"To dance, put your hand on your heart and listen to the sound of your soul."
- Eugene Louis Faccuito
"Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.”
-Rumi
May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
-Irish Proverb
This was a custom order that came in just in time for St. Patrick's Day. A women ordered it for a friend who does Civil War reenactments and has Irish heritage. We needed to keep it rustic and minimalistic (true to the times he is representing) and a nod to his Irish heritage. This is what we came up with, and she let me know that he loved it.
Happy New, Super Moon and New Year! May it be bright and real as we transform into yet truer, better versions of ourselves. Many Blessings!
Beautiful day at an orchard on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Spruce Pine, NC!
Best view ever hands down!!!
"Pilgrims are poets who create by taking a journey."
–Richard Niebuhr
I find that when I travel, I tend to take a new journal specifically for reflections and sketches pertinent to that adventure. Journeys are such a change of pace that they can reveal parts of us to ourselves that we are too busy to pay attention to when we are in our regular routine. It's nice to have something to captures these moments. Also, because I use archival paper, you can add photos or mementos that you may collect along the way. I recently had a customer tell me about a “smash book”. It’s similar in concept to a scrapbook. The difference is rather than waiting until you get back home to neatly organize and layout your ticket stubs, maps, photos, etc., you put things in your book as you collect them. Her idea makes so much sense for those of us who have the best of intentions to scrapbook, but really just need to do things in the moment. It is sometimes all too easy for all the memorabilia to end up in a shoe box that is lucky to even have a label with the date on it.
My travel journals are now available in small, medium, and large. They have 192 archival pages (includes both sides) and come with a pen and pen holder closure. You can decide which size is best for you, depending on what size bag you tend to carry, whether you need more room for sketches or not, etc.
Happy travels to all of you on journeys of all kinds this year!
Ah, this cute koala was designed by a guy for his gal. He had me translate the koala and some eucalyptus to fabric and create this one-of-a-kind handmade, leather journal. I heard back from him that it was a great success and that his lady friend really liked it.
inspire (verb): 1. to stimulate energies 2. [Archaic] to breathe life into
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
-Lao Tzu
This handmade, leather journal was carefully planned and co-created for a 7th wedding anniversary. I was contacted by the wife who wanted a custom journal made for her husband. The traditional gifts for the 7th wedding anniversary are wool or copper. I was asked to incorporate both. Her husband likes earthy colors (he was initially drawn to my work because of the coffee bag books), and she wanted the quote on the first page. The word "journey" is hand-stitch on environmentally-friendly, 100% wool in a copper colored thread. The center closure is copper. I also really like that it is a circle since that echoes both wedding rings and the idea of a journey. Their anniversary was earlier this week, and I received the kindest email from her husband once he received it.
"I just received my 7th anniversary gift, a Reimagined by Luna original!
I'm delighted with the journal, and the story behind it (as indeed I have been behind all the products I have from Reimagined by Luna) and can't stop looking at it! Thank you very much!!"
The other really cool thing about this journal is that you can close it a variety of ways.
Here are three examples:
I'm really please with how this one turned out and enjoyed making it in honor of this couple's anniversary. Happy 7th Anniversary to them!
Sweetheart Scrapbook: Handmade Leather Photo Album
The first page can come with any quote or a personal message. All of the pages are acid-free and perfect for holding photos of you and your dear one.
Photo corners work great for this scrapbook as would photo sleeves or acid-free adhesive.
All of these can be found at craft stores.
Personal Photo Leather Journal
There is a pocket so that you can put in your own little photo or message. Also has acid-free blank pages and can be used for photos, taking turns writing down memories, love notes, road trips...
Love Deeply Large Leather Journal
Book Necklaces: Key to My Heart
Great for teeny, tiny photos or small sweet messages...
I've been asked often "What happens once my hand-bound journal is filled up? Is there a way to refill it?" While there has always been that option, I am officially making it easier than ever. You can now go to my shop and purchase refill options for either your large or medium leather journal. If you have another type of journal that I've made that you would like me to refill, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can also purchase the "rebind text block" option if you would like. This would be in addition to the refill for your journal. Let me explain: The old pages have to be cut out of your journal before I can sew new ones in. If you don't want to keep these pages or aren't concerned too much with them, this is not something you will want. However, if you want to keep those old pages and want them sewn so they stay neatly together, I can do that. You'll want to purchase the refill and the rebind text block option. As always, let me know if you have any questions.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie
I have felt floods of gratefulness. They have been coming in waves over the past several months. I was driving to one art show in August and realized how deeply grateful I am. It was almost like a light coming on: I am so grateful. I am learning and growing and moving forward and getting to do work that I consider play. I am supported by strangers and friends and acquaintances. I am thankful for healing and the continuation that it is and truth and it's ability to continue to make itself known. I'm thankful for people who have been good medicine and the various forms that has taken.
I'll be at St. James Art Show. Come on by! I'll be on Fourth Street at booth #777.
"Dancing is not rising to your feet painlessly like a whirl of dust blown about by the wind. Dancing is when you rise above both worlds, tearing your heart to pieces and giving up your soul." -Rumi
This custom journal was created for a special woman whose twin brother passed five years ago. She is a dancer and said she feels close to him when she dances. This book is for memories, daily reflections, and letters to him. She knew she wanted a dancer on the front as well as a fedora, a tulip leaf, and their names. As I began making it, I had the sense that her brother wanted her to know that she isn't alone. I felt like I needed to show them both dancing, to show that he does still dance with her. What is interesting about this design that you may not know from looking is that both dancers are from the same cloth--just different sides of it. This also feel significant given that they were twins. The female dancer adorns a fedora and the back of the journal has a tulip leaf with their names hand-stitched on it. This 10x7 journal has acid-free, recycled pages inside so the writings inside will not yellow over time. I am honored to have been asked to create this.
All my journals have different bits of love and intentionality. All are unique. However, some in particular echo inside me long after they’ve been sold. This one has been coming to mind a lot lately:
A fabulously energetic lady (from Atlanta if I recall correctly) bought it at the Berea Craft Festival a few weeks ago. Most folks come into my booth and linger and take time really enjoying the essence of it all, making careful decisions about what book they want. Not this lady. She marched right in, took a glance around, and picked this one up, saying she wanted it. “It speaks to me…you made it for me,” she told me. I love that. I love that it spoke to her and is what she needed at that particular point in her journey. Sometimes folks tell me that they don’t have good (significant, poetic, etc) enough words to write in beautiful books. I try to help them alter their perspective a bit: the books are not meant to be intimidating; they are meant to be an invitation. The lady in Berea was a poignant reminder of this for me. These books are an invitation to write, to reflect, to sketch, to grieve, to celebrate, to wonder, to dream, to create, to grow, to inspire and on and on. I make them in hopes that they will beckon and remind you that you are worth noting and reflecting on— the joys, the sorrows, the lessons, the seemingly mundane, all of it.
Those folks in Northern Cincinnati are hardcore about art. I was there for the Wyoming Art Show this past Sunday and winter happened. It was cold and rainy and folks just grabbed their rain gear and came on out. It was fantastic to be able to participate!
In April, I submitted two journals to an Ecobook Challenge organized by Mary Rezny, a local artist, and judged by Emily Martin, a book artist from Iowa who is interested in combining traditional book craft and art. The Ecobook Challenge "encourages all residents of Fayette County to create a book from recycled and reused materials. The goal is to create a cherished treasure from items that are habitually thrown away." I am pleased to announce that I received a letter saying that both of my books have been chosen for the Ecobook Challenge exhibit! The opening reception is June 17 from 5-8pm at Mary Rezny's studio (903 Manchester St, Suite 170) and is in conjunction with LexArts city wide Gallery Hop. Awards will be presented at 7pm. I am thrilled to be participating!
Ecobook Statement:
I am an eco-friendly artist who has been salvaging and repurposing materials for years. I appreciate sparing the environment, not adding to the landfills, and challenging my creativity to repurpose what might otherwise be a discarded textile. I particularly enjoy re-imagining these materials into books that can be aesthetically and functionally appealing. I began bookbinding over 5 years ago and deeply appreciate the meditative quality it offers. Initially, I started crafting books because I found journaling to be transformative in my own life. I am mostly self-taught, experimenting with different techniques and combinations. My inspiration comes from nature, ancient spiritual traditions, and anything whimsical, which I intertwine with ideas of function. These two particular ecobooks are from almost completely salvaged and recycled materials. All of the inside paper is 100% recycled, acid free paper. The Spring Beckons Upcycled Leather Book is created from reclaimed leathers that are leftover from a car manufacturer that was closed down. The Centering Flower Noteable Select was once part of the roof of the RDC Dome, an Indianapolis landmark between 1984-2008. People for Urban Progress, an Indianapolis non-profit, salvaged approximately 13 acres of the roof material. They continue to develop projects transforming the roof into various projects. One of the projects is Noteables, which are books that I design from parts of the roof. Because I create with repurposed materials, each piece is unique and cannot be recreated.