A rose is a rose...

It was a beautiful day here in central Ohio. I grabbed the camera, the boy and the car keys and drove to my favorite park. And this is what we found:





These roses always make great subjects for photography. And as trite as a flower can be as the subject of a photograph, it's good practice for the art of lighting and composition, by playing with exposures, and examining the flower from all angles. Good practice for the more difficult subjects when you need to be quick on your feet... like photographing a restless preschooler.

Caption This!

A little fun for a friday afternoon. You know the drill.

Caption this!

Packaging the American dream

There's been this ongoing project poking at me everyday saying, "just get it done already!" It's the kind of project that in your own little world you think is such a big important fucking deal that you pine away at it for weeks about how to make it the most perfectly completed thing in the whole wide world. So it's the perfectionist in me that slows me down. But today marks a victory. Today the project is complete.

The project is this care package I've been putting together for an old friend/former manager from a paper store in NJ. I'm putting together some of my samples of work to get feedback on, and possibly do business with again. We've re-connected recently and it was so damn fun chatting with her about old times. I had so much fun with her when we used to work together. A really great friend. A terrific sense of humor. I giggle just thinking about her.

So it's the kind of package that needs to be just right. So I crafted my own large envelope with some special paper that held all the instructions about the goodies I was sending. And then packaged up all the goodies with probably too much wrapping to protect it while in transit.

I know I'm over thinking this. I know it's overkill. But I'm excited about this whole line of work again; the paper goods, the invitations, the cards, the handcrafted stuff. Revelry seems to be speeding up to a particular pace now. I feel more and more of a sense everyday about exactly what I need to do. It's sort of starting to direct me, rather than me trying to figure out where to head.

It feels like I'm heading to my inner home. Now if only I can make a living to keep the outer home. Rather than being tied to a job you can't stand to make the mortgage, wouldn't doing what you love really be the American dream?

Today's photo

Taken with a really crappy camera phone, but I like the perspective and the colors.

In the pulp of it

So today was all about getting your hands dirty, wet, slimy and sticky. I watched my friend's kids for most of the day, and in between motherly and domestic chores with 4 childen, I threw in some paper scraps and water into a blender and let it roll. Or blend. And grind. And then poured it all into a big vat of pulpy goodness. Ready for a fresh batch of 100% recycled, handmade paper.

My standard paper that I use most often for my paper goods is a soft white, slightly nubby 80# cover stock from Neenah. When making my invitations, cards, tags, whatever ephemera-of-the-day it is, I tend to cut off lots of scraps. I've been saving these scraps for months, and now pay dirt. They make gorgeous, second generation paper. My version is extremely nubby and crisp and stiff. I don't use a deckle during the process, I'm sort of "freehand" with that, so the edges are wild and unpredictable. The current project with these papers are square gift tags that I've been transferring some fun images to once they are all pressed.

More photos to come of the tags, but here's a little sneak peek for now:


The last several days have been very good creatively for me. It occurred to me that I have now been out of work from the full time job I had for a month now. I listed all my accomplishments to date, and it felt good. Real good. The mojo is flowing well. I don't know where the mojo is quite taking me just yet, but I'm enjoying the ride.

Today's Photo

Sharing just because he's so damn cute. And one of the first photos with my brand new toy. Oh, the joys!

Caption this! Fun with old ephemera

I can't decide if this is innocent or disturbing... Leave your best caption in the comments. Expletives welcome.

Next stop: The World!

I've been a busy beaver (No, I didn't just use that expression!) these days with designing, marketing, and selling and generally just trying to get my business organized to be a well-oiled machine. The shop has actually been doing OK, considering I just really started selling seriously about a month ago. I've actually had sales that did not include anyone close or distantly related to me! Imagine that? And I'm working hard on getting a wholesale package out to a friend/former manager at this store to show off the loot. Woot! (Can you rhyme as good as me?)

So it's late at night now, and I was just perusing the exhibitors list for the National Stationery Show, and while drooling, and feeling somewhat depressed and competitive about what's out there and thinking, "why am I doing this because everyone and their brother is doing it, too?" I stopped perusing and listed a new item at the shop, as well as purchase a featured spot in tomorrow's showcase. Must. Keep. Going.

Here's a new item I just posted yesterday that I already sold:


It's relisted at the shop in case anyone is compelled to purchase :) I'm just sayin'.

I know I'm kind of rambling in the post, but I just wanted to get my feelings out on paper. Or on a computer screen. Whatever. Either way, it's tough starting a business from nothing. I said it. It's hard. I don't feel like I have enough time in the day. To me, right now time is money. When I had a day job I could slack off at work and still get a paycheck. Now, if I slack off, I'm potentially not earning myself any sales, thus not getting paid. Not that I want to slack off. It's actually the balance between my home life/work life that I'm trying to iron out and find a solution to better productivity.

Well, and in the spirit of this rambling post, onto some great news! My friend, Alissa and I are partnering on a space at the North Market for Artisan Sundays. I'm so excited about that and part of what I'm working on now in preparation for that are some handmade paper tags. I blended some paper pulp and made some paper over the weekend, then heat pressed some images on them. They are super cute. No pictures, you ask? Well, I'm still tweaking them a bit, but when I'm done I'll be sharing the finished product, as well as a demo on paper making. It's about time for a new demo on the blog, as the last one was quite some time ago.

OK, like I mentioned, it's late, I have young children waking me up early tomorrow for another groundhog day. But before I go, I must share this. Totally drool. I know it's weird, but I just love ephemera from that era. And if you're a gal with a biz, check this out, too.