A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

a tale of two journals

I managed to pull together two journals for my Etsy shop only a few days before Christmas. I love these two but I had hoped to make several more. So much for big plans for the holidays.

Both journals are made with very cool vintage book covers lined inside with fabric. The inside pages are all various sizes and stitched together, a good mix of printed, blank, hand painted, found and artist papers. Each book contains 7 signatures chain stitched together, about 120 pages total. So you have a nice thick book for journaling, writing, doodling or list-making.

If you are interested in either of these journals, go here for more pictures and pricing. These will likely be the last journals I make for a while so snatch them up while you can!

And now a little song from the best Christmas album EVER.

Listen with someone you love.

a fellowship of kindred minds

My painting partner Shannon and I have been working hard on building our portfolio in an attempt to establish a business for our collaborative paintings. Last week we sold our first painting and secured our first commission, and over the weekend were able to realize another big dream of ours, to have an office or studio space to display and sell our paintings. Shannon's husband and his business partner have recently purchased an amazing office in downtown Pueblo for their publishing company and alternative newspaper. They guys were generous enough to allow us to display our paintings for sale in the storefront.

With a $0 budget we spent most of Saturday stringing lights and wracking our brains to come up with titles for all our paintings, both collaborations and individual works. I may be biased, but I think they bring quite a bit of life to the cool old building.

We are also working on establishing a local artist guild in Pueblo. There is another guild downtown but is quite exclusive and not at all open to work that doesn't fall neatly into the esteemed "fine art" category. Especially for a town its size, Pueblo has thriving art, music, and film communities but most of the art you find locally is very dark. We are hoping to bring a little color, joy and light to this city we have grown to love, not to mention connect with some of the incredibly talented artists and artists-to-be that also find their homes here.

If you ask any native Southern Coloradans, you'll probably find Pueblo doesn't have the best reputation. But having not lived here all our lives, we have a completely different perspective than many locals and are blown away by the potential of such a undervalued city.

Twenty minutes from the mountains, 350 days of sun per year, vibrant artist community, thriving local businesses, victorian architecture, charming neighborhoods, ethnic and social diversity, one of the least expensive cities in Colorado--what's not to love?

Next we will be working on our website and establishing a screening process for other artists who would have their work displayed in the office. Such an exciting time!

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In case you haven't heard, Shannon Ganshorn is hosting an awesome mixed media postcard swap on her blog with sign ups starting tomorrow! You can find all the information and join in the fun here!

sitting, staring and sipping

Sorry for my absence, but at this time of year with so much gingerbread to bake, spiced tea to sip on, twinkling lights to stare into, heating vents to huddle by (damn a house with no fire place!), and Christmas books to read, its hard to find the time for concentrating on a screen and making your numbly cold fingers dance across its lettered keys. It's my favorite time of year and it is going to be over before we know it. So, I think a little holiday crafting is in order, don't you? (I had planned on getting at least a few of these into my Etsy shop, but as the days whiz by me the outlook's not so good.)

Something tells me, like my Valentine's Day danglies, these ornaments may be staying up year round.

before & after

When you start a new journal, it's hard to imagine just where it will go. Once you find yourself buried deep in its pages, it's hard to remember where you started out. It's not a bad idea from time to time to take a quick glance back at where you've come from as you keep moving forward.

Before (a not-so-shabby place to start):

After:

 

Before:

After:

 

Before:

After:

 

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Before:

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Even the most humble of beginnings can be turned into something unforgetable in the end. If you find yourself wishing for a new journal where you can stake your claim and make your home, check out my Etsy shop in the next week or so or sign up for my mailing list (top left-hand side bar) to get a quick email notification when I update my shop. And, as always, if you have any special requests, just let me know.