LizzyHouse

happy birthday: free handmade book contest

this coming Tuesday, June 17th, is my birthday. Cool, huh? And as such I am going to do a free give away. I am turning 23 so I am going to give away 3 of my handmade books. As much as I love receiving gifts, I love giving them. No really. Read here for an explanation.

Just leave me a comment about one of your best birthdays and then I will have my p.a. Mallori (haha) choose the winners on Monday the 16th. This would be a good time for all you lurkers to make your presence known... as a birthday present to me. That's right. I've caught you all. Happy Unbirthday!

 

i've got a new peep! Check her out!

Dear Peeps, again.

Dear Peeps.

yet another dream come true.

I have made over 100 books in the past year (holy cow that's sick)... needless to say, it has been time for a while to order some new supplies. I finally bit the bullet and did so. I know we discussed this before when I bought my little digital camera. I have the hardest time making big purchases, BUT I can throw down so much cash in a day on a bunch of random stuff which is of course equivalent to the big purchase. This has actually been affecting my life... as lately I have needed grown up party clothes for gallery shows and openings, but I have such a hard time with the big purchases! I need a person to go with me who is willing to tell me to spend money when I actually need something (a yellow dress I should have bought last week; I'm weeping). I'm working on it.

I just wanted to share with you one of my very favorite book making ingredients.

Ok, I think this could be a good summer after all... as soon as it stops snowing

weekend update

here is a bit of journal through photos of some work I did this week.... i'm glad it will be a new week tomorrow.

stacking festival (exhausting a theme)

a commissioned book for Nick who is going to Europe for a while.

first block of a new block print...

a small package to my fabric peeps

happy Easter everyone!

short.

the past couple of days I have felt really short. I am not all that short...but not all that tall. I would say that 5'4 is about normal, but I have felt so small. I can't seem to reach anything. I am always standing on the counters in the printmaking studio... which I don't actually mind, because I like standing on the counter. I haven't been carrying anything over sized that would make me seem smaller... it's a funny feeling, the idea of being closer to the ground than usual.

i've also been so short on time. I am trying to figure out how I am really supposed to get everything done (art work, school work, work work), and still be some what present in the rest of my life... I am very interested to know how so many of you had time to date and get married... I can't even remember to eat lunch, let alone fix my hair. lets be honest...not much to fix...

i decided to be more of an advocate for a handmade lifestyle and in doing so I have been printing my own end papers for my books instead of purchasing paper. I will definitely use the paper I already have, and buy some if it is really something that I couldn't make. I start by carving linolium blocks, choosing the colors and then I print them on paper (maybe some fabric). This particular pattern is three different blocks, and it is based on a Saul Bass design that I really love. I have however adapted it to my own travels...

tonight I made a book using the paper, and I gave a sheet of it to one of my friends for her birthday and she has already made a beautiful book using it as well. This is just one color way, and there are four more... and just so you can have an idea of the process: each sheet has 48 passes under the press, so that means inking the block 48 times as well, with 3 different colors, and there are 5 sheets in each color way. That is 480 actions for each set!

I hope everyone had a good day. I myself care very little for Valentines. At least this year there was very little that made me nauseous.

a billion feet of snow.

i have spent four years here and never before have we had this much snow! I was supposed to go down to Logan this weekend to visit my Asher, BUT they went so far as to close one of the main highways. Well, the snow that they have "cleared" from the roads is over 8 feet tall in my parking lot. It's a trouble being so short and walking everywhere, you can hardly see where you are going these days.

OK, if my last hint wasn't clear enough; how is this for a hint? I got a contract and I start sending in my designs this week. I got a call from New York on Friday. The funny thing was the fact that I was in class and had to leave class to take the call. I thought that was so amusing. My favorite part about the call was hearing that they will send off my designs for engraving!! I know that's how it's done, BUT ENGRAVING. I'm a print maker! It all works together so nicely.

I have so many projects going right now, it's probably a good thing there are a billion feet of snow so I can actually try to sit still and get some of it done. I don't have any pictures of what I am doing yet... they all are in baby stages or almost done...

I hope everyone is well. How is the weather where you are?

these are pictures I took for a watercolor still life. I just can't bring myself to paint a watering can with flowers and a straw hat.

No, really.

so I am at home, and in the past 5 days I made 20 books. I schlepped all my supplies home with me and just went to work. It was really important that I get an inventory again, as I was down to one book. You know I always set goals for whatever I am doing... so for the books I would produce 2-3 of the same book to hone in on my duplication skills. I'm a machine, you're a machine...

Already 4 of them have been sold, 5 gifted, they deplete so quickly, but It's nice that people really respond to them. Here are some pictures for your book loving pleasure.

more soon. I still have 8 to make... i ran out of glue. Also, my cityscapes that I started a couple of months ago, just got finished being quilted... bound tonight, and then a gift to my sister on Christmas. I will post some pictures of it. I am really happy with how it's looking. It hasn't been much of a break as far as work is concerned, but it is really nice to be home. Merry Christmas

do you realize?

holiday orders!

i took a couple custom book jobs in the past couple of weeks, and it has been interesting. I guess I am not so used to doing custom work! I used to do custom paintings, but I guess I have always preferred to make something and then someone like it... needless to say, I got the jobs done. Here are a few of them....

i won't mention names as they are gifts...

the steam punk journal. I didn't know what that meant... but luckily the internet truly is a wealth of knowledge, and I have a friend who new a little bit about it, and was able to point me in the right direction! I used copper and leather, and I think it really came together.

the frog book. I was asked to make a book with a frog theme.... well, you will be hard pressed to find paper, that is the right quality for end papers, with frogs on them. So, I got to carve a linoleum block after a frog that I designed, and I printed my own end papers. I was really happy with how it turned out, so much so, that we might print some fabric with the frog, and definitely more paper. I hope the recipient really enjoys it.

just one more week to I go home for the Christmas Break!

a really nice night.

Tonight was the opening of the Student Art show, and the BFA show. I had two pieces in the show, both of which won an award! I got an honorable mention in Printmaking for one of my prints, and I received first place for my book, When It Rains It Pours. I was so surprised! I never win anything! It was a nice reassurance that I am going in the right direction. It was fun to take a breather and talk with people that are normally too busy or rushing off to class.

Amy presented her prints tonight as the completion of her BFA. We had a lot of fun on Wednesday hanging her show. I love things that force you to really pull together... setting up for a party, being stuck in an elevator, Saturday Class (Breakfast Club), jury duty, power outage in a bad storm... hanging a gallery show. We worked for several hours to make sure that everything was in the right place, the right distance apart from each other, and that everything was level. It was a lot of fun. It is also one of those times that you wish you were taller, or as our Professor said, "why don't any of you girls have tall boyfriends?" I replied with, "why don't any of us have boyfriends...?"

Everyone really liked her work, and lots of people are interested in purchasing! That's what we are all about, the Benjamins.... It is just always so nice to have people appreciate your work.

In that lecture I went to last night, the man who spoke Steve Huston, said, "once the art leaves your studio, it is no longer yours, it belongs to the viewer." I really thought about that, as people viewed my work, and Amy's work, and everyone else that was showing, how different any one person can feel about a piece. It was all very interesting... I guess my art work has never been in a situation like this. It was a little hard for me interestingly enough. It actually made me a little emotional...

Altogether though it was a very nice night. Both of my sisters were here which was really nice, and after the show we went to see StarDust in the cheap theatre, which I was happy about. I am excited for tomorrow though as we are going to all of the quilt stores in the greater Rexburg/ Idaho Falls area. I figured it would do me some good to take a little break.

lots and lots and lots of work to get done in the next two weeks. I am sorry if anyone was looking forward to those tutorials, they just got put on the shelf, but I would be happy to do them when I get home if anyone is interested. But I will give you a very very very sneak peek of something tomorrow.