Intense

Last week Grandma was here visiting Baby (and me!), so I got in some great sewing time. I started and finished two Amy Butler bags (pictures to follow soon). DH was out of town, and when he came home I was close to finishing the second project; he said I seemed very "intense." Well, yes, I was. It was the first time in a couple months that I had been able to start and finish a project in a day. And it was great! But I wouldn't want to do it everyday, I much prefer cuddling the little one, who has become very entertaining, "talking" and cooing, moving his arms and legs all around. He loves music, partcularly Raffi, who I grew up with. Do any of you remember Raffi? I have the old cassette tapes; fortunately you can still get him on CD. Baby Beluga is our favorite collection.

Part of my sewing frenzy included some fun purchases, like this "Sweet Box" from Moda. Talk about great marketing. Who could resist a cute little package like this, with enough fabric to make two fabric pouches, seen above. And talk about instant gratification, they make up in literally twenty minutes. A great way to satisfy your sweet tooth if you're foregoing other goodies this Lent!

Spring Sale!

I'm having a spring sale in my shop to make room for new collections, including the vintage encyclopedia journals, coming soon! Check out the SALE section for 25% off selected items, including books like the ones above.

Baby Quilting

My husband's brother and sister-in-law are pregnant, so you know what that means: I get to craft them something! Their nursery is going to have a birdie theme, so at first I was considering this mobile, but it needs to be ship-able, so I decided to make a quilt. The quilt is going to have 12 birds, in red, yellow, and green prints, with a blue print for the sashing to match their nursery.

I hope they like it; you always take a chance when you give a handcrafted gift, because some recipients don't value such things, but I always try and hope for the best. I like to give handcrafted gifts because those are the kind that mean the most to me.

What kinds of gifts have you handcrafted recently, and any suggestions for cute handmake-able baby items?

Artists Books

I have always been interested in artists books, and over the years have created several on a number of different topics, which I plan to list in my new Etsy shop. This one, created a couple years ago, is on the theme of God's faithfulness. It is a concertina structure, with an acronym of Faithful, listing character qualities of God.


In the valley of each fold are cut-outs in the colors of the rainbow, another Biblical symbol of God's faithfulness. This modest little artist's book is the first I've listed in the shop, with more to come. Someday, I would like to start a collection of artist's books. Alisa Golden, who writes wonderful bookmaking books, makes hundreds of artist's books incorporating text and printmaking techniques, and I would love to own one of her pieces. Her work is something to aspire to!

Spring at Siebenthaler's Quilt

This quilt was designed and made in my manic pre-labor frenzy in January. I was envisioning the bright colors and patterns of the local garden center in the spring, with all the flats of annuals arranged in rows on tables. For this quilt, I used 8 different floral prints, randomly sewn in blocks of 5 and arranged in 3 columns. The machine quilting was done by a local quilter, and my mom and I finished the binding last weekend.


I'm so happy with the results! I plan to write and diagram out the pattern and instructions for anyone who's interested.

Paper Patisserie

I've opened a new Etsy shop, Paper Patisserie, to sell my vintage paper ephemera, decorative paper scraps, artists books, and prints and drawings. Go check it out. I will be listing more soon including some artists books and prints.

Illustration Friday: Breezy

Limited Edition: Recycled Encyclopedia Journals

I've been working on a new series of books for the shop: journals made from 1947 encyclopedias. This will be a limited edition of 10 journals, with similar covers and bindings, but each will have unique papers for the inside.


These covers are just gorgeous, you don't see nearly this quality in books these days. If you're interested in one of these journals, email me at bibliosophy@gmail.com, and I will reserve one for you! This first one is for a friend, but the other 9 should be finished in several weeks. Each will have 128 pages of cream-colored text-weight paper and measure 8 x 10 inches.