twenty-two

today I am twenty-two.

blizzard people

the blizzard is so bad today, work got canceled! a nice little surprise for my first weekend of winter break.

i've lost count of all the people i've seen stuck in the snow so far this morning. it's fun to see strangers helping strangers, giving high fives of success and huddling together to shield the wind.
poor kyle has to walk home from work while i stay in and wrap christmas gifts/make paper people.
we actually cheated a bit last night and each opened up one gift (woops!).

etsy opening in four days!! (i'm still narrowing down on my shop's name! hmmmmm)

dark

a little book finished a few weeks ago.

we were little tigers, hiding in the night
catching fireflies under quiet street lights.
a velvet ribbon, in the dark
fell from my hair to the meadowlark.
quick like rabbits, we ran out of sight
until we couldn't find anything but moonlight.

only one more week of school for the semester, and then next week, good news--
i'm opening my etsy shop!
books, prints, and other little things. full details next week.

little friends

Working working working on new things. Dreaming of having a little pet to come home to.

Have you ever heard of a hyrax? They like to snuggle with others all day. Sounds like a good idea since it's getting quite cold here in minneapolis!
I'm really wanting to make a collaborative artists book...if anyone else is interested, please let me know any ideas. Work wouldn't have to be only 2D, maybe some 3D made or found objects as well? Many possibilities.

places

here's my newest book!








click to view larger images.

braiding hair behind the fence,
houses we haven't been in since
hiding in the tiniest of places,
wondering if they ever would miss us
golden ponies kept under the bed,
drawers of postcards with things once said
where we caught crystal rainbows in our hands,
and dreampt about distant lands
running from the room haunted by ghosts,
places forgotten
and remembered the most.

case binding with illustrated image transfers and cut up streamers.
I'm really happy with how it came out, being my first case binding. It's sweet and sad to me, the things you do and places you go while you're little. Do you remember places like these?

I saw Sufjan last weekend. What an inspiring show! All I wanted was for him to play seven swans, and that's what he opened with. It was so beautiful that I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes. The way he talks about the Lord is so lovely and perfect. For my next project, I'm thinking of making a set of seven books with the lyrics spread out in them. I don't know if I'm up for seven books, but it sounds nice to me.

golden house

being a busy worker bee making new books. I finished my photo book mentioned in the previous post, from lulu.com. There are a few things I need to add but will show it to you very soon. I also just received the loveliest shoes ever, purchased from etsy.
Kyle and I saw a really beautiful film on his birthday last week, called never let me go. They kept these memory boxes of little special objects collected through their lives. The last image is from a collage book I'm working on, sort of inspired by those boxes. Things kept and happening in a little golden house. What kind of things do you think would happen in a golden house?

greco & photo booths

spinning a juliette greco record for your ears.

The top photo booth images are from the state fair today, the first being of kyle and I and the second of our friends bryant and hannah. All other photographs are from a bundle of 300 we got from an antique shop. I love when they have writings on the back, especially when it's more than just names. I was thinking of making a small book that would feature the backs of old photos with writing on them, then the front side of the images in the back of the book. Or maybe they'd be side by side, the front and back of the photographs. Would you be interested in this sort of book?

Autumn weather is here!

PS
* if anyone has photos with writing on them and would be willing to send them or a scan to me, please let me know! It would be SOO appreciated!

chicago

Chicago was marvelous! Our friends Meg and Brad showed us lots of lovely places, including a really delicious bakery, navy pier, and the best ice cream place of all time, iCream. It was nice to take a trip before the start of school, which was today. I feel totally unprepared for this semester, because summer seems to have gone by too quickly.

Has anyone made a book with lulu or blurb? I have a class dedicated to making a book through one of those publishing sites, but I can't think of what to do yet. I wish perfect ideas could just float into my mind this semester, and for forever.
I'm trying not to get too stressed out already. Listening to the new sufjan album and looking forward to hearing his glorious voice in person, this october.

give away !

hello! I'm giving a lilac hair bow and summer peach nail polish (best polish ever!) from American Apparel, and either a 5x7 or 8x10 (winner chooses) print of my little fawn photograph.

Kyle and I are off to Chicago for the week (any recommendations on places to visit?), so the winner will be randomly chosen next week, Sunday the 22nd. Comment and leave your email address to enter. All countries are welcome!
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the winner is MEGAN from moonade daydream! congratulations! I emailed you! thanks to everyone for entering, I wish I had enough for everyone!

july, juillet

wow, sorry it's been an entire month without a post! Many things have happened since, mostly still being very busy. I've been giving kyle photo lessons, he took the one of me, the second, and the last photograph of a nice puggle we met. Today, photo lessons continue! We stocked up on infinite rolls of film, so, many more pictures to come.
Marissa was so sweet to interview me for her blog. It was a few weeks ago, I just haven't had any time to post about it. Read the interview here, if you'd like.
& next week, I promise a giveaway! I just can't decide if I should ask a question, or pick at random. hmmmm..