It's Been A While

I've been off the grid for a month now, trying to figure out things of the spiritual and emotional kind. My apologies for the lack of an online presence, but it was a much needed break.
But look what I found: a wooden temple in the middle of Queens (that's a borough in New York City for those of you who are not familiar with these parts of the woods).

I heard about this temple, though it seemed more urban legend than anything else. A few weeks ago, an old friend was in town and itching for a dim sum fix on Kissena Blvd in Queens. Being a daft former Brooklynite, I had no idea how close or far away this wooden temple might be to my dim sum destination, but I thought it might be fun to search for it before meeting up with my friend. After consulting an urban explorer or two about the location of the temple, I jumped into my car and headed over the Whitestone Bridge with some scribbles on a paper towel and my camera. 

It's fair to say that my jaw dropped when I turned the corner of Parsons Blvd. On a tree-lined block with single family homes, there's this unfinished structure that stops you in your tracks. I stared at it for a good ten minutes for before I remembered that I had my camera with me. I could hear my smart-aleck side saying,"Take a picture, stupid. It'll last longer."

So, what else have I been up to besides driving around in my car and looking for wooden temples in New York City? Well, I started making books again. It was inspired by Esther K. Smith , a hero of mine that not only is an amazing book artist but a generous and kind soul. Three years ago, I was in a Barnes & Noble and casually browsing the craft section when I came across her first book "How To Make Books." Can I just say that my life was forever changed? And last month, I was lucky enough to visit her in her Purgatory Pie Press studio and see all her amazing work.

Esther's most recent book is "The Paper Bride." And while I am well past the blushing bride stage of my life, it did inspire me to make a book for my husband Dave for our 11th wedding anniversary. We have a habit of saving all the ticket stubs and business cards from every trip we take, so I sewed them together to make the outer case of my book.

I thought it might be nice to make a whimsical pop-up style book using many of our family photos with lift the tabs and movable pieces.

So that's what I've been up to lately. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things and keep up my online presence.

Thanks for letting me share.