Summer Break
Celebrating my birthday and the start of summer with a summer bundle.
We’re all full for water worship and Floral Observer sightings and classifieds. Thank you!
I’ve been working doubles with a popsicle break and a nap in between. Mornings are for a few hours of work at a friend’s farm. We’re hilling up potatoes with wheelbarrows full of hot, dusty compost. I’m weeding curly dock, thistle, bindweed and lambsquarters from between tender beets, carrots, leeks and strawberries. In a blur of sweat and iced tea I drive back to my side of town to print. The soup book is finally real. And the printing has been a slog. Feeding, alignment, misprints and reprints have yielded 36 pages of sweet, soupy goodness just as it gets sticky hot. As a visiting print friend said “Nothing like spending a three day weekend printing alone all day”.
The summer Floral Observer is also taking shape: shorebirds, water, weather, wetlands, rivers, recipes so many good sightings.
Summer is a slow down for the press even as inspiration is everywhere. I’ve given myself a breather with no book events scheduled until September. I’m going home to Idaho to see my people, wade in the Boise river, ride bikes, and put my dog’s ashes at her favorite hiking spot. This summer I have a few projects that I know I want to print up but when I think about listing, promoting and mailing each of them I just see endless screen time. So, instead I’m offering my summer work as one fat bundle of goodness. Bundling the shipping, ordering and mailing means that I can focus on writing, drawing and printing.
This summer I’m also endeavoring to read and buy more zines, make more trips to the public library and sit outside in my garden. Anything in the bundle would be a great pack-along for a summer outing, or fun mail to send to a friend.
Here’s what’s in the Summer Break Bundle:
Floral Yearbook: An 11x17 poster of all the flowers that we’ve grown in our Detroit Garden over the last five years with a description of each.
Every Couch I’ve Ever Owned: A second, updated edition of this mini zine of life told through furniture.
Beloved Familiars: An ode to the dogs that have graced my home and studio over the years. This year alone we’ve had 6 foster dogs.
Perennial Puzzler: 16 nature-themed crossword puzzles from the last 4 years of Floral Observer all in one fun activity pack.
Summer Bingo and some summer extras to share with friends TBD. Stickers? Mini Zines? Worksheets? Postcards? If you’ve ordered anything from my shop at any point you know that I love to pack up extra goodies in everything I make.
You can order the Summer Break Bundle here. It’s $45 and ships for $8 domestically. Some of these items, like the Perennial Puzzler will be for sale individually starting at the end of the summer but some things will be fleeting, like summer itself.
Now through my birthday on June 8th you can order anything in the shop with free shipping. Code: HAPPYBDAY <3
