Handmade means many things and means different things to each person.

One of the things I struggle most with the handmade community is quality.  I’ve had a lot of people say to me that they don’t like handmade goods.  They find that they fall apart or don’t function well.  Just like with manufactured goods, you have to be a discerning buyer.  The world of handmade goods has a huge spectrum of quality levels as well.

Handmade only has one regulation, which is that it is created by a person and not a machine.  That regulation can be interpreted in many ways.  Some handmade goods are produced by hand from start to finish.  Some handmade goods are simply a collection of mass produced goods that have been assembled by hand.

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For me, handmade is synonymous with well made.  I believe that if you are taking the time to make something with your hands, you should be making it well.  It’s not about making it faster or cheaper.  It’s about quality.  If I didn’t believe that what I was making was of the highest quality, I wouldn’t be making it.

It’s also not just about a product.  Handmade also means that there’s a direct connection to the creator.  It’s amazing to be able to go to a craft show and talk to the person that made what you’ve just purchased or chat with them to discuss different options.  There are few other situations between buyers and sellers in which this is possible.  It’s exciting and makes that object have so much more importance.

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Whatever  your definition of handmade may be, I hope that if nothing else, it makes you think about where your objects are coming from.  What journey did they take before they got to you?

Now, I throw the question to you: What does handmade mean to you?

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It’s double the size of my full-sized books

and has 100 pages.

Wahoo!

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Here are some images:

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She really liked the look of this one,

So I made her a larger one

with the same color thread, button, and end papers.

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TGIF!

a new sketchbook for Mark

since he only has a few empty pages left

in the last sketchbook that I made him.

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It’s always fun picking out paper and book cloth

for these types of projects,

and it makes for a nice change of pace.

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Here are some images of the finished book.

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The endpapers are a gorgeous yellow patterned paper

that I recently ordered

from Smock.

They do some beautiful work.

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has put together

a collection

of gorgeous bookplates

for me.

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I will be incorporating them

into a collection

of my sketchbooks.

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They should be available

in my shop

in a few weeks.

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Here’s a sneak peek:

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Also check out her website

for more gorgeous work!

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All images copyright Nancy Muller 2009.

I will be attending

Holly Day at Holly Hill Farm.

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It’s an artisan fair

to benefit

the education programs

at Holly Hill Farm.

It’ll be a great day for kids and adults alike!

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Here are a few images

of what I’ve been working on

and will be showing this Saturday!

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All lined up on the mantle.

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All 58 books will be for sale this weekend.

Including 17 mini books!

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Have a lovely day!

on Kickstarter

to get my business

up and running,

and I’d love your support!

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If you can’t donate,

please spread

the word!

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Click here!

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Here are

some new images

I’ve been working on.

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Enjoy!

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to get the shop

in tip top shape.

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There are now 10 books available!

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This one is my favorite:

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Happy Friday.

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for closures for my new sketchbooks.

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Here’s a few that I’ve already used on my new work.

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Lovely!

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All I can say is that I’ve been very busy, a very good busy.

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Things have been coming along very well.

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Here are a few photos of what I’ve been working on.

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14 New Sketchbooks-

2 already sent out to the world.

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They will be posted on my etsy soon.

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