A Green Island

This post is sponsored by Blurb
After visiting Ireland in February, I came back with a sketchbook and camera full of images. For ages, I’ve been wanting to make a book with all this inspiration, so when the opportunity to partner with Blurb came up, I was thrilled to make my travel journal idea a reality. I’m a big fan of Blurb’s products that allow people to unleash their creativity through custom printed photo books , magazines , notebooks and more. I knew Blurb’s photo books would be the perfect format for my Irish travel journal, A Green Island.

To get inspired, I spent time browsing the Blurb Bookstore , looking at other travel books. There’s so many great examples in the Blurb Bookstore (and it definitely further fueled my wanderlust — Iceland, I’m looking at you). From there, I gathered images from my sketchbook, photographs I took abroad and artwork I’ve been creating this year inspired by Ireland. While Blurb offers a great free desktop publishing platform, BookWright, I decided I wanted a totally hands-on design process. For that reason, I chose to use the Blurb Adobe InDesign Plug-In . I love that the the plug-in takes all of the guess work out of the design process, but gives me the freedom to design the book exactly like I want it to look. Basically, the Blurb Adobe InDesign Plug-In offers complete creativity, no hassle and I’m a big fan of it.

For format, I decided to create a Layflat Photo Book (the Small Square 7x7”). I love how beautifully the Layflat Photo Book allows images to shine, without the gutter (the middle of the book) eating up an image. And I felt like my illustrations reproduced really well on the Standard Layflat paper, which has this wonderful heft, too. If you’re curious about paper quality and image reproduction, I’d definitely suggest ordering a Blurb Swatch Kit first (an added bonus, along with your swatch kit order comes a promo code allowing you to apply the cost of the kit toward your own book purchase).

When my copy of A Green Island arrived, I was absolutely thrilled. The colors are vibrant, the print quality terrific and the memories it contains bring me so much joy. I know this book is something I’ll treasure for years, a reminder of one of my very favorite places in the world. And making this book has me wanting to make many more travel journals in the future! All of those photos on my phone from Quebec? The ticket stubs from New York City? I feel like these all need to make their way into a book, someday.

So have you ever made a travel journal? A book inspired by your summer vacation? Let me know, I’d love to hear what you created!

In the Post

The end result of four very intense months of work is a very disastrous studio. So today I’ve been sorting, pitching, scrubbing, attempting to put things back to right. But I wanted to pop in to say that I’m dusting off my email newsletter and will be sending that out again starting this week. I’ll be including shop updates, creative inspiration and subscriber-only downloads and if you’d like to read, there’s a signup on the sidebar of this blog (scroll down a bit to find it).

Happy Tuesday!

Summer

The calendar informs me that I have five days left in which to refer to the current season as, “summer.” And that being so, I’m taking advantage of the fact in the titling of this post (even if it is being accompanied by an illustration of a woman kitted out for cooler temps).

The past few months have been busy with work, full with life and attempts at balancing the two. Deadlines have been intense, but I did manage to fit in a trip to the amazing Maine Botanical Garden for my birthday and had a visit with family shipping overseas. Other things as of late:

* Eloise’s Garden, my first fabric collection comes out in November!

* I gave gardening a go for the first time this summer after binge watching Monty Don on Netflix. I had good luck with peas, scallions and small pumpkins, but no joy with sweet pea or basil. And the swiss chard is surviving, but barely, because apparently goldfinch have a taste for it. I’ve already put in another row of peas, figuring it nothing else I’ll have shoots for salads and plans for radish.

* Speaking of gardens, my mom had a bumper crop of zucchini so I made this zucchini chocolate bread and it’s outstanding. My grandmother used to make a similar cake and baking it was 100% an act of nostalgia for me.

* One of my favorite reads so far this year has been The Map Thief. Please, someone in Hollywood, make this a movie.

Eire

I’ve missed blogging regularly. Overhauling this space took longer than I’d initially thought, but all’s well that end’s well, right? So now to catch up on the past few months, and to start with, Ireland.

I’ve wanted to visit Ireland since I was a child and the star’s aligned to make it a possibility this past February. A friend that I’d shared my travel plans with mentioned that for those of Irish heritage, there’s an unexplainable connection with the land that one feels upon touching down. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but tucked it away in the back of my mind.

But now I understand. Fully.

Visiting Ireland felt like returning home, home in the purest, most complete sense that I’ve ever known. I’ve tried to rationally explain this sensation, but I can’t come up with a plausible theory. All I know is that something that was buried deep within my being felt a sense of true belonging and deep joy. And to leave that ached. I’ve spent ages on the Irish immigration website, attempting to understand residency requirements, visas and other ways that this American might make a longterm stay in that land. And I’m not sure how to make that a reality, but want to, somehow, someday.

The Cliffs of Moher

But more practically, in the meantime?

* Ireland is beautiful in the winter. If you’re hesitant about visiting during that time of year, don’t be: it’s as stunning then as ever. February was by turns rainy, blustery, grey and drizzly. But we also had days of glorious sun and afternoons where a coat wasn’t needed. I’d go back to Ireland in the winter in a heartbeat.

* We ended up staying at a rental in New Quay, in County Clare (The Flaggy Shore). The house was terrific and our host wonderful — if anyone wants contact information, don’t hesitate to write me! The location was a perfect jumping off point for the places we visited: Galway, The Burren, The Cliffs of Moher, Knock and Connemara. I was only in Dublin for a couple hours after arriving, but did manage to visit Trinity College and the Book of Kells. I wish I’d made it to County Cork (where most of my family came from), but the west of Ireland won my heart, for sure.

* Assorted other places I visited: Wooden Heart in Galway is the most wonderful toy store (and has many beautiful children’s books). Corcomroe Abbey is beautiful. I’d love to live in Kinvara. Linnane’s made the best crab cakes I’ve ever had (and their Friday night music sessions are a delight). Linnalla Ice Cream was the stuff dreams are made of. The Moycullen bogs captured my imagination. And visit Brigid’s well.

Maam Cross, County Galway

* Other general recommendations? Get off the beaten path. Ask questions. Bring a raincoat. Wear waterproof shoes. Drink a Guinness (or two). Be prepared to be amazed.

Many Happy Returns

Happy Mother's Day! To celebrate, here's a free greeting card download. The file is set up with crop marks for cutting -- if that's new to you, this video tutorial is a terrific help.

* Download Here *

For personal, school and library use only, © Abigail Halpin

HEARTH

The latest issue of Taproot Magazine is out, including my cover illustration! There's some terrific articles in this issue and I'm itching to knit the included shawl pattern. Random asides, I have a braided rug like the one pictured (made by my grandmother), own a plaid winter jacket as shown (albeit grey), but have regrettably never lived anywhere with a fireplace (life goals). 

And here's a list of stores where you can find Taproot. Personally, I've bought mine in the past at FOLK in Kittery, Maine, because then I have an excuse to go to Lil's Cafe

.

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a free Valentine printable:

:: Download Here ::

Free for personal, classroom and library use only, please. Abigail Halpin, © 2018

Begin at the Beginning

I've decided winter 2018 is going to be slow. I usually jump into the new year with guns blazing and a million ideas at hand. But this year I'm shifting gears. I decided January would be about completing old projects, finishing what I start and settling into a quieter, less frenetic time of year.

So in keeping with that, I've pulled out this quilt. I've been working on it since high school and this is the year it'll get done, fingers crossed. I'm only a few rows away from having it large enough for a twin size quilt and I figure if I add at least one rosette a week, it'll be done by the time 2019 comes knocking.

Aside from that?

* I watched Fanny's Journey the other week and loved it. Based on the true story of a group of children fleeing Nazi persecution, it's cinematically beautiful, acted superbly and full of heart. It's on Netflix and here's a link to the trailer

.* I'm on a Sidney Bechet kick as of late. I think he's the perfect antidote to January's greyness. I could listen to his cover of "The Blue Room" on continuous repeat all day.

*And I'm over the moon to be illustrating Taproot Magazine's 2018 covers. I've been a huge fan of the magazine for ages and it's a dream project, for sure.

Twenty Eighteen

Christmas was splendid and New Year's was lovely. I ate an inappropriate amount of cookies and wore pajamas until noon, so basically the holidays were a home run in my book. But it's back to work this week, although I did sneak in this sketch of Alice White as a warmup today. I burned through Granite Flats over the holidays and basically now all I want to draw are cold war spies and technicolor dresses.

I went back this week to look at previous year's posts, resolutions from the past. Some I managed, others I gave up on. But hope springs eternal (or something along those lines), so here's what's up in the months ahead for me:

* I'm working on a couple new projects that are a change of pace for me and that I'm over the moon about. One, I can share about this month (stay tuned) and the other sometime this spring.

*Mama's Belly by Kate Hosford comes out in April.

* And Anne Arrives by Kallie George (an adaptation of Anne of Green Gables) will be here in the autumn!

Aside from that, I'm planning to finish the Queens of England project I started last year (I'm up to the Stuarts), work on some new embroidery pieces, start a book dummy I've been thinking about forever and restock my shop. Nothing earth shattering, just plenty of staying the course.

Other than illustration?

* Last year's resolution to read less (but longer) books was worthwhile and I found I wasn't just burning through things for the sake of an arbitrary number. So I'm planning to read twelve books this year and anything beyond that is gravy.

* I'm going to keep going with previous years' resolutions to sew more of my own clothes. My wardrobe has a lot of staples that I've sewn over time, and I'd like to continue to keep that trend going.

* And I'm headed to Ireland! The motherland! Finally! Any recommendations for the Galway area? Pubs? Fabric shops? What have you? Please and thank you.

All Wrapped Up

Happy holidays! Below is a link to some gift tags I made, inspired by the Snow Maiden folktale.

:: Download Here ::

You'll need a PDF reader to open these. Before printing, I recommend adjusting your printer settings so that it's at its highest output quality (especially if you choose to run these on card stock). Feel free to print as many as you like for personal or educational use. Enjoy!

And a belated Happy Hanukkah, a very Merry Christmas and a season of peace and joy to you and yours! It's snowing like mad outside and I've got some gingerbread to bake, so I'm off to go revel in the season.