La Chandeleur

Candlemas (February 2nd) is celebrated with a feast to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the Baby Jesus. In France, it's also known as La Chandeleur, Fete de la Lumiere, or Crepe Day. The French celebrate the holiday with a bit of fortune telling. Holding a coin in your writing hand and a crepe pan in your other, you flip the crepe in the air. If you catch the crepe in the center of the pan, you will have good fortune for the rest of the year.

My fondness for crepes has led me to create these two cards in celebration of La Chandeleur.

Bonne chandeleur, tout le monde!

Inspiration Wall

A section of my study is devoted to card artists that inspire me:

Three of the cards are by La Familia Green, whose cards I discovered in Greenwich Letterpress last year. Mollie Green's cards, like mine, are completely hand cut original designs. (No die-cuts.) She is a constant inspiration for me. I picked three of her cards for this wall: the llama (due to my love for llamas), the birthday cake (the origami paper layers are so clever), and the porcupine (cute and touching and perfect to help nurse someone's broken heart).

I have also included letterpress cards from Dutch Door Press (the Dala horse reminds me of my trip to Sweden this past summer) and an Alice in Wonderland card from another card company in Asheville. They serve as a constant reminder to me to learn the art of letterpress.

Lastly, I've also included my own Queen of Hearts card. May all my future cards measure up to this one!

Lampshade "disaster"

I spent part of today trying to make a new lampshade for my lamp. I won't post pictures because the results are kind of embarrassing. Suffice it to say, I think I'll stick to the cards.

Dawanda's Christmas market

My Christmas train card is on the first page of Dawanda's Christmassy Market! (Rudolph is on page 4)

Ghost of Christmas Past

My latest creation, and of course it is teeming with all sorts of obvious symbolism. The one that might not be so obvious, at least from the picture: I used an out of focus picture of a Christmas tree for the tree at the end of the road.

I got the idea for this card from reading a patent case. This is the first time I've ever gotten any ideas from reading a legal case!

Gepetto's Workshop

I recently upgraded my workspace. Here's a peek. I've only been working here for less than a day but it looks as if I've been working there for a month!

DIY Lampshade and Bookcase, Part I

Today I bought a few fine papers so I could redo my lampshade and bookcase, which are currently a dirty beige and dull dark gray, respectively.

I'll be making a new lampshade with this "katazome papaya poppy flower" paper.

And I'll redo the outside of the bookshelf with this (the insides will be lined with red paper):

Let's hope it works out! Keep you posted on the results.