Cool Down, Rev Up

January 11th, originally uploaded by Lili's One-a-Day.

Yes, it finally cooled down! Only 69 degrees today.
So...production has been at a standstill at Roska Handmade headquarters. That means there have been no new notebooks to drool over. I'm sorry. Things have been pretty busy lately. I am a little bit tired out from my classes already, but I am really glad I'm taking them, they are both going great. I can tell I am going to learn so much in my bookmaking class, the professor is really great, she is super passionate about bookmaking; plus she is fun and goofy to boot, so the six hour class just flies by. And my design class, while not quite as exciting, is really helping the way I look at my processes, especially how and from where I draw inspiration. I am rediscovering my love for collage! So now I have all kinds of ideas swirling around in my head for new projects! The one I am most excited about is a calendar. I would love to do one because I really love calendars, they're a practical way to have a rotating display of art. Way cool. I did some searching on flickr today for inspiration and am getting really amped. I'm thinking about doing a printed one, either gocco or linoprint or some combination of those, so I can do a limited run of those, and then also doing some with original collages. Yeah, I'm being a little ambitious. But I have a tendency to do that. Man, I can't wait to get started!

mel

92 degrees!

OMGeezy you guys! It is 92 degrees right now right here in San Francisco! 92 degrees! Fahrenheit! That is only 2 degrees cooler than it is right now in TEXAS. Texas is only marginally hotter that SAN FRANCISCO. Try to wrap your head around that craziness. Just looking at that picture of the lovely Sacramento River with those cute geese swimming in it has made me feel a lot cooler. But I still just can't believe 92 degrees. It used to be that I almost never left the house without a jacket (or at least a sweater), and when I say jacket I mean more like a wool coat. Today I left for work in a tshirt. At 8:30 in the morning! I never would have dreamed of wearing a tshirt at 8:30 in the morning 2 years ago. No, I don't like it one bit.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posting over the past week, I was unexpectedly in Eugene, Oregon (where it was beautiful and cool and even rained a little bit) for a few days. There's not much to report; it's been absolutely ages since I've made any new books, so I am really chomping at the bit to get some done; I'm thinking that will happen tomorrow night. And it may also be the maiden voyage for my gocco! Ooh, the prospect is almost too exciting! I'll keep you abreast of all developments.

mel

PS - My spot in the indie fixx galleria started today, go take a look!

First Steps

I got my gocco you guys! It finally came late last week, which is so exciting. But...it is currently still in the box. Part of that is that I have had a lot of other things on my plate since it arrived and also had to deal with a small crisis the other day, which means that I haven't been doing any creating (except for some extremely satisfying knitting). Also, I am a tiny bit scared of it, but I'm sure that feeling will fade once I crack open the instruction manual and track down some of the tutorials I know are floating around out there in the interwebs. But mostly, I am, wait for it, feeling uninspired! Yes, I'm sure if you've been reading this blog for a bit, you might have heard this from me before. But I really don't have a clear plan as to what I want my first exciting project to be, besides making a little design with my web address to print in the backs of all my books. I was heartened today when I saw an easy diy photoboard project on the paper and stitch blog, super cute and super super easy. Hello, obviously what I need is an inspiration board! I can't wait to get started on my research.

mel