Oh Baby!

We're going to have some new excitement around here in January with the birth of our first child...(maybe I can blame the pregnancy for abandoning the blog the last few months)...so I've been contemplating all things baby-related. One of the great Dover publications, a book full of clip art from the 1920's has been sitting around waiting for some inspiration. Inspiration found, with new Baby Books in the shop! This is the first one I made, with more to follow soon with blue pages.



Aren't these vintage illustrations the sweetest!

Hey, Good Lookin'...

...what 'ya got cookin'? A "Here's What's Cookin'" book! These cookbook journals are my newest project: the covers are covered in bright oilcloth fabrics, so you can wipe them free of kitchen messes. The inside pages are my own recipe page design, with Curly-Q calligraphy, and each signature is wrapped with a different color paper so you can divide your cookbook into sections. I love the bright happy colors of oilcloth, and this provides the perfect excuse to go buy more!


These journals bring all kinds of good ideas to mind: you could use one as a family reunion cookbook, where everyone contributes a couple recipes. Or, use it as an activity at a bridal shower, to provide the bride with recipes from her loved ones. With 100 pages for recipes, there's plenty for everyone.

I love the idea of creating a personal cookbook. The girls in my family are working on one right now, and so is my calligraphy guild. For the past nine months, we've each contributed calligraphed recipes in all different food categories. Next month, the cookbook is unveiled, and we each get to keep two copies! The work these ladies do is amazing; they are true artists.

Keep Calm...

...and Carry On. My new life motto. I got this great print from BluLima on Etsy that's a slogan the British government had commissioned during World War II to be posted in times of "crisis or invasion." There were three different slogans they came up with, and this one was never posted. My print is a gorgeous mulberry red, which perfectly matches the house. So, in times of crisis or invasion in your life (which for me happens, at least figuratively, at least once a day), repeat to yourself, "Keep calm and carry on." Very British; I love it.

Escapism

Every once in a while I like to forget about all the regular chore-type stuff I have to do (cleaning my house, doing homework, cooking, laundry....) and escape with a great book. I love mysteries, but I've exhausted Agatha Christie, and Josephine Tey, one of my favs. So I looked on Amazon at their lists, and found some authors who were grouped with ones I already like. I struck gold! I spent all Wednesday evening (staying up WAY past my bedtime) and Thursday afternoon reading "The Yellow Room," by Mary Roberts Rinehart. If you need an escape book, check it out!

3 Shakespeares

These Booklets were created as part of the Etsy Books April Book Challenge. World Book Day is April 23rd, which is also the anniversary of the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. So...the challenge was to create something related to one of these authors. These three mini Shakespeares were created with the pages of Much Ado About Nothing, one of my favorite of his plays; my all-time favorite being Twelfth Night. They will be up in my shop tomorrow!

SALE at the Bibliosophy Books Shop

Check out the shop April 23-26 for 20% off on everything in celebration of World Book Day. There will also be some new Will Shakespeare and Don Quixote Booklet pins.

He's All Grown Up...Well, Almost

Today I thought I'd share some pics of our furbaby. Gordon the Golden has been with us for almost two years, and has finally started turning into the dog I'd always imagined he could be! He loves to be with his mom and dad, eat, chew sticks and bones, and chase squirrels, birds, anything that's moving...

This is Gordon as a baby...

...and today...