white picket fence

collage & art journal ideas zine, volume one

I've wanted to make a zine for probably 10+ years. I can't believe it took me this long because it was SUPER fun and the perfect project for me. Collage, little books, typewriting? Yep, that's me. 

So here it is! My first little zine. First of many, I hope. 

It was made entirely by hand, no computer involved. (Just pens, x-acto, scissors, tape, old paper, a typewriter and the copy machines at Staples & FedEx.) Though I have to tell you... typing on a typewriter is not very forgiving. There is a typo in the zine, by the time I noticed I didn't have the heart to redo the entire thing, and I'm just chalking it up to the downfalls of the medium. Namely, the fact that a 1950s typewriter doesn't have spell check. Plus it's like a fun treasure hunt! Find the typo! Whee!

I'll be sharing a few more peeks of the inside soon, and maybe some of the original color pages. 

Available on etsy! Hooray. 

slowly, slowly

I added a few new things to my Etsy shop today. I'm not lying when I say I've had these packs ready for months and just not taken the time to photograph and relist them.

It's part of a personal initiative to Finish What I Start. I have an embarassing amount of projects in various states of not-quite-readiness. I know I can do it, I just need to DO IT. 

But! They're there now. And guess what? If you use the coupon code "FRIENDSHIP" you get free shipping. Good news for you, good news for my art closet, which desparately needs some free space.

subtle patterns paper pack

This weekend I added a few new packs to my etsy shop. In the last few months I've accumulated a pretty impressive range of graph and ledger papers, and I thought it would be fun to make a new Subtle Patterns Paper pack. I really love this one. 

 

giveaway winners!

Hooray to you! Since I'm feeling generous, I decided to choose 2 winners for my paper pack giveaway. Here are the random generated numbers:

That means Carlene Taylor Simmons and Benzie (Renae!) are my 2 winners. Congratulations friends! I'll be emailing you soon. 

And thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and entering. I really and truly appreciate it. 

open for business

My shop is now open for business! Hoooo-ray. 

All available here. There are only a few items in the shop now. Since every pack is one of a kind, the process of putting them together and photographing them is a bit time-intense; I'm taking things slow and seeing what the response is before I add much more. I'm still playing around with styling too. (funny how my least favorite part of being a graphic designer--art directing--is following me into my non-working life, too.)

ANYway, a little backstory. Around Christmastime, my friend Kaitlyn and I were talking about meeting up. She mentioned wanting to take a look through my art supplies, but since we didn't meet at my house, I brought the art supplies to her. It was SO MUCH fun for me to put together a little package of special things for journaling and art-making. I enjoyed the process, and also realized: I am never going to use all this stuff up in my lifetime. 

For so long I have been hoarding art materials. I always feel like, "oh no! if I use it it's gone forever!" But hello! Every time I go to the thrift store I find a treasure. Which means, there's a lot more of this stuff out in the world, I might as well enjoy what I have. And since I can't possibly enjoy it all myself. . . I'm sharing it with you. 

Which brings me to. . . A GIVEAWAY. Boo-yah! Leave a comment and I'll pick a winner and send you a giant fun pack of paper-y awesomeness. Anyone welcome. Go for it!

Update: the giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

new projects: little peeks

Just today I finished photographing a GIANT stack of art and projects I've been stockpiling for a while: an old minibook from last fall, my latest art journal project on yearbook paper, and a few little things for my etsy shop.

There's lots more to show, I just need to wade through the hundreds of pictures I've taken and I'll share later this week. 

I'm really proud of a lot of this. After working on my strange little books/collages/art journal pages/whatever they are over the past 8-10 years, I feel myself steadily improving, steadily getting closer to my ideal vision for my work. It's like I'm chasing after this magical feeling of my artwork really striking a clear bell in my heart.

And I know, uh, yeah, that sounds so fruity and flaky. But it's true. I feel really happy about where I am.

Until I start working on the next thing and find the goal further off again. But that's the fun of it, isn't it? Doing the work, day after day, year after year.