So Long Away

But now I am back!

What have I been up to? The short list: 

1. Putting together a photo blog for my day job as a newspaper photographer: . 

2. Buying a new camera: 

More info about my new lovely available here. 

3. Settling my new Midnight Shubunkins into their home in my 120 gallon aquarium. 

4. Taking pictures of my fiance's great-aunt Claire's glove collection for the Eventual Invention shop: 

5. Buying the coolest waffle iron EVER: 

6. Of course, making new books! I'm making a bunch more today, too. A rare day off. 

I had such a wonderful holiday and I hope you all did, too. I see you've been busy blogging up a storm while my blog has been gathering dust. Hopefully I'll be getting to update it a bit more often now that things have settled down a bit! 

Happy ^%*#$ Holidays

Well, the economy is dumping on everyone, it seems. The thought is handily illustrated by the lovely origami piece to the left, an original design by Won Park (*orudorumagi11) and you can see more of his awesome dollar bill origami on his deviantart page.

This week I found out that I am not getting a holiday bonus. The holiday party was cancelled. And to top it all off, the office is closed without pay on December 24 and 31. So I get to flush nearly $200 down the drain, right at Christmas when I need it the most. 

I am grateful to have a job. I am grateful to have a great boss who will go to bat for me and my coworker. I am grateful to have wonderful coworkers and a job that I enjoy doing, every day. I am grateful for an opportunity to work at a newspaper, express my creative freedom, expand my portfolio, have a flexible schedule... 

But damn, does that $200 loss feel like a kick in the teeth this time of year. 

NPR, my eternal companion, isn't doing much better. The excellent and very informative daily show, Day to Day, was cancelled, and Madeleine Brand, the host of the show was laid off today. Along with two other excellent reporters. 

I'm so upset. Happy holidays, humbug! My Etsy sales have paid for Christmas presents this year, and I'm shopping with the thought of struggling craftspeople in my head. I bought all but two of my presents on Etsy this year, and I have more to buy if my day job pays me some back mileage checks and boosts my budget a bit. I took the handmade pledge a few months ago and I did quite well! 

You'll remember the little garden I'm starting from the photos I put up in my last post. I'm sure glad about it. I now have rosemary, licorice basil, carrots, bell peppers, spearmint, beans, peas, spinach, lettuce, and some bee-attracting, pest-repelling marigolds and chocolate flowers. So in a few months I should be eating largely from my own garden. Hooray! Just about all my food comes from the farmers market now, and my grocery store shopping is all for staples like rice, beans, soup supplies, etc. 

Sigh. I hope all of you are doing better... Christmas looks to be pretty dismal this year. Best of luck to you, friends. 

Holiday Shipping

I know many of you will be doing lots of holiday packaging and using lots and lots of tape. Well, perhaps you want to pick up a lead apron before pulling out that tape gun. Have a listen to this NPR story - and I promise, it's totally and absolutely amazing. The link takes you to the story page, where you can read about it or listen to the interview with the PhD candidate that figured it out. There are sweet photos too!

Science Out of the Box: Sticky Tape Gives Off X-Rays

Thanks everyone for your ideas on the photo album. I might just do a little video on it construction, since I've recently discovered the coolness of the MacBook built-in camera.

Whew.

Holidays are coming up and I am far too busy!! I can't imagine what it will be like as they close in on me. I'm feeling flustered lately... and drinking way too much tea and coffee. Curse it all!

On the bright side, I did manage to squeeze this little thing into my schedule today:

Economic Depression

Depression indeed, but fortunately ONLY economic. I've been in otherwise excellent spirits, driving my lovely miata around beneath positively stunning blue skies full of fluffy white clouds, cuddling with my sweetheart, pulling out my winter sweaters (i just love wearing knits), and drinking lots of coffee and tea.
I've recently developed a fondness for coffee - but what a coffee snob I am. I only like the Ethiopian Arabica beans from CB&TL, ground in small batches and immediately brewed, and only by French press. Add a bit of whole organic milk, and it's a marvelous after-supper drink. What an egotistical, liberal elitist I am! ... I rather hope not, and I hope that enjoying a bit of coffee made the simplest, most wonderful way possible doesn't automatically put me in that category. Pooh on conservatives for creating that stereotype, haha!
Anyway, on to the real good stuff. I was able to put a few things in the shop lately, but some have already been snapped up! I suppose it's the Holidays coming. I do need to get my ass in gear and start working on new pieces before Holiday shopping really begins.
So here's what I've been up to lately:



I put together this little pouch, on a whim because I haven't done any hand sewing in such a long time. I think I may do a bit more soon, I rather enjoyed it. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, too.



I also bound this up - slender little thing, as I'm running low on paper at the moment, but nicely pocket sized.

These are still in the shop, and I'm hoping someone will fall for them soon. It's not that I'm so greedy for the money - although it does help pay for paper at a time when my wallet is stretched thin, that's always nice - I'm so much more excited about finding them a new home. I want someone to open up the package and be thrilled at their new journal. I want them to fill the pages with stories and sketches, populate the blank paper with trees and faces and long strings of beautiful words. It's the potential that I'm excited about. The pregnant book-ness, the opportunity to capture thought and stories. What a romantic I am, eh? Joe is always harping on me about the shops... he doesn't think I'm considering them real businesses. I should be thinking about Marketing and Sales and Overhead. But who wants to think about all that. These are Books! They are Magical!
Ah, I am a romantic fool. Haha...

Well, anyway. Here's a new shop inhabitant, waiting for words:



A big bruiser of a book, Belgian binding and drawing paper inside. It was actually my first Belgian book, but these bindings really need waxed thread for stability and strength, and I didn't know that when I bound it. So I tore it apart this weekend and re-bound it, and now it's lovely and much more durable.



You may remember I mentioned these three a while back. I was thinking of stenciling something on their covers, or otherwise jazzing them up. But they've been sitting on my bookshelf and I can't bring myself to add anything to them, so they went into the shop unadorned. Simple and plain, but charming nonetheless.

Well, that's the news so far. Holidays coming up, and I think I will be making some new miniature books - I have lots of paper scraps waiting to be used, and there's a Stocking Stuffers showcase soon, so it's a good excuse to play with tiny books. :)