Tinkering

I'm thinking about changing the look of this blog. I like the gray, but I'm not sure about the other colors. And I'd really like a more lovely header up there for the title. What I have now is so blah and kind of low budge, right? So, I'll be adding that to my long long list of things to do. Yay! Actually, I did get a good piece of work done last night, I cut a whole slew of covers and now they are just waiting to be made into notebooks. My hopeful schedule for completion is construction Saturday night, then photo taking on Sunday, provided it doesn't rain. I've been thinking for a while that I would love to try taking some product pictures outdoors, so I'll try to work that in too. Chances are there will be lots of new notebooks popping up in the shop next week! Fancy that, it's been a long time since there was any fresh blood in there.

Well, scratch that, I believe it was just last week that I listed my latest drawing, Nesting. It's been seen here before; I've had it kicking around for quite some time, but for some reason only just got the impetus to list it. So, it's for sale now over at Etsy. I like it a lot, I hope you will too.

mel

Coptic

Hey y'all! I know it's been a while, but check it out! I made a couple new books! They were made with the coptic stitch method, which is definitely a new thing for me. Of course, they are still made with the same recycled materials; vintage record covers and rescued papers. They are a bit larger than my normal notebooks, 8.5" by 5.5" instead of 5.5" by 4.25" I think they're really cool and I'm excited to update my shop with them over the next few days. I hope you'll check it out! And I really appreciate you still stopping by, even with the dead air over the last couple weeks, look for more frequent posts like in the old days from now on.
mel

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

BOOKS - No, not just more books I made, but yes, there is that too

Yep, that's my new notebook. I love it. It's exactly what I wanted. I went to the Big Book Sale at Fort Mason last weekend (and I know I say this a lot, but I mean it: if you live in SF and you've never been, put it on your calendar for next year right now. It's so awesome). I was shopping for more materials for my books and was specifically looking for botanical guide books. I found only one, but as you can tell from the notebook above, it is really wonderful. It's a Golden field guide and it's for Identification of Trees of North America. It was published it 1968 and it has the most gorgeous illustrations. I'm really really pleased. I also found a couple other guide books, including my first that focuses on East Coast flora/fauna; it's a guide to sealife of New England. Very cool. I also got a fun Jacques Cousteau book for kids and a Disney book about animals, both with awesome photos and illustrations. I also got some books that I actually intend to read, imagine that! I'm really looking forward to reading A Year in Provence and America by Alistair Cooke. I'm not sure exactly when I'll get around to those; I have, in years past, become a very bad reader, but I've been trying hard to be better this year. I just finished Craft, Inc. and am now working on The Adventures of Augie March, though, to be honest, I'm not sure I'll make it through that one. I am really really tempted to preorder this book; it is taking all of my self-restraint to hold myself back.

mel

update: speaking of books...ok, I really am trying to be good about not spending, but I just found this via the obsessive consumption blog, and there were no two ways about it: I had to have it. HAD to.

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

robayre

Etsy Front Page 9/23/08 robayre, originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers.

Hooray, I was featured in an Etsy front page treasury yesterday with one of my mosaic drawings. I was really excited to be in a treasury with some of my very favorite artists like betsy walton, yellena, michelle moode, brandi strickland, heather smith jones, curbside treasure and groundwork; and also to discover some amazing artists I hadn't come across yet, paperwerks, rachel robertson, hells sewing circle and ashmae. If any of these artists are undiscovered by you, click on them right now, I promise you won't regret it. And a big shout out to robayre, the curator of this treasury, who is herself an incredible incredible artists who, I think, really deserves front page recognition because she rocks it out! Thanks!

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.)

All Thumbs

New book in the shop, what's up! This is Thumbs Tubby, an old time honky tonk piano player from the 1950s. This is one of those notebooks I made thinking it probably will not be especially popular, but maybe someone would see it and love like I do, be beguiled by the name Thumbs Tubby and his grinning cigar smoking ways. And if not, hey, maybe I'll just keep it for myself!
I'm a little bummed on business this week, even though it's been pretty brisk, because I've had my first experience with cancelling a sale. In fact, I had to cancel two sales this week! It makes me feel bad for a couple reasons, obviously the first being that, boo, I thought made a sale but now it turns out I didn't. That sucks. But also it makes me feel bad because I realize how soft spined I am; it took me longer than it should have to decide to cancel these sales, I wanted to give the non-payers the benefit of the doubt, "maybe they just don't understand the checkout process...maybe the MO got lost in the mail..." When what I should be doing is sticking to my shop policies. I'm just trying to be a nice person, but the business world is no place to be nice. I guess. I'm hoping in the future I'll do better. How was your first time cancelling a sale?
mel

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.

Night Moves

New notebook for sale!

Oy, I am sleepy today. I've been sleepy pretty much all week, but today especially because last night I stayed up too late watching the Olympics. I couldn't help it though, it was gymnastics! It's like reliving my childhood when my sisters and I would skate around our driveways, pretending we were Kristy Yamaguchi. I know, that's ice skating, but I just mean that I when I was little the Olympics were a big thing for me, my whole family would sit together and watch every and any event. But I haven't watched an Olympic event since I moved out of my parents' house in 2002, so last night was oddly nostalgic. Even though scoring in some events may have changed and I don't remember feeling quite so cynical about the commentators when I was 9, I found comfort in the fact that swimming and gymnastics look the same as they did 16 years ago. Maybe that sounds weird, I don't know. I just know that it's still exciting and thrilling to watch these amazing feats of athleticism, and to know that millions (billions?) of people are watching and thrilling right along with you.

mel

Mums

I'm excited because I'll be listing a drawing here for the first time in a long time in just a few moments.

update: right-o, here it is - click!

mel

Front Page

OMG you guys! I am totally on the front page of etsy right now! Go look, go look!

Edit: All right, I have a screen cap! (thanks to the Etsy Front Pagers flickr group)

There's my cats and foxes notebook in the second row middle there. So exciting! And so cool that I'm with some of my fave shops like estasketch and bonspielcreations. And that sweater above my book, from CositasSeriasVintage; I was seriously considering buying that earlier today. I was going to write about some cool stuff I did this weekend, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow, I'm going to have to just relish this for today.
mel

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

Things Are Happening (have happened)

I am sorry for the lack of posts in the last week. I don't exactly know what happened, I think it was a combination of being in Sacramento over the weekend, a broken alarm on my phone, and, y'know, being old now. But posts will start occuring at their regular frequency again. I'll give you a quick recap of things I've been thinking about this week.

*I am going to go to my coworker's daughter's Girl Scout meeting next weekend and teach the troupe how to make perfect bound books. This is exciting and a little scary.

*Steve and I will be hitting up the Mission Indie Mart this Sunday. Woo hoo craft shows!

*I am excited about the new record cover notebooks I've made that I'm slowly listing in the shop.

*KK of Lulaboutique wrote a really nice post about roska handmade on her blog. What a sweetie!

*I am on the lookout for art! I need things to hang on the wall, things that Steve and I will both like. Please share any suggestions you may have, either particular prints or places to buy. I'd sure appreciate it!

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