A personalized gift

This book was comissioned by a friend, Emma, who Tony and I met while we were living in Minneapolis. This summer, she asked me to make a book that she could give to her cousin as a graduation gift. Emma was drawn to the blue pages and bold patterns of this album, which I traded for a pair of earrings at Art in the Park. So I used the original book as my inspiration, and made this new, personalized photo album for Emma's cousin.

The book is sewn together using the Japanese stab binding technique. I especially like how the geometric pattern created by the stitching compliments and balances the bold floral patterned paper. And the blue paper used for the pages is one of my favorites; I love it's unique texture and bright color.

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Hello again!

The past month has been a busy one. Tony and I signed a lease for a new apartment in early July, and started moving into our new place just a few days after our one-year anniversary. The move has been a gradual one, since we were just moving across town. But now, over a month after we started, we finally have all of our possessions in one place. We've been working on getting settled, digging our way out from under piles of boxes, and our new apartment now feels like a home.

We've got our artwork hung on the walls (including the prints from I bought from These Are Things as an anniversary gift for Tony), we're cooking up a storm in our new and beautiful kitchen, we've been snuggling up with our new bedding from West Elm, and best of all, I've got my brand new studio all set up and ready to go.

This weekend marked the first time I was able to spend any serious time working on my books since the move, and it felt so nice to finally make something again. Yesterday I was mainly working on a series of Italian Longstitch books, with red leather covers made from a thrift store find. One of the books will be sent off as part of the upcoming BEST book swap. (See my post on the last book swap here.) The others will be listed in my Etsy shop and sold in a local shop.

I realize that my wedding posts as part of the anniversary series were neglected as we moved last month, but I'm still planning to share a bit more about our wedding details in some future posts. I also have some recent custom books to share with you, and I also want to post some photos of our new apartment, and of course, my studio. Stay tuned!

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