Still Here

I'm still here. Working away on handmade books, hand carved stamps and prints, and new business cards and various postcards. This is a tiny glimpse into what I've been up to. I will be back soon with a preview of the finished goods...

Checking In

Hello all! I may have been MIA from this blog, but I have been busy working away. Plenty of journal pages in progress, some sketches, and many, many books have been made. I am getting ready to vend at Artfest in April for the first time, so that's what I have been up to. I am tremendously excited to be able to share my love of handmade and repurposed journals as well as my journal art with others. I'll do my best to get some more pics up soon! For now, enjoy these prelim sketch ideas.

Greece Portraits

A year ago today I was in Greece. I was there for a life changing three weeks, truly a dream come true. These dreamy photos were taken once again with my trusty Diana+ camera, and perfectly capture the bliss I was feeling while there. By today we had been in Greece for a little over a week. We had ventured to Santorini and were now spending our last full day on Sifnos, a breathtaking quiet retreat after the crowds of Santorini. The weather was perfect and we were sad to leave Sifnos, but half our trip still lay ahead of us. I thought I would share some offerings from my trip throughout this month. Enjoy!

Missing polaroid

You know how some days you may really miss a special person or even a place from your life? How you can feel homesick in a way. That is how I have been feeling about Polaroid lately. The news of polaroid abandoning it's classic instant film to go digital is not new news to me. When I found out I started buying small batches the film here and there. And I hear there is a new company trying to keep instant film alive by making their own version to work with our old cameras. Maybe it's just nostalgia. I haven't cracked into my loot just yet though. I made these using Poladroid, which is a pretty satisfying substitute. But I am all about the tactility of something, the rush of excitement as the image comes into being. And in reality, for all the polaroids I've taken, where are they? Do so few actually turn out? So what to do with the remaining film before it expires? Self portraits? Favorite things? It really should go out with a bang, don't you think?

Self portrait Wednesday

These are some deliciously double exposed self portraits taken with my Diana camera that I mentioned previously. They were taken on my recent trip to Sailda, CO. I just love how unpredictable and ethereal they can be. Magic!

Self portrait Wednesday

I first saw postings of "self portrait wednesdays" here. I am not sure what the story is, there doesn't appear to be an official site encouraging these posts, but they pop up on lots of blogs I read. As a "recovering designer" as my friend Pinky puts it, I rarely use photoshop for more than photo editing anymore. But after viewing Misty's blog, something started to shift. This image reminds me of the ethereal, double exposed images I like to take with my Diana. More of those pics to come.