Some of the time she calls herself Luna. And most of the time, she lives a green lifestyle. But all of the time, she has her artistic eye focused on the partner in her personal creative dance — a journal.
Melissa Oesch, a native Lexingtonian who moved to Clearfield, Ky., in the fourth grade and grew up in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest, says her business, Re-Imagined by Luna, is a natural byproduct of the way she was raised and what she now believes, and it stems from her love of journaling.
“A variety of difficult circumstances had happened when I was just out of college, and I began to realize how easy it was to assume that it would always be that way. I thought to myself that I wanted to reimagine how life could be rather than assume it would be the way it had been,” Oesch said. “I couldn’t shake the word, and it seems like a natural fit for my business, where it would also be a daily reminder. It happened quite naturally.”
A member of the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen, Oesch began her business as a part-time venture in December 2009. She sold to family and friends but soon realized that the business was taking on a life of its own. She went full-time in June of 2010.
Oesch produces upcycled, handmade journals, calendars, necklaces, jackets for electronic devices (such as iPads and e-readers) and ornaments. She said she is always on the lookout for new ideas and designs and, although she keeps products in stock, she also does custom work for customers who request it. Her prices vary from product to product and from size to size, but Oesch said they start at $25 and increase from there.
She learned the craft of journal-making while at Anderson University in Anderson, Ind. She and a few friends headed a movement that encouraged community journal-making. She was there for two and a half years and said the community journal-making project is similar to a quilting bee, where folks gather and assemble something beautiful out of the pieces they bring to the table. She had grown up cross-stitching and experimenting with different creative methods of stitching and binding. The experience at Anderson University simply added to her depth of knowledge and experience.
“I’ve kept a journal since I was six or seven. It’s been an ebb and flow of how often and how much I write, but I’ve always had one,” Oesch said. “When I first started thinking of bookmaking as a business, I thought I could do it part-time through the winter and farm the rest of the time. I quickly learned that any small business is full-time — and overtime — and chose to pursue bookmaking after doing a year of farming.”
Oesch said that she still does a small amount of gardening and she supports the Farmers Market. She also recycles and reuses as much as she possibly can in her personal life. While she said she lives a moderately green life, her business is more than just moderately green.
“When you recycle something, you take it and break it down and then re-create something out of it, like paper for example. When you repurpose, you go ahead and take a material and reuse it. You don’t have to take it and break it down to make something else,” Oesch said. “I think it is also helpful to use recycled materials because it stimulates other people’s creativity. If I repurpose something you might otherwise throw away, you might not be as likely to toss it next time around.”
She uses both recycled and repurposed materials to make her journals. The paper she uses for the pages is 100 percent recycled, and some of the examples of the items she upcycles for use in her journals include basmati rice bags, finely woven coffee bags, hardcover books such as encyclopedias, remnant leather, fabrics and other textiles. She also uses handmade closures for some of her journals.
“I am interested in supporting other small businesses,” Oesch said. “Some of the beads are from small businesses or are handcrafted, like the iron and wooden buttons I use.”
She splits her time between traveling to fairs, art shows and craft exhibits, and time in her home studio, where she replenishes her stock of handcrafted items during the week. For each work, she measures, cuts and folds the paper, designs and creates a cover, binds each book using various methods and finishes each with a closure. It usually takes several hours to produce one journal, but Oesch said the effort is always worth the end product.
“I’ve always bought beautiful books to write in, and I know a lot of others who also do. Add a handmade, local quality to that and even more folks are interested,” Oesch said. “There will always be people who like paper, people who like books, people who connect more to their writing or sketching when using a pen and paper.”
For more information on Re-Imagined by Luna, visit the website at www.reimaginedoneline.com, or email reimaginedby luna@gmail.com to sign up for the company’s monthly e-newsletter.