“At birth we are red-faced, round, intense, pure. The crimson fire of universal consciousness burns in us. Gradually, however, we are devoured by our parents, gulped by schools, chewed up by peers, swallowed by social institutions, wolfed by bad habits, and gnawed by age; and by that time we have been digested, cow style, in those six stomachs, we emerge a single disgusting shade of brown. The lesson of the beet, then, is this: hold on to your divine blush, your innate rosy magic, or end up brown. Once you’re brown, you’ll find that you’re blue. As blue as indigo. And you know what that means, Indigo. Indigoing. Indigone.”

-Tom Robbins

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.  

I've been having too much fun playing with new designs.  I've added some new sizes, new closures, and speciality books which come with certain insides. 

Below are the new sizes in handmade paper.  They are for a limited time only.  You can use them for writing, sketching, photos, watercolors, and more.  This also shows two of the new closures that I've started using more of: the bronze latch and the knotted leather.  The knot looks complicated, but it is literally a knot and is a whole different look.

This is a sample page from the Baby Book.  Makes a great gift for a baby shower and has all the typical places for notes that you will want to keep as your baby is growing.

The guestbook is nice for a wedding gift or is even good for a wedding shower where you can easily keep track of guests.

The address book is small (about 4 x 6) and is great for those of us who are old school and still write down addresses.

The dated diary has one page per day and would make it easy to do a little daily journaling or would be a good place to keep notes that you need to be dated and organized (for example, a food journal/diary).

The music composition notebook is a unique place to write your music.  It is simply pages full of the staff for your composing pleasure.

New photo albums come in three sizes.  These also have the inside pages shown below.  They have a glassine (a glossy, transparent paper) separating the pages so your photos are protected.

I have a limited edition of small journals with pink inside paper.  They are in two small sizes that close with magnetic snaps under the leather.   The pink paper is a subtle dusty rose paper that is handmade with deckled edges.  This paper is available for custom orders as well.

I'm delighted to be able to finally offer sketchbooks with watercolor paper.  The paper is white, acid-free, and handmade with deckled, hand-torn edges.  Its 200 lb or 300 gsm.  They are available in medium (5.75 x 7.75 inches) for $98 and large (7.75 x 12 inches) for $140.   Both have 80 pages, including both sides.  This paper is available for custom orders as well.  

Pilgrims are poets who create by taking a journey. -Richard Niebuhr

This extra thick book was created for a couple who wanted a journal/scrapbook to record all their adventures in. They stopped in Lexington on their way back home to Illinois from Gattlinburg, TN, where they had hiked and found some great wood pieces. The husband is a woodworker so he made the wood piece that is part of the closure. This is something that they want to be an heirloom and are excited to add to each year. Their initials are hand-stitched on the side.

 A graduation gift from a mother to her daughter who just received her PhD... 

When I dream of an animal or come upon a particular animal repeatedly, I often look up the Native American meanings behind it.  It can be called "animal medicine" or "animal totem".  The idea is that animals have lessons to teach us and can help act as guides just by the way they are "being" in the world.  I recently created a custom journal with a turtle on it.  The recipient wants to use the journal to record his dreams in and told me that the turtle is important to him.  It made me curious as to what turtle medicine is all about.  Here is a little bit that I found:

Turtle symbolizes both new beginnings and endings. It is through the ending of something that allows space for something new to arise. This ending may be of an outer circumstance or a change or shift that occurs within ourselves.There may be a sense of loss or even grief over what has passed and yet it is through the energy of Turtle who is very long lived and thus very wise, that we can come to understand why something did need to leave our lives. Turtle can help lead us to that space where we can finally move on, to let go of what has been, celebrate it for the gifts it gave us and finally to turn and head for a new shore. 

You can find this information and more about turtle medicine here.