And the winner is...

When I decided to host a handmade book giveaway, I was flooded with comments on Instagram and Facebook, each sharing an idea for how this book could be put to use. I enjoyed reading everyone's creative and meaningful ideas, and it was difficult to choose a winner.

After carefully reviewing all of the entries, I've chosen a winner. This book will be headed to Instagram user @msshawnflowers. Here's her inspiring and thoughtful idea for how she plans to use this book:

"I'm newly engaged at 37 years old. My fiancé and I have been together for almost two years and plan to marry this October. We would fill these pages together as our bedside communication journal. Anytime either of us has something to share with the other that can be more easily expressed in writing we would write an honest note and leave it on his/her nightstand. Perhaps some pages would be filled with prayers for one another... or confessions of difficulty in one area or another... or invitations to make love... or words of affirmation... or concerns... or love poems... or honey-do-lists!! 💛"

Congratulations, Shawn! I hope you and your fiancé will enjoy filling this book with messages. And I wish you both all the best in your lives together. 

For more creative ideas about how you could fill a book of your own, check out the #myusedbook campaign and this gallery of books in action. 

Instagram photo album filled with pictures of paper flowers

Early last year, my friend Meredith and her mom launched a paper flower business called Amaranthus Paper & Flora. They make beautiful handcrafted crepe paper flowers that are always in bloom. I have a bright bouquet of their flowers on display in my home, and it's so nice to have a lovely arrangement that won't ever wilt or fade. 

When Meredith and her mom started selling their paper flowers at craft shows, she picked out one of my handbound leather Instagram photo albums to use as a portfolio to showcase their paper flowers to potential customers. She printed her Instagram photos using this service, and the finished product turned out so well. Plus, she posted these pictures of her new photo album in action using the hashtag #myusedbook, to contribute to my new project showcasing ways to use handmade books.

To learn more about these beautiful paper flowers, visit the Amaranthus Paper & Flora website, shop on Etsy, or follow their creations on Instagram. 

"Inspiring Workspaces" feature of linenlaid&felt on The Etsy Blog

I am excited, honored, and humbled for linenlaid&felt to be featured on the Etsy blog as part of a new series that shows artists in their inspiring workspaces. My bookbinding studio has been part of the Etsy marketplace for five years now (my Etsyversary was earlier this month) and to be selected from among some 1.2 million active shops just amazes me.

The response from this feature has been incredible, and I've enjoyed reading all of the blog comments, receiving e-mails from college classmates and Cortona, Italy study abroad alumni, and shipping out orders to new customers. Plus, having my leather journals featured by Etsy on Instagram was an exciting and unexpected surprise as well. 

It was also fun to host visitors to my Nashville bookbinding studio. I got to talk deeply about my work with Etsy blog writer Julie Schneider, of Your Secret Admiral, and to watch Dylan Reyes photograph what he observed in my studio.

I’ve been a devoted reader of the Etsy blog for years, and it has undoubtedly contributed to the evolution of my book business. I’d also had my eye on the inspiring workspaces blog features, which have also included food illustrator Lucile’s Kitchen, cut paper artist Swallowfield, and creature designer Hine.

As for the feature itself, it shines a light on how I work in what is now my fourth home studio. That’s being a little generous — my “first” workspace was barely a studio. I had a corner carved out of an attic/bedroom and ended up doing most of my work at the kitchen table.

I shared on my blog a few months ago just how far I’ve come. My studio is much improved, with better lighting and equipment, including my beloved flat file and heavy-duty paper cutter, plus standing West Elm work table and daylight lamp. Out the window, I watch my flower bed bloom (although not in January).

I hope you’ll check out the Etsy blog feature and follow up with more writing by Julie and photography by Dylan, including on Instagram.

Inspiring ways to fill handmade books

For years, my husband and I have been passionate about using handmade books in our everyday lives and for special occasions.

But we do meet people — often at art shows — who aren’t quite sure how they would fill a blank book. “I don’t journal,” is a common refrain.

But that’s the thing. I don’t journal either, but I have many other ways in which I do use my books, along with those made by other great bookbinders.

With this in mind, I’ve started a new project to document all the ways that handmade books can be put to use. This way of thinking has already changed how I talk about my work, how I arrange my booth at art shows, and how I encourage students in my classes. I’ve also dedicated a page on my new website to showcasing these inspiring books in action, along with using the hashtag #myusedbook.

For starters, I’ve been looking closer at all the quirky and meaningful ways that my husband and I use books.

When we bought our first home we started a guestbook that began to be filled at our housewarming party and which continues today to hold messages from overnight guests. We’ve printed Instagram photos and bound them in leather albums. And we stash little notebooks in our pockets while traveling.

I keep a garden journal now. My husband fills in a “house book” with all of our home improvement projects and the ongoing story of our home. And I love the colorful sketchbook I made for myself.

We’ve found that keeping these books encourages us to observe our lives a little more closely, and to preserve the things that matter.

In turn, I hope this project inspires others to put their books into action and then share the results with others.

To take part, you can either email your photos and a story to me at linenlaidfelt@gmail.com or post a photo of how you use your book on social media with the hashtag #myusedbook — and you can tag me in it with @linenlaidfelt so that I take note. I hope you will!

See #myusedbook online:

Inspiration page

Pinterest board

Social tagboard

Instagram photo albums — they're leather and they fit Polaroids too!

Are you on Instagram? Of course. Do you ever print your 'grams? I bet not.

But you should.

And I'm here to help. I've hinted at it recently, but now it's official: my leather Instagram photo albums are in my Etsy shop, and I know from personal experience how rewarding it has been to make prints of Instagrams and to preserve and display them in albums.

After researching the most common sizes for square prints, I settled on two standard sizes for my leather albums. Both hold 48 images. The larger fits 6 x 6 prints (as well as traditional 4 x 6 photos and Polaroids) and the smaller fits 2.5 x 2.5 images. No matter the size, the photos are easily mounted in with photo corners, scrapbooking adhesive, or double-sided tape. And the pages are made of an especially thick and sturdy watercolor paper.

I'd love to hear what you think about these albums. If you have any questions at all, please let me know. And to learn more about them and see more photos, please follow these links:

Etsy: Instagram photo albums page

Blog: How to print Instagrams

Facebook: Photo album

I've mentioned often how I put my own handmade books to use, and these Instagram albums have been no exception. I've already made one for my husband and one for myself and plan to create more in the future.

How to print Instagrams to display in a photo album

I'll be debuting leather Instagram photo albums this weekend at Porter Flea AirCraft here in Nashville, and I want to share with you my guide on how to print Instagrams — everyone's favorite square format photos.

The first Instagram album that I made was an anniversary gift for my husband, who uses Instagram often while reporting for the newspaper and to capture odd things around Nashville. Once the book was finished, it was exciting to see the images printed out and so much larger than we typically see them on an iPhone screen. The book that I handbound for him worked out so well that I decided to make more. Each of my albums has leather covers and 48 pages, made of thick watercolor paper. I have since been making two sizes, each designed to hold the most common square-format photo sizes available.

My large books are 7 x 7, which holds square images as large as 6 x 6, and standard 4 x 6 photos. The smaller books are 4 x 4 and hold 2.5 x 2.5 square photos.

There are many printing options out there, so I think it will help for me to share what I've learned about Instagram printing. Some services are user-friendly and simple, while others may require you to do more of the work in exchange for saving some money on each print.

Read along for my guide to printing Instagrams.

Printstagram — Easy to use, web-based

Sizes: 4 x 4 (perfect for large album) and 2.5 x 2.5 (fits small album)

Cost: $12 for 24 large images or 48 small

PostalPix — Order prints directly from iPhone

Sizes: 5 x 5, 4 x 4, 2 x 2

Cost: 29 cents to 89 cents per print (details)

RitzPix — Many options, prompt delivery

Sizes: 6 x 6, 5 x 5, 2.5 x 2.5

Cost: 49 cents per print

Note: For 2.5 x 2.5 images, you'll need to use photo editing software to set up a 5 x 5 document with 4 photos in a grid. Once printed, you'll need to trim them.

I've found other options as well, but these seem to be the easiest to use and most affordable. Another option would be placing your square images on 4 x 6 prints and then trimming them. For more information, check out this tutorial. If you go this route, you could print one 4 x 4 or six 2 x 2 images per 4 x 6 print, but you'll need photo editing software to set up the files.

I know that my husband and I have found it extremely satisfying to finally print our photos — somewhat of a lost art, these days. And I hope my new square-format leather photo albums can be another encouragement that will save more photos from collecting digital dust.