This was lunch on my birthday at The Blue Tortilla in New Hope, PA.
All in a Line
One of my favorite parts of going to Jordan's house is seeing him interact with his brother. It's not that they don't have normal sibling conflict, but you can definitely tell that they respect and enjoy each other. It's a wonderful thing to behold.
Oh, the Insanity!
I don't know how and I don't know why, but after almost two months of being an Etsy seller, in the past two weeks I've sold nine books, seven on Etsy, one to Jordan's mom, and one to a classmate. I'm beginning to wonder if someone with a good readership blogged about me or if the new search engine on Etsy is really working in my favor. This morning, I listed a new book before I went to class and it was sold by the time I got back. Crazy!If I could guarantee that such high interest would keep up, I would be tempted to leave this seminary thing behind and become a small business owner. Unfortunately, I would have to raise my prices pretty dramatically in order to make a living from this hobby. For now, I'm happy to make a little bit of money from each sale. It gives me more money to make books and a little ego boost every time I get to tell my friends that I just sold another book.
It is really tempting to just spend my days making books, but I am not going to screw up this semester.
Brown is Beautiful Binding
This one just sold. That's two books in like five days. Also, there is a woman on Etsy who wants a custom scrapbook, who will be giving me the details soon, and Sarah's sister wants one of my journals.
This Is My Book
My ramblings have already begun to fill this book. It contains about 480 pages. That should last about a year.
Made By Me
I didn't taken this picture, but I did make this book. Sarah commissioned me to make it as a wedding gift for her sister. In my opinion, it is the prettiest book I've ever made. The orange opalescent paper coordinates extraordinarily well with the blue polka-dotted paper. It's just beautiful to look at and beautiful to hold. I hope Marci likes it.
Two Weeks In
Another semester is well under way, so it seems like a good time to give my first impressions of each class I'm taking. I'm only taking four classes, plus preaching.
Preaching - This class is going to be a little different from last semester because they switched professors on us. Before I had the professor who preached a sermon every class whether he meant to or not. Now I have the professor who begins weeping on a regular basis.
Theology of Paul Tillich - I am intriqued with this man's thought, but reading it makes me feel incredibly stupid. Much of it is really dense, philosophical stuff. Fortunately, I am taking it pass/fail, so I feel a little more freedom to get creative and be dumb.
Theology, Cosmology, and Creation - Interestingly enough, most of what we've read so far has been from a book called Cosmic Jackpot, which gives a really good layman's overview of physics. I am gaining a greater respect for my friends in college who were ballsy enough to study physics and I kind of wish I hadn't asked them to stop talking about physics at dinner. It will be interesting to see if any of my theology is fundamentally changed based on what I learn in this class. Jordan is in this one with me and listening to him talk I am in awe of his ability to understand and integrate seemingly unrelated concepts.
The Biblical Canon - This might be my "easiest" class. Not that we're not going to deal with some tough concepts and work through some tough questions, but it is a large class with a visiting professor, who is possibly the cutest old man ever. His wife is taking the class with us. Anyway, it's not a lot of reading and there's a whole lot of repetition from other courses I've taken on the Bible.
Spiritual Autobiography - This is going to be my best class. We are reading about 10 different autobiographies and working with them both as literary and theological works. The professor is Yolanda Pierce, who just started her career at PTS last semester and is already in high demand. She's this fabulous, earthy, real African-American woman who is not afraid to get into the real stuff of life. Several of the books we are reading are repeats for me, but I never tire of re-reading and discussing good literature.
I think this is going to be a good semester. There are already a lot of connections coming out between my various classes, especially Paul Tillich and Theology, Cosmology and Creation. Last semester was a little boring at times, so it's nice to have a semester in which I am genuinely interested in every one of my classes.
Preaching - This class is going to be a little different from last semester because they switched professors on us. Before I had the professor who preached a sermon every class whether he meant to or not. Now I have the professor who begins weeping on a regular basis.
Theology of Paul Tillich - I am intriqued with this man's thought, but reading it makes me feel incredibly stupid. Much of it is really dense, philosophical stuff. Fortunately, I am taking it pass/fail, so I feel a little more freedom to get creative and be dumb.
Theology, Cosmology, and Creation - Interestingly enough, most of what we've read so far has been from a book called Cosmic Jackpot, which gives a really good layman's overview of physics. I am gaining a greater respect for my friends in college who were ballsy enough to study physics and I kind of wish I hadn't asked them to stop talking about physics at dinner. It will be interesting to see if any of my theology is fundamentally changed based on what I learn in this class. Jordan is in this one with me and listening to him talk I am in awe of his ability to understand and integrate seemingly unrelated concepts.
The Biblical Canon - This might be my "easiest" class. Not that we're not going to deal with some tough concepts and work through some tough questions, but it is a large class with a visiting professor, who is possibly the cutest old man ever. His wife is taking the class with us. Anyway, it's not a lot of reading and there's a whole lot of repetition from other courses I've taken on the Bible.
Spiritual Autobiography - This is going to be my best class. We are reading about 10 different autobiographies and working with them both as literary and theological works. The professor is Yolanda Pierce, who just started her career at PTS last semester and is already in high demand. She's this fabulous, earthy, real African-American woman who is not afraid to get into the real stuff of life. Several of the books we are reading are repeats for me, but I never tire of re-reading and discussing good literature.
I think this is going to be a good semester. There are already a lot of connections coming out between my various classes, especially Paul Tillich and Theology, Cosmology and Creation. Last semester was a little boring at times, so it's nice to have a semester in which I am genuinely interested in every one of my classes.
I Sold a Book...
to someone other than Jordan's mom.
Woot!
Good bye, Blue Monday.
Check out my Etsy shop. These would make fabulous Valentine's Day gifts!!!
Woot!
Good bye, Blue Monday.
Check out my Etsy shop. These would make fabulous Valentine's Day gifts!!!
My Most Recent Books...
Another post in less than two weeks. Imagine that! So, here are some pictures of the books I made most recently. Enjoy!
This flowered one is teeny, but still big enough to write in, only 3 x 4 inches. I used the scraps from the other books I made while at Jordan's house. My favorite detail is the way I placed the holes for stitching. It's a bit difficult to see in this picture, but I made reverse Vs, in opposite directions on each side.
This one is 4 x 6 inches. As far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect size to carry everywhere you go to be used as a journal, a sketchbook, a dayplanner of your own design. And, like the flowered book above, it's reversible, you can choose which side is the front and which side is the back.
Here we have one that's a little less traditional. It's 4 x 7 inches, which isn't unmanageable or weird looking, but it is a little thinner than a book would normally be. The thread I used is a vibrant blue. If you look closely, you can see that I pasted an extra dot on the front. That's because I made a mistake. Glue is sometimes not my friend.
You might not think about it much, but square books are a lot of fun. I love the proportions of them. The pattern on the front is beautiful and I used a complementary red metallic paper for the back. It wrinkled a little from the glue but, as far as mistakes go, it was a fortuitous one.
Now we have a smallish one, 4 x 5 1/2 inches, covered in blue, white and purple flowers on one side and blue, brown, purple, and green stripes on the other. I originally picked the paper for myself, but now realize it would probably be more appropriate as a gift for a little girl.
I've used the paper covering the book to the right before. I love how there is just one heart in the middle of all those dots. This one is the same size as the red dotted one above, just a few pages thicker. I love the back cover, too, but I didn't want to include to pictures.
And, finally, there's this lovely 5 x 7 job that is covered on the front with an abstract floral print and on the back in creamy paper with darker flecks throughout. The grass green thread may not seem to coordinate in this picture, but it looks great in real life.
I've listed a few of these over at Etsy and should have the rest up in the next few days. I've been getting a lot of hits, but no purchases on books so far. Maybe when Valentine's Day gets a little closer some folks will be poking around for a great gift and will decide one of my books would be perfect. Here's hoping.
If you would like to see some more shots of these books, you can hop over to my flickr page and check out my set called Bound and Determined.
This flowered one is teeny, but still big enough to write in, only 3 x 4 inches. I used the scraps from the other books I made while at Jordan's house. My favorite detail is the way I placed the holes for stitching. It's a bit difficult to see in this picture, but I made reverse Vs, in opposite directions on each side.
This one is 4 x 6 inches. As far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect size to carry everywhere you go to be used as a journal, a sketchbook, a dayplanner of your own design. And, like the flowered book above, it's reversible, you can choose which side is the front and which side is the back.
Here we have one that's a little less traditional. It's 4 x 7 inches, which isn't unmanageable or weird looking, but it is a little thinner than a book would normally be. The thread I used is a vibrant blue. If you look closely, you can see that I pasted an extra dot on the front. That's because I made a mistake. Glue is sometimes not my friend.
You might not think about it much, but square books are a lot of fun. I love the proportions of them. The pattern on the front is beautiful and I used a complementary red metallic paper for the back. It wrinkled a little from the glue but, as far as mistakes go, it was a fortuitous one.
Now we have a smallish one, 4 x 5 1/2 inches, covered in blue, white and purple flowers on one side and blue, brown, purple, and green stripes on the other. I originally picked the paper for myself, but now realize it would probably be more appropriate as a gift for a little girl.
I've used the paper covering the book to the right before. I love how there is just one heart in the middle of all those dots. This one is the same size as the red dotted one above, just a few pages thicker. I love the back cover, too, but I didn't want to include to pictures. 
And, finally, there's this lovely 5 x 7 job that is covered on the front with an abstract floral print and on the back in creamy paper with darker flecks throughout. The grass green thread may not seem to coordinate in this picture, but it looks great in real life.I've listed a few of these over at Etsy and should have the rest up in the next few days. I've been getting a lot of hits, but no purchases on books so far. Maybe when Valentine's Day gets a little closer some folks will be poking around for a great gift and will decide one of my books would be perfect. Here's hoping.
If you would like to see some more shots of these books, you can hop over to my flickr page and check out my set called Bound and Determined.
A New Semester Is Underway
It's been a long time since I actually wrote a post on here that wasn't short and completely lacking in news, so I thought I'd take the time for a real update.
Last semester was hard, not academically, but emotionally. It's over now and I'm glad of that. My classes weren't so bad, but they weren't spectacular either. Of course, that probably had to do with my inability to concentrate on much of anything, so I won't blame my instructors.
Just a quick rundown:
Preaching - I like preaching, surprisingly enough, probably because I love spending the time in preparation and feeling inspired with something to say.
Hebrews - The class was structured in such a way that we barely used our Greek, which was a tad frustrating considering that's why I took the class in the first place.
Systematic Theology - Dr. McCormack is my new theology hero and Barth's doctrine of election has made the Reformed tradition a bit easier for me to swallow.
Women in OT Narrative - Hebrew is the bomb and we used it a lot in this class, so I was pleased with it from start to finish. Some people complained about having a paper and a final exam, but I liked having the grade spread out a bit more.
American Church History - Dr. Moorhead is a fun little man who knows more stuff than any one person should know. I loved trying to scribble down every important thing he said and thought the tests were completely fair.
My grades haven't come in yet, so maybe I'll feel differently in a few days...
I'm still having some difficulty finding a field education placement, but at least I've gotten the process underway by contacting a few sites. There's a church in the West End of New York City that I'll be visiting this Sunday. Commuting to NYC every Sunday is not my idea of a good time, but being in an urban, ethnically diverse setting would probably be a good stretch for me. We'll see how that goes.
Break last week was fun and relaxing. Emily's generosity allowed me to spend a long weekend in DC and Northern Virginia, an area I haven't visited since I moved to school in 2006. We did a lot of laying around her lovely apartment watching Melrose Place and football and some haunting of familiar places, like Chipotle and Bangkok 54 and the Falls Church. Mostly, it was wonderful to see Emily and Mary Katharine and enjoy time with friends knowing that there was no schoolwork to be done.
The rest of my week was spent at Jordan's house in Pennsburg making books. Over Christmas I used a gift card from his mom to purchase enough supplies to make a bunch. So, while I was there, with no schoolwork, I managed to make nine, of which I will be posting photos in the next few days. My goal is to get them listed on Etsy by Wednesday afternoon. My other goal is to actually sell one. The problem is, now that Christmas is over, Etsy sales are moving rather slowly. Worst case scenario, I have a huge stock for next Christmas season. One of the books I made was a photo album Sarah, Jordan's mom, commissioned as a gift for her younger sister's wedding gift. It's one of the best and prettiest books I've ever made, but I forgot to take pictures. DOH! This semester, I plan to make one book a week for fun and, hopefully, for just a little profit since I can't keep them all and not everyone I know wants a book for his or her birthday.
If there's something I left out and you'd like to know, just leave a comment and maybe I'll answer with a blog post dedicated to you!
Last semester was hard, not academically, but emotionally. It's over now and I'm glad of that. My classes weren't so bad, but they weren't spectacular either. Of course, that probably had to do with my inability to concentrate on much of anything, so I won't blame my instructors.
Just a quick rundown:
Preaching - I like preaching, surprisingly enough, probably because I love spending the time in preparation and feeling inspired with something to say.
Hebrews - The class was structured in such a way that we barely used our Greek, which was a tad frustrating considering that's why I took the class in the first place.
Systematic Theology - Dr. McCormack is my new theology hero and Barth's doctrine of election has made the Reformed tradition a bit easier for me to swallow.
Women in OT Narrative - Hebrew is the bomb and we used it a lot in this class, so I was pleased with it from start to finish. Some people complained about having a paper and a final exam, but I liked having the grade spread out a bit more.
American Church History - Dr. Moorhead is a fun little man who knows more stuff than any one person should know. I loved trying to scribble down every important thing he said and thought the tests were completely fair.
My grades haven't come in yet, so maybe I'll feel differently in a few days...
I'm still having some difficulty finding a field education placement, but at least I've gotten the process underway by contacting a few sites. There's a church in the West End of New York City that I'll be visiting this Sunday. Commuting to NYC every Sunday is not my idea of a good time, but being in an urban, ethnically diverse setting would probably be a good stretch for me. We'll see how that goes.
Break last week was fun and relaxing. Emily's generosity allowed me to spend a long weekend in DC and Northern Virginia, an area I haven't visited since I moved to school in 2006. We did a lot of laying around her lovely apartment watching Melrose Place and football and some haunting of familiar places, like Chipotle and Bangkok 54 and the Falls Church. Mostly, it was wonderful to see Emily and Mary Katharine and enjoy time with friends knowing that there was no schoolwork to be done.
The rest of my week was spent at Jordan's house in Pennsburg making books. Over Christmas I used a gift card from his mom to purchase enough supplies to make a bunch. So, while I was there, with no schoolwork, I managed to make nine, of which I will be posting photos in the next few days. My goal is to get them listed on Etsy by Wednesday afternoon. My other goal is to actually sell one. The problem is, now that Christmas is over, Etsy sales are moving rather slowly. Worst case scenario, I have a huge stock for next Christmas season. One of the books I made was a photo album Sarah, Jordan's mom, commissioned as a gift for her younger sister's wedding gift. It's one of the best and prettiest books I've ever made, but I forgot to take pictures. DOH! This semester, I plan to make one book a week for fun and, hopefully, for just a little profit since I can't keep them all and not everyone I know wants a book for his or her birthday.
If there's something I left out and you'd like to know, just leave a comment and maybe I'll answer with a blog post dedicated to you!
Maryland Lighthouses
Someone at UNC used one of my early digital pictures in a project. If you go here and scroll about three quarters of the way down, to Western Shore Lighthouses...there it is. It's like the one to the left, only bigger.They listed it as an anonymous Creative Commons photo, even though they were able to link back to the source. I think I'm going to email whoever wrote that.
EDIT: I emailed Russ Rowlett, the creator of the website and a professor of Math at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he kindly credited my photo. Awesome!
Finals
This place has a way of making me anxious like no other place in my life ever has before. Two days ago, Jordan and I were in Pennsburg, enjoying some down time, doing at a little studying at the same time, then we came back here. We came back here and, immediately, I felt overwhelmed by everything. It was almost as if there was a basket full of stuff that I was able to leave here at school, but as soon as I got back it was sitting here waiting for me.
It's nothing I can't handle, but it's a bunch of stuff that I don't want to handle. Stuff like field ed and finals and papers and all that jazz... The problem is that the stuff I don't want to handle is the stuff that should be done immediately. Whenever this time in the semester comes along, I have to continually remind myself that the work always gets done and I'm not going to fail.
It's nothing I can't handle, but it's a bunch of stuff that I don't want to handle. Stuff like field ed and finals and papers and all that jazz... The problem is that the stuff I don't want to handle is the stuff that should be done immediately. Whenever this time in the semester comes along, I have to continually remind myself that the work always gets done and I'm not going to fail.
Need an Opinion...
What do y'all think...
Is this one better...
...or this one?
It's the new year and I just don't have the energy or desire to write a long post about it. Give me a few weeks; then finals will be over and I might feel like writing for fun again.
Is this one better...
...or this one?
It's the new year and I just don't have the energy or desire to write a long post about it. Give me a few weeks; then finals will be over and I might feel like writing for fun again.
Sparkle & Glow
Yes, it's a day late, but better late than never. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Merry Merry Merry
Not only is this a Christmas post, it is my first post in a week, it is my 700th post and it is a post about how awesome I am. I recently completed a tutorial about how to make a book because bookbinding is something I'm getting into these days. Well, on the 23rd of December, the Craft Magazine blog linked to my tutorial as part of their post full of ideas for last-minute gifts for boys. Mine was the first one mentioned!!! And, they posted a picture of the journal I recently made for the boy. Yay for Christmas! Yay for 700 posts! Yay for making books! Yay for being linked on a cool blog! Woot!!
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