Sweet Little Surprise from Leah

Several weeks ago, I received a surprise package in the mail from Leah, the sweet friend I made at Artful Journey. It was decorated on the outside and included a little tag that read “Let people bask in your radiance and sunshine.” Before I even opened the package, that made me giggle because I have a friend who refers to me as a “ray of eternal sunshine.” Sometimes the reference is heartfelt; sometimes it is dripping with sarcasm. :-) Anywho, when I opened the package, inside I found this absolutely delightful little book Leah made. Leah makes all sorts of delightful books, and she is such an inspiration to me. Shortly after I received Leah’s book, I ordered some bookmaking supplies…papers, book board, linen thread, that awesome Japanese screw punch, all kinds of fun bookmaking goodies...and between studying Leah’s work and taking online bookmaking and art journaling classes from Roben-Marie Smith, Julie Pritchard, Connie Hozvicka and Kelly Kilmer, I’m definitely catching the bookmaking bug (and finally starting to accept the fact that I’m easily seduced by fun online classes and need to learn to control myself). I don’t have any completed books to share with you just yet, but I’m working on it!

Leah also makes wonderful mixed media postcards, and that is the inspiration I’ve been putting to good use lately. Leah’s currently working on creating a large postcard installation, and I’m so excited for her. I think it will be so cool to see all her postcards hanging up together. I wish I could travel to California to see them in person! I’ve actually made quite a few postcards lately and I’ll start sharing them with you this weekend! And Leah, just so you know, I have completely bogged down my sewing machine like we did yours in DJ’s class. Must figure out how to adjust that tension!


10 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, that is so cool! And cute! And so totally sweet!!

Kerri said...

super cute!!

Cristi Baxter Clothier said...

What a treasure! Love it!

chrissy said...

what a treasure.
and a perfect quote for the perfect sunshine girl.
that IS you, you know....
i would love to see leah.s installation too...darn.
happy day.
c

Anonymous said...

It's adorable, Ms. Ray of Sunshine! Like you I'm addicted to online course and. must. stop. I need to apply what I'm learning before I take another one!

Lorraine said...

nice blog and what a lovely surprise..great coloured fabric

Karen Faulkner said...

Well, this is too cute!

Ella said...

This is so colorful n' bright! I love your ray of sunshine nickname!
Really a wonderful gift of friendship~

Leah Virsik said...

Ahhh Kelly!! Thanks so much for the love. So have you written in it? :) Totally up to you but I'm curious. That is so funny about the coincidence of the sunshine reference. I'm excited to see your books that you've been working on! I'm hoping to bind some little books soon with the muslin collages from DJ's class as covers.

Looking forward to seeing your postcards too! I'll have photos of the installation soon.

Ahh bogging down the sewing machine… (it's funny, I don't remember doing that in DJ's class) it brings me back to my childhood days of jamming up my mom's machine. I just went and bought another sewing machine today… an Italian one probably from the 70's. I have three now… that's my seduction. :) Tom didn't believe me when I told him.

I was wondering why I got so many views on my flicker pages. Maybe this was why?

xo
Leah

Becky Shander said...

What an adorable little book, and I love how chunky-looking it is. It's great that you've been learning new book making techniques - I'll definitely be back to see what you've created.