I'd love to bank on it

Thanks to statcounter.com, where I can check who visits my Web site and for how long, I know that the folks at Umpqua Bank just checked me out. I hope they check the Etsy site, too, as that's where the most stuff is. Our local branch showcases the work of a neighborhood business every quarter, and gee — wouldn't it be great if they picked me?!

Meanwhile, I'm wrapping up the clamshell commission. I never tire of making these boxes. I remember my first one. Coming home from Artists Book Works, all I did was sit and open and shut it, amazed. My roommate caught me doing it again hours later and wondered if I'd gone nuts.

I must have made hundreds by now, and I was so excited recently to hear an awesome testimonial on my answering machine from a customer who'd been given a clamshell from the Japanese Garden show ages ago. He raved about how well it had held up over the years and thanked me for my "craftswomanship." It made my day.

Here's the latest, for a wedding photo album.



I love how the chiyogami paper pops in the light.