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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I’m very excited to announce my inclusion in a recently published book called 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse: Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew by Garth Johnson.

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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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I have a book commission I’ve been working on for some time now, mainly because I haven’t had time to really sink my head into it. It took awhile for me to come up with a design, then I needed to make sure the customer liked it (she’s very easygoing but I still want it to be exactly what she wants), then find some materials (I needed some antique-looking buckles for it) which took a while to come up with, and finally do some last-minute discussions on the text block, etc. Here’s the main design on the front cover:

Picture of skull to be used on the front cover

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I decided to try out a new gallery plugin on my blog here but I’m not sure how the various setups on the gallery look in a post so you get to enjoy some picspam today (I’m sure everyone is faint with excitement at the thought).

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

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Some of the other ladies on the Etsy Bookbinding Team (BEST–Bookbinders of Etsy Team) were discussing how they have maps on their walls and every time they sell a book to someone in another country, they add a pin to their map. Now, while I love this idea and I really would like to have a map on my wall (I’ve always wanted to have a big old antique-looking map on my studio wall), I’ve never had the wall space for doing this.

From a 1923 Map

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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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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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Got one project completed (finally) and started on another one.

Daisies and Ivy Detail

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