Recycling Comes Home

We talk about it often--the importance of recycling and how it impacts Secret Leaves. We use much of the old paper that comes our way, but what we don't use ends up in our handy make-shift recycling box, shown here. Very fancy, I know.

About 12 weeks ago this dumpster showed up in the alley right behind my house. How convenient for me! I quickly found out that the city was testing this idea and placing these around town in various neighborhoods. I happily filled out the survey I received in the mail and gave the trial program an A+. At first I was afraid this dumpster would be wildly misused and be filled with garbage in no time flat. But it was smartly designed to discourage that and so far everyone seems to be using it properly. I think (and hope) it is here to stay.

Just about everything is accepted and it sure beats separating all of my recyclables and hauling them to the fire station. I hope this catches on and the city keeps this program in motion. I thought it would be a long time coming, but it seems the tide is changing. If we can have a program like this happening in my neighborhood, I believe it is do-able just about anywhere.

Ann

Bang!

Hope you had a great Fourth!

Sharon

In Search of Inspiration

Like many of you, I'm constantly searching for inspiration. Sometimes it's artistic inspiration I seek; sometimes I am just looking for something to inspire me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Without further ado, here are a couple of my favorite places on the web to find inspiration:

My favorite Flickr photo stream belongs to Daily Poetics. She features all manner of beautiful graphic design and typography with a lean toward vintage stuff. Here are a few of my favorites:

Business card designed by Eric Kass

And also Keri Smith...

For a different kind of inspiration (the 'putting one foot in front of the other' kind), visit Keri Smith's web site. Keri is "an author/illustrator turned guerilla artist." I especially love her 100 Ideas and How to Feel Miserable as an Artist. Of the 10 ways she lists, I am guilty of at least four of them.

Sharon

Cigar Box Kits - sometimes it's ok to think inside the box

Here are some Cigar Box Kits Ann and I are working on. These contain everything you need to make your own journal, album or scrap book. A typical kit includes bits of vintage ephemera, old buttons, postage stamps, ribbon, twine, old-fashioned picture corners, tags, labels, mini envelopes, fancy fasteners and more, all housed in a beautiful cigar box. Kit also includes two book boards, pre-cut, pre-drilled and covered in vintage paper along with two antiqued binder rings.

I love the bit of ephemera that says "Nerves Ruin Pep and Sleep." Ain't that the truth!

Here is another one:

The book boards are covered in some gorgeous old handwritten ledger paper from the turn-of-the-century. I love this ledger paper and have been using in lots of our handmade paper goods.

The endpapers on inside book boards in this kit are pretty.

This is what they look like all packaged up. If you are interested in Cigar Box Kits, email us at inquire@secretleaves.com.

Sharon

Two great blogs

John Malkovich animated short film on Not the Kinda Cool You're Looking For

ABC in physics diagrams on Notebookism

We are so pleased to have been featured on two excellent blogs recently. Curtis James featured our Scrap Journal on his blog, Not the Kinda Cool You're Looking For. From an amazing animated film by John Malkovich to a heartbreaking documentary about hoarders (scroll down the post to the film Possessed) to all kinds of oddities, peculiarities and trifles, we beg to differ--this is exactly the kind of cool we are looking for.

Also, thanks to Notebookism for their nod to our Scrap Journals. Here is a quote from their About Us page:

"We all share a pleasant affliction - the urge to create on paper.

The smell of smooth creamy paper sends our hearts aflutter. The delicate tinkling of nib against inkwell accelerates our pulse rate. We stare endlessly at the first blank page.

Welcome to Notebookism. This is the place to indulge yourself with kindred spirits."

Sounds like our kind of people!

Visit these two cool blogs. You will thank yourself.

Sharon

Custom work

It seems we have been doing a lot of custom work lately. This is a card set we did for a woman who rides horses competitively.

Below is a custom correspondence kit we designed for Elizabeth Maxson's soon-to-be mother-in-law, Diane Benitz. It is a housewarming gift for a writer.

It contains blank cards, Stamp Notes and gift enclosures.

Contact us if you have a need for a special personalized gift.

Sharon

Some stuff we made

Sharon

To my Mom

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Love you.

Sharon

Museum of the American Circus and Tibbals Learning Center

These vignettes from the Museum of the American Circus are kind of creepy. This may not be altogether inappropriate: I am reading a novel called Water for Elephants, and if it is at all accurate, the circus back in its heyday was a little bit of an unsavory place behind the scenes.

Sharon

The Fine Art of Personal Correspondence

My dear friend Pam is a photographer living in Portland, Oregon. She was one of the many unfortunate people displaced from her beloved New Orleans by indiscriminate and unforgiving Hurricane Katrina. For years, we have been exchanging packets through the mail. I do this with my friend Marcia as well. I strongly recommend that you and a friend or family member start this practice! You cannot imagine the thrill of getting real mail--the kind where someone you actually know is at the other end of it--not the bank, not the cable company, not a credit card company. Anyway, here is my most recent packet from Pam:

Inside the envelope, the first packet

...filled with bits and pieces about Portland

And this packet

...with a little bundle of Pam's beautiful photography

Here is the packet I sent in return. Since I recently visited Florida, I decided to give it a beach theme.

Shells I found on the beach.

Pelican Stamp Note

Try it! You'll like it!

Sharon