After Art School And 10 Years Of Odd Jobs, I Finally Found My Calling In Handcrafting Hollow Books For A Living

My name is Kara, and I handcraft secret safe books. Here's a pic of me working in my home workshop converted garage in Minnesota.

For 10 years after graduating art school with a BFA in painting & drawing (plus one fortuitous course in book arts!), I had a long string of odd jobs to help make ends meet while working on my paintings. I became very unsure of my style and the direction I wanted to take with my art. Plus, I was going through some mental issues, which I worked out in my art, yet then was afraid to be that vulnerable to hang that on the wall for others to see. So I relied more and more on my day jobs. In no particular order, I did work at the following, some overlapping: selling luggage, horse-carriage driving, stuffing envelopes, counting out drill bits, teaching basic papermaking, coordinating craft workshops, plus a holiday stint at The Gap.

It was back in 2009 after coming home from work as a gallery attendant at the Museum of Contemporary Art (my final "odd job") when I lived in Chicago. I started making hollow books with just an x-acto blade as a hobby. I was excited when I had put some up on Etsy, and they sold right away. I started making them more steadily, and then I got a scroll saw to start making them more smoothly and more quickly.

More info: Etsy

About a year later, I was scheduled to work in the museum at a late-night cocktail party. The party went past the scheduled time, and I would have missed the last bus home, so I decided to walk off that job and start making hollow books full time. My boss called me the next morning and said, "All hell broke loose" when my co-workers found out I left. Apparently, they were also none too happy about staying overtime. I felt a bit guilty leaving like that, especially as I'm typically conscientious, but I was fed up, and it felt great to be my own boss finally! About a year after that, my husband John got laid off from his corporate job, which he had been growing to hate, so he gladly joined the business of making hollow books, which was perfect since he has more of a business sense and is pragmatic where I'm more intuitive. We're a good team.

My husband and I wear all the hats in our business, Secret Safe Books. We craft books in our converted garage on a scroll saw, wrap up books to ship on our kitchen island, and I answer emails/do online promoting at my computer on the dining room table. Plus, I do all the product photography on a little table set up by our front window in the living room.

Here a selection of our secret safe books. Thanks for looking and reading my story! Kara.