least i'm using them for something). this press is pretty multi-functional and only weights 10 pounds. i'm pretty excited about using it.

pic from talas

corner rounder: i'm going to round the corners of every piece of paper i come into contact with. seriously. paper corners too pointy for you? i'll round them. i have wanted one of these little guys for YEARS. i got the lightweight model, since i think it'll cover my current needs.

hopefully i'll receive everything next week. then i will play with my new toys and definitely not get any homework done.

studio reorganization

i hope everyone's holiday weekend was fantastic! the long weekend flew by for us. we went on a long (16 mile) hike for a couple of days...but that'll be in tomorrow's post.

after weeks of procrastination, i finally got started on my studio reorganization! my wonderful hubby helped move all of the furniture in my studio and set up the awesome flat file he built for me! it isn't quite finished yet (we didn't paint it) but i was impatient and wanted to start using it.

i've started putting things in their new homes, and cleaning stuff out. we just received our recycling bin, so i'm separating the recyclables as i go...and wow there is a lot of stuff that can be recycled! makes me feel a lot better about getting rid of those tiny scraps of paper, knowing that they will be put to use.

i would show you a before pic of the studio, but quite frankly it was such a disaster, it's embarrassing. so i'll hold off until the renovations are complete :)

weekend!

how was your weekend? i was pretty darn productive!

the office: i cleaned out the office (i.e. put everything in the hallway) and moved the monstrous desk into the garage with the much needed help of bfff & my friend. my friend & i also searched for a new desk for the room - something small but functional. we went to some thrift stores with no luck :( so we traveled to our local tar-jay and found a decently priced desk. we started to put it together...then took a dinner break, and afterward, bfff and i finished up the job. actually, it was more like bfff would put a part on and i'd say "are you sure that's the right part?" or "are you sure that's the right direction?" haha. here's the finished product:

it's the monstrosity's mini me

now it's just a matter of cleaning up the hallway of stuff, getting some pictures on the walls (since bfff put the kibosh on painting one of the walls blue), and getting it into working order. it's amazing how much bigger the room feels with that monstrosity gone.

i also worked away in my studio. got a ton of work done on 2 shop orders plus i finally took some pictures of a couple finished custom pieces:

large address book & small address book

photo album & box set covers

box set inside

inside of box

i was really happy with how all of the custom pieces came out. the box set was more challenging this time - i had to be a bit more creative with the paper, as i didn't have a lot of one particular kind. instead of covering the inside boxes with the parasol paper, i tried 2 different green hued mulberry paper & layered lace with gold & silver flecks over it. the result was SO nice. the colors on all the different parts of the project really came together to compliment each other. (the parasol paper has been so popular with custom orders too!)

i've also been shopping for a gift for valentine's day for bfff. it'll be the first one we've spent together in the same state - last year, he had to leave due to mt. redoubt's hissy fit. i have a couple of ideas, but since i know he reads my blog, i can't share them :) what is everyone doing for valentine's day? have any good gift ideas? guys are so hard to shop for!

custom orders

just the other day, i was contacted for a couple of custom orders! i'm so pleased that people are looking me up after the craft show season.

the first order will be to repair a beloved cookbook. i've never done any repairs on books before (and i told the customer this) and she sweetly told me that she knew i didn't have experience in this type of work but she has faith in my abilities after seeing my books at the shows. how awesome is that?? so i'll be picking up the book at the end of the week to take a look at it and get a handle on what exactly the project entails. maybe i'll do a before & after photo shoot for it!

the second order will be a custom made dvd holder. i've only done a similar project once for a cd holder, but this will be quite a bit more intense. i had a zillion questions for the customer and now have some more details & direction for the project. oooo i can't wait to get started on this!

this weekend i'll get to work on finishing a photo album & box set order, get my studio cleaned up, and dive into a whole new round of orders...not to mention attempt to get my etsy store up and running. wish me luck!

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.

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.

studio cleaning

so the last few days i've been cleaning up my art studio. i had my first meeting (in this studio) with a client for a custom order that i'll post some pictures of later once it's done. since i was sick & tired of rolling & unrolling paper, i hung up all of my specialty paper in the closet. curl free and easy to browse through! take a look: