good ideas, bad ideas, and good ideas turned...not so good

With bull-like determination I'm slowly turning things out.

Today I listed a great little pamphlet book in my Etsy Books Shop. Honestly I love this book - not only the linoleum cut design on buckram book cloth - but the structure itself. This is the book I was sewing in this post. I used a variety of colored end sheet papers so there'd be a bright splash of color in between the charcoal-dark cover and the off-white text pages. After sewing I tipped (glued, in plainspeak) on the covers, just at the spine, so the sewing is not exposed and the cover material is seamless and smooth. I used buckram rather than chip board or card stock due to its suppleness. Buckram is a coated cloth, often used on vintage library books - it has an almost plastic feel to it (probably because it's impregnated with some sort of polymer), but it still has the look and flexibility of heavy sail cloth.

I wrestled a little with pricing these fine fellows. On one hand, they're simple pamphlet books, very similar to a Moleskine journal, without even some of Moleskine's bells and whistles such as pockets or removable pages. But this book is handmade from start to finish, from the cutting, folding, sewing, gluing, printing, trimming and corner rounding. I think my final decision is one I can live with.

In the not-so-great, reality of making things by hand, taking a risk and trying something new which doesn't work out category, I decided not to go forward with the other book cover designs I had been working on this week.

I have a stack of small, blank books that have been ready for some sort of cover for quite a while. Recently, as I was holding one in my hand, I realized that it was perfectly "pulp fiction," paper-back rack-sized; which led me to the natural conclusion that these should be soft covered with graphic, high contrast, B-movie, sleazy pulp type imagery. Which is fine, except it hasn't worked out for now. My lino cuts didn't work well with the book cloth I had chosen, and since the books are already trimmed to their final size and really can't go any smaller, doing a case like I had planned was technically difficult, if not impossible to make look good.

I'm still in love with the idea of creating my own pulp fiction covers to narratives that don't exist, but for now I've decided to put the cloth in the reuse/recycle bin and start over. It's difficult to make that choice since I'm crunched for time trying to make enough work for next weekend, but I'm happier knowing that I can stand behind my work 100%.

Next on the agenda:

1. 2011 calendars. They are still planned and on their way, hopefully to be finished this Friday.

2. A few more winter card designs, suitable for winter holidays, new years, all kinds of occasions...

3. Case bound, hard back books. Sometime in the second week of December.

4. More prints!!! Northwest themes, Portland lore, trees, dark primeval forests...

high octane

Fueled by cups and cups of strong coffee and sweet chai, I've been working all weekend trying to finish work for the Kenton Holiday Sale next Saturday.

This weekend my focus has been on finishing some purse-sized, softcover books that have been on my bench for a while, as well as some vintage-y guest books. I hope to finally update my Etsy books shop on Monday around noon. Until then, it's back to the glue brushes and nipping press for me!

piesessful

It's with a tiny twinge of pride that I tell you the pie crust was a success. As I'd mentioned, I had given up on making pie crust a long time ago. I sometimes fall into these ruts in which I define myself by what I am not. Such as, I am not a morning person, I am not the best at keeping in touch with people I care about, and I'm not a pie maker. But yesterday's pie crust gave me a glimmer of hope that those ingrained tendencies can sometimes rather easily, sometimes with determined hard work, be molded, directed and, *heavens!* changed.

I may actually make pie again. And maybe I'll start going for 6 AM jogs...

Yesterday's pie was an autumn harvest full of tangy, tart, sweet, and spicy. Pear, apple, cranberry, and my addition, ginger, made for a color rich, burst in your mouth juicy mess. The basic recipe is 2-3 tart apples, one ripe pear, 1 and half cups of fresh cranberries. I added (a little too much) fresh, finely diced ginger and lemon zest. The bottom is a traditional flaky dough crust, and it's topped with a streusel made of whole oats, flour, sugar, butter and spices.

Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Think about the next pie you're going to make.

from dawn til dusk, dusk til dawn

Lately I've been quite a night owl. Sometimes I work late. Sometimes I stay up for no reason. It makes it hard to get up early to jump into my work. The first thing I do in the morning is make coffee, stand in my bindery, and simply sip.

I like to say that I work better at night. It's quiet, still, and nothing else needs my attention. It's my time, and my time alone. But I also know it's largely my daydreaminess that makes me too distracted to even commit to sleeping.

Are you a night owl? An early bird? A swallow longing for the sight of land?

***

Today was a wear-the-big-boots and the jacket-with-a-fuzzy-collar kind of day. The farm stand where I tried to buy my produce was closed due to "deep freeze."

I have to say I love Portland's current weather. I'm originally from the high desert, and despite my best efforts escaping what I thought was a dreary waste land, a la T.S. Eliot, when I was younger, it's in my bones. The dry, still, cold air. The crunch of frost beneath my feet. Funny how I hated all of that, and now I'm so thankful when I get a little reprieve from the rain - as if by being thankful it might stick around for a while.

***

So it's night again. I'll be up for a while doing last minute bindery, working on the designs for some book covers, and making pie crust (!) My first pie crust in, er, 17 years or so. I gave up after a single pie disaster and never looked back. Now I'm ready to re-saddle that horse and go for it. Wish me luck.

I also need to tell you about this bread! I got this recipe for poppy seed bread from Clockwork Lemon via Etsy. I'm telling you, you have to check out her blog and the rest of her food concoctions and photos. This bread was so easy to make, and as delicious as promised. I could barely wait for it to cool before grabbing the bread knife and mutilating it.

And finally:

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone. Via

a few things to mention

I hope I don't bore you to tears with all of these dry announcements, but I have a few more things to get out of the way before I start indulging in the falderal once again.

Thing the first:

The vanguard of my holiday cards are now available in my Etsy Ephemera shop. Go see them! The designs currently available are a little different from my usual fare of animals, nature inspired themes, and linoleum carvings. I've taken a stronger interest lately in abstraction and pattern in my work, so this is translating into my line of things for sale. I've been looking at book cover design and patterns from the 1960s; I'm sure some of that has seeped into my subconscious and leant its hand in this current trend. Some of the colors are subtle, and the fine lines did not seem suited to the deep impression many are used to in letterpress printed stationery these days, so I hope there's an audience for these somewhere. At any rate, I like them. If not, perhaps I'll be forced to take up a few pen-pals in the next year.

But fear not! I know the animals are popular, and I haven't lost my fondness for them either. New winter animals are being carved in lino and will be printed in time for the Kenton Firehouse Sale.

Which brings me to thing the second:

Need a craft fair fix? Please visit either or both of these sales coming up this weekend and the next.

Annual OCAC Student and Alumni Holiday Sale

Special Pre-Event: Friday, November 26, 5:00-7:00pm (free)

Holiday Sale: Friday, November 26, 7:00-9:00pm ($3.00 admission fee for Friday only)

Saturday, November 27, 10:00am-6:00pm (free)

Sunday, November 28, 10:00am-4:00pm (free)

Kick off your holiday season with OCAC's annual Student and Alumni Holiday Sale! Enjoy holiday treats, warm beverages and a festive atmosphere at a special pre-event in our Retail Craft Gallery. Guests who make purchases between 5:00-7:00pm on Friday will receive 10% off. If you already have an OCAC membership you will get 20% in the Craft Gallery that night! Please note: This discount does not apply to items purchased at the student and alumni sale starting at 7:00pm.

All Friday attendees will also receive a raffle ticket with their regular $3.00 admission. Bring your friends and increase your chances of walking away with a certificate for Sunday brunch at the Hands on Cafe, an original piece of artwork, or free tuition to a Studio School weekend workshop of your choice.

~AND~

The Seventh Annual Kenton Firehouse Sale

Saturday, December 4, 2010

8105 N. Brandon

11 AM-6PM

Artists are:

Kendra Brock- fiber art

Clare Carpenter - book art

Al Flory -photography

Robin Epstein- hats and jewelry

Peggy Flynn - fiber art

Margaret Gardene- ceramics

Adrienne Hatkin- Jewelry

Tress Prefontaine - Glass art

Suzy Root- fiber art -whole table

Siri Schillios- painting and prints

Aunti e to you-children's clothes

Studio I - toddler tiered skirts

The Historic Kenton Firehouse is located six blocks north of Lombard. Make a left at Schofield and travel one block west of Denver to Brandon. Or take the Interstate MAX yellow line to the sale. Only three blocks from the Kenton Station!

I'll give you fair warning, I'm probably going to remind you all of this one a fair number of times before the date, just so you know...

And last, but not least, thing the last:

I created a new page for special announcements that need to stay available for a while. I'm not sure how to make it more noticeable, but for now I'll just direct your attention to it when I need to, yes? The link is included in the side bar, titled "extra, extra." But I'll just let you know that if you click here it will take you there, and what you'll find is information about two letterpress classes I am teaching this spring at OCAC. Shameless plug!

Ok, thanks for reading! I hope your holiday plans are shaping up, and that you're staying warm and cozy. I'll be sipping on whiskey, listening to an audio book, and cutting paper tonight, hoping the Pacific Northwest storm gives me a studio day tomorrow.

Now in my Etsy Ephemera store!

More to come in the next few days.

smooches dahlinks!

good dreamy goodness is coming soon

The best way to describe how I've been feeling over the last week is: you know those dreams in which you are running in a panic, something is chasing you, but your legs feel like they're made of weak jelly and you make no progress. You run and run and run. Faster, faster, but whatever is chasing you keeps gaining. There's no way you can outrun it.

And then...

You get distracted by something shiny.

Or you duck into an alleyway which leads you into a night club with fascinating looking people and expensive neon blue drinks and you become anonymous and swept up into the crowd.

Or you find yourself in a quiet park on a windy day.

Or whatever. You suddenly realize you've stopped running, but whatever was chasing you is still out there, and the cycle repeats itself.

Yup, that's me cranking the press like mad trying to catch up in my holiday stuff making frenzy.

Store re-opening and updates starting tomorrow morning (Sunday 11-21) around 11 am. More stuff to follow.

sweet dreams,

Clare

Update: Anyone who has ever been to Portland will know - we rarely see the sun here. There was a bit of light in the sky when I started photographing cards this morning by the "sunniest" window in the house, but alas, it wasn't enough. Tired of over-dark photos, I stopped everything and built a light box. Results to come soon. Shop updates later today.

an update about holiday cards and calendars

Hi there.

I just wanted to drop a line to say: my 2011 calendar and holiday cards plates are on their way to Tiger Food Press as we speak, and printing shall begin first thing next week. Look for updates here, and new items to be on my Etsy shelves around the 19th 21st (next Sunday.) OCAC's alumni holiday sale will be Thanksgiving weekend, and will be the first local place where I'll be selling new work this year.

The *Cheap-But-Good* book arts sale is happening this weekend. Yay! I won't have anything new there, but I'll be selling off last years holiday cards, some second quality prints, and some old familiar broadsides. There'll be plenty of student and teacher work, plus supplies like fancy paper and bookcloth, so come one, come all.

In the meantime, I'm sewing books and trying not to panic.

Do you ever have one of those days when you are so swamped with possibility, when there are so many things on your "to-do" list, that it seems an impossible chore to simply decide which to tackle first?

I should be sewing these books right now. But I should also be printing the design that will go on the cover. And of course, I could be making the parts for the covers of my small hardbound blank books which have been sitting on job *inbox* table for months. I could also be ordering paper, which needs to be done today and no later. Also, there are albums half finished, and drawings yet to be turned out on linoleum and carved. And I just noticed that my spice cupboard really needs to be cleaned and rearranged, and the kitchen floor desperately needs to be mopped. Ever have one of those days?

Truthfully, I feel pretty damn lucky!

*Cheap-But-Good*

It's time to announce:

The second annual "Cheap-But-Good" book arts sale at Oregon College of Art and Craft.

The Book Arts Department at Oregon College of Art & Craft will hold its second annual fall "Cheap-But-Good Book Arts Sale" on Saturday, November 13th from 10am-3pm. The sale will take place in the Book Arts studio at OCAC which is located at 8245 SW Barnes Road in Portland.

There will be handmade journals, boxes, artist books, broadsides, decorative paper, small prints, cards, etc. for sale with prices starting at one dollar!

Proceeds benefit the Student Workshop Fund.

Last fall we had a really great turnout with lots of excellent work from current students, alumni, and teachers. This year the timing is perfect for early holiday shopping. Hope to see you there!

she's gone crazy...

yessir, I've gone a little loopy and have interrupted my regularly cynical programming to produce some

dun, dun, dun...

BABY ANNOUNCEMENTS

This year a rash of friends announced pregnancies, and while I can't provide sound, soothing advice for new mothers, or diaper changing services, or knit cozy little booties, hats and sweaters, I can provide announcement printing.

For T & J, I printed a very simple card using the image of little baby G's footprint from the hospital. I printed this with a little transparent white on white, kid finish card stock, and printed the interior in silver using handset Bodoni Bold. I think it came out looking really lovely and understated, as we're not particularly into *cute* or over sentimental expressions.

Which leads me to these: I'm going to try selling packs of baby announcements in my Etsy store to see where it leads. To begin with, I'm using this design of wood type and some non-typical colors - a rainbow roll of silver and warm red for the word BEBE, and a rainbow roll of red and orange for the accents. I must be inspired by the colors surrounding my studio now, the poplars and maples have all burst into their autumn colors in the last week.

Most likely I'll save printing the flipside of these flat card announcements, which will include space to fill out baby's name, weight and length at birth, birthday, etc., until after I've cranked out my holiday work; but I thought I'd give you a little preview. What do you think? Do baby announcements need to be cute? Must they be powder blue and pink? I guess I'll find out!