Books In the Works

Some of what I'm working on in between orders. I think gray is my new favorite color!

So In Love

I am totally in love with this new book! I just had to show it to you even though it's still in the works.

Several weeks ago I was unpacking a new paper shipment and these two papers happened to fall together on my work table. I had one of those "Ah-HA!" moments and made a mental note to myself to pair those papers together for a book cover.

What do you think I should call it? I was thinking of something like Chocolate Mint. Yum yum!
Any other thoughts? :)

New Designs- Name Plates and Monograms

Okay, so these really aren't new, exactly. I've been doing name plates and monograms for a few years now, but this is the first time I've listed them as an a la carte item!

This monogram I did almost two years ago now. I'll be doing some new samples in the next day or two. Provided my nice natural lighting cooperates with me (it's cloudy right now) I should have new pictures of my monograms to show you.

Note 12/1/10: Here they are, ready and listed on Etsy!

Where Are They Now?

I thought it would be fun to do a little posting every now and then to showcase the travels my books have made. It's been a while since I did a feature so I thought I'd show you this purple book, which is now in Scotland.

What makes this custom book different is the black pages. The customer wanted to write in silver on black pages which will look simply stunning, in my opinion!

I had never done black pages before and had to special order the paper. I ordered enough to do a few more books also. It won't be a standard offering in my shop but I might do a book here and there with black pages. Or, if anyone requests black pages I am ready!

A Sneak Peak at Some New Books

Just pulled these out of the book press this morning. I finally found some excellent navy, blue, and turquoise papers! And a new yellow, which is a difficult color to find also. Yay!

Guess what I'll be doing all week? (Besides getting the house ready for holiday guests!)

Where Are They Now?

I thought it would be fun to do a little posting every now and then to showcase the travels my books have made. This book, Honey Indigo, made its first stop in Australia and is now on a European tour! It will showcase memoirs, snapshots, and ticket stubs from the trip. *I'm a bit jealous of this book*  Oh well, I'm proud to have something I made traveling around the world, even if I'm not going myself!

New Beginnings

I have a momentous announcement to make...After much thought I have decided to open a new shop.

...introducing Emerson Bindery!

My new shop has actually been open for a month now, but I've kept it quiet except for a few friends. I wanted to wait until after Christmas to make my grand annoucement.

I will be transitioning all my books into Emerson Bindery but plan to keep UberArt open for other projects.

Why you might ask, after over 200 sales and the numerous front page features, would you decide to start all over again?!

One of my front page features from June 3, 2009. My book is the first item at the top left.

When I first opened UberArt in November 2007, I chose the name because it would encompass anything I wanted to do. I had no idea what exactly that was though! I tried books, jewelry, note cards, and polymer clay flower pots (!!!) before I stumbled upon the guest book market. In December 2008 the guest books hijacked my store and things took off!

I have thoroughly enjoyed making books and will continue doing so, but I also want to explore other art forms. I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to lump them altogether in one shop, so I considered opening a new shop. But then, what to call it??

UberArt seemed to fit the bill for the new items but wasn't very descriptive of my current line of guest books. Instead of opening the new shop for the art, I decided to move the books instead. Thus, Emerson Bindery was born!

I will let you know when I introduce new items in my UberArt shop. I have big plans there!!

A Day In The Studio

I thought it would be fun to walk you step by step through one of my more unusual custom orders. A customer was browsing through my work and was inspired to request a guest book with a decorative polymer clay tile ornament on the cover.

1. I start my tile with a lump of polymer clay, conditioned and ready to run through the pasta machine to get it to a uniform thickness.

2. Here I've gotten the clay rolled out to the thickness I desired and impressed a design into it with a rubber stamp. I have my mica powders out and I have been filling color into the patterns on the tile.

**Very important to note when working with mica powder--less is more! I've learned that lesson the hard way, overloading my brush with powder and making the most garish mess.

3. Cooking in my dedicated polymer clay toaster over. This is an older Black & Decker that has a short in it and randomly cuts itself on when no one's looking. Scary, eh? That's why it's been relegated to polymer clay and isn't used routinely in the kitchen without supervision!

4. Cooling the tile under weight to keep it flat. My Pyrex baking dishes were the nearest thing I could find in a pinch. I put them slightly off center because they're stamped with some wording on the bottom and I was concerned the words might impress upon the tile.

5. The finished tile attached to the front cover of the book.

Variations on a Tangerine Theme

Have you ever had one of those days when you weren't satisfied with anything you accomplished? Well, this was one of those days!

The first variation

I was finishing up this book and selecting a ribbon to coordinate with the cover. The problem was the ribbon kept changing color depending upon the lighting! In daylight it was more green and at night it was more blue. This presented a huge issue when I was trying to photograph the book to list it on Etsy. I adjusted the color until my background started getting too red, finally gave up and decided to just change the ribbon.


Second attempt

I really changed it up here, using a band instead of a bow. However, I still had issues with the green-blue ribbon changing colors on me. As you can see from the above photograph, I tried to tweak the color to get the ribbon to appear more natural and ended up with a greenish cast to the entire photo.

Additionally, I was attempting to multi-task, talking on the phone, when I discovered I attached the band to the BACK cover instead of the front. Aaaarrrgh!

As if that wasn't enough, the white ribbon didn't want to stay attached to the blue ribbon. I tried every type of adhesive I could find. Nothing seems to glue one grosgrain ribbon to another grosgrain ribbon. Anyone know of any tricks? I really like this look, maybe not on this book, but I might want to try it on another book.

The final product

I completely ditched the blue-green ribbon and went with a simple creamy white grosgrain ribbon, tied in a square knot. Sometimes less is more--I think this combination shows off the book to the best advantage. Do you agree?

Etsy Twitter Team Shop Of The Week

Is me!!

Much thanks to everyone for their blog posts about my shop and tweets! I tried to respond to everyone who blogged and tweeted, but if I missed you please know I truly appreciate your support!

Ok, I'm done being sappy now. :D
Here are my latest creations.


Pink and Black Trio Pocket Booklets

These were so much fun to design. I was inspired by the buttons and actually designed the books around them! I got some new scallop-edged punches and HAD to use them also.


The Marianna Mini Journal A small, pocket sized journal size 6x4"


This one isn't listed yet. I'll be listing it in a couple weeks. It's another small one, 6x4". The great thing about this project is it consists of all scrap materials. All little pieces of paper leftover from other books that were too small to use for my larger guest books. Of course, if you love the design but need a larger book I can design one for you.

So what do you all think? Are the new designs winners? Let me know what you think!

Backstage Guest Book!

The Fray Summer Tour Guest Book by UberArt

I've got some very exciting news to share! I was commissioned to do a backstage guest book for Grammy-award winning rock band The Fray for their summer tour. So if you get the privilege of going backstage, look for my guest book!

I did window cut outs on the front and back covers,
and embellished the front cover with metal brads.

The back cover with the band members in another cut out window.

I have to give credit to my husband for helping me in the brainstorming phase. I had some ideas sketched out and he was my sounding board, helping me to tweak them.

Here is my sketchbook with all my notes from my brainstorming session.

You've heard the old saying, measure twice and cut once? Well, I think I measured 40 times to be sure my one shot at cutting was going to be right. It was quite a challenge to get the photo for the window centered and glued down before the window was permanently placed in position. Everything had to line up exactly right. Arrgh! The stress!!

At each stage of the process, I was sure I was going to screw something up. Fortunately all my planning and measuring paid off. I got it right on the first shot! Whew!

Here are the finished covers, ready for my stitching holes to be punched, which was another heart-pounding moment! What if I punch the holes in the wrong place? What if my punch acts up and messes up the covers?

I go through this nerve wracking self-talk with every custom order I do, but this one was just a slightly bigger deal than usual. It was such a relief when it was all finished!

Thoughts on new products for the summer

One of this month's themes to blog about for the Etsy Bloggers Team is your new line of products for the summer. Frankly, I haven't gotten past spring yet! Summer? Geesh!!

Seriously, I have been thinking on a "new" product to introduce. If you took a look at my shop a year ago, you would have found that many of my journals incorporated polymer clay as an embellishment for the cover. I've since sold out of most of those journals and have gotten away from that style, but I think I may experiment with bringing it back on some of my guest books.

Sapphire Spice Journal

It's funny how an item can sit in my shop for months with little or no attention paid to it, and all of a sudden it becomes in great demand. That recently happened with my Sapphire Spice Journal. I originally made two of them in different color schemes. The companion sold months ago, but this one sat around in my shop and got renewed and renewed and renewed. I was about to give up on it and use it for myself when BAM! First it generated a custom guest book order for me, then it sold less than a week later to someone else.

Dew Drop Hibiscus Journal

Here's another that is currently on sale in my shop. It's a cute little journal and if no one buys it soon I'm going to start writing in it!

Paisley Flower Jeweled Journal

This journal was one of my favorites, I just loved the color combination of the greens and aquas. The little jewel on the front I made from glass and polymer clay. I think it gives the journal an ethereal look, kind of like the keyhole to the Secret Garden or something! When it sold, I had mixed feelings--I was glad to have made a sale, but sad to see it go.

Hopefully I'll have time to start experimenting with my new ideas! Summer is always a busy time for me in my personal life and I've had a lot of custom orders lately, so we'll see!

Change is good...right?

I finally bit the bullet and changed my avatar!

My new avatar. This represents the most popular item in my shop.

I've been thinking about doing this for several weeks and have gone back and forth with my decision. I was reluctant to do it because I feel like I have achieved some minor degree of brand recognition with my Seaglass Journal avatar.

My old avatar. May you rest in peace.

However, in the last several months the direction of my shop has changed and I'm selling more guest books now. The seaglass avatar just didn't accurately represent the majority of the items in my shop.

After polling some of my ACE teammates for their opinions, I have decided to go ahead and do it. Of course, one thing led to another and I ended up redesigning my shop banner also! After all, they need to coordinate!

Ta-da!

My husband designed the original banner for me, but this one I updated myself! *she states proudly* I got tired of waiting for him to have a spare moment to change the pictures in my banner, so I had him give me the file and I figured out how to do it myself. Well, not exactly by myself. I needed a few pointers, but mostly by myself!

Newest Listings

I have been so busy these last few weeks and I am exhausted! On top of that we traveled this weekend, which is exhausting in itself. There is always so much catching up to do, not only around the house with laundry and unpacking, but there are emails to answer, orders to ship, and miscellaneous business to follow up on.

Here is what I've been working on in my studio in between custom orders.

Porcelain and Pearl Guest Book

I wanted to make an elegant yet simple book. The monochromatic whites are classic wedding, but this can also be used for a baby memory book.

Summer Sweet Pea Guest Book

A really fun print I've been dying to use as a cover for one of my books! This feels so summery to me and I can hardly wait for warm weather to move in to STAY! It's nice to have a 70-80 degree day here and there, but when it's almost painful to experience 55 degrees the next day!

Silver and Sage Lotus Guest Book

And a preview of one to be listed soon. This uses the same pattern as the Porcelain and Pearl Book but with a grayish-green background with printed silver lotus blossoms.

I've got one custom order I'm working on right now that is kicking my butt. I'm taking a break from it to blog a bit. It seems like one problem after another, totally unrelated to the customer. First I had trouble finding just the right paper, then my usual vendor was on backorder so I ordered from a new vendor. The order came today and I was very disappointed. The color of the paper was not what I expected. What one vendor calls "Olive Green" is totally different than another vendor's perception of that color. The paper was more like "Olive Brown" instead!
I had trouble with the violet papers I ordered as well. I ordered a range of purples to be sure I got the right shade for my customer. I've never had trouble with color on my monitor vs. reality, so apparently the problem is on the vendor's end. Needless to say, I was not pleased with the violet papers that arrived either. I think one will work, but it's not the perfect match I wanted.

All that to say, lesson learned--order swatches first if you have the luxury of time on your side!

Introducing A New Guest Book Design

Since my wedding guest books have been so well received on Etsy, I decided to introduce another style. This one is vertically oriented (portrait), with a paper sash across the middle with a satin tie. It sold within 24 hours and I immediately got to work making another!

Moonlight Damask Guest Book

The black ribbon can be swapped out for another color from my ribbon collection. So far I've been fortunate to have all the colors that have been requested! **keeps fingers crossed**

I'm trying to build up my stash but it is amazingly difficult to find double faced satin and nicer fabric ribbon in my area. I've done some research on online vendors, but most of them want me to purchase no less than 25 yards of each color! That means I'd have to sell 25 books with a single color ribbon to justify that purchase; that's just not practical at this point!

Although I'm calling them guest books, these journals have many other uses. They can be used as a memory book, scrapbook, or photo album. The spine extenders sewn into the book allow for expansion, so you can add photos and mementos within the pages without the cover splaying open. Or you can use it as a journal for your thoughts and ideas, sketches, or product designs.

I'm really enjoying making these guest books and am always thinking of new variations on my designs. Maybe soon I'll have another style of guest book or journal to post about. **hint hint**!!

Busy busy!

Wow, have I been swamped this past week with custom orders! My poor blog suffered as a result. I was ashamed to see the last entry was on Valentine's day! Custom orders are a lot of fun and I enjoy the challenge the projects present. Most of the books I have made this week are wedding guest books.

A guest book for a Tiffany blue themed wedding

My most challenging project so far was doing a journal with tracing paper for the text block. When I started to stitch it together I found the spine wanted to collapse on me, so I had to add some sketch paper to the folios to make them more structurally sound.

The tracing paper journal, using handmade Lokta paper for the covers

This was a fun project and a very pleasant customer to work with! I really like it when my customers give me artistic license to come up with something creative within their guidelines of specific colors or sizes. This photo album was a variation on my Winter Damask Guest Book, done in portrait instead of landscape layout.

A guest book for a black and fuchsia themed wedding.

I've got one more custom order I'm working on this week and then I can focus on listing some new journals I've got waiting in the wings! Unless of course I get more custom requests, which is fine, bring 'em on!

A Time To Celebrate

Etsy Front Page 12/11/08 yalipaz
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

This holiday season I am celebrating my "Winter Damask Guest Book" hitting the front page of Etsy this past Thursday! Woot woot!

I missed seeing it on the front page. Instead I was struggling with gift wrapping some jewelry boxes for a customer. I wanted to wrap the box so it could be easily opened for her inspection, but the wrapping paper wasn't cooperating.

I kept hearing my email chime go off on my computer and when I checked my messages, found several regarding the same journal! I thought this was strange but it never occurred to me until after the fact that I could possibly be on the front page!

My book sold within minutes and I got a custom order for two journals for someone else. Then I sold yet another book, my "Sand & Sky Seaglass Journal", the next day!
Here it is, the famous "Winter Damask Guest Book"!

I'll be busy this weekend finishing up the custom order and then I have GOT to start on my holiday cards! I've been putting them off because I ordered a rubber stamp to use on my holiday cards this year, but after 7 weeks, it STILL isn't here. I'm not happy. The vendor reports having some family problems. I'm all sympathy about that, but 7 weeks is ridiculous. Shut your website down if you can't operate it for pete's sake! That's just unprofessional in my opinion. Needless to say, I won't be ordering from this vendor again and may just cancel my outstanding order.

So now I have to come up with plan B for the holiday cards. I could just use some store bought cards, but everyone will be so disappointed. They've come to expect handmade cards from me. Argh, the pressure (which I've brought upon myself)! Enough piddling on the computer, off to the drawing board I go!