No More Custom Orders

July 31st is the cut off date for custom orders and made to order books from my shop. After that point I will be turning away all requests for custom books until further notice and discontinuing all made to order listings.

Unfortunately, I'm moving and am downsizing my shop while I look for a job. In addition, most of my supplies will have to be ordered online, and that will increase significantly the time it takes to make custom orders. I wouldn't feel comfortable with the wait time expected of my customers, so I'm just going to pick up again when I know I can do several orders every week. Until then, I hope people fall in love with the journals in my shop just as they are!

Poor Little Abandoned Blog...

...nobody reads you. I feel very sorry for having neglected you for so long but I've been very very busy.

I'm working now on catching up on custom orders as well as make a few little fun books to keep me from throwing a tantrum and putting my shop on vacation. Also, summer sucks. It really really does. Everyone's concerned with the drought and don't care at all that they are supposed to be BUYING MY BOOKS!!!!

I can see why "Christmas in July" exists (albeit very very stupidly). I refuse to participate in it, and I will never be desperate enough to, but I can see why people do it. Summer is the worst time of year to sell things, and I like to believe it's because everyone's outside experimentally grilling Funyuns, spraying their children with hoses, and chucking Frisbees at their neighbors' dogs so they run into the underground electric fence--but that's simply not true. If one goes by the happenings of my apartment complex, everyone's outside grilling meat into char, playing volleyball, and accruing millions of possibly cancerous cells in hopes of winning the "darkest tan" award on the first day back to school.

Perhaps people will realize their erroneous ways soon and buy out my entire store, but then again, probably not. Someone did, however, buy this little beauty (above) about half an hour after I posted it. She has very good taste, and it's probably because she hasn't been eating charred Funyuns.

Embroidering My Thumbs Off

I'm crafty in more than the *evilly maniacal* sense. I knit, I paint, I hot glue gun...basically, I'm your grandmother's wet dream of a granddaughter. My own grandma taught me to embroider, and I've been doing some of that recently. Here's an example of when my grandma skillz meet my whovian geekery:

I'm thinking of opening an embroidery shop on Etsy, but every time I really consider it I think: "Way to pick a craft even less likely to be appreciated than the one you've already established." Besides, there are plenty of wonderful embroiderers on Etsy already.

Moxiedoll is "practically perfect in every way", and she should know since she embroidered it herself. 

ThePhantomMoon has fantastic Harry Potter embroidered geekery as well as Internet Slang in sign language.  

OooohStitchy has the BEST geekery, including phrases in
Whedonish, Mean Girls,  Princess Bride,  30 Rock,  Doctor Who, and The Goonies. 

whatnomints has wonderful taste in embroidered science geekery, including this custom constellation beauty.  

velmamade has great Buffy geekery (as seen above)
as well as this "sing me soft kitty" hoop and these Whovian hoops here.

dearmoonbeams knows what's cool (i.e. Doctor Who and Jane Austen too).

More to come, unless people object (but probably still anyway).

Entrenched

It's been awhile since I've been on, and I'm happy to say that it's because I'm busy being super successful and don't have time for blogging since I'm raking my money into piles to jump in. Not true, exactly, although I have been getting a lot of orders now that I've started making books to order.

Anyway, a long, long time ago I posted about a B.E.S.T. swap I did, and I forgot to put in pictures of the book I got. So here they are:

Nice little note from the artist, Camille Riner. Find her Etsy shop here.

Now go buy your own copy!

The artist herself gave this little description of the book:

 "Winter Walk"  --  It may be March and spring in some areas of the world but at my house it is the time for the biggest snows. I made this miniature artist book to embrace the snows of March. The digital images inside the book are based on one of my original linocuts about the peace of the woods at night called, "Forest Bedroom." While the wind may be cold, it can be quite magical to walk under the moon through the trees on a snowy night. Inside the book is a poem I wrote inspired by South Dakota winters and the work of poet Robert Frost. An excerpt reads, “Breath curls from under hoods. Downy flakes melt on Cheeks. Tracks wander in the quiet whiteness.”  --Camille Riner

It's lovely!

Made it to the Front Page!

Just logged on to Etsy to check the shop and had a bajillion-quajrillion notifications. Turns out one of my journals made it to the front page (squee). Here's the treasury it was featured in. 

'Spring Day Out' by pohkoon

Hand knitted tricolor basket... Sudrishta $75.00	Samba rosa glace round Vinta... MODvintageshop $39.00	Casebound Journal - Covered ... MakingMyRent $30.00	PAINTED WOOD NECKLACE Hand P... totemcolorbloc... $24.00
Turquoise and tangerine obl... KireinaJewelle... $8.00	High Waisted Short Shorts in... Archella $92.00	BZR Ombré tights in Sunset BZRshop $50.00	glam gold leather earrings/ ... maddadesign $16.00
ChocoBrown and GrayNavy Canv... BagyBag $89.70	Arrow to the Heart Stud Earr... rareindeed $8.00	Red and White Striped Cotton... AdgLaMode $10.00	Two Toned HackwithDesign $56.00
Chai mihow $10.00	Pinup Girl Checkered Umbrell... Strazor $48.00	iPod / iPhone case - pink an... MariForssell $35.00	silver side lock frame pouch... thezakka $26.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio

Oh! the Horror, the Horror!

Unbelievably, I'm not really accident prone. (When I am, however, I do so dramatically.) I fractured my ankle once while dancing (horribly); I cut my arm from wrist to elbow climbing on a lego bucket to get something (I'm very short (5'1")); and once I tried to remove my cat from a precarious position (without her permission) and ended up with a gauzed arm for a week. Still, in my 23 year life-span, three not-really-so-serious accidents deserves bragging rights at least.

So, you can imagine my consternation at being injured while bookbinding (not the most dangerous of hobbies ever). I made a tiny book to put in a tiny bottle, and while the book might have been okay with me stuffing it in, the bottle protested by SHATTERING INTO MY HAND. 

I had several stab wounds, which have mostly healed now without much difficulty. It's lucky the miniature glass bottles came in a two pack. The second much more willingly accepted the little book. Now I can legitimately say my blood, sweat, and tears go into my work (though not literally, because that's just gross). 

A bit of Treasure

Here's a wonderful treasury one of my books was featured in. Such a beautiful collection:

'stripes' by latikasoap

black and white stripes

Black and White Stripes - Bo... Fr33na $11.00	Black white stripes button e... KooKooCraft $7.20	Red Black White Striped Cott... yystudio $179.80	Bella Noire black and white ... Agoraphobix $100.00
Wedding Mens Cotton Bow Tie ... speaklouder $40.00	Small Handmade Journal - Fre... MakingMyRent $15.00	Fabric flower brooch black w... Bunnys $20.00	Black and white stripe baby ... bedtimeblues $15.00
Ceramic Tile Coasters - Blac... littlecoasterg... $13.00	Real Butterfly Jewelry Zebra... SpotLightJewel... $21.95	2 Pillow Covers Black White ... MyPillowStudio $40.00	Black Mustache on Black and ... thehairofthedo... $19.00
Bakers twine, Charcoal Black... CraftyClementi... $2.50	Japanese Washi Tape, Masking... chickydoddle $4.25	Large Black and White Stripe... betsykirbydesi... $200.00	Black and white stripes cab... PeekABooCorner... $12.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio

Quote the Raven

I made an Edgar Allen Poe necklace last night while my sister and I watched Transformers.

I tea stained the portrait and used ModPodge to glue it to the brass frame. The best thing about ModPodge is that it glues clear and can texture the surface so it looks almost painted on.

I hope this little necklace finds a good (if Addam's family-style) home.

This little guy is listed in my shop, here.

Mini Book Necklace Tutorial

1. To make this mini book necklace gather these supplies: one sheet of paper (I used Wausau stationery), a small paint brush, scissors, super/scrim, PVA glue, linen thread, bees wax, silk head bands, leather, decorative paper, a sewing needle, an awl, two jump rings, a silk cord, a charm, and a short bit of lace.
2. Fold and tear into 16 (5mm tall x 3 1/4mm wide) rectangles, then fold those in half again.
3. Place five of the folios inside each other to form five sections.
4. Punch two holes in each section with an awl.

5. Wax your linen thread. (Or buy pre-waxed linen.)
6. Insert the needle into the first hole and out the other.
7. Then put it through the corresponding hole in the second section and through the other hole.
8. Tie the two ends of thread together and insert the needle through the first hole in the third section.
9. Insert the needle between the thread spanning the first and second section. This is called the kettle stitch.
10. Complete the fourth and fifth section in the same way. Finally, tie a knot to finish.
11. Snip off the excess thread ends.

12. Glue up the spine with the PVA glue. Press under a larger book until dry.
13. Attach the super/scrim to the spine with glue. Press with your fingers or brush to make sure it's secure.
14. After letting it dry, cut silk headbands to the appropriate size and glue to the spine.
15. The finished spine will look like this. For extra security, add paper to cover the spine.
16. Glue the endpages with a narrow line of glue next to the crease. Trim if they're too large.
17. Your finished book block will look like this.

18. Cut the leather to near the size you need. 

19. Spread the glue on both the leather and endpage, making sure that the the holes in the super are filled. 

20. Attach the book block to the leather and glue up the spine. 

21. After pressing the leather to the spine, glue the other endpage to the leather. 

22. Trim excess edges. 

23. Allow to dry beneath your book press. Afterward, you'll make it into a charm.  

24. Open to a page near the center and punch a hole near the top where you'll place a jump ring.
25. Guide the ring through the hole and close.
26. If you'd like a lace or leather tie, use an exacto knife to cut a line in the front cover. Then, put the tie through and tie.
27. Your book charm is done! Hang it on your cord, and voilà!

This book necklace if for sale in my shop here.