-=-=-=-=-=-

so, i keep talking about this holiday post that i'm going to be doing.

i was going to show you how to make a DIY christmas tree.

but then i found out that we are moving on the day after christmas!

so, in order to keep my life from being completely crazy hectic on that day, i've decided that we're not going to be making a new tree this year.

i'm bummed, in a way, because i wanted it to be a tradition, every two years, to make a handmade tree.

so instead of showing you how to make a big handmade tree, i might just do a small version that can be put away easily.

what do you think?

+++

this photo has nothing to do with today's post, but i felt that my post needed SOMETHING, you know?


i've been busy with yellow canoe and apartment hunting so this blog is being quite neglected.

{we were just accepted to an apartment that we love about an hour ago...madison, here we come!}

only 17 more days until i no longer work at a corporate job...maybe even less, depending on how i feel after working tonight. working for tips around the holidays is a joke.

i ordered the rest of my screen printing supplies today (emulsion remover and new emulsion...we're going to try this one more time...) so i have a lot in mind for new items. i mean A LOT.

linen is being ordered shortly as well for block printed pillows for yellow canoe.

as for operation paper cut...well, i think it's safe to say that there will be a huge shop update in early january, since i wont be working at a "real" job. lots of new journals to come.

self employment, here i come! i can't wait to meet you.

that's all for now...take care, friends.

New stuff in shop

Well, I haven't forgotten about my "holiday" themed post...but I also haven't gotten around to it, either. I did find time to make some new notebooks for the Operation Paper Cut shop, though, which hasn't been updated in quite some time. I plan on creating more new things really soon.

For now, I leave you with the notebooks...
Vintage German wallpaper covers.

Okay, short post because I'm going to go drink some pumpkin coffee with the best person ever.

Not much time...

I still haven't found the time to do my holiday post but I just wanted to mention...

I'm sure you've all heard of the lovely Sia over at Sia Grafica. Well, she contacted me a couple weeks ago about doing an interview and it's posted on her blog now! Check it out!

Handmade for the Holidays

Lots to say today, but not much time to type...so I think I'll have to come back later on for a new post.

Have you taken the handmade pledge yet?
We had a theme this week for Self Portrait Thursday on Etsy...

And this is what I came up with :)

I'm hoping that Joe buys me handmade this holiday season. Last year I set up an etsy account and a paypal account for him, that only he knew the passwords to, and I hearted about 70 items on etsy to make it easy for him. Well...I didn't get any of those gifts since he takes pride in being a "Christmas Eve shopper"...uuugh.

I've been trying to figure out something handmade that will suit each of my family members. My mother in law is super easy, she really appreciates handmade things.
My nephew, Landon, will be easy, too since he's only 9 months old. I was thinking about this really cute raven on a pull string for him. It's so classic and one of those toys that you keep for a long time.
My brother is easy, too..there are a lot of automobile lino-cuts on etsy, or maybe a nice knit winter hat.
I know what I want to get for my mom, but I can't say since she might read this :)
My dad is another story...so hard to shop for.
And the other 5 people I didn't mention are all tough ones, too. But I will find SOMETHING handmade for each one of them.
+++++
Tomorrow I have a show in Chicago for Yellow Canoe. Joe found out last minute that he can't come with to help. That's okay though...I'll be fine (other than the fact that I HATE chicago driving/parking. so nerve wracking for me.)

Like I said, I have a lot more to tell later on.
You may remember me posting about our handmade Christmas tree that I made 2 years ago. Well, I decided that I'm going to make it a tradition every other year to create a new one.
I'll show you this year's tree inspiration later on.

Long post today, friends.

Hello! How have you all been? I've been doing great, things are really going well for me. I haven't been around much in the blog world lately. I keep thinking about it, though, so I'm going to get this post up and then go visit a bunch of you.


So, you may remember me mentioning a "surprise" anniversary trip a few times. Well, we went and Joe was VERY surprised and excited about it! He knew we were going somewhere, but didn't know where.

I found out about these cabins in the Smoky Mountains almost 2 years ago. I knew that we HAD to stay in them sometime. I kept them a secret from Joe even though I looked at them online all the time. I finally booked a reservation in March after doing a ton of research, etc.

Our 1 year anniversary was in September, but I booked this trip for October because I really wanted to be down there when the leaves were changing.

So, here is our cabin: It's called "Stardust" and it was rented out by Sugar Maple Cabins.

We were both in love with this chair- it's made of sticks and wood strips, look at the craftsmanship! We'd like to buy 2 the next time we are in the area.

This photo was taken at Cades Cove.

This one was taken on our hike. We went to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and hiked the Grottos Trail to the waterfall. It was an easy hike, we really enjoyed it. The leaves were just so beautiful everywhere we went. Some were still green, but a lot of them were yellow and red and orange.

About a month before the trip, Shona from La La Dex Press had written about a studio tour that she was part of. I noticed that the dates of the tour were going to fall on the same day we were leaving TN to return home! So I emailed her and told her that we'd be in the area and that I'd love to stop by and meet her! She was super nice and outgoing! I would really like to go down there again sometime to hang out or something. It's about a 10 hour drive from home, though, so it could never be one of those spur of the moment things.

For those of you who don't know, Shona is a bookbinder and printmaker, so we share some common interests. She also seems to like the same music as I do, judging by her blog posts. This is us at Claudia Lee's studio, where she had the show. She (on the left) was wearing the cutest skirt (that she made from a dress) and just look at those boots!

It was a fun day!

Okay, onto the next topic...even though I could talk about TN and our visit with Shona all day...I have some REALLY exciting news. And no, I'm not pregnant. That's what everybody guesses...

We're moving! To Madison, Wisconsin! I am SO ecstatic about this. We have been hoping to move there for awhile now, but didn't think it would happen so soon. Joe got a promotion at work and we couldn't be happier. He decided to tell me in the parking lot of a gas station, what a random place, and it was so hard for me not to jump around and scream "yippee!"...if we had been at home, it would have been a different story. I'd be jumping over the couch and attempting cartwheels, I'm sure. But yes, we're moving. Right now we live in a small town called Salem that doesn't have much going for it. There's nothing to do here, no art exhibitions (well, not really anyway), most of the people aren't really my type (they all think i'm weird for MAKING things, and they don't really take me seriously), and I really just don't like it around here. Madison, on the other hand, is a different story. I can go to school for printmaking (yes!!!), hang out in coffee shops, WALK to my destinations (not possible here), the thrift stores are great, unlike the ones here, a fantastic farmer's market, concerts on the square, boutiques...there is just SO much to do. Joe goes up there on business every once in awhile and I visit him sometimes and I can never get over the sense of community up there. It's just a wonderful place, I can't even express what this means to me. I've been compiling a list of cool things to see and do for some time now, and I'm going to write everything in a moleskine soon. I am sad that we have to leave our families (Joe's family lives about 4 miles away, mine about 16) but we know we'll be down to visit a lot, it's only about a 2 hour trip, at the longest. But overall, I'm really REALLY happy about it. I'll stop blabbing now...Oh, we're probably moving in January :)

Okay, onto the NEXT topic. I made it into the Poppytalk Handmade for November, I'll be adding a button on the blog soon. I'm excited about it! You should all check it out, it starts on the 5th.

Have you heard that Ez from Creature Comforts is putting together a holiday gift guide? She is so kind for doing this! I've got my wares for Yellow Canoe in the guide- yay!

Okay, well I should get a few things done now. I have a couple things to package and ship and emails to catch up on. Blogs to read, too! Happy November, thanks for stopping by!

ew.

I never thought I'd say it, but West Elm has disappointed me. What's with the new stuff? Tons of animal print (snow leopard? python?) and lots of gold. Ick. I know it's not my style, what do you guys think?

That's all.

tagged!

tag, i'm it.

7 random facts about me:

1. i shave my arms daily. people think it's crazy but i like having hairless arms! it feels nice in a summer breeze, heh.
2. i refuse to paint my finger nails because it just bugs me to have bits of color at the tips of them, waving around when i'm doing things. i do paint my toes, though.
3. i collect mittens.
4. unlike noelle from pink bathtub, i absolutely DESPISE football on every level.
5. i really don't like spiders at all. one time it took me 30 minutes to build up the courage to kill one on the ceiling when joe was out of town. ridiculous. what's even weirder is that i don't mind other bugs, even the "creepy crawly" sort. i know, it's strange and doesn't make sense.
6. my current favorite vegetable is asparagus.
7. i never read a single book in high school because i am a very slow reader and i lose interest quickly. i'm a day dreamer and reading just doesn't work for me. BUT since i love writing, i easily fooled my teachers that i did in fact read the entire book just from taking good notes during discussion time. i got all all a's and b's on my papers and my essays were even picked as examples during those 4 years. i think i saved countless hours by doing so. i really wish i did enjoy reading, but i just don't.

The other blog is finally up

I just finished writing a post for the Yellow Canoe blog, so it's finally able to be viewed!

So from here on out, the Yellow Canoe blog will feature shop news and product photos and the Operation Paper Cut blog will be for whatever I feel like posting that day. I'm excited that I now have a "product" blog and a "fun" blog. The future of Operation Paper Cut as a business is still up in the air. It might just be a side project for me, we'll see.

As for this blog, I plan on featuring a lot of fresh things that I haven't blogged about before. Things such as DIY projects (yay! back to my READYMADE magazine days!), neat etsy shops, current obsessions, tons of design oriented posts, photos from my inspiration journal (I plan on making this a weekly feature), and much more. I'm really excited about it!

So, here I leave you with my current top 10 wish list finds:

Architectural Panel from PBteen.
$99.

Cheese Dome from Crate and Barrel
$24.95

Fleur-De-Lys Hook Rack at Anthropologie.
$38.

Tea Light Lanterns at Fly-Bird.
$14.

Porcelain Dahlia Taper Holder at Sprout Home.
$26.25.

Fish in the Sea poster at The Poster List.
$9.99.

Ile Sainte Marie bag at Mad Imports.
$68.

Ribbon Handle Vase from West Elm (be prepared, my all time favorite store is West Elm.)
$12.

Porcelain Mushrooms from The Curiosity Shoppe.
$20.

Total cost without shipping: $337. Not bad. The architectural panel is the priciest thing on the list at $99. So without that everything is only $237! Sounds good to me.

Okay, that is all for now, thanks for stopping by!

new stuff

i'm having a lot of fun keeping busy with yellow canoe. the blog will be ready next week, so until then, here are a few new things.

"hello, morocco"
on bristol.
block printed in sea blue ink.
lantern illustration in india ink.
i'm thinking about getting this, or one similar to this, turned into a digital print. does anybody have any info on doing this? i don't know anything about digital printing. would a regular print shop do it? or should i look for somewhere online?

raindrop coptic bound journal.

sunburst coptic bound journal.

moroccan list pad.

that's all for now, i have some orders to package and i have to get ready for our camping trip this weekend! we are going to michigan tomorrow morning, should be a good time!

have a great weekend, everyone.

it's time.

i'd like to announce that after months of saving my pennies to buy supplies, my new shop is finally open.

it's called "yellow canoe."

i have also started a yellow canoe blog, but i haven't posted anything on it yet. more on that later.

the shop features handmade items for the home. there will be lots of updates over the next month. be on the lookout for wooden pencil boxes, coat racks (i can't wait for these because i need one myself!), place mats, table runners, door rugs, jewelry holders, wall art, and more.





i have only been able to take photos of about half of my current inventory. thank you mom and dad for letting me use your house for photos! it was so much fun snapping shots in a house with color. even though the sun didn't come out until i was on my last set of photos. that's okay, i plan on retaking the ones that didn't come out so great. (their house looks awesome when it's sunny!)

so, since i finally got this show on the road, that means that i am going to be present in the blog community again. (YES! i missed you guys and i have so much catching up to do!) i feel like i took such a long break. most of my time i have been sanding, painting, carving and printing, along with hanging out with my husband on the weeknights and overnight visits with friends on the weekends.

okay, that's all for now. i have to add a few more listings to my etsy shop now. i have had some people email me and ask if i will still be making journals- after a long hiatus from binding, i made a journal for the first time 2 weeks ago and realized how much i loved the craft. that being said, i will continue to make journals but i am going to take a slightly new direction with them. you'll see what i mean within the next couple of weeks.

hi

just poking my head in. i have been busy creating things for my new shop! check back next week for more info, right now i'm trying to build up inventory and create banners, profiles, item descriptions, etc.

i plan on taking all of my stuff over to my parent's house to photograph- my mom has painted almost the entire house over the past 2 or 3 years and it looks awesome! so, i decided that i want to take item photos there since she has nice colorful walls and natural light.

till next time...

break time

time for a blog break...i should actually take a full blown internet break, but i don't see that happening. so i am banning myself from all blogs over the next week so i can attempt to get a few things done.

here is a sneak peak at a test print i did. the screen was a tad bit under exposed, but i just couldn't wait to try. this was my first pull ever so that's why the ink is kinda shotty. and i did it on a piece of scrap paper, so that's what the yellow is from. but once i re-burn this image for the correct amount of time, things will be good to go.

okay, time to go work on that. talk to you all later :)