Sorry

Yes, there are loads of new books in the shop.

Sorry I fell off the face of the blogging earth. I haven't been feeling very well this week, but I feel like I'm snapping out of it a bit today. I have a big project to work on that is due on Saturday, but as soon as that is out of the way I will have lots of new exciting products to offer you. But until then, things may continue to be pretty quiet around here. Just a heads up. I hope your week has been great!

mel

one of those days

Yes, I am having one of those days. Bad hair day, bad skin day. Tired and achy. Late for work. Bored. And, worst of all, I can't check the treasury on etsy at work anymore! So so sad. I'm trying to cheer myself up with this cute picture of Ava in a box and by eating a delicious roast beef panini for lunch. It's working just ok. Actually, the picture is making me feel a little guilty; it seems like I have lots of pictures of Ava, but not so many pictures of Nick Nolte. I have a good reason for it; Ava is much less camera shy than Nick, and she's good at posing, whereas Nick doesn't like to stay still very much. But still. I'm going to be trying harder in the future to take and post lots of cute photos of the cuteness that is Nick Nolte.

Anyway, I did have a reason for posting today other than to complain and talk about my cats. I am trying a couple new things with my notebooks that I think are pretty cool. In the past I have used matboard to make my animal books; I cover the matboard with the pages of illustrations and use those as the covers. Recently I ran out of matboard. I haven't been able to get to SCRAP in ages, so I haven't had a chance to restock. I tried using the chipboard that I use in my bookbinding class, and it was fine, but just a little too thick and heavy for the size of book that I'm making. So I was kind of stumped when I wanted to make some new books the other night. Then I noticed the back cover of the Air Supply record I had just made a book out of. Usually I save the album sleeve scraps I have to use in packaging, but I don't use that much, so I end up with a big pile of scraps that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So I though, why not use that scrap cover as I would use matboard to make animal books! So I made a couple and was really happy with the results. The album cover is the perfect weight, not to heavy but not too light, and substantial but still flexible. The first of these is in the shop, it is covered with cute owls and it is pink and lavender! You have to see it, it's adorable. And more will be popping up in the coming days. Yay!

mel

On Cats and New Notebooks

Oh yes, you heard right, there is a new goosey notebook in the shop. Hurrah!

So, as I've been saying, things have been a little crazy lately. I'm feeling rundown and sometimes in a funk. Oh, nothing serious, just not feeling quite up to par. I'm sure we all feel that way once in a while. Well, I think I've found a cure for all of us. It's called an adorable cuddly cat, like Mr. Nick Nolte up there. Last night we fell asleep with him all cuddled up in my arms. It was pretty adorable. The result? I feel leagues better today. If only we could send a cute kitten to all the leaders of nations so they could cuddle up to them at night. I think probably the world would be a better place.

mel

(I'm sorry, I think I have used the word cuddle too many times in this post. It's starting to look strange to me.)

Thursday...it always feels like Friday

I know, I know...I have been a really terrible blogger lately. Actually, I kind of can't believe it's been almost a week since I last updated...I feel really awful about that, sorry. What that means, though, is that I now have loads and loads to share with you. Like the photo above? That's from a new notebook I made that I'm pretty excited about. I'd love for you to check it out right here.

Besides making a bunch of books (that you can see in my flickr stream if you so desire), I went to Oakland last Sunday to check out the Birth of the Cool exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California. The exhibit focused on midcentury modern design in a wide variety of mediums; architecture, painting, animation, music. And of course lots of Eames designed furniture. We went on the very last day of the run, so you can no longer catch it in Oakland, but if it comes to your town I highly recommend stopping by.

We walked around a bit in Oakland, through Chinatown to the downtown business area. Before I had never had an opportunity to spend any time exploring Oakland, and it was a lot different than what I expected. I guess I thought it would be more like San Francisco, but more industrial. Really, it was like San Francisco but sleepier and quainter without that stress that sometimes hangs in the air in San Francisco. The Chinatown there is so different from the Chinatown here in San Francisco! The streets were so quiet...and there are a lot of really gorgeous little houses in that area. Oh, and I can't forget the school playground with a pirate ship! So awesome. Yep, Oakland is ok with me.

mel

PS - If you are in Oakland in the Chinatown area and you are hungry for some tasty vegetarian Vietnamese food, Golden Lotus is super delish.

Finally Friday

The tassle-eared squirrel. So so cute. In the shop now.

I am pleased as punch that it is friday. This has been an unpalatably long week. But now it is over and it is the weekend! Well, nearly anyway. I have vague plans this weekend to go through my wardrobe; I purchased a bunch of new clothes and shoes over the course of the last couple weeks and I really need to weed out some items to make room. My closet is an absolute mess, it's embarrassing.

Also on my plate for this weekend; barbeque with Steve's family (yum) and Pineapple Express tomorrow at the bargain show! And lots of maxin' and relaxin', cuz that's how I do.

Have a really beautiful friday!

mel

Picnik

I am feeling a little under the weather today, friends. I think it may have something to do with a combination of a late night and a large hot sake and a pint of beer, combined with a chillier than normal (at least lately) night and an open window. But who can be sure. The point is that I am dragging a little bit today and am not exactly at my highest mental capacity. But! I edited some photos on flickr today using picnik! I had attempted this before, but for some reason could not get a result that I was happy with. All my colors came out garish and everything was overly blurry or overly pixelated. I had kind of given up on picnik, but decided to give it another whirl today, and I am very pleased with the results. I used the photos I edited for a new listing in the shop, a very pretty golden throated warblers notebook.

Also! I attempted a bit of weaving last night with the portable loom provided in the current issue of Craft. I got a very small piece of fabric made before my yarn broke. It was frustrating at first, but I was starting to get the hang of it towards the end. I am excited to try again, with some modifications. First, the tutorial instructs you to pass your yarn pieces through the loom card first, then tie the yarn to a stick. I'm going to try tying the yarn to the stick first, that way I can more easily ensure the yarn isn't twisted. Second, there is a cardboard piece provided to wrap the yarn you will be weaving into the loom around, I think it is called the shuttle, but I can't remember. Anyway, I found this to be too bendy to be handy. I will have to find something more rigid to replace this. I don't know what yet, I'll have to do some experimenting. Lastly, I will have to choose some yarns or threads that will be less likely to break. (Sorry if this is confusing or boring, I'll try to have pictures up soon to help explain what I mean). Anyway, I'm still really excited about it!

mel

The Plans Laid Bestly

So, nothing went according to plan last night. It's ok though, because that meant that I was able to take pictures of the books I've made. Finally! They'd really started to pile up. I haven't had a chance to list any in the shop yet, but I did manage to post the photos on flickr. Unfortunately, I uploaded the wrong folder, so ALL of the photos I took are up there, instead of just the ones I edited. Oops. I'll have to take care of that later today. Also, another plan undone, I did not start weaving last night, but I did read up on it and am still really really excited! I will definitely post pictures of my attempts when they occur.

mel

Animales

I made a bunch of great new books the last couple evenings that I'm really excited about, so it's driving me kind of crazy that I haven't had a chance to photograph them (and probably won't for a couple days). Instead of dwelling on that, I decided to post about some awesome animal notebooks that I've listed in the shop recently. Yep, those are them pictured above. Clockwise from top left we have bears and goats, cats and foxes, scallop shells, terns and pigeons and doves.
Regarding those new books, I'm visiting in Sacramento this weekend, so I probably won't have a chance to photograph them and list them until next week. But you never know...
Have a great weekend!
mel

Sale - Last Days!

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day of the Birthday Sale at roska handmade. That means you can still get free shipping on the great notebooks you see above, as well as many others in the shop. Check them out here.
Also, a sneak peek at a new bird notebook that I'll be listing in just a moment.

Pretty green and pink.

mel

Oh No

I'm getting a little scared. For the last couple days I've been feeling a little bit under the weather, just a little sore throat and stuffy nose, but nothing a good dose of ibuprofen couldn't fix. Then today I woke up feeling kind of like I had a cut in the back of my throat. Now, before this year that wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest, it happens to me sometimes and it goes away at the end of the day (or I end up with a little cold, no big deal). But a couple months ago I had strep throat, and it started with me feeling like I had a little cut in the back of my throat. So now I'm a little freaked out. I really don't want to get strep throat right now. I mean, Renegade is tomorrow, and my birthday is on Tuesday! Getting a bacterial infection doesn't really jive with my plans, y'know? I'm trying to just relax, I know stress doesn't help these things, and drink tons of fluids and use the power of positive thinking to keep sickness away. If anyone has any suggestions to keep me healthy, I would be really grateful to have them, thanks in advance!
For some positivity, I have a couple new books in the shop, the one pictured above with the great rabbit painting, as well as one made from an album of the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. It's really cool, check out a detail

I think the costumes are so gorgeous. Okay, keep your fingers crossed for me everyone, I DO NOT have strep throat!

mel

Rosy Finches

I just listed this Rosy Finches Notebook in the shop. Aren't they pretty? The birds pictured above actually are not rosy finches, those are red finches and gold finches. The rosy finches are on the back cover, and they are really pretty, so you should take a look at them. You can see them and other new (super cute) notebooks that are not yet in the shop on my flickr page.
mel

Shop Updates As Well

I have some new books listed in the shop, including the two seen here, the Herons Notebook and I Love Text Number 4. There will be more coming this weekend, in addition to some new original drawings that I am pretty excited about! At least, I hope they will be coming this weekend; it is starting to get pretty smoky here (there are all kinds of crazy fires burning in Northern California right now), so I'm not sure if I'll have sufficient light to get good pictures. But hey, that might be a great excuse to finally get the scanner up and running! Anyway, be sure to check the shop this weekend!

mel

i'm a Cutter

Well, the digital camera is still broken in that it will not take pictures, but not broken in that I was able to upload all the pictures that were on it! I was so relieved. I was already thinking about getting a new digital camera, and now I guess my mind has been made up for me. All suggestions are welcome, since I have little to no experience or know how. Let me know what has worked for you.

I went to IKEA today (I don't know why exactly I'm writing IKEA in all caps), and I got the cute little red cart drawer thingee, and I also got this which is really cool (and cheap!), you buy little bins to put in it (it holds 12), I think it will be perfect for storing paints and brushes and other supplies. Now though I'm tired from driving around in the East Bay heat (Steve's car doesn't have air conditioning) so I am blogging instead of putting my new stuff together. Organization may have to wait 'til next weekend.


Anyway, like I said last night, I was crafting all night long, so I wanted to share some pictures of that with you. Here is one notebook I made:

Note the clutter. I really like how this book turned out, I used all the same lined paper, it's about 100 pages. The paper is really thin, I was writing on it last night and it's really nice, especially for pencil. It's really smooth.

Also last night I tried out my Crayola Cutter that I got for my birthday. As soon as I saw the Cutter I knew I had to have one, my craft knife skills are so mentally challenged. With this you use it like a pen or pencil, it feels very natural. Here is a picture of me working on a cute little tag I made, and a picture of the completed tag:

The picture doesn't really do justice to how cute it is. Finally, I made another book as well, I don't have any pictures of the final product because it was completed after the camera was broken, but here is a picture of it in process:


There were a couple neat things about this notebook, one was that I used my corner rounder on it, which I've had for ever but hadn't tried until last night. At first I was having some trouble with it, but I got the hang of it after a while and it really made for a neat look. Secondly I used this vintage Laura Ashley wall paper as the binding (the pattern is the first picture at the beginning of this post). I am really excited about that wallpaper because I saw it at SCRAP (more about SCRAP later) a week or two ago and wanted to get it but I already had soooo much stuff that I passed, but I when I went yesterday and it was still there I had to snatch it up. It was only four dollars for the whole roll! I can't wait to use it more, it's so pretty.
The last thing from last night, I tried making a felt magnet because I had a bunch of felt and a bunch of magnets, so ... why not?



I'm not sure how I feel about it...it's kind of nice, but I'm not in love with it. I'm not really that into flowers, but I wanted to do something quick and easy while I was still experimenting. Maybe dinosaurs would be better...

Well, I feel pretty refreshed now so I think I'm going to go work on putting my IKEA stuff together. I have to hurry though because I'm seeing Superbad tonight! I am so excited. Oh, speaking of Michael Cera, if you haven't already seen this, seriously, you have to. It is genius.
mel