A few months ago my husband and I purchased our first home, a cozy little bungalow built in 1935. Since moving in, we've been happily spending our days getting settled and enjoying our new surroundings.
The picture above was taken just after we finished signing all the paperwork and were handed the keys to our new abode. As soon as the house was officially ours, we picked up our dog, Riviera, and brought her over to explore her new yard and house for the first time. I think she was just as happy about the new house as we were.
Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I've still been keeping busy. Most of the rooms in the house are unpacked, organized, and decorated, and now that the weather is warming up we've been starting to do some gardening in our new yard.
I've also been getting settled into my new studio space. My studio is located in a downstairs bedroom in the house with a big window overlooking a flower bed with peonies and lilies.
While getting my studio set up is still a work in progress, I'm pleased with how it's all coming together so far. I've hung up my collection of art show posters from Porter Flea and Handmade & Bound above my worktable, along with a few other posters by local printmakers.
I also invested in a some new shelving to get things organized in my studio. All of my inventory now gets safely stashed inside the glass cabinets, and the open shelves display some of the first books I ever made while studying in Italy, prototypes of new styles of books I'm working on, and other lovely little books that I've collected from other book artists.
My studio is also full of plenty of books in progress. I've been creating new styles of journals and photo albums in preparation for the upcoming marketplace at Thistle Farms next weekend and the next Porter Flea on June 7. I'll be posting more updates here in the coming weeks, but in the meantime be sure to check out my Instagram photos for more images of the new house, our garden, and of course, beautiful handbound books!