Books....

This morning on the phone Angela asked me how my Birds Nest is (aka my Studio). I was telling her that I just got some business cards made advertising my handcrafted journals and also just got a box full of vintage books from Ebay to work on. I am so pumped and need to start a full scale production line in my studio. I have made a few little books since I moved in (one for me and a couple for gifts), but not enough to open an online shop or anything, which is my ultimate plan.

Here is a sneak peak at my journal that I made for this year. I am sort of taking what I have learned from a number of book making/binding classes and mixing it all together into one book.

I am lucky that I work somewhere that always has random paper and one offs laying around from old signage, etc. that I can use for my own books. This book also has some pages from a Maltese dictionary (which I made into a travel journal back in October) added to it. When I make books to sell or for other people, I will use more lined, ledger, original book pages and blank paper. I love the elastic band around the book as well, I am a "stuffer" so when I don't have to time to write, I will stuff little things in my book and then go back and write about them when I have more time.

Just have to add one thing, I love making these books so much. For me, from the time I purchase the book to sewing it all together is just so much fun. I guess it is because I love hunting in antique and used book stores for great old (and CHEAP) books. I also love journaling too; writing in a journal to me is like talking to a best friend who doesn't talk back or give an opinion, which is nice sometimes and so therapeutic. Everyone should take time to write.

Here is what my card looks like...

Easy Valentine's Day Gift for Your Man

Here is a quick and easy and somewhat inexpensive way to treat your man to something special on Valentine's Day.
Cover a 6 pk cardboard carrier with colored paper (my man can handle pink plus I didn't have red). You can write on it, add XO's, hearts, etc. If you are super creative with the computer, you could design your own beer label (I did not have time for this and figured this is going to be recycled anyway).
Purchase mixed bottles of beer that you know he has been wanting to try or might enjoy.
Add funny little sayings with key beer words on each bottle for example....

• Kiss me...I'll kiss you bock
• Let's Celebrator together (if you use Celebrator beer, I had to because of the cute charm on it!)
• I'm nutty for you
• Hoppy Valentine's Day

You get the point, I am sure you can come up with better sayings than these.
My plan is to get up early on Sunday and leave this on his bedside table so when he wakes it is there, the only problem that may arise is the little fuzzy blue monster that lives with us may be very tempted by the charm and the little flags around the bottles.

One Day Closer

Getting closer to take off.
Just putting the final touches on the journal I made for this trip.

I found an old 1965 small size Maltese Dictionary at the rummage sale a couple weekends ago, took the pages out and sewed some of the original pages back in mixed with blank pages for me to write on. I added an elastic band to keep it all together for those days when I just have time to shove things in it and also affixed a pocket to the inside of the back cover to collect things in.

This is a lot like the Greek travel journal I made - I am super excited to fill it with our travel adventures.

At this point, I have been in contact with the extended family over in Malta and everyone is ready for us. We will probably see them a few days after we arrive so we have time to rest and get acclimated to the time change. I am getting really excited and trying not to think about the flight (I have control issues and don't like the anxious feeling I get while flying, but can psych myself out pretty good unless it gets bumpy). Once I get to Chicago I will be with my Mom who is pretty mellow on the plane so that will be good.

4 days until Malta!

A Look Inside

A while back I posted photos of Jenny Harris' (All Sorts ) creative space (see original post here). Well, I just had to do a follow up to that post because Jenny took photos of the inside of one of her drawers that contains her embroidery tools. It is fabulous! I love the fabric in the buckets on top of the desk too. So cute!

I super love it and hope that one day I will have similar space to keep my things organized. I won't even embarrass myself and show you my embroidery basket. Scary!

PS - for a larger photo, head over to All Sorts (link above) and click on the photo.

Fabulous Find

I love hand embroidery and I super love this pattern.
I found it today while looking at the site Feeling Stitchy.
Find the pattern here. This one has been stitched by Georgia McDonald.

Upcycling Class

I took a class at SF Center for the Book yesterday called: Upcycling: The Transformation of Trash . We took vintage books, tore the guts out, in a very calculated way of course and then inserted our own pages! It was so cool. I am excited to try and make one on my own at home. Last time I took a binding class (in January) I went book crazy and couldn't stop making them, I have been on creative hiatus ever since that bout and needed something new to inspire me.
I was half asleep the first part of class and ended up gluing my end pages in upside down, which was pretty funny. By the time I realized (after lunch) it was too late, so I just let the rest come together as it wanted. My book is pretty cool, it is an old Russian Language book, which I think is funny because I am known to speak with a Russian accent at times. The pages are a mix of ledger sheets, white paper, original pages from the Russian book, childrens dictionary pages from the non-PC 1950's and other odds and ends.
I see an new obsession my future!

Random Acts of Art

Sometimes my work makes me a little crazy and I need to take time away from my desk to indulge myself with a random act of art. What can you make in a office you may ask...well, give me a stapler and a catalog or magazine and I can make you one of these in about 7 minutes. Just making this calmed me down pretty fast, just needed a creative break from my non-creative job.

I think these would look really cool hanging at different lengths over a craft party table.

Great Creative Space

I just saw these photos on the blog All Sorts and I love this space!

I love taking a sneak peak into other people's creative spaces.

This one is just fantastic. Check out the All Sorts blog, Jenny (the author) is a wonderfully talented creator of all things fun, she is an illustrator and red and blue lover!

Great Idea

While reading the blog "Lostfoot" today, I came across this post.
Ali is offering people who comment something she made for free. This secret item will be based on what she has learned about you from your blog.
I am super excited and being part Native American, I had to offer her a trade so I am going to make her something too!
Oh how fun it will be to get something in the mail from Scotland!
Thanks Ali, for your comments and this idea, I love it!

So Cute!

Photo from marthastewart.com

I love this window decorating idea from Martha Stewart.

I have a huge window in my office that I try to decorate for each season or holiday. I really wanted to make these this year, but I have too much on my plate and don't have the time.

Maybe next year.

Check out the instructions here.

Slight Addiction

OK, so I have a slight addiction to making books. I made one for Angela (surprise Ang!) over the weekend that I will be mailing out soon. I worked on another one this evening and will be sewing it together tomorrow. This is the last time I will show photos of books, I swear!

I just love the colors on this one! I am using up some old scrapbook paper I had purchased a while back and actually bought this sheet with Angela in mind (at that time I did not know what I was going to make out of it). I am using up a lot of materials I have been wanting to do things with, so that is good. You know what happens when you use up what you have? You get to buy more! I think I need to start selling these books to fund my addiction! For, now all the materials I have had on hand at home (yes, I have a lot of paper, I know!).

Catching Up

Trying to play a little catch up over here. I have not posted in a while due to the craziness I have been experiencing at work. January is my busiest month of the entire year. Each year, I plan this large awards event/dinner that is happening on the 29th this year so I have been a bit swamped.

For those of you in the Bay Area, can you believe this weather? It is delicious, and a reminder of why I live here. Check it out!

SF Gate: Weather San Francisco, California (94101) Conditions & Forecast

This past weekend I was in Napa and it was nice outside, but I wasn't ware of the warmth coming our way. Sunday Tim and I went to brunch and had to wait for a table and we waited outside in the sun and had to take our jackets off!

Crafting as of late has consisted of making myself (yes, myself) and hankie with Ganesha on it (remover of obstacles, I thought it was funny since you blow your nose to remove obstacles). I made a book for my boss for his Birthday as well. I gave it to him yesterday and he really liked it. Check it out below (it had a Whole Foods Market theme of course and was made with old letterhead, grocery bag and a cut up calendar). I am hoping that I get some interest here at work and will be able to sell some books - already a few people have asked about me making one for them, so we will see.

That is about it for me. Weekend was nice, Tim and I got a rug for our living room, very simple and $40 at Ikea (even better). The one I really wanted was $299 and that was too much right now. The one we got is white, rag and very plain but will tide us over until we can get the other one. It really warms our place up and lessens the echo we have been experiencing since we gutted the living room. BayLee (of course) thinks it is for him, he comes into the living room now and keels over and rolls around on it (very cute).
Have a great Tuesday!

Happy New Year

I started by taking the first few days of the New Year by not posting and taking some time to myself. New Years Eve, Tim and I stayed in. It was nice. We just hung out and took it easy. I am not that much into crowds and craziness anymore so it was nice and cozy to stay home.

Thursday - cleaned house, put little Christmas tree away. Finished cleaning out my many magazines.

Friday - woke up pretty early for a day off and ran errands, bank, post office and grocery store. I took a class at San Francisco Center for the Book - I took it back at the beginning of 2007 as well. The class was called "Personalized Daybook". We created two personalized journals for the New Year. I loved the last one I made, but used it for the first couple months and then it got too heavy for me to carry around. So, now I have one for 6 months and then will start the next. Here are some photos of my books:

Even though I took this class before, it was so nice to take it again and meet new people and hear about the plans they have for their books. I almost always meet interesting people at the classes I take. I especially like the super talented instructor, Carolee. We know some of the same people and I had taken the class before so it was nice to see a friendly face. After class, I helped with the clean up and Carolee showed me the i-Ching and did a little reading for the new year, which was pretty interesting. It would be fun to do it again in 6 months or so and see what it says now that I know how it works. I drove Carolee home and she invited me in for tea and talk, which was so nice. It is nice to know a cool, creative gal here in the city. You can find more about Carolee at her site Pod Post listed under my Paper, Stationary, Etc. section on the left. I have been a fan since my class a couple years ago.

Saturday - Tim and I got up, made coffee and cleaned the house real good and were done by Noon. Our social worker was coming over to update our home study for our adoption so we wanted everything to be shiny and nice in case she needed to poke around. We went and had lunch at Whole Foods Market and then got some snacks to put out when the social worker arrived. Everything went well, the visit was about 2 hours, from 7-9 and very mellow. We lucked out with Pam, our social worker, she is super cool. Tomorrow, I am mailing in some additional paperwork that is needed for USCIS to process our 18 month extension.

Sunday - We slept until 10. I called my folks to check in and then we went to brunch and grocery shopped. The rest of the day has been nice, writing in my journal, catching up on blogging and did a load of laundry.

I am clearing out one of my old blogs - I was writing a blog for a while with a friend, but the posts stopped. Some of them are pretty fun so I will add them to this blog when I have writers block or feel the need to add them - like the one below.

Hope you all have a great New Year and have many plans to make it even better than last year, blah, blah, blah, why does it feel like you have to say that...I don't know. My new year usually starts with my Birthday, so I didn't really set any goals yet, etc. Really, I kind of already know what I need to do.

Rise of the Machine!

My machine was up and running again last night.

I think it just needed a time out.

Sometimes I need a time out too.

Jammin in Alameda

Are you ready to jam? Well, Debbie and I were when we attended a stone fruit jam/canning class in Alameda today. During the class, both of our minds were racing about what we could can, what herbs go well with what fruit, etc.
It was a great class and we learned a lot.
Here are some photos:
After the class was over, we carefully placed our jars of plum lavender jam in our bags and walked around Park Street which was closed for the Alameda Art and Wine fair, how lucky were we to happened upon that? We checked out the booths and then went to lunch at Burma Superstar (they opened one in Alameda!). We got there just in time, after our dishes were served (my favorite tea leaf salad, a noodle rainbow salad and samosas) lots more people arrived. Lunch was terrific - I have never had a bad experience at Burma Superstar. After lunch we walked the fair some more, paying more attention to what folks were selling, people watching and eating Hawaiian Shave Ice. It was super sunny and HOT outside, which I love because being in the city it rarely gets hot in the summer. I had never been to the main drag in Alameda, just to the flea market so it was a really nice day for me. Alameda is so old school, sweet old signs, a grand old beauty of a movie theatre and lots of families. I love it there.
When we were done in Alameda, we went back to Debbie's house, I had to check out her fabulous garden (I ate a carrot out of the ground and a bean off the vine!). I got some Swiss chard to take home and steam with dinner which was so yummy. Since Debbie and I both have the gift of gab, we sat around a talked for another hour before I headed back to the city and to my surprise, there was no fog last night! So it was clear and sunny when I got home, yeah!
Thanks Debbie for such a nice day, it was definitely one of my favorite days this summer.

Wednesday Night

Peach Crisp with CSA Box peaches!

Making a prototype

29/30

Fabric Stores

For anyone crafty, the fabric store can be a total danger zone even if you don't sew, the yarn, ribbon and notions will suck you in. So, when I went to Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics yesterday I had to have a list and a budget. The store is incredible! So many cool and different fabrics and so much better than the run of the mill JoAnn's. I am trying to get my Christmas stuff done and ready to go WAY ahead of time this year so I am not feeling so rushed. I actually started back in mid-June with a couple projects. The hard thing for me is to put things that I am making for myself on hold while I get the gifts out of the way. Does that happen to anyone else? It sounds horrible, but other people have told me they are the same so I don't feel that bad about it. So last night I said a temporary goodbye to a couple things that are in the works and are non-holiday and started drawing a pattern for some holiday things I am going to make (yes, it is a secret).

PS - The new season of PROJECT RUNWAY starts TONIGHT!