Dear Penpals, 💌

April and May have passed in the breeze— how heartening to know my words are out in the world now, thank you for all of your shockingly supportive comments and love, I am so glad to know those poems written alone have found hearth and home outside of me.

🎥 here is the video version of this show and tell (beware, night-time vibes unedited)

In the video and below, I do spoil the covers of Merry Meet & Merry Part!

Book of Poems Update and Cover Reveal!

1) I have now shipped all backer rewards! …that I have information for, I’m still missing a few surveys! If you have not yet received yours, please reach out!

2) Next, the Digital Editions are ready for backers! …check your kickstarter message inbox soon for the link! The audiobook is recorded and will be coming shortly!

3) Thank you to all those who came out for the Merry Meet Book Launch ♥︎ …even in a blizzard! So good to meet new friend-shaped local folks, I really appreciate ya’ll making the time to come out and ‘merry meet’.

and finally… the cover reveal:

More photos are in the Etsy listing! It feels so good to hold, such a nice little size with heft.

I am so pleased to be surprising you with this green linen hardcover with gold trim, burgundy ribbon bookmark, a die-cut front with a watercolor underneath… I tried!

The Kickstarter did not unlock such bells and whistles, as there are minimum order requirements for fancy add ons such as these… but I managed it this time by spending the money I meant to pay myself. However! It means that I have a little over 100 de luxe hardcovers extra, and if I slowly sell those, I will have income from this project. yay!

New Old Watercolor Prints!

Last month, I was so glad to share my first hand-carved oil imprints.
This month, I am happy to reveal my remaining watercolor poetry illustrations as giclée prints!

You may recognize three of these as part of your Collector’s Bundle; I painted the five others in my ‘intentional relaxation time’ and am happy to share them with you now!

Apologies this photo makes them difficult to read— you can see each individually on the listing page here. Perhaps one of these poems strikes you? $20 each includes shipping and a note from me; or a full bundle for $10 per print! They make strange postcards, and even weirder birthday cards!

Health!

I know a couple of you were concerned given the last update; I am feeling much better, I have not yet recovered the lost weight, but I am recovering muscle and cardiovascular health! Also I am cooking from home more… (hint hint) ♥︎

New Oil Imprint Coming… “Tower of Witches”

who likes witches? who likes castles? who likes witch castles? …it’s me I do.

Making woodcuts is a process that begins with an idea, then a drawing, a pen or ink formality, then transferring to a carving matrix (in this case, cherry wood!), then carving… (then inking, rolling, pressing, burnishing, peeling, drying… wow, what, it’s almost like printing something by hand instead of machine is weirdly complicated. and that’s if everything goes right and you don’t have to figure out why the inky parts aren’t inky enough! I love this)

Here’s where I’m at for my next oil imprint; pencil first… then pen…

Next, I’ve just acquired transfer paper from a little paperie, so I can reverse this onto my bit of cherry wood, then I want to edit a few things (notice that the cat tail tower is leaning a bit to the right…), and at last I’ll begin carving!

If you’re feeling like this looks a little familiar… it’s inspired by the paper cut castles of Jan Pienkowski! I’ve given it a bit of a fantasy/flying castle/witch academy spin. If you ever read the Meg and Mog children’s books— same artist! I love art that spins my imagination into gear, and his castles do that… I hope these little floating towers of witchery will inspire you too!

Hopefully I’ll have imprints to show you next month! (…first, need to buy my own brayer [a type of ink roller!] and oil ink. …wanna help? wanna buy one of the remaining “clear through the trees” imprints?).

I’m planning a bit more than I am revealing above with these… but if you look at Jan’s work, and my own love of watercolor, I’m sure you can guess where I am planning to go with this… ♥︎

birthday!
May contained my birthday! thank you for the well wishes! this year, I splurged and bought myself a cake— what other cake than the splendid princesstärta, a swedish dream made from layers of heavenly whip cream, vanilla custard, sponge cake, and raspberry jam… all topped with a layer of marzipan for icing!

…sounds familiar?? If you own the master edition of the unofficial legend of zelda cookbook, you may recognize it from the boss fight chapter at the end. This was my first time having one from a professional bakery. It was worth every penny. …It might now be traditional, here’s a pic from the floor of my apartment:

thank you to the friends who came to celebrate with me; I appreciate your saving spoons for me. ♥︎

Miscellaneous:

Happy Pride!
apologies for missing last month’s show and tell. I put it off because I wanted to have the digital edition and audiobook ready for you, announce it all at once, perfectionism kept biting me like a little mosquito, and I couldn’t bear it. I’m feeling better now, and am posting this even though the audiobook is not ready for you… I must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, nor let the finishing of this project finish me!
Summer is a great time to launch a new kickstarter. squints. scope creep is real, and must be rallied against. I am dividing my big project, you know the one, into many smaller projects, as it has outgrown itself far past chewable and I do fear I may choke on it. So, please anticipate something much smaller than originally intended from me, a volume 2 of sorts, not a drinkbook, but an extension, and I’ll dry my tears (of the kingdom.). More to come later. ♥︎ apologies for vagueness.

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wishing you wind in your sails,
Aimee ♥︎

Links:

New Old Watercolor illustrations— https://aimeewoodworks.etsy.com/listing/1733657791

Clear Through the Trees Imprints-- https://aimeewoodworks.etsy.com/listing/1698602754

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© Aimee Wood

show and tell - june 2024