for a friend...

my friend ellen asked me to make her a little book.  small, without a cover, a mix of handmade paper and artist paper...the rest is up to you, she said.  there's something kind of nice about being given artistic freedom like that...

so, i thought on it for a few days, changed my mind several times and this is what i decided on.  i really like the natural and rough edges.  

i also like that it has no cover...the handmade paper is so beautiful, it needs to be seen. 

the simple coptic binding makes it open nice and flat so she will be able to write in it easily.  the tattered piece of silk was an afterthought...it needed just that one little thing to make it shine.

i think i am in love with this little book.  and i hope she likes it too...

always...

"Never lose faith in yourself, and never lose hope; remember, even when this world throws its worst and then turns its back, there is still always hope."

-Pittacus Lore, The Power of Six

always...

the love letter...

a couple of years ago, at christmas time, a man asked me to make him a journal.  he was going to gift it to his new wife .  he wanted to use it to write notes and letters back and forth...to create a record of their love that they could treasure forever.  that story touched my heart...i'm a sucker for good love stories.  i made him a lovely journal and that was that.  but sometimes i still think about that journal.  i wonder if they kept it up.  if they are still in love.  i think yes.  so, in honor of their love i created a little journal i've called "the love letter".  you can find it here.

***

"Every great love starts with a great story..."

Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook  

brave...

remember:  you're braver than you believe, 

and stronger than you seem,

and smarter than you think.

-christopher robin (a.a. milne)

in the beginning of my creative life, i made dolls.  elaborate little creations...fairies and magical beings.  my favorite part and the part i always saved for last, was the creating of the face.  it was like magic, seeing my hours of labor come to life.  i imagine that's how pinocchio's dad felt.  if you like this brave warrior princess she can be yours...

a stitch in time saves nine...

nine what?  i don't know really. 

 but i do know stitching is relaxing for me.  if i'm feeling stressed it calms me.  i just focus on one stitch after another and my troubles fall away for a little while. 

 stitching fills all of the idle moments in my life and makes them more bearable.  it keeps my hands busy while i'm waiting.  i always seem to be waiting. 

 stitching inspires me.  when i stitch i let my mind wander.  i think about things.  i think up things.  then later i do the things i've thought up.  i think that's pretty cool.

nobody, not even the rain...

(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

-e.e. cummings

just messing around in my journal this morning.  i love the poems of e.e. cummings.  he has a quirky style of writing.  it seems as though he was a real "rule breaker" and i like that, as i am a "rule breaker" myself.  

i took a nice slow walk in the cool air this morning.  i found the lovely golden- orange leaf on the ground...fall is really beginning to show itself.  the roses in the background were a gift from my husband last week...they've just reached that crunchy, falling apart stage and the color has deepened.  i think they are just beautiful like this, even more than when they were first given to me.  there is a certain beauty to be found in decay, don't you think?

i hope you have a beauty filled day...

focus...

i took a little break this afternoon from making books and made myself a nice cup of tea.  this tea is called "focus".  it has a strange chocolatey-citrus flavor that is kind of nice.

i pulled out my current journal which is always close at hand.

i've been filling this one up rather quickly.  you can see the finished parts if you look closely.  i like it when threads and bits of glued stuff spill out of the book.

i hate that dreaded first page, so white and fresh.  i grabbed some walnut ink spray to start it off.  i really like how that turned out.  so i did the same to the next few pages.  and somehow i just kept going with that theme.  that's why the finished part of the book is brownish.  

i always include some tea bags.  and stitching.

a lot of stitching in this book.  i love stitching on paper.  i have a whole book of thick lokta paper just for that...i think i may have showed you some of that a while back. 

no great secrets to be found in this book.  i've mostly been writing interesting things that i have read.

and making little collages with bits of paper...

wonderful scraps that i can't bear to part with.  i have a whole bin of these.

and paint experiments.  some unfinished...

some finished. 

oh, on a really random note...

i made this yesterday.  i'm not much of a food photographer and this is the only photo i got as it disappeared quickly.  it was so, so good.  my kiddos have been working hard in school and this was like a note of appreciation for that.  warm bread = love.

i'm feeling fall in the air...are you?  going to a football game tonight.  don't tell anyone, but i really hate football.  i'm just going to see the band.  hope you have something fun planned...