Welcome to Spines & Stitches

Where we leave it at the door

Back in high school, I had a studio art teacher with whom I was lucky to cross paths. He had a small cloud of curly grey hair to match his mustache. He wore black jeans daily to get around the "no jeans" dress code for teachers, adamantly refusing to go about his days in anything other than what he pleased. He was the kind of teacher to allow you to find your way through your process while guiding and giving feedback but never stifling.

As part of his lecture one day, he sat on the front of his desk and looked at us in silence for a few moments. He enjoyed letting the silence hang in the air when he taught like he was watching the information soak into our teenage sponge brains. He told us about his ceramics studio at home and how he had a sign mounted on the door. It read "Leave it at the door" —que another heavy silence.

"Leave it at the door" meant exactly that. Take all the baggage you carry around with you, all the stresses of your day, and leave it at the door. When you enter your studio, that time is for you to work, to flow, to create. Everything that weighs you down throughout your day, you have to put it down. It will gorge on your attention, leaving nothing for your craft, whatever that may be.

I have this phrase in my mind whenever I approach my creative mediums. Whether it's writing, painting, ceramics, or any of the other crafting hobbies I've adopted. I make an effort to reclaim my attention and my time for my creative flow. When you create, it's your time to be brave, to be your most authentic self, and to let go.

Who I am

My name is Lindsey, but that's beside the point I suppose. I am a writer, a reader, and an artist. I've found myself unable to stop doing all three of those activities, most of the time all at once. I've wanted to be an author since the fourth grade and could not tell you how many notebooks I've filled with every little thing that sprouted in my mind. Some of those things have grown and developed, just as I have. Most of it is hidden in the back of a closet somewhere, never to see the light of day again.

I started this blog because I have a lot to say about the things I love. In the hopes of finding others who also love things passionately, I've put my own devotion out there.

Why this blog

This blog will have multiple facets to it. I will be including book reviews for all different kinds of readers. I am a mood reader myself, so there will be plenty of variety. There will be book recommendations and educational resources available as well. In 2024, I read 118 books and found about 16 of them that I rated five stars. There will be pages dedicated to my five-star reads as well as blog posts with in-depth reviews and analysis.

You'll see writing prompt pages, both for journal prompts and creative writing exercises. I am an avid collage and junk journaler, so there will be a page including that information as well.

Now, I can't be Spines & Stitches without the stitches. Among my out-of-hand crafting obsessions, I've picked up crocheting, knitting, and bookbinding (to name a few). There will be blog posts dedicated to my crafting projects.

Thank you for being here. Let's get started.