Back to School Sale on the Horizon

I have recently become a member of the "Bookbinding Etsy Street Team (BEST) and we are having a big Back to School sale September 1-7. Most vendors are offering free shipping, including me. Woo Hoo! I will be posting another link to the BEST website when the sale starts.

Teeny Pocket Journals/Albums

I just sent a set of five pocket journals into my shop. They are teeny, 2.5x3. I used the long-stitch and a wrap around bead closure. I'm thinking I may have to keep one for myself for pictures of FGH. I never have pictures when someone asks me while out and about.

These were a bit of a precursor for a Christmas tree ornament idea I have. Yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas.

I have a Hollanders parcel waiting to be opened on the couch so I'm off to sort my wares.

Four New Mismatched Books in the Shop

More pics in my shop.

Casa Nueva

We moved into our new place a few weeks ago and we felt settled within a couple of days. Now, the dust has settled and I realized our bedroom might need some sprucing up since our mattress is lying on the floor with nothing else in the room. (Our box spring wouldn't fit up the stairway so we need to buy a two-piece).

The new location is only a bit over a mile from our old place, but much much more pleasant with a back yard, a garage, plenty of natural light, and a cute breakfast nook. My studio is in the living room, which has been working out really well. I'm messy and it forces me to keep things organized which leads to a much more pleasant experience when I work. Plus, I can keep an eye on the resident toddler while I cut a few boards, etc. I'll put some studio pics up soon but here are some other shots of the new house:

The sunroom/porch/playroom:

Ikea anyone? There's a lot of it in here. The cube is great and holds a lot of toys and books. The colors of the house were great and our stuff fit right in. The red "low" chair was a Very Vintage find in Litchfield. FGH loves it.

The breakfast nook:

We spend most of our time here, not just breakfast time, and we do pull the high chair closer during meal time! The table has been used in many places over the past few years. We found it at an auction and used it as our kitchen table in Superior (it has that shabby-chic appeal). It was our office desk at the farm, my studio table at the last house, and now here it is again in the kitchen. It has gotten a little too shabby, so we need to make it a bit more chic somehow.

I made these bronze pieces in college and since then have carried them to and from 5 homes and stored them in a tote at each place. We decided to put them in our bronze/bonsai garden in a corner of the back yard:

We have a lot of stuff. And if Peter ever gets upset about my art supplies, I can just bring up his guitar/mandolin/banjo/fiddle collection:

At last, something new in my shop!

I have one week of class left, and a final project due on Monday, but I somehow found the time between packing boxes (we move in a couple of days) and putzing around on the beach (OK, we only went one time) to do some binding.

Longstitch Albums!

These are 5x7, perfect for snapshots, perfect for guest books and the like, and darling enough to have displayed amongst your living room furnishings. I've made more than the five pictured here, but I've given them away for new babies, new married couples, and sent some commissioned work off as well so I feel like I've gotten to know the structure quite well.

I splurged a bit on the text paper. Going for quality, not quantity as much. It's heavy weight archival canson colorline paper, so, it's sturdy for flipping, pleasant for touching, and it will hold up fantastically for photos. Plus, I like the colors that are available. There are four in my shop.