Happy Day

My sister just bought me this gorgeous pendant from MaidOfClay Etsy shop - yep, my life gravitates around this lovely site, so what? My name is Anca and I took the handmade pledge (Hiii Anca)

I've been hovering around this shop for awhile now... I can't wait to see the envy on my artsy friends faces :)

Greedy Me

Can I, can I please keep it for myself? That's a question that comes to my mind often when I create something new - pretty bad for the business, I know... So here's what greedy me didn't wanted to sell - a set of goldenrod little books earrings and necklace - they look pretty on me, don't you think? They are actual usable little blank journals so inside I'll write little quotes, passwords and secrets only my ears will hear :)

Gradient Roses

     I love teal color, and when I bought this teal leather for my journals, I decided to make something special for them. I really wanted to design them in a romantic way, with polymer clay roses as buttons. So I experimented and here's what I've come up with: some sweet gradient roses!
     I've made each petal a different color, from dark teal to white. I've started with the small petals then added a bit of white to the color for the next petal and so on. I thought I'll make mother nature jealous!
 ....
but then... 
"Can you smell smoke?"...said my mom sniffing all the power outlets... I said "don't worry, neighbors probably overcooked a meal"
So here they are, my burned melted roses! Poor things...

Here's something that made me feel better! Found in kirstypaterson inspired Etsy shop :)

Fly, little bird!

One of the not so happy aspects of having a garden is I often find little birds fallen from the nests or caught by a cat.

I save them one by one, and some live, some don't but I'm pretty sure this cute little fellow will pull it through as he/she (how can you tell?) looks healthy. It's gonna stay with us for awhile.
So here is my new roommate!

Don't judge a book by its wrapping

Yeah, that's what I thought at the beginning - why spend time on the wrapping instead of concentrating on other more meaningful stuff?  But once I started to grow fond of my customers, I searched for ways to make their shopping experience one to remember.
I enjoy wrapping the journals with care, imagining the moment my client will open the package. I buy my wrapping in large batches, that way it's cheaper and I'm always prepared for the large wholesale I'm dreaming of :)

Although the journals are paid for, I always feel like Santa Claus when I send them!

My Happy Birthday

Yeap, today is my birthday, hurraaay! Since last year, I decided, each year I will celebrate my 28th birthday - so I am once again 28, and I'll stick to that age. I've been partying since morning and the party is still going. Lots of gifts and flowers, which I rushed to preserve for eternity and for some handmade paper with pressed flowers :) I've been pressing flowers for awhile now, waiting for the big day when I'll actually make handmade paper. The blue ones in the picture are so sweet and they come out so nice when pressed, that I've pressed thousands! The only disadvantage is I can only justify all my hours of work with a tiny little box where these fit.

Ikea new closets

I finally bought two new white closets from the famous Ikea shop, I'm a greedy shopper and my supplies didn't fit in my furniture anymore. Ikea guys say mounting them is an easy task, but surely they didn't took into account a number of unexpected events. Here's what I'm dealing with:

Etsy Bookbindingteam Swap

At last, I finally participated in a book swap with my Bookbindingteam teammates - it was so fun, I wonder why I didn't do it before - oh, wait, I remember - the laziness reared its ugly head!
But I'm so happy now with the little book I received from Beth!
I still haven't used it though - I am organizing a Miss competition with my ideas to sort out what would be the best use for it :)
Here it is - isn't it a beauty?



The journal that I've made for the swap is this one - since most of my journals are feminine, and since my recipient was a guy, I went for a more unisex design and painted this silver gate on it, adding a leather cutout lock to act as a buckle:


Tim (the recipient) liked it so I'm glad I chose this one for the swap.

Hi, my name is Anca

I remember seeing on Fashion TV a girl saying "Hi, my name is Anca, and I never dreamed that I could be supermodel" - well, that wasn't me :) What I can brag with is, however, something even more fabulous:
Hi, my name is Anca and I never dreamed that I could be a passionate bookbinder! Ta-daaa!
I am a Romanian artist - if you can call me that (please do, haha) and I was so pleased when I made my first book, my first useful object, that I've became addicted! I now sell my books on Etsy - baghy.etsy.com but I'm thinking to expand to other venues, til it will become a multi-billion dollar business (just kidding)!
I hope you'll enjoy my blog, and as I haven't written a blog before, I hope I'll enjoy it too - I sure love to read my old diaries :)