A re-inventing adventure...
I love funky, old things- places with a history, stuff with a story. Old barns...Key West...rusty hardware...three legged dogs... I am not as crazy about antiques as I am about salvage, the kind of things most people throw away. Some may consider it junk but I love it and all its scars. They tell where it's been and I love imagining the stories it could tell.
Recently, I was forced to retire after 25 years delivering mail due to a back injury and I was finding that retirement wasn't all it's cracked up to be. I was bored and needing something exciting to fill my mind and my time.
I have always loved to journal and record adventures I shared with my twin sister and we could never find a book tough enough or awesome enough to keep them all in. We had tried in the past to create our own but never had the time to invest. Now I had all the time I could need.
Not being all that savvy about computers, I headed to the local craft store and bought a book on bookbinding and studied it night and day. I started making hardcover journals, which I loved, but I really wanted a cooler, more rugged style that reminded me of days gone by.
I found old leather coats and bags and started cutting them up and making journals. I used old jewelry and hardware to decorate the covers. I now have leather sources other than my closets and the Salvation Army and I go "antiquing" for cool, old hardware, often right here on Etsy.
My husband helped me turn an old cow shed into a studio and I head there everyday! It looks out over my awesome garden, where I am if I'm not in the ""Book Barn". I alternate between the rich smell of leather and the clean smell of dirt in the garden. I am so happy and lucky to live and work on this special little farm for my second wind!