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More Journal Spilling
I was so happy that Journal Spilling author Diana Trout found my little blog and commented on a couple of posts! Be sure to spend some time at her Hub Bub blog. She's got some great video tutorials and...
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Open Door Tryptych Book
I took a class a couple of years ago and learned to make this unique book. It makes a great statement displayed open, so it's perfect for a special art journal, scrapbook or wedding guest book. I've...
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Art Journal Page: Your Inner Critic Part 1
Continuing through "Journal Spilling," the next few exercises involve "Taming the Critic." It's an old cliche that we are often our worst critic. We analyze our work in excruciating detail and stamp it...
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Lessons from Walkies
I developed a wonderful habit of walking a few years ago, and learned to really enjoy it. Missing a morning made me sad. But then we went on a 3-1/2 week vacation, and I completely lost the habit and...
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My Critic from Journal Spilling
I've been looking at the page that contains this exercise for a while. It's just been open on my desk. I finally decided to tackle it tonight, and the only thing I had in my mind was a magnifying...
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The Amazing Versatile Expandable Travel Journal
I have been pondering the Perfect Travel Journal for several months. Something you can write in, draw and paint in, personalize, store photos, scraps and memorabilia and that would just be fun to use....
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BEST Collaborative Book Project Sneak Peak
I'm participating in the first ever collaborative book project hosted by the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team (BEST for short). About twenty book artists are making pages for three different themed books....
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Interview on Bookbindingteam.com
Friends of UsefulBooks may be interested in the interview featuring yours truly on the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team blog.Welcome, to the BEST interview series. We interrupt the showcasing of the...
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Little Recycled Remnant Notebooks
You can probably imagine that paper scraps pile up pretty quickly in my studio. I literally have an entire bookshelf that holds just "book innards" leftover from reinvented journals. I can't stand to...
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Artful Journaling Class
I've left Ms. Trout for a time to take my very first online class: Laure Ferlita's Artful Journaling Foundations. It's quite challenging for me as not only am I learning more about how to draw, I am...
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More from Art Journaling Class . . .
The assignment for this lessonwas to create a word in an artful way. I also incorporated a lesson on making creative borders.The so-called "scary" parts are in the middle, but they're hemmed in by the...
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Class Over
I finished up Laure Ferlita's Artful Journaling Foundations class this week. This scan is kind of the "first fruits" of my class. I discovered a wren on my screened porch yesterday morning and got such...
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Happy Birthday to My Dear Sis
As usual, the first breath of fresh fall air is bringing me back from my annual summer blog hiatus. Unlike many creatures, I hibernate in the late summer, when the heat becomes unbearable and we...
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A Christmas Gift for Generations
I had the privilege of making a very special book recently. A customer wanted a book for her elderly father-in-law to record his stories and memories for his grandchildren. He has lived in a small town...
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Happy New Year!
I am so excited to be entering into 2011! I admit, I'm a sucker for a new year. I highly resolve many things in January. Since I actually got a start last fall on a few of my biggies, I'm hoping...
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The Big Brother Travel Journal
**January 2013: I have retired this design for now, in favor of the Expandable Journal you can find here: Expandable Travel Journal. I've had several requests over the last few months for a...
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A Book Review and My Elephant
In February, Etsy broadcast a success symposium featuring speakers talking about various aspects of creative business. I particularly enjoyed April Bowles-Olin's "Achieving Your Creative Dreams." (You...
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A Special Special Order
I don't do a lot of local work in my small town, but a friend recently commissioned me to make eight journals for a group of friends who are going through the book "One Thousand Gifts" together. One of...
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Dark Roasted Guest Book
A young friend of mine asked me to make a guest book for her graduation out of a Starbucks gift bag. Another excuse to play with kraft paper! I prepared the bag by fusing tissue paper to the back with...
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I'm getting published! Twice!
I told you a month or so ago about listening to April Bowles-Olin's "Achieving Your Creative Dreams" talk from the Etsy Success Symposium in February. She really inspired me to set some higher goals...
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The Happiest Place on Earth
Last month, my sister and I spent a week at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. This was my second trip to the Folk School. The first was four years ago when I learned to...
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Wandering into the Wedding Forest
I've been thinking for literally years of developing some wedding guest book designs. It took someone asking me to make one for them to spur me on to actually do it. A local friend wanted something...
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Useful Books is now Free Range Bookbinding
After almost eight years and over 1800 sales on Etsy, Useful Books is getting a do-over. It's a little scary to make a change after such a long time and good success, but my new business name reflects...
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