Pretty New Products & A Give Away

When I was in graduate school working on my Masters of Fine Arts degree at UGA, I had the opportunity to design my own course of study in interior design. My thesis was restaurant design and because of that so many courses within the art department were appropriate for me to include in my curriculum. Of course, I chose the best ones! I did fabric design, furniture design, colour theory, paper making and bookbinding. I cannot tell you which class was my favorite ~ I loved them all for very different reasons. They all brought out different aspects of my creativity and there were no limits to what I could do. After all, I was still in school not in the "real world."

I do not have the opportunity to now create hand made paper as I used to while in school, using my old cotton and silk clothing. 'Cooking it in large vats until it was pulp, shaping the mushy billowy pudding-like pulp on the paper forms, pressing and squeezing out all the water, layering each leaf with blotters, and anxiously awaiting for several days the final piece of paper ~ never really knowing how it would turn out. That was the beauty of it all.




Although I do not make paper now, I recently have been working on some new ways to make pretty hand made booklets using my fine art prints and designs with a variety of papers for my Etsy shop and my new Art Fire Gallery, which I have just opened this week.






If you're looking for the perfect place to record your adventures, sketch your ideas, preserve memories, or store your thoughts, look no further than these lovely handmade booklets.





These little books contain twenty four pages of 50 pound acid free sketch paper and ten sheets of transparent tracing paper. The book cover is a giclee print of one of my original gouache designs on 120 pound watercolour paper. The inside cover is printed with a coordinating design.







On the inside of the front cover I have placed a hand cut pocket made from 80 pound textured card stock adorned with vintage millinery, jewels, or other gems. Within the pocket there is a giclee print bookmark I made and tied with ribbons, twine, pearls, and other pretty scraps. The book is hand bound with grosgrain ribbon and tied with a floppy bow. Each is crafted with care and is a one of a kind booklet.








Right now I have just a few listed in my shops, but am working on more. I'd love to know what you all think of them.

Now...I would like to show you what I am giving away in celebration of my one year "Blogoversary."

One of these matted colour photographs ~ both have been favorites on Flickr and in many Etsy treasuries. Clean Laundry has been featured on the Front Page. Pick your favorite.



Precious Pink Cottage




Clean Laundry


A set of laminated magnets ~ Clean Palette and Messy Palette. Both of these photographs have also been in numerous Etsy treasuries. Messy Palette has been in Flickr Explore.



Palettes



And a pair of note cards ~ these are two of my photographs that were recently featured in Somerset Life.








In order to qualify for the give away and have a chance to have your name chosen, please leave a comment. For those of you who have already left a comment on my "Blogoversary" day on August 11th, you are included too.


In your comment please let me know what you think of my new hand made booklets and which matted photograph you would like to receive ~ Precious Pink Cottage or Clean Laundry. You have until September 1st ~ and I will announce the winner a few days later.

Thank you all for reading what I write and coming back for more. It's been fun so far.

Ciao amici,

Suzanne

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