Puppies and fall projects

Who doesn’t love a puppy!! Our chocolate lab (Dixie) is nearing her 10th birthday and we decided it was time for her to teach a puppy the lay of the land at our house. So everyone meet out new silver lab Ridley. She is fun.. and a handful!

Despite the new distraction I have been getting some new work done! This fall in local stores or by contacting me I will have some fun new items! They are currently in progress and will be available soon.

I stumbled along this little machine called a Zutter at a garge sale late this summer… it makes spiral bound books! I have been creating fun notepads with little extras inside the pages with it. I can also create a special notebook for you from a book you have at home.. maybe a fun title for a co-worker, something special for a teacher. It is a useful gift with a lot of personality!

Also in the mix are wreaths made from book pages. They are beautiful. The process to create them takes some patience… but I just turn on Pandora and jam to some music and work away. They are great for any season … I just happen to be rolling them out before the holidays.

This year’s Christmas tree is a simple design, one tree looks great, but a grouping of them really dresses up the mantel.

I’ll be sure to post when everything is finished and available.

 

Family Fun and Shopping Local

 

Have you checked out your local farmer’s market? I love visiting the Fort Dodge market! And now the town I grew up in is hosting a market that started in August and will continue in September and October. What fun we had and check out this locally created pumpkin to adorn my yard this fall!

 

Enjoy the harvest…. my pumpkin (yup..not plural… I have just one) and my first time growing cantaloupe has me excited! I have a bounty of other veggies coming on and when the garden comes to a close I will get to work creating with books again.

Enjoy these warm late summer days and get out an enjoy the local offerings available to you.

Earth Day is almost here!

Each spring (even if it does not feel like spring outside) I celebrate Earth Day with a sale. I enjoy recycling books (that were headed mostly headed to a landfill) into new items! I also use other recycled items in my creations. Because of this I feel Earth Day is a fitting holiday for me to celebrate.

From Friday, April 20th – Monday, April 23rd you can use coupon code EARTHDAY10 to save 10% on your online order from my Etsy shop.

I will be posting fun Earth Day and recycling info all week long. If you want to learn more check out the Earth Day website https://www.earthday.org/earthday

Here is to hoping spring really is coming this year!

 

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How eleven became my favorite number

 

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Each year I celebrate the 11th month of the year as eleven is my favorite number, and has been since the age of seven… I was married on 11/11/11 and that year our dog had 11 puppies! True story.

Why eleven? I was home sick with the chickenpox for the week, it was the week in school that we were learning the number that add up to eleven…. 8 + 3, 9 + 2 … well you get the idea. My mom, being the teacher she was, made sure I kept up on my school work and taught me this math lesson… to this day I (who do not make math in my head) know numbers that add to eleven better than any other math.

End of story.

This year the celebration is simple… from now until the end of the month save 11% OFF order of $10 or more in my Etsy shop with coupon code ELEVENOFF. Or just click here and the code will be in for you automatically!

It’s time! The holiday shopping season is here.

It’s Official

11uniformIt’s official!

It is the 11th month of the year, Halloween is over and we are full on to the Thanksgiving and Christmas season! I have been working daily on new pieces, photographing them, and listing them in my Etsy shop. I am usually also deep into the vendor show season at this time of year. However, I am taking a step back from shows this year as my day job has been a little more hectic than usual and I am needing the weekends to recharge my battery! I do however encourage everyone to check out your local vendor shows and support local and handmade! I know even though I do not plan on vending (unless someone twists my arm) I do plan on shopping! You can still shop locally and find my book creations – check out From Miry Clay Potter in Dayton, Iowa, Tin Shed in Downtown Fort Dodge and the Humboldt Memorial Hospital Gift Shop in Humboldt, Iowa.

Now… back to this 11th month! As many know 11 is my favorite number and so I celebrate. Keep an eye on my facebook page for more info coming soon and check out the shop section of my website to see all of the new things I have been working on. http://www.iowabookgal.com/shop/

And just for fun, here are my 11 favorites right now… my list of favorites is forever changing!

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