So I spent last night finishing up my most recent Steampunk journal while re-watching a 3rd-season ep (or is it called season 2 now?) of Primeval (well, “listening” to it, anyway–it’s not easy sewing a book while watching tv, even just a pamphlet). This journal’s a bit different because I broke out of the brown/black/copper color scheme I’d been focused on and tried something quite different…

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Our Etsy bookbinding team is holding a holiday event from November 27 through December 5, featuring a giveaway. The most important question is, of course, what’s being given away? The answer? A most excellent selection of prizes–three gift baskets featuring nine (9) prizes in each basket and two $30 gift certificates to be used at the participating shops. There are 23 shops involved in this, all with some beautiful journals and book-related offerings. How do you get involved? Simply buy an item (or several) from one (or more) of the participating shops. For every $10 you spend in one of the shops, you’ll get an entry into the drawing (if you spend $30, you get 3 entries, for instance). This is a terrific way to take care of your holiday shopping and possibly walk away with some goodies for yourself. For more details, check out our team blog post with specifics, as well as links to the participating shops.

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So I made my first Steampunk journal and posted it on Etsy yesterday. It was a challenge for me but fun and satisfying to complete it finally (took me quite awhile to engineer this one).

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I took a little vacation from my blog. My youngest started school this year which, you would think would give me more time to get things done at home. Alas, I need to go back to work so I’ve been updating my resume, writing cover letters, getting ahold of references to make sure people remember me, and job hunting. But, I’m still working on projects–the biggest one was a large art journal that was a custom order and the current one is a Halloween themed art doll for the ADO Halloween Challenge. I haven’t taken any pics of the Halloween doll yet so we’ll just focus on the journal this round.

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Pierre with the suitcase base--a miniature mint tin

One idea I had for Pierre’s accessories was a suitcase. Mainly because I have these little tins (I don’t remember where I got them from) that were the perfect size for a little suitcase for someone Pierre’s height. I believe they were probably promotional mints/tins at some point in their lives but I, of course, won’t be using any of them for that.

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My current Travelling Doll visitor is tiny…as in very small…as in not large. At all. And my bright idea for putting my personal touches on this feller? Make him a travel journal. I mean, he’s become an adventurer, with adventuring type clothing and all, so obviously he needs a travel journal to keep track of his adventures. Right?

Here's the little guy "holding" a book that I digitally added to the pic.

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A collage of the dolls I've worked on to date.

I signed up to participate in ADO’s Traveling Doll Project. Art Dolls Only is a team that I help start on Etsy–we wanted a place for those of us who make dolls for art rather than toys or children’s dolls. The team has grown by leaps and bounds…so much, in fact, that we finally had to limit our membership because it was becoming more than we could really cope with. We wanted a team that’s close-knit where most of us know each other and we feel comfortable working together. And, even more important, we wanted a team that we could promote and advertise for easily. People with a likeminded goal of promoting our dolls, our Etsy shops, and our team.

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Travelling Doll Journal Detail

Got a couple of commissions from a lovely, fellow dollmaker named Michelle Schafer of The Studio at Crow Haven Farm. We’re both pariticipating in a Travelling Doll Project that ADO (Art Dolls Only) is hosting. Since I also make handbound journals and someone on the ADO team outed me to the Travelling Doll people, Michelle contacted me for a journal (that turned into two journals).

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I got a book for the holidays that I just love, so I thought I’d share a bit about it here. It’s filled to the brim with instructions, details and tips for carving incredibly realistic images in leather. But I think this book has value for more than just leatherworkers.

Figure Carving Finesse by Al Stohlman

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