and the storm has passed...

the weather on the east coast has been quite unruly over the past few days and even though i am a few hours from the coast, i have felt a bit of anxiety over this storm.  our bad storm this past june is still very fresh in my mind.  the winds were terrifying.  and then we lost power for six days and it was so, so hot.  and we were so unprepared.  i felt more prepared this time, but whenever there's strong winds, there's always some worry about the big, huge trees that surround our house.  i was woken up several times in the night by the wind and it was hard to get back to sleep, lying there and hearing the trees creaking and cracking.  i imagined that they were falling all over the place.  but when i woke this morning, i went outside straight away to assess any damage and there really wasn't any.  only one large branch fell.  just inches from our car.  we did try to park it between trees last night.  i feel so lucky.  i know others have not been so lucky.  i have you all in my prayers.

this morning i delivered about half of the items in my etsy shop.  they are on their way to a holiday craft fair in Roanoke this weekend.  i have been working hard these last few weeks on new journals and things for Christmas.  the ones i've shown here are for my etsy shop and i hope to get them all photographed and listed in the next week or so.

i hope to be a part of a craft show here in Lynchburg in December.  i'm crossing my fingers while i wait to hear if i've been accepted.

i feel blessed that the ideas have been flowing so freely.  it isn't always like this.  sometimes the ideas just don't come as easily.  the whole summer was kind of a dry spell for me.  but since the kids have returned to school, i feel like i've settled into a routine that's working for me.

i used a birthday gift certificate to purchase some beautiful handmade papers from our local art store.  they are so beautiful, it was hard to cut them, but i did and i feel like they add that special little something to my journals.  the one above is my favorite.  it is thick and soft and almost feels like fabric.

i added a few pieces between signatures to a black leather book.  i tore it and left the edges rough.  it gives the book a nice rustic look.  i'm thinking of making a small, simple book and using a piece of this paper as the cover.  it's just too pretty to hide inside a book.  some day i would love to try making paper myself.  but for now, there's a lot of beautiful paper out there for me to try.

this piece of leather is sitting on my table today.  it's purple metallic.  i only have one small piece and i'm still mulling over the design of this book.  of course, i don't have any purple waxed linen for the binding but this purple silk just caught my eye.

and maybe some of this wonderful swirly purple paper...yup, i think i've got it now.  back to work...