Artist Highlight of the Week: Reeveal + A GIVEAWAY!

Brown Simple Journal

This week I am interviewing Anna Laura from Reeveal. She makes the coolest books, which she happens to be giving away and discounting for us!! Awesome!
Check out her cool interview, giveaway, and discount details below.

Hey Anna Laura! Welcome! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journals and books!
Well, I've been making books for eight years or so, mostly because I love to write and draw and wanted to house my work inside another hand-made work. Every time I'd fill up a journal, I'd create a unique book out of paper and leather that illustrated my hopes for the coming year, and as I made more and more, I started getting custom orders from friends. Nowadays I'm making journals, still, but also wedding guest books, baby books, leather covers for Moleskine books, refillable leather book covers, and rebinding people's old favorite books and Bibles. Making books by hand is rare, these days, but the honor a hand-made book gives its contents is a unique honor, one that I've discovered over years of working with paper and leather. I'll probably be doing this when I'm ninety!

Besides the coolness you have in your Etsy store, what else do you like to do?
I love getting away from the city and into the woods, which means I'm often in the mountains on weekends and gardening in my yard during the week. I got a degree in English, a couple years ago, so of course I read all the time, but I also write and blog quite a bit. I love poetry. And a good imperial Russian stout.

What inspires you?
So far, birds and plants have been my main inspirations. Songbirds, geese, and peonies have been my favorite designs, for different reasons; I've loved geese because of their faithfulness to their mates, and created a design with two flying gray geese, and peonies are intriguing to me because of their phoenix-like ability to die to ground in winter...and then grow to full height and beauty again in the spring. Spiritual elements, as well as aesthetic.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists and Etsy shop owners?
Don't let the work and financial strain rob you of the joy of creating. When you realize that your art/craft is stressing you out, take a break -- the work you're selling is a gift you're giving to the world! Let it be as free as it can be from the shallow concerns of marketability and profitability.

Thank you so much for sharing for your creative juices!

In honor of highlighting Southern artists, Anna Laura is hosting a giveaway here at A Girl and Her Scout! She will be giving away a Mini Thoughts notebook set

to the chosen winner (chosen via a random assorter) on November 12th so be sure to get in your entries by then!

To enter, head over to her Etsy Store, Reeveal, and leave a comment here about your favorite item(s). Additional entries for: 1) becoming a first time follower of A Girl and Her Scout 2) Posting this giveaway with a link to my blog on your blog 3) Posting this giveaway with a link to my blog on your facebook and/or twitter 4) “Hearting” or adding Reeveal to your “Favorites” on Etsy and/or 5) making a purchase out of her store (one entry for every purchase). Be sure to leave a new comment for each additional entry!

In addition, through December 16th she will be offering a 20% discount to all A Girl and Her Scout readers! YAY!!! Just use key word “Girl&ScoutDiscount” at check out to receive your discount.

Happy shopping and crafting and many thanks again to Anna Laura for participating in my Artist Highlight of the week!