What I'm making/reading/noticing/trying/learning in July 2026:

  1. 1.

    NOTICING: A trip across the state and through the mountains to Durango, CO had me thinking about how I often think about the beauty of Colorado as a "macroscopic" beauty - the vistas are stunning, mountains and foothills dominate the horizon, the beauty for me is often found in standing back and looking far out.

I'm working on appreciating the microscopic, the close-up, and the near beauty as well. There's a lot of macroscopic beauty at Mesa Verde National Park, but looking closer at just one small area of one rock revealed some microscopic beauty in the form of lichens:

  1. 2.

    MAKING: Speaking of microscopic beauty and Mesa Verde.. it was through a museum project associated with Mesa Verde National Park that I first learned about diatoms (beautiful microscopic algae), which sparked a years long fascination with their forms. I've been making diatom stamps for a while, and recently upgraded some of them to be mounted on clear acrylic backers, which makes it easier for me to see where I'm stamping - allowing me to create more of these diatom "mandala" prints. Which are inspired by the fascinating world of Victorian diatom art 1.

  1. 3.

    MAKING: I LOVE people who re-bind paperbacks and go over the top with it - hand-painting elements, adding fancy little touches like bookmarks with charms on the end, cutting intricate designs out of vinyl for the covers. So fun to watch, and it's also so fun to do! My "tester"/ beginner project involved re-binding my paperback copy of Lonesome Dove. The paper cover was already a little beat up so it felt a little less scary and wrong to tear the cover off.

  1. 4.

    MAKING: I've been interested in this "Japanese Knot Bag" pattern for a bit. It was the mini version that caught my eye at first:

Japanese Knot Bag - Make This Cute Mini Bag ⋆ A Rose Tinted World
Japanese Knot Bag - make this cute little bag that attaches to your keyring or purse. Free sewing pattern and full easy sewing tutorial
https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/japanese-knot-bag-make-this-cute-mini-bag/?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic


But I didn't have any hardware handy, so I made a reversible full size version instead:

Pattern: https://hellosewing.com/japanese-knot-bag-tutorial/

  1. 5.

    READING: This month I finished reading Playful by Cas Holman, Slöjd: The Swedish Art of Wood and Textile Handicrafts by Kerstin Neumüller, both of which were great! I liked the way Cas Holman described a tension that I feel when I see hands-on activities that are overly prescriptive and over-designed:

“I realized that the more we designed the blocks, the less children (users) could design with them. Making something look good in pictures doesn’t necessarily make it good for play. If we over designed the blocks, then we, the designers, would be doing the fun part rather than leaving an opening for kids to jump in and take over the design where we left off.” -Cas Holman

I also started reading "A Handmade Life; In Search of Simplicity" by William (Bill) Coperthwaite. I am appreciating how Bill clearly connects making, craft, and design to service, democracy, and purpose. The way he articulates his values makes these topics feel inherently intertwined and inseparable. I felt a lot of resonance with how he discussed the challenges, and purpose of education as well e.g., “learning becomes painful only when we disrupt its natural patterns and demand compliance" (that rings true with my experiences) and:

"schools should be for the use of the community as a whole – learning centers for people of all ages and interests… children have a need to see healthy, curious, creative adults in action.“

Why do we so often ignore or trivialize adults needs for lifelong learning? I appreciate how Bill frames lifelong learning as essential for a thriving community, not just something fun that privileged adults get to do in their free time.