still working on the binding. not quite sure what i’m doing, but i think i’m getting there…

i’ve had the rainbow paper for over a year now, and while the original idea for it didn’t turn out, i’ve come up with another idea… more to come soon!

happy weekend!

i started making these little paste paper mini journals in january. i was going to make a big batch, but then i ran out of glue, and still haven’t gotten back to them. and now that i’m taking another look, i think they’ll make better gifts than items for my etsy shop…

i’ve finally made the little books from the little collages i made with the east side girls in february. i color copied the original, then cut, fold, cut. final size is about 2 x 2.5 inches.

i’m in the process of destashing/purging, and i recently came across the sheets of paste paper that i made in march 2011. the sheets are perfect for book covers! first up: 3 coptic journals. they’re in my etsy shop.

i’ve decided that instead of coming up with new ideas and buying supplies to execute them, i need to use the materials i have at hand. and it’s been fun! the first project: garden journals!

i had green spiral binding (an impulse buy) and a big stack of 80 lb cover weight paper, cut down to 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches. from there i designed & created the punch template for the front cover, and i did cheat a tiny bit by buying a big sheet of kraft board to make the covers.

yeah, the temps here are in the single digits, and it seems to be dark or grey all the time, but thinking about gardens and bare feet in the grass keep me going.

the garden journals are in my etsy shop!

both of my polaroid photgraphy books, cheap! alone they are $19.95 each but together they are $29.95, saving you $9.95! available in my etsy shop (santa sez you should buy a combo or two!).

my new book chairs : a polaroid collection arrived last friday! the size is same as my first polaroid book with jen victoor (W O R D), and it feels so good in my hands!

within are 30+ chair photos, all taken with the last production batch of polaroid film. i’m so sad that my film stash is very, very low, but i am so glad i put this book together so i can share my favorites!

chairs : a polaroid collection is available in my etsy shop! and to celebrate, i’ve dropped the price from $19.95 to $14.95 until friday the 16th. treat yourself! buy 2, buy 3!

if you follow me on twitter or facebook, you probably know that i’ve been working on my second polaroid book, and now i’m ready to announce it officially!

i’ve been taking polaroid photos of random chairs since 2009 (it started with this one) and it’s now an obsession. i want to take an instant photo of a chair in every city i visit. and i still visit the source of the first photo in saint paul on lazy sunday afternoons, looking to see what new chairs might be on the sidewalk.

i kept thinking i’ll do a book when i’m done taking photos of chairs but then i realized i’ll probably never be done taking photos of chairs, so let’s do a book now! life is short!

the book is called chairs : a polaroid collection, and features 35 of my favorite chair polaroids. more than half of the photos haven’t been shared with anyone, so there’s lots of new chair goodness! the book is currently in production, and i’ll share more photos once i have have the book in hand. if you’re interested in pre-ordering a copy, you can purchase via etsy or by clicking the “buy now” button in the sidebar to the right. the book will ship november 19.

eeeee!

i’ve got a little collection of fabric. and i’ve got a bunch of journal text blocks. gonna make some books. soon.

i started these books in the friday gathering i had with the east side girls at the end of june. i’d get a book started so i could demonstrate the sewing, then i’d set it down to help others or to get ahead on cutting covers. i set them aside that night, ran off to missouri, and i finally finished them this week. they’re so fun to sew!

happy weekend!

the east side girls came over on friday night for some bookmaking. i wanted to find a technique that i was pretty sure no one had done before, so i went to kevin smith’s non-adhesive binding, vol. 2: 1- 2- & 3-section sewings, and decided to start simple with a 1 section (8 sheets folded in half) binding, then try a 2 section (2 sets of 8 sheets folded in half) binding. and at the end of the night, we tackled a tricky 3 section binding.

so, while i haven’t felt very creative lately, i’ve been doing my best to facilitate creativity for others.

happy july!

i made a big book for sonya‘s 100 acts of sewing project.

sonya picked out the book cloth from my sample book when i was in san francisco last february. she requested the book lie flat, and at its size, (11 inches by 17 inches) spiral binding was the best option. i had hoped to use a card stock/cover weight paper inside, but at 100 pages, it got too thick for my little binding machine (and i just could not turn it over to a stranger at a copy shop). so instead, i used the heaviest text weight paper i could find, which is a good thickness at 80 lb, and bound it myself. my binding machine never closes the coils in a perfect circle, and i went through a couple of coils before i gave up and accepted the wonky spots.

i punched “100″ into the cover, all the way through, including the inside end paper (which i usually don’t do), and i love that when the book is closed it’s not easy to see the “100″ but when you begin to open it, the design becomes apparent as light comes through the holes.

hello, hello! welcome to monday. over the weekend i finally finished the custom order above. i have been saying no to custom orders that come my way, but i just can’t say no when i’m asked to make a book for someone’s wedding. i guess there’s a little romantic in me yet!

while i loved designing the guest book/album with the bride-to-be, i did drag my feet a little on the production. i definitely prefer my creative time be on my terms. but now that it’s finished, it’s fun knowing my work will be a part of a big day!

a few months ago i was in an art supply store and i walked by some gold block printing ink. i kept walking, then stopped and back tracked, and added gold ink to my purchases. i had no project in mind, but walk away from gold block printing ink?! no!

i ended up using it on chipboard, along with white, cyan, and magenta inks and my triangle block. (for some reason i think “harlequin” when i see the result. is it the color? the diamond pattern that the charactors wore? they were a favorite of picasso.) last weekend i made some small wire bound notebooks, and a couple are in my etsy shop.

i can’t help it, they’re so fun to design and make! they’re in my etsy shop.

i think the end is near for my punched coptic-bound journals.

right after the holidays, the very first shop i left my goods with asked me to come and pick up what wasn’t selling. i returned from my trip with a variety of journals, about 12 total. i was a little sad to see that so many didn’t sell, but i do know that my work isn’t an impulse buy, so i don’t take it personally. i love making them. if others love them, too, that’s so  awesome. and if they don’t? i still have my day job.

around the same time i picked up the unsold inventory, i finished a batch i had started months ago. all told, i have 38 journals in stock (most are in my esty shop), and i have enough paper to create 4 more. once those last 4 are produced, i think that’s the end. i love the designs: burst (which debuted in october 2008), bike, and hello. and i love the colors i’ve worked with. they’ve had a great run! but all good things come to an end… it’s time to make room for new goods.

on an uplifting note: yesterday i had my 500th sale in my shop! thank you so much to all of you, for your support and cheering and buying of my goods. i greatly appreciate it!

it was 1 year ago today that jen and i announced that our book W O R D was finally in our hands and ready for readers. it was so exciting! and i’m still so proud of our little book, and i’m so grateful to everyone that supported our polaroid collaboration/habit.

to celebrate (and to hopefully reduce the number of copies stored under my bed!) i’m offering  W O R D for $12.95 in my etsy shop for the rest of the month. that’s 35% off the regular price! it’s a fabulous addition to any coffee table, and is a great gift for instant film lovers.

i’m not quite done with punching designs into paper and book covers… someday i will tire of it, or someone will rip me off, and i’ll move onto something new. until then, new goods will pop up here and there.

the latest is a set of what i call verb notebooks. simple, sturdy books that feature a verb on the cover. the verb should set the tone for what one does with the book, but i see no reason why one cannot have a verb notebook that says “eat” and uses it as a sketch pad.

each verb has a color assigned to it, and that color shows through the holes as the first page of the notebook. the photos don’t show it well, though, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it’s pretty cool.

these little guys (4-1/4 by 5-1/2 inches) are very affordable and easy to give. you can see them all in my etsy shop here: verb notebooks.

i’ve made notebooks! the boards i block printed have been cut down for the front covers, and i love wire binding with my new toy. available in my etsy shop!