mmm.... coffee.....

she understood the european things of 1943, but she does all these things i can't stand

(here is some of the no-longer super-secret box-making project)

there are two sets of three file boxes that fit into a slipcase, those are all finished except for covering the slipcases with the fabric sitting on top.  i am so happy with how they look & they pull out very smoothly by the little ribbon.  the last photo is one of two giant boxes that have inner walls, it is completed & the second one is assembled & waiting to be covered.  still in the works are 5 more boxes, half clamshells that tie shut & have lovely letterpress spines...

as i said before, i'm exhausted & it's quite a workout paper-backing fabric in large sheets, but i am excited to be doing it.  between the library & my studio, i'm working 14 hour days, it's pretty amazing & satisfying work - i enjoy the challenge of wrapping my brain around 3-dimensional shapes.  i hadn't been spending time in my studio these past few months & i had been itching to get back in (my usual all or nothing.)  i have managed to make time for a few dates here & there, held a craft-night at my house saturday & jodie drove down from maine to spend the night.  now i just need to squeeze in a weekend in NYC soon...

keep on knockin but you can't come in

i finally asked permission to photograph & share this project with you so i suppose it doesn't have to be such a secret anymore, but it more fun that way...  my weekend was a blur of box-making, as will be this weekend & next weekend, too...  they are gorgeous (if i may say so myself) but i am exhausted & my arms & back are sore.  i am making a set of insane boxes for a textile designer (Raoul Textiles) covered in her own fabrics.  the designs are screen-printed on linen & i'm turning them into bookcloth using this technique for paperbacking fabrics from NewYorKamera.  due to the dryness of my apt, i had much better results putting the methyl cellulose on the fabric first; it retained moisture longer than the paper & subsequently had a more uniform adhesion & dried flatter. 

i have been scrimping & saving all my money these past several months in preparation of being unemployed mid-april.  so, to congratulate myself for receiving steady paychecks for yet another year, i have decided to order a 30gig ipod!  the question is: what should i get engraved on the back?

oh i see how his life resembles yours and you somehow are like him

this is all i will show you of my super secret box making project.  i know cutting that s-curve by hand was a little insane, but, well, those are the best parts of my boxes!  i tend to do the little details that other people wouldn't bother with & besides, a straight edge isn't as beautiful...

i'm wearing a new pair of sock-sleeves today & arguably the most amazing socks ever.  or sock. since i'm only wearing one...  actually, they're both amazing since the non-cephalopod sock is a bowling sock teresa gave me.  i also bought skull socks & new sneakers - abby was visiting this past weekend & we wandered the east side shopping after our tasty sunday brunch.  pears in a grilled cheese sandwich?  strange, i know, but incredibly delicious.

i stopped in at work today, but i'm not really here because i'm taking a day off, but i'm working on the aforementioned super secret box project so i came in to use the board shear.  also, all my hand-tools are at my workbench & it's february birthday party day & i need to be here so everyone can congratulate me on my job extension!  yes, i will continue to be gainfully employed, pay my rent & eat for another year - complete with health insurance & retirement plan.  my new & improved unemployment/move to maine & work in a coffee shop date is now June 30, 2008...

the you is me, i made up the rest

bookbinding isn't always pretty, especially yesterday...  it's only wednesday, but it's been a long week.  i'm taking the next two days off from the library to sew vinyl goodies.  working full time at a crafty job & then going home to craft at night & on the weekends is a lot harder than i expected...  i'm tired.  i'm really tired.  my hands, arms, my fingers are tired.  but i still love it & i wouldn't trade it for anything.

if you're nearby, come visit teresa & me at the RISD alumni sale this saturday from 10 to 4, rain or shine on Benefit St. in Providence, RI.  feel free to bring cupcakes & vitamin water!

if you were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it

Maxims by the Yard, Some in Meter, Spools of Knowledge Vol.I
book by Angela Lorenz in a box by me


more info on this book can be found here.  the red box i made is a simple clamshell with a little window cut out of the box to highlight the maxim that has been woven into the spine & i lined it with mylar to protect the item from dust & dirt.  sorry this is short, but i must get back to work!  oh, i mean, yarr, me hearties, i best be getting to me ship afore i end up in davey jones' locker...

if your jeans cost more than an iPod, but your t-shirt cost less than a pack of gum...

   i like to stand on the furniture. 
and sit on top of desks. 
people try to chide me by saying,
"you don't do that at home, do you?" 
ah, but yes, yes i do!  i don't wear
shoes in my house, though...
  that soundchex poster from AS220 behind me is one of my most favorite posters, it's got a little dinosaur on it playing with a rubix cube.
  mm, i just ate a delicious lunch of sushi!  a little present to myself for making it through 2 whole weeks at full time.  that's my excuse, anyway...  while waiting for my dragon roll, i wandered into the evil Urban Outfitters & saw a fabulous set of sheets covered in little spiders.  i know tara is shuddering right now, but i really liked them.  although i wander into UO from time to time, i don't buy anything there anymore.  then i stopped by & said hello to greenhouse brian who gave me a small passion flower which smells divine:

(more in this photo album)

and now i'm making another box similar to the napoleon box, except this time it was requested that i do something so elaborate.  the inner recess is very shallow because it is for a teeny tiny pamphlet:

now can someone please tell me what to do with my hair?  i need an actual hair style or else i'm going to shave it off.

there's no 'i' in team, there's a 'me' though, if you jumble it all up

what better way to cheer up than with piles?  a new pile of artists' books wanting boxes, a pile of miniature maps getting four-flaps, a pile of covers awaiting corner rounding, a pile of manuscripts that will be phase boxed and another pile of miniature maps already in their new enclosures.

(i should've moved the trash can before taking those photos, but when i tried re-shooting them it just wasn't the same)  i'm working on items from the Ward Library collection this week: i was re-housing those little travel maps from the 1800's & i went into the stacks to see if there were more.  figured i might as well spruce up the whole bunch & enjoy a little feeling of accomplishment, but when i went a-looking i found, besides more maps, mold!  surprised?  you shouldn't be.  there isn't much i can do for the items since they'd already dried, all stained & wrinkled, but i can give them fancy new wrappers & toss out the old acidic ones!

you could be my josephine: just you and your chaperone

i made this lovely box at work last week for a miniature painting of Napoleon that i found rattling around in a crappy acidic box.  i'm really proud of it.  the traditional clamshell box has a velvet-lined well for the painting to nestle inside of the larger box.  click on the enticing photo above to be taken to the whole album...

(completely by coincidence, the song "josephine" by the magnetic fields was playing while i typed this post)

i'm dropping hints, candy for candy-coated tongue

i don't know what i'm going to do with these little guys, but i can't stop cutting them out!  i keep carrying them around with me to show people (they're best when they are all together, like some kind of weird family) i think i'm going to make them like the drawings - there will be species, similar ones, but they'll all be a bit different...  these two little guys came to work with me the other day & cavorted among the boxes:


i didn't get around to posting this on friday & i feel like there are several posts all waiting to be, um, posted.  i'll try to get them all up this week.  hey, this weekend is Art Beat in Somerville, you wouldn't know since i'm completely unprepared!  if you live around Boston you should stop by & see what i bring with me...

that girl was always falling again & again

another year has gone by. 
i still miss her so much it hurts.


here at the library, too, another year has gone by.  soon the summer will be here, soon i will have lived in providence for a decade.  sometimes i think i'm finally ready to leave my little city.  i've seen a few interesting job postings lately, but none any where that i'd consider moving to.  certainly no where that i could live without a car...  um, enough of that - it's actually a beautiful sunny 60 degree day outside & i'm soon leaving this basement room to meet my roommate for lunch at louie's.  then we're off to the other library to do more surveying.  here are photos of the box i had fun making for thomas the tank engine:

a little bit of sewing has been done, not nearly enough, but there has been much work on the redesign of my website.  i meant to do that back in january, i took it down & redirected it here, but sometimes, as a graphic designer, it's really difficult to design things for yourself!  i'm really happy with the new layout, it's much more... mature.  it matches my typepad better, too, & will be more informative than the previous site (which was only ever meant to be temporary!)  when she has a moment, the lovely polly will be helping to set it all up, so we'll just have to wait a little longer.