What happened to July?

Ok, so this month I haven't been very good about posting to my blog! And somewhat suddenly, the month is over. So let's see, what has been happening?

Last night I updated the "Etsy Guide to Bookbinding Supplies" to include RandyArnold's new etsy shop where he is selling his handmade Ebony folding tools. I saw one of his ebony folders when I was at PBI - very nice work! You can check out his shop here: RandyArnold.Etsy.com.

A while ago, I got some cool clasps and closures from BlueFlameLeather. Last week, I was able to incorporate a couple of them into steampunk-style journals.

The black journal in this photo has one of the clasps from BlueFlameLeather.


Also from BlueFlameLeather is the clasp on the larger black book in this photo:


None of those clasps are designed for use on books, so it requires some creative engineering to use them and sadly, in spite of all my planning, the clasp on the black hardcover book doesn't function properly. But it still looks pretty cool. All the other bits of hardware that I use are random bits of junk, also never meant to be used on books so the results are always unique. These books are for sale in my Etsy shop.

And a Virtual Barbeque!
Also - I should tell you about the BEST Virtual BBQ since you might be interested in winning a $30 gift certificate to spend on handmade books! The Etsy Bookbinding Team is hosting a Virtual BBQ Scavenger Hunt this weekend, August 1-3, and the winner gets a $30 gift certificate! All you need to do is browse the amazing offerings at 18 participating shops, locate hidden items and submit your finds to enter. You also get a chance to win for each purchase you make during the event. Check our the book team blog for details: www.etsybooks.blogspot.com.

Eco Books

Another great bookbinding book about making books with recycled and repurposed materials. This one is from Lark and it's called Eco Books, by Terry Taylor. It can be just pre-ordered right now, but should be available soon. I contributed some content to this book. It contains a total of 40 eco-book-making projects so it'll be a fun book to have if you like using different materials!


I also just got the most recent copy of Ampersand in my mailbox. There are always lots of great articles and how-tos in this journal so it's fun to get. This is the quarterly journal of the Pacific Center for the Book Arts and this particular issue has an article I wrote about selling handmade books online.

The Big Bible Repair

This gigantic Bible recently appeared in my studio. As you can see, it is in three pieces. I do not do much book repair because I find it hard on my nerves; however, this belongs to a church and the people seeking its repair are friends of my family... so I agreed to tackle it. The actual publication date is unknown but it was likely purchased in 1927 based on an inscription on the inside.


When it arrived, I was very happy to see that the sewing was entirely sound. Phew. To resew this sort of thing, I would require direct word from God before I would even consider it. Reattaching the first few pages and the cover, I could probably handle.

The first few pages were easy to reattach. The pages were whipped-stitched together; they were loose sheets rather than a folded section, and I think it was originally just tipped in. So I tipped it in again. Then I cooked up some paste and started working on reattaching the cover. I couldn't find any material to really match the Bible's original cover. I picked up some strong black cloth and made myself a piece of bookcloth to use - not a great match but it worked. I lifted the cover material along the spine edge of the front cover, and along the edge of the spine and worked my book cloth under the original covering so only a narrow strip of the new material is actually visible.


I also used some linen repair tape on the inside and was able to cover it up with some of the original paper used in the Bible so the repair tape isn't visible at all. Now that it is finished, the Bible does seem to be better then when I started.


There was an interesting tidbit tucked inside this Bible. This small piece of paper was obviously included when the Bible was originally purchased and explains how to properly open a book. Quite right too, perhaps this instructional bit should be included with books more often.

re-bound

There is a new book published by Quarry Books: re-bound by Jeannine Stein. And I'm in it! This is an instructional book that focuses on making books using entirely recycled and upcycled materials. I was pretty excited to see this book is now available.

The book includes sixteen fully illustrated bookmaking projects, ideas for gathering materials and supplies, as well as a "beautiful gallery of other rebound creations by leading artists offering further inspiration" and that's where you can see a bit of my work in there! Check it out on Quarry's website or Amazon.