Grey Moggie Press

my friends are the awesomest.

two of my girls got me the sweetest gifts when they were out of town recently. thanks J & K!

I love my handmade headband k picked up from a market in austin.

and my birdie pouch from j’s trip to old chatham.

on the road

I’m traveling all over upstate New York this week for work. I’ve set up base camp in Syracuse and I’m trying to explore since I have a bit of downtime. I looked up art supply stores and found one within walking distance of my hotel. I picked up some markers, a couple sheets of pretty paper, and a drawing pad. Back in my room after dinner, I whipped up a new random book that I wanted to share on the blog. While I have my camera on me, I didn’t think to bring the cord that lets me upload photos. Sharing of the book will have to wait.

GO ORANGE!

I’m happy to share some ideas for other books, though. When I made my first couple mini books at the end of the summer, I used them as journals while traveling and kept a few spaces and a few full pages open to add photos later. I found this method a bit limiting, so for the France mini book, I didn’t worry about where I was going to put photos and allowed myself to use all the space in the book to keep mementos and journaling. This method freed up my creativity and I began to see everything as a possible page that I could simply add to the book. A few of the more outside-of-the box pages from that album: (keep in mind that adding pages after a book is "bound" doesn't work for all binding methods - it works especially well with book-ring-bound books.)

The map Mr. Moggie printed out before we left and carried around in his pocket the whole time we were in Aix.

The placemat from the restaurant where we had a delicious jet-lagged lunch on our first day in France.

A postcard from the artist who designed the pretty dresses at a shop we visited and a train ticket from the day we went to Marseille. I stapled three business cards together from the restaurant where we had dinner one night (I taped the itemized receipt from the meal to the back of the page so we could remember what we had eaten).

I used two business cards for this page, but on the back I stapled the little paper guard they put on the handle of the metal pot that held steamed milk for my café crème and wrappers from a few chocolates.

What can you find around you to make a creative page? Can you make a whole book from these pages?

***I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around, what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages.

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed.If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy.***

letterpress workshops

If you've ever thought you might want to letterpress, Pyramid Atlantic is offering two workshops with Moira in the next couple months. Both are suitable for beginners.

Saturday 10.10.2009: Intro to Letterpress

Saturday 11.14.2009: Letterpressed Holiday Cards

I'll be helping out with both workshops. More info on Moira's blog here.

finding inspiration at an art fair

After a trip to the farmers market on Saturday, I convinced Mr. Moggie to bike over to Arts on Foot with me.  Juried art fairs are great because someone has hand picked all of the artists and crafters so there’s no sifting through the bad to get to the good. At every single booth, I found something I adored.  In particular, I can’t wait to save up some spending money and get a bag from JennyJen42 and a sweater from The Devil Made Me Do It. My favorite booth, however, was the one set up by Moonlight Bindery.

 

photo from the moonlight bindery blog

I had run into some problems making a book of my own on Friday night and it made me appreciate beautiful, perfectly crafted books at a whole new level and all the hard work that goes into the process.  The challenges of Friday night could have led me to give up and think, “Bookmaking is too hard.” But seeing such beautiful books on Saturday inspired me to practicepracticepractice because beautiful books are worth it.

the book that came out of Friday night’s binding session

What artists or crafters inspire you to be better at your art or craft?

***I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around, what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages.

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed.If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy.***

use what you love

After looking through photos of my latest mini books, K emailed asking "i noticed your adhesives-- do you not worry about using archival materials?" No, I don’t.

I try to take advantage of inspiration as soon as it hits. If a vintage map catches my eye while I’m flipping through some of my old books, I’ll make a greeting card with it right away. If I think of a neat cover for my latest mix cd, I open up Photoshop and get to work on it. (See the one above? hot air balloon image from www.balloonfestivals.com.) When I sit on an idea for too long it feels forced and inorganic when I come back to it later. And whatever I create doesn’t feel like me.  

When it comes to supplies, I have a similar attitude. I use what inspires me and usually that’s what’s easy to use or easy to reach. Maybe I should worry that there’s too much acid in my pretty little masking tape (not sure?) or my favorite pen or that the beautiful decorative paper I was compelled to buy is going to ruin my photos. But my photos are all digital and safely backed up and my bigger worry is that I won’t use the pretty paper that’s piled up in the corner of the room, or that I’ll never print my photos and have them on physical display.  

In the spirit of letting inspiration take hold, I made a new book last night. I’m not sure what’s going in it, but I didn’t want to wait for an event or a theme to put this book together. I’ve been loving blues and reds together lately, so I combined some of my favorite shades. It helped that I went to an event at Paper Source and got to take advantage of sale prices. Yay!

What are your favorite supplies? Do you worry about their archival quality?

***I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around, what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages.

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed.If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy.***

a few of my favorite things

At one of the shops we visited in Aix, there were beautiful dresses and skirts that were all designed by the same artist. I bought a gorgeous yellow skirt with handpainted detailing, and a one-of-a-kind printed dress with bright ribbons that Mr. Moggie chose. In the corner of the shop I spotted a shelf with some sweet handmade books. I got a simple cahier, with beautiful natural flecked pages and this amazing stitched book with a musical note cut out of the front cover. When I picked it up I noticed that under the stitching, the book artist had slipped a piece of sheet music so that the binding of the book is littered with musical notes. My face lit up and I looked over at the shopkeeper, who had the biggest knowing grin on her face, like she had been waiting and waiting for someone to notice that detail.

Later in Paris my friend, Amber, pointed me to a fun little shop near her apartment. She thought I would love it, and she was right. I found a couple more little cahiers there. One featured an illustrated map of Paris with the major sights collaged in, and one with adorable animal characters for each letter of the alphabet.

And while we’re on the topic of cute alphabet drawings, here’s a sheet of paper I picked up in Aix. And have you seen Emily Martin’s Black Apple alphabet poster? I snagged one a few weeks ago and it’s tucked away safely to be hung on the wall at our next apartment.  

What kinds of books inspire you to make books of your own?  

***I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around, what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages.

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed.If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy.***

Mini-book tip: Planning page

It’s a good idea to jot down thoughts every day while traveling. You might remember all the activities from a specific day and record them later, but it’s harder to capture emotion and fleeting thoughts more than a few hours later. When I make a mini-book, I always leave spaces for journaling. You can use labels on scrapbook paper or insert a few blank pages. On our last trip to New York, we wanted to fit a lot of stuff into our last full day there. If we were going to fit in coffee at Abraco, noodles at Momofuku, hat shopping, pie shopping, the Brooklyn Flea, and dinner with friends, we were going to need a plan. Along with our hosts, we came up with a schedule for the day while we were at dinner the night before. I jotted it in my Something to Keep You Distracted journal, on a page with the prompt “present dreams.” Jenny added illustrations, and also all of our initials with checkboxes to the bottom of the page so that we could sign on to show our approval of the plan. We made a rough go of the plan that Sunday morning and while the weekends’ previous late nights made us pretty slow, we fit almost everything into the day.

A couple weeks later in France, I used the same concept on a page I had left blank for journaling. It was a fun way to practice a new way of lettering I had seen during our time in NYC. As the day went on, I added notes about each of the day’s planned events, and whether or not we stuck to the plan. It’s one of my favorite pages from that album.

Can you make your daily to-do list visually appealing? Try it!

***I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around, what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages.

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed.If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy.***

What to bring on an adventure

I always intend to put my photos and scraps together after a trip. Intentions, however, give way to unpacking, laundry, loving my cat, getting back into the every day routine, and recovery from the trip. So the last few times I traveled, I made a mini-book before we departed and packed it in my bag along with a few good supplies. My supply stash grew with each trip, and in France I found a cute little bag to hold them all. Here’s a list of the things I will likely carry on future trips. Take some ideas from my list and then let me know if I’m missing something.

Mini scissors: If the blades are less than 4 inches, you can pass through airport security.

Adhesives: I brought a glue stick, tape runner, and glue pen. The glue pen can be used as a permanent or repositionable adhesive. When at home, i use Zots, but they come in a bulky roll.

Mini stapler & extra staples: Once I picked up my mini stapler I didn’t know how I ever survived without it.

Mini hole punch: So you can add extra pages while you travel (especially cool if you have a Polaroid and want to add photos as you go)

Pens: My favorite pens are Paper Mate Flair pens. I typically bring black and red with me. I also like the AC Slick Writers since they write on masking tape, photos, & glossy postcards.

Labels: I always stock up when Paper Source has a sale on labels, or you can find lots of free templates online and add your own adhesive.

Decorative tape: I carry 3-4 rolls of happy tape on a trip – whichever rolls best match the theme of the book. 

Ribbon: The ribbons in the photo are those I picked up during our trips and tried to incorporate into the books. We visited an art store in Aix-en-Provence and a scrapbooking store in Bar Harbor and I found lots of fun items that I don't typically have access to. 

Bone folder: If you have it, you will use it. I used mine to smooth down wine labels that I added to my pages in France.

 

See how nicely they fit into my little pack? I picked the bag up at a gift shop in Aix. It's a Quo Vadis bag featuring Benjamin Vautier insignia. And voila. All zipped up and ready to go in my day trip bag.

What do you bring when you want to craft on the go, and how do you carry it all?

***I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around, what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages.

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed.If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy.***

Books books books

Lately, I've got a thing for books. I love making them, reading them, looking at them, holding them. I always have a few in my bag or purse. Usually I have a novel, a non-fiction book, a journal, a planner, and typically one or two smaller books where I jot down song lyrics, funny thoughts, and random phrases I overhear.

Storybooks I've been carrying recently: My favorite books are those I read in about 2 days. These three books may have an unfair advantage because I read them on vacation, but I gobbled them up as quickly as possible. Each book is about the struggle keep a family together despite the individual struggles of each member of the family. I'm a huge Richard Russo fan, and That Old Cape Magic had a lot of similarities with my favorite book of his, Straight Man.  The Story of a Marriage takes its readers to San Francisco in the 1950s, a wonderful historical backdrop for the story of a woman who comes face-to-face with a huge secret and a huge decision. The Great Perhaps is the story of a modern family of six in Chicago, and what unfolds when each of them has their own personal meltdown.

The blank books I carry: I always have a planner/calendar with me. My current planner is the extra-large soft cover moleskin. When it's open, the page on the left has a space for each day of the week, and the right-facing page is just a lined sheet for notes. I use the lined page for my weekly to-do list. I also have a feather pocket planner from the etsy shop dozi. It's a tiny little book with each month on two pages. I use it for big-idea planning. One of my favorites is this gocco-printed mini moleskin from shoofly's etsy shop. I love that it's filled with graph paper and it's where I keep track of projects I want to try next. And I also carry around this little lime green mini moleskin that my friend, Kara, gave to me as a graduation gift. On the back inside cover she wrote, in her gorgeous handwriting: Sometimes I play a song I never heard before. The cats I like best are the cats who take chances. I keep song lyrics and quotes in that book.

Some things I've been known to carry: I used to carry that beautiful green leather embroidered/beaded journal. I picked it up from Urban Outfitters years ago. Sometimes I make tiny matchbooks out of scraps left from other projects. I carry them with me to jot down books I want to read or items to pick up at the grocery store. My journal of the moment is the letterpress kraft sketchbook from The Mandate Press, an overwhelmingly inspiring print shop in Salt Lake City. And I love having Elsie's Something to Keep You Inspired journal in my bag. When I have a few minutes and need an escape I work on some of the prompts in the book and practice my doodling. 

Non-Story Books I Might be Carrying: I tend not to read non-fiction books all the way through. I'll read a chapter or two, move onto another book or get swept away by a novel, and then I'll come back later. Honestly, there's only so much self help one girl can handle at a time. Some of the non-fiction books in rotation lately are Eats, Shoots, and Leaves; How to be Useful; The Glass Castle; True Love (and other mindfulness books); and Craft, Inc.

What books do you carry?

{I've decided to run a series on books over the next few days (weeks? until I run out, I guess). I'll share some of my favorite books to carry around (see above), what supplies I bring with me on trips, some easy book-binding techniques, and what inspires my favorite pages. 

Feel free to use any tip or technique I share on the blog in your own work. If you find a way to make it profitable, by all means, use it. If you really like an idea that I've shared, I'd love a link back to my blog or the post where I shared it; if you like lots of my ideas, consider adding me to your blogroll. If I share something that I didn't come up with myself, I will point you to the source; if I point you to another website or blog, please be considerate about how others want their work attributed. If you make something super neat using an idea from my blog, I'd love to see a photo of it! Thanks and enjoy}

France Mini Book

Have you ever gone on a really amazing trip? You had high expectations and they were exceeded? That was our recent trip to France. And it is so difficult to adjust to real life after a trip that takes you so far from reality. Making this mini-book helped the recovery a bit, but we're definitely still adjusting.

We spent the first part of the week in Aix-en-Provence. What a beautiful, charming city! The pace was relaxed, but not slow. Everyone was gorgeous and I loved how well they wore even the simplest clothes. The shopping in Aix was an indie girl's dream. So many of the shops and market vendors sold beautiful handmade hats, dresses, and tops in which you couldn't miss the marriage between fashion and art. And I found beautiful handmade books in several shops, too. The food was ridiculous. We took advantage of the food markets and Provencal restaurants, and on a day trip to Marseille we hit up a bouillabaisse joint. Provence does rose wine really well and we drank lots of it at every meal and sometimes while we sat and watched the beautiful crowds stroll by our cafe table.

Next we ventured up to Paris to spend some time with my college roommate. She and her husband were such gracious hosts and introduced us to many of their friends. I think part of the reason it's been so hard to adjust to real life again is because it was so wonderful to reconnect with such a dear friend. That, and the macarons at Laduree.

 

This mini-book is a beast. I used a bunch of photo postcards we picked up along the way, and had included some soft paper in muted colors before the trip. I added wine labels, business cards, train tickets, the map we carried around every day, our printed itinerary, and lots of other random paper pieces, even the wrapper from the duck sausage we picked up from the market. For the photos I took, I printed them out in 4x6 blocks, three blocks to an 8.5x11 sheet of photo paper. I started out with tiny book rings, but had to upgrade to giant rings, of course. I've never used the big ones before - I'm glad I still had them lying around! Lots of photos of the "mini"-book below:

Maine Mini Book

 

After a few days in NYC, we headed directly to Northern Maine. We spent the rest of the week at my parents' house, all the way at the tippy top of the state. One morning I got up to pack a picnic lunch for the whole family and we canoed all day long. Until it was time for ice cream. We spent a few hours on the lake with my aunt and uncle - they even let Mr. Moggie captain the boat for a while. And we always seem to be in town for the annual Muskie Derby and Ploye Festival. Seriously. We ended our time in the north by attending a 55th wedding anniversary party for my dad's aunt and uncle. So. Ridiculously. Cute. 

The rest of our stay in Maine we were in Bar Harbor. We had a few relaxing days, dining out with my parents, reading on the lawn while the waves crashed below, and devouring lobsters. It was wonderful!

Here's the mini-book that captures it all: