{ Bookmaking Bonanza! : A Personal Dream Come True } : March 2019 //

March 25, 2019

In my mind, I had imagined this thing that I eventually named the ‘Bookmaking Bonanza!’ I wanted to gather a group of people together to see how many handmade books we could make in a day. I had tried multiple times to make this workshop happen. Third time is the charm! 11 magnificent women joined me on Saturday, March 23rd at the Floyd Art Center in gorgeous Floyd, VA to make this artist’s dream come true!

We made 5 handmade books in 5 hours—the Accordion Fold, Flower Fold, Smash Book (a variation on the Accordion Fold), Japanese Stab Binding and a 5 Hole Butterfly Stitch Pamphlet.

SO. MUCH. FUN. This group of women ROCKED it! Infinite gratitude to all that participated!

I am thinking that another Bookmaking Bonanza would be great around the holiday season?

{ Handmade Book Challenge } // January 2019

January 24, 2019

I have been making handmade books for over 10 years. I tend to stick books I am familiar with making so that I can work on my craftsmanship while creating enough product to sell at various stores, galleries and shows. While teaching a class on bookmaking at the local university here in Blacksburg, VA, a friend of mine handed me a book on how to make books. As we combed through the book together, I realized that there were so many books that I had yet to discover! I decided to challenge myself to work from one end of the ‘How To’ to the other. This month, I created the 5 Hole Pamphlet (with inside folder), 5 Hole Pamphlet Do-Si-Do and the Basic Codex.

5 Hole Pamphlet : Inside View with Folder

{ New Works : Personal Graffiti } Vol 2 //

November 17, 2018

I am continuing to experiment with personal graffiti, free form calligraphy and COLOR with my newest handmade book collection. And there are so many more to come!

I LOVE this one with the lime green and magenta color combo. I do not typically for for green but I think that may need to change…

‘Let It Go’ 3.5 x 4.5” (Front Cover View)

‘Let It Go’ : 3.5 x 4.5” : Endcover View

Dreamy blues and purples will always be my fall back color combo. Can you blame me?

‘Moving On’ : 6.25 x 4” : Front Cover View

‘Moving On’ : 6.25 x 4” : Back Cover View

Thank you for checking our my newest work! My work is currently only available locally through the galleries that carry my work but that will change after the holidays when I fully update my Etsy shop! Happy Holidays!

{ Watercolor Meditations : Part One } : Circles // Inktober Challenge

October 19, 2018

I decided to jump in on the Inktober Challenge after I watched Traci Bautista’s online videos for her upcoming new Masterclass. I was SO inspired by the Bautista works with ink, I knew I had give it a try.

Most of my work these days is in ink…both India ink and spray ink. I had never really explored wet on wet media and I truly loved the dreamy effects it gives my papers.

Due to amount of work created during the first half of this monthly challenge, I decided to break my pieces down by type. I started off with circles that were created by using the droppers directly out of the India ink bottles on wet paper and Jane Davenport watercolor pens for detail.

I work in many books at one time (anywhere from 4-6, which include Moleskine watercolor books, spiral bound journals and loose mixed media paper to create my own Idea or Challenge Books).

Working on these loose pages and in my journals truly has been a meditative experience. I left my studio feeling relaxed, productive and clear headed which makes me a better mother, friend and employee. I am currently wrapping up TWO journals (that I will put in a video) on Instagram and will keep plugging away on Inktober.

{ 40 Day Markmaking Challenge : Part One }

September 14, 2018

Back in May, I become enthralled with Helen Terry’s blog post about her experiment with the 40 Day Mark-making Challenge. She made her own handmade book with loads of different types of paper with the commitment of making marks for 40 consecutive days.

I loved the concept and decided to embark on my own 40 Day Mark-making challenge. I enjoyed it so much that working in one book a day was not enough. In this week’s blog post, I will share various pages from my own handmade book. Papers include vellum, found/salvaged, handmade, watercolor, drawing, Kraft papers and more!

I used watercolors, India inks, spray inks and of course, my beloved cola pens. There were many failures…the challenge of so many different papers consumed me. Below are the experiments that I found acceptable.

Be warned…taking on the 40 Day Mark-making Challenge is addictive!