My Handbound Books - Bookbinding Blog

Leather Journals with tea-stained pages

2012-01-01T15:27:00.006-04:00

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012, and here's to another year full of books and book-related things everywhere!!

I have another batch of leather journals made with tea-stained pages. Each has a snug tab closure, and are bound onto thongs that create the gorgeous spine bands.

Available on Etsy, burgundy and honey are listed now - the other colours are also available, I just need more photographs of them - and it's too cold outside today!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T20:00:00.001-04:00

Usually I make a Christmas-themed book each year - you can see a few from previous years: 2010 and 2009 and 2008 and 2007. I had great aspirations for another book this year, but somehow, I didn't have enough time. The only festive books I made were these little Christmas pamphlet notebooks.

Nonetheless, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates anything at any time of year!

Journals with Steampunk Attitude

2011-12-16T13:09:00.006-04:00

I did some new Steampunk-inspired journals using vintage and decorative elements embedded in the covers. They were for a recent sale where the theme was Gothic, Medieval, Fantasy and Steampunk handcrafted work. My favorites:

And they all had some vintage train tickets on the inside, and paper with aged edges:

Only one of this style is still available - which can now be purchased through my Etsy shop.

2012 Weekly Planners in so many colours

2011-12-09T11:38:00.003-04:00

My 2012 Weekly Planners are ready to go, in several different colours of leather. Or if your favorite colour isn't shown, just ask, I might be able to do a custom planner for you! Available on Etsy.

Also, if you have purchased a planner from me in the past and you are interested in having just the calendar replaced - contact me, I can do that too (pertelote@ns.sympatico.ca).

Leather Journals for Witherstone Gallery

2011-11-19T22:32:00.004-04:00

A few blank journals made recently, now available at Witherstone Gallery in Lunenburg. All are full leather bindings, with raised images on the front covers.

It's That Time of Year

2011-11-17T10:47:00.008-04:00

It's that time of year, for buying and selling handmade goods at local craft markets. It started last weekend when I spent a couple days in Truro at the NSAC Festive Craft Market. It was a great weekend, in spite of the flooding!

If you missed me at that one, I have a few other events coming up:

Halifax Crafters Yultide Cheer Winter Market, December 3 & 4
Olympic Centre, Hunter Street, Halifax

Have Yourself a Gothic Little Christmas
December 3 & 4
Maritime Hall at The Forum, Windsor Street, Halifax

A Dickens of a Show, sponsored by Witherstone Gallery
December 10 & 11
St Johns Parrish Hall, Cumberland St, Lunenburg

Please stop by to say 'Hi' if you find yourself at any of these events.

New Poppytalk Handmade!

2011-11-09T10:51:00.005-04:00

The new Poppytalk Handmade pre-holiday market just launched earlier this week. My virtual table is all set up. Check it out, and all it's handmade goodness. It is time, after all, to be checking off some items from your holiday shopping list!

flickr friday - ORANGE

2011-11-04T22:00:00.000-03:00

Autumn is in full swing here. The leaves turned bright red and yellow and orange and now most of those leaves are on the ground and the trees are looking rather bare. It is the fabulous orange colours of Fall, though, that inspire today's Flickr Friday post. You can follow the link to see all the photos that I have on Flickr tagged with ORANGE, but here is a sample, randomly selected using the Flickr badge tool:www.flickr.com

Printing in Kentville

2011-10-24T11:46:00.013-03:00

As I mentioned, the bookbinding workshop was part of the annual Wayzgoose at Gaspereau Press. They are primarily concerned with printing, of course, and following the workshop there was an open house at their shop. They had several presses functioning and were allowing visitors to print keepsake posters and such.

Wood engraver, George Walker was visiting and helping visitors print a poster using this incredible 1830s Planten press. First of all, we had the poster's text printed on a Vandercook in another room. Then we brought the poster to George and he helped us print Marshall's picture in the middle - from one of George's wood block carvings.

George Walker operating the press
And my finished poster, here on the right, with the wood carving printed in the middle. George Walker is a fabulous wood engraver. There were many of his works on display and he also did an illustrated talk in the evening about printmaking.

They were also helping visitors to make little notebooks with our names on them. First we cast our name in lead. This is done on a Ludlow Type Caster - very old and very big, but very effective machine! I was at the Wayzgoose last year too and they cast my son's name and printed it on little cards. Great idea this year to take it a step farther.

So as you can see, we used that lead cast (a slug, is it called a slug?) on a Parlor Press to print the notebook cover and then it was stitched into a quick pamphlet.

The offset printer was also running, printing off posters for people. They were also making paper during this event. They have a small Hollander beater and they were beating denim jeans to make the pulp and pulling sheets of gorgeous blue paper. At first the entire facility doesn't seem very big, but they had a lot of things happening on Saturday afternoon! Many of their books were on display, including those with George Walker's gorgeous wood engravings. They also had their annual offcut paper sale... so, of course, I stocked up.

Bookbinding workshop in Kentville

2011-10-23T09:24:00.010-03:00

Yesterday, Gaspereau Press held their 12th annual Wayzgoose in Kentville, Nova Scotia. As part of the event, they were offering a bookbinding workshop with Ruth Legge, a local conservator and bookbinder who I'd heard of but never met. I was looking forward to meeting her and taking part in the class. So I left home early and drove to Kentville for a 9am start.

It was a 10-person workshop, just the right size. Ruth provided a kit for each person, with pre-cut materials. This is a great time-saver, of course, when someone else does all that fiddly work in advance! We each made a blank book, with a basic case binding structure. Mine has six signatures sewn with a French link stitch and kettle stitch, sewn without supports. And, although I've done a tonne of case bindings over the years, I still learned many things from Ruth.

My finished book
First of all, I don't think I'd ever made a case binding with a paper spine before. She also showed me a new way of turning in corners, very simple and effective. The way she planned the placement of the cover boards and spine liner onto the spine covering, also different and very effective. She quickly mentioned her method of making wheat paste - which included an extra step that I'm going to try next time. I also learned about a Quebec paper marbler, Lucie Lapierre, whose marbled papers we were using on our books. There were a number of other little tidbits that I picked up as well; all great information. It was perfect way to spend the morning!

Everyone's books in the press

Unfinished Project #3

2011-10-18T22:53:00.004-03:00

This unfinished project turned into 14 books. Several months ago I started to make these. I prepared all the pages and then got busy with orders and other projects and all those prepared pages were moved onto the shelf of unfinished projects. But here they are, finally.

Fourteen small hardcover journals with mixed papers for the pages. Each book is colour coordinated, so the purple book has a mixture of papers that includes lots of purple, and the blue book has a mixture of papers that includes lots of blue, etc. You get the idea. And I decided to use Japanese Chiyogami on all the covers. Most of the spines are book cloth, but a few are actually leather. Hardcover pamphlet structure; I love making these.

It will take a while to photograph each book individually for Etsy, but I did get a couple of them added to my shop today.

The Giveaway Winner!

2011-10-16T10:43:00.008-03:00

Thank you, everyone, who left a comment for the Thanksgiving Giveaway. There were 110 comments! I can't tell where everyone is from, but just from the comments that included their location, I can see that I had comments from 9 different countries! Including Canada, USA, Denmark, India, Spain, Greece, UK, Belgium, and Netherlands - and there were probably people from other countries who didn't identify their location. I'm so glad that this little bit of Canadian Thanksgiving could be shared with so many people from all over the world.

Even more remarkable... the randomly selected winner (commment #9) lives right here in Nova Scotia, the same Canadian province as me. How unlikely is that?!

To select the winner, I used a random number generator at random.org.

So, congratulations to Nancy! Your new monthly planner will be en route tomorrow morning.

Unfinished Project #2

2011-10-12T23:07:00.004-03:00

Several months ago, I stained a LOT of paper with tea. I had enough to make ten journals. So I sewed all the textblocks and then rounded and backed all of them. I started on the covers and finished seven then ran out of the leather I was using for the covers. So the three extra textblocks were put on the shelf of unfinished projects to be dealt with later.

Now they are finished! Not the same as the first seven since my cover material changed, but these turned out nice, nonetheless.

As usual, available on Etsy.
Another unfinished project is finished!
I've already started working on the next one.

Unfinished Project #1

2011-10-10T11:56:00.009-03:00

I have shelves full of unfinished projects! Sound familiar? With a bit of extra time this weekend, I decided to finish some of them.

About a year ago, I made several books for someone who needed them to be a particular size and style. They all had plain covers made from Saint-Armand paper - here's a stack of the blue ones from that project:

There were also some done in red, navy, brown, and green.

While I was making these books, I made three covers that were the wrong size. Remember, measure twice, cut once! It's good advice. If I'd been more careful, I wouldn't have had three covers that didn't fit the contents. But - I did. I laid the extra covers on the shelf with the intention of using them for something... later. Later finally happened. It was awkward getting started, since normally I made the textblock first and then make a cover to fit it. This time, I was working from the other direction - the covers were ready and I had to make a textblock to fit into them.

The extra covers have been transformed into three blank notebooks, and the plain covers have been spiced up with some of my hand-marbled shipping tags and labels. The covers are made with turn-ins so they are quite strong. The binding on these notebooks is the "longstitch through a slotted cover" sewing.

Available on Etsy, of course.
One unfinished project finished... many more to go.

Happy Thanksgiving - Giveaway!

2011-10-08T15:10:00.006-03:00

It's Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend! So Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks. We get to eat turkey and pie and have an extra day off from work and school. Woohoo! AND - I'm adding another bit of fun by giving away this "Acadmic Planner"!

This is the last of the Academic planners that I made this year. It is a monthly format calendar, so there is a two-page spread for each month. It is set up for the current academic year - so it started in July 2011 and ends next August 2012. It also has lots of blank pages for notes, and a pocket at the back, a ribbon bookmark, and standard reference pages as found in most such calendars. It is handbound using a longstitch binding and the cover is a really nice brown cowhide leather.

I will have a draw to pick a winner for this amazing prize! If you would like to get your name into the draw for a chance to win - you must leave me a comment here and either: tell me what you think is the best thing in My Etsy Shop right now! OR tell me something fun about your Thanksgiving celebrations (this is not just for those celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving - this giveaway is open to everyone, everywhere).

Leave your comments before the end of day Thursday, October 13th. I'll draw the winner on Friday, October 14th.

flickr friday - Nursery Rhymes

2011-09-30T13:03:00.003-03:00

Related to my last post - I have been tagging all the books that were made from that same old book of nursery rhymes. You can follow the link, NURSERY RHYMES, to see them all, or, here are a few of them, randomly selected using the Flickr badge tool:www.flickr.com

Nursery Rhyme Books

2011-09-27T11:29:00.006-03:00

I picked up an old book of nursery rhymes at a thrift store, a while ago, and the book was falling apart. It was quite a large hardcover book, but the hinges were broken and some of the pages were falling out. I got it because it was full of great pictures. I used several pages out of this book previously, but it is a big book! So I made more last week.

So these are my newest recycled and repurposed notebooks, and each is entirely one-of-a-kind. The cover pictures, obviously, are repurposed from the old story book. The papers used for the pages in these notebooks, are off-cuts from other projects that I have saved. That's why they are all different, odd sizes and shapes. I was also able to salvage all the book board from my scrap box. They are all bound using a chain stitch sewing.

A few of these are now available on Etsy.

Inkwell Modern Handmade Boutique & Letterpress Studio

2011-09-23T11:34:00.008-03:00

Celebrating its four month-iversary this week, Inkwell Modern Handmade Boutique & Letterpress Studio is one of Halifax's best new shops, no doubt. If you are in the Halifax area, the shop is downtown on Market Street, go there! And definitely stop by on Sunday (Sept 25), while the traveling "Moveable Type" truck is visiting, how cool is that? More details on Inkwell's blog.

Inkwell's proprietress, Andrea, has done a fantastic job making her shop look great and it's full of awesome things. She is set up to do letterpress work with a press that she has restored. You can see photos of the restoration process on her blog.

In addition to the letterpress stuff, the shop is full of lots of other really amazing products - browse the blog and the Facebook photos to get an idea of the awesomeness.

She has kindly allowed me to be part of the awesomeness, carrying some of my books too. Just dropped off a new batch of books: the Recycled Mail journals that I mentioned last week, as well as some of my Margarita Journals, a few hand-printed "Underwater" lino-cut notebooks, and books made with my hand-marbled paper.

There is a great article about Andrea and her shop if you are interested in reading about her journey creating the wonderful space that is now Inkwell - visit Oh My Handbmade to read more.

flickr friday - WHITE

2011-09-16T11:03:00.000-03:00

A surprising number of items in my Flickr photostream tagged with "white", over sixty. Follow this WHITE link to see them all. Or, here are a few of them, randomly selected using the Flickr badge tool:www.flickr.com

A quick follow-up

2011-09-13T00:11:00.006-03:00

Last week I showed you what was on the work bench... the junk mail, remember? Voila, very cool journals. The covers are, obviously, covered with junk mail and other previously-used envelopes. The pages are mostly blank paper (recycled paper, of course), with a few previously used business envelopes mixed in to keep it internesting. Each one also has an unused reply enveloped in the middle of the last section - those envelopes that come inside other envelopes so that we can easily mail our donations, or subscriptions, or whatever. So inside these books, those envelopes function as a handy little pocket to store secret things!

Main decorative element: security pattern from inside the envelopes...

This one is a total sweepstakes, someone with your initials is definitely a winner! Do not disregard...

And classic brown paper packages...

You could win...

2011-09-07T21:42:00.003-03:00

Etsian, blogger, and mommy extraordinaire known online as rikrak is having a little (kinda big) giveaway on her blog right now to celebrate her birthday. I bring this to your attention, since included in that giveaway is one of my handbound leather journals. Lots of other terrific prizes too. It's easy to get your name in the mix - all is explained over at the rikrakstudio: rikrakstudio.blogspot.com.

On the work bench today

2011-09-05T21:23:00.002-03:00

Speaking of recycling...

It's not just a pile of junk mail. Well, it IS a pile of junk mail; but, it will be transformed... stay tuned.

flickr friday - RECYCLED

2011-09-02T12:19:00.004-03:00

Another tag that I have used a lot on Flickr is RECYCLED. I've made books from a wide variety of recycled/repurposed materials, and it looks like there are over 120 photos tagged as such. Follow the RECYCLED link to see them all. Or, here are a few of them, randomly selected using the Flickr badge tool:www.flickr.com

Gramma's Things

2011-08-31T18:10:00.005-03:00

While going through my late Grandmother's things, my mother found a lot of handiwork that Gramma had done, or partially done. After hearing about 23 Sandy Gallery's recent Uncommon Threads call, I used one of Gramma's unfinished crocheted pieces to make this book (although it isn't part of the exhibit, it was that call for entries that prompted me to it).

The 'pages' of my book are made of book board, covered with the pages of one of her old Crochet & Tatting pattern books. I added a little narrative to the pages about my grandmother's things.

As you can see from these next two photos, the book structure allows it to open like a standard codex, or as an accordion.

It can be opened both ways because it is constructed like the old Jacob's Ladder toys. I even made a little video here to show the fun part, how it can be an endless ladder even though it consists of only six panels, er, pages.

Marbling Larger Papers

2011-08-28T13:38:00.004-03:00

Until recently, I was only marbling small sheets of paper, about 9x12. People often asked if I could do larger sheets but my equipment prevented me from going bigger. Last time I was marbling, though, I found a container that I could use to try some larger sheets. I ruined several sheets immediately - switching from laying down a 9x12 piece of paper, to a 16x24 piece of paper, was not an instant transition! Suddenly it felt like I'd never done it before and I had to learn the technique all over again. After some practice, though, I did successfully produce several large sheets. I've started to add some of them to my Etsy shop - in two different sizes, 16x24 and 12x18.

These images are scans of the larger sheets - the scans show only a 9x12 area, though, since that's the size of my scanner bed.

flickr friday - RED

2011-08-26T10:44:00.001-03:00

Another Friday, and about 85 pictures tagged with RED. Apparently it's a popular colour in my work! I do like red, actually, and this selection includes many shades of red - since, sometimes burgundy is red...etc. Follow the RED link to see them all. Or, here are a few of them, randomly selected using the Flickr badge tool:www.flickr.com

Secret Belgian Binding -> Criss Cross Binding

2011-08-24T21:04:00.006-03:00

As I mentioned a couple months ago, it is now known that the 'Secret Belgian binding' was invented by Anne Goy in the 1980s. It is not an obscure historical binding as many people thought. I had a little note directly from Anne after I posted here, and she says that she wants this binding to be called "Criss Cross binding" -- rather than the secret Belgian Binding. It's going to be hard to convince people to change their name for this structure, I think, but I wanted to share that information so that we can at least make an effort to call it by its proper name!

flickr friday - YELLOW

2011-08-19T22:13:00.031-03:00

I like using the tags on Flickr. It's a great way to categorize and it's a very librarian-type-thing to do. There are about 57 photos in my Flickr photo pool right now, that I have tagged with YELLOW. Follow the YELLOW link to see them all. Or, here are a few of them, randomly selected using the Flickr badge tool:www.flickr.com

Guest Blogger Fran Kovac, on 6th Century Coptic Binding

2011-08-12T14:52:00.006-03:00

Fran Kovac is a bookbinder in Columbus, Ohio, and teaches basic bookbinding techniques at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. She is ridiculously camera-shy, but has allowed me to to use a picture of her fingers sewing a link-stitch endband, very much like the endband for the Coptic structure she describes here.

I first encountered Fran's work, way back in 2006, when we were both participating in a book swap through Volcano Arts. I think she ended up with the first book that I sent. Later I acquired a couple of her marvelous books through the swap. In 2008, I attended PBI for the first time and was chatting with her when suddenly I realized it was the same person, Fran Kovac! She's been at PBI every time that I've been there - and now she's kindly agreed to write about one of her 2011 PBI classes for my blog. Thanks so much, Fran!

While Rhonda was slaving away in John Townsend's Extreme Bookbinding (see her post, below), I was spending the week with a Late 6th Century Coptic structure taught by conservator and book historian Julia Miller. This is an exquisite structure that is a recreation of an extant manuscript known as "Chester Beatty Ms. 815" but also called "Codex C." The original has a parchment textblock sewn with a link stitch at three sewing stations, on papyrus boards. The book is leather covered with an inked design, with a wide wrapping band held with a bone clasp and an attached bookmark.

We began by making our papyrus boards. Pasteboard is simply a board made by laminating sheets of paper or papyrus together. Julia pointed out that there is evidence that boards were often made with fragments, scraps, inscribed sheets and bits of leather and vellum, pressed together, and in fact, we made samples with scraps left over from class. Codex C had papyrus boards, though, so for our books, we laminated papyrus until we had boards approximately 5 mm (~3/16") thick.

We used paper for our textblock, alas, parchment being rather expensive. I added one parchment end sheet to my model for the most verisimilitude I could afford. We folded and marked our textblocks for sewing. This link stitch is recessed in the original, so we carefully cut notches in our textblock to accept the thread. The sewing is rather different than that which is usually taught today: three stations, single needle, with the thread doubled inside each signature. A note about "Coptic" sewing: historically, not all link sewn books are Coptic in origin. We commonly use the terms interchangeably, but unless what's being talked about is an actual Coptic binding, such as Codex C, we should probably use the term "unsupported link stitch."

After sewing, we added link stitch end bands in colored thread, and lined the spine with linen. We made and decorated our bookmarks, wrapping band and bone clasp. The original clasp is vaguely fish shaped, with a single hole for the strap, and is undecorated except for some scratches. We used cold tooling and ink to decorate the bookmark and ink designs on the wrapping band.

We had lovely goatskin to work with to form the case with the papyrus boards. Goat, sheep, and other hides such as camel are believed to have been used in history. This is, essentially, a very early (the earliest?) case binding; the boards are not sewn to the textblock. The boards and leather were laid out pretty much as we would do today when making a case, although with extra wide turn-ins.

Inside front board showing the wrapping band attachment

The end sheets are pasted down to hold the textblock in place. Prior to putting in the textblock, however, holes are punched through the front board to accept the wrapping band and bookmark, and the tricky work of drawing the inked design began. The model of Codex C which was made shortly after its discovery served as our model for the design; it incorporated a Maltese cross, which seemed the wrong time period to me, so I incorporated a Coptic cross in its place.

My thanks to the extraordinary Julia Miller for another wonderful historic bookbinding class, and to Rhonda for the chance to talk about it!

A few more pictures on Flickr

Mini Books for your ears

2011-08-10T15:24:00.001-03:00

Had some fun recently working on these tiny little books...

When Marbling Washes Away

2011-08-06T19:04:00.005-03:00

When marbling, after a sheet of paper has been laid on the floating paint and lifted from the tank, it has to be rinsed with water to remove the excess size. Sometimes the paint on a sheet of newly marbled paper just washes down the drain. This happens when the paper isn't suitable for marbling. During my last marbling session, I tried some different paper and it became a good example of what happens when the pattern just washes off. Once I realized what was happening, I got the camera a made a little video to show you. Much effort, washed away in 20 seconds.

It's disheartening when this happens! Well, I won't try marbling on this paper again.

Guest Blogger Charles Wisseman, on Moku Hanga and Martin Vinaver

2011-08-03T11:12:00.013-03:00

Charles Wisseman is a retired pathologist who now does mixed media art with a current emphasis on book arts and papermaking. Charles lives in Champaign, Illinois and has a website where he shares some of his work: www.charleswisseman.com.

Charlie has been at PBI every time that I have been there and I think he's been there many times more. This year at Ox Bow, he took Martin Vinaver's class on Moku Hanga, a Japanese woodblock printing technique. He kindly agreed to share his class experience here on my blog.

Martin Vinaver was an unusual presence at PBI this year ( May in Oxbow in Saugatuck, Michigan). He is a Mexican from Vera Cruz who fell in love with Japanese woodblock printing, which led him to learn Japanese and spend several years in Japan learning this art form from remaining masters. This is a difficult and labor-intensive process which is in decline. The samples of older prints from Japan show an almost superhuman degree of fine detail and carefully drawn lines.

On returning to Mexico, he set about working with some other Mexicans and foreign artists to try to "Mexicanize" the process, because some of the Japanese materials were very expensive or unobtainable in Mexico. He gave a talk on his art center progress so far, with U-tube clips showing the making of paper from old towels discarded by local tourist hotels, lithograph stones from local quarries, locally cast metal parts for presses, local colored earths for pigments, carbon black from the local bakery, fat for lithography crayons from local sheep, etc. The website for his organization is www.laceibagrafica.org.

In the class we did not try to reach the level of the old masters. Each person tried to carve and print an original 4.5" x 6.5" block of shina plywood to learn the traditional methods of carving (including registration points), mixing pigments and printing on Japanese paper using a traditional baren. Martin brought carving sets of traditional style made locally in Mexico using steel from older quality European files. These were for sale after the class, and I liked the tools enough to buy a set. He brought powdered earthen pigments from Mexico, demonstrated traditional baren-making (which we all tried).

We were all feeling pretty good about our designs and carving, until Martin came in on the third day and said that we needed to carve our negative spaces deeper to avoid stray ink transfer. In the cold studio space this was not welcome news, but the final results were worth it. I carved a turtle design using two blocks.

Moku Hanka Woodblock Print by Charles Wisseman

Carving to have color areas contact without gaps or overlaps was harder than I expected, but we were all pleased with the results. The main challenge is to think in terms of color areas rather than lines. I have no graphic training, but found the final result pleasing.

Martin's other contribution was tai chi instruction in the open before breakfast every day. I liked his style better than other forms I have tried, but probably can't find a teacher here. What a great way to start the day, though.

Martin Vinaver leading tai chi at Ox Bow

More photos on Flickr

Green

2011-07-26T09:45:00.007-03:00

Each year there is an exhibit of artists' books at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California. This year's exhibit, "Artist's Books 2011," is happening now, continuing until August 26th. Included in this exhibit is a little green book that I made. It is a small book, an edition of 7, bound using a dowel-spine structure with all materials being recycled, reclaimed, repurposed, etc. The content is also green.

This little book recognizes the achievement of Canada's Green Party, successfully electing Elizabeth May, the first Green member of parliament, earlier this year. The pocket on the inside of the front cover includes a business card (from my local Green Party candidate, Thomas Trappenberg) that lists the principles of the Green Party. The remaining content recognizes the Green Party's acheivements and also questions why green principles are not already part of other political agendas.

Using leather for patchwork

2011-07-23T21:11:00.004-03:00

It starts as a pile of leather pieces. I sort it and match it and plan out the pattern. Then I sew them together to make covers for journals. Finished covers...

Finished journals...

Witherstone Gallery, Lunenburg, NS

2011-07-18T09:21:00.016-03:00

Earlier this year, a new gallery opened in Lunenburg, NS, called Witherstone Gallery. Artist, Shawn Orne, conceived and established this gallery to showcase local artisans. Shawn has created a beautiful space in the heart of Lunenburg's unofficial art district, on Lincoln Street. This little part of Lunenburg has several galleries and art studios clustered together so it's a great spot to visit if you are in the area.

There is an amazing group of artists showcased at Witherstone. Alongside local artists such as Shelagh Duffett, Daina D. Scarola, Marina Smith, Sarah Morton, Sharon Hodgson, Mike and Sherry Goede, Julia Williamson, Shawn Orne, and more, I am thrilled to have my work on display here (part of the display shown here on the right). The next photo (below) shows another angle in the gallery where you can see the work of some of the artists mentioned previously.

Recently there was a Street Festival and Artwalk in Lunenburg so I was there with my work, set up on the sidewalk outside Witherstone Gallery. I was making books and had some work on display. Set up beside me was another one of Witherstone's artists, Anouk. She is here (photo below, in the pink) with several of her amazing paintings displayed on the sidewalk near the gallery. Anouk's work is amazing, you can see more on her blog at anoukwolse.blogspot.com.

Guest Blogger Lexi Janezic, Letterpress

2011-07-15T15:36:00.012-03:00

Lexi Janezic is a mixed media artist (drawing, painting, collage) and prospective book artist living in Kansas City, Missouri. We met this year at Paper and Book Intensive, where Lexi was attending as one of the Nell Meldahl scholarship winners. You can visit Lexi's blog at thegreywoman.tumblr.com.

As part of my continuing efforts to tell everyone about all the PBI classes, even the ones that I didn't take, Lexi agreed to tell us about the Letterpress class that she did with Jean Buescher Bartlett.

I started PBI 2011 having no knowledge of what to expect from this pleasantly unique event. The idea of having workshops strictly devoted to the art book and paper was as foreign to me as astrophysics. For the past year I have lived in a world where I felt I needed to be either an artist or a conservator, it was strange to think that I would be able to meet people that defined what it is to straddle the line between these two very different paths so seamlessly. It was a tremendous relief from my conscience as a creative individual, who had initially felt that it was impossible to find a happy medium between the two worlds.

From talking amongst my fellow PBIers, it became clear that Jean Buescher Bartlett (Blood Root Press), is well respected in the PBI community, and upon telling people I was taking letterpress with Jean, was overwhelmed with the consensus of people who wished to take letterpress printing with Jean at some point in their lives.

I have wanted to take a letterpress class since I first saw and felt the texture of impressed text on paper. This was a subconscious desire initially (seeing as I was a lass of 8 or so), but upon further investigation it was knowledge that became apparent as time went on, and intended to attain it at some point in my life. PBI was the perfect opportunity to become familiar with a medium I wanted to covet as much as my own.

From day one, we were setting type and printing, and of course, mulling over how to translate our own creative ideas and energies into the book form. To get the ball rolling, Jean had us write down nouns, adjectives and adverbs, place them in a hat, and create sentences based on the words chosen. The sentences produced from these found words were beautifully articulate, most having the intellectual ambiguity most poets can only hope for. Shortly after the completion of our sentences, the text was assembled into one poem, typeset, and placed in a galley in the press with appropriately arranged furniture. Following the typesetting, the printing process was introduced along with all the experimentation involved with newsprint packing, paper proofing, and finally, fine quality printing (+/- a few fingers). A typically long and tedious process cut down to its bare essentials.

The book shown here was designed and created by Jean Buescher Bartlett; the type was set by the students in this letterpress class. Photos by Ah-Ram Park.

Jean supplied us with a plethora of information on letterpress process, simple book structures, text, concept, and how these things can be made to manifest themselves together as one.

Photo by Ah-Ram Park.

In between people using the press, Jean introduced us to the book structures, all of which were simple and easy enough to interpret with something made with pages printed from letterpress. These books were primarily held together with PVA, which allowed for a wider margin of error for the expected inconsistencies in printing.

Of the vast range of information I was introduced to in this class, what was of particular interest to me was Jean’s creative process, specifically on the things that inspire, inform, and translate themselves to create her work. This presentation was filled with book layouts, hand drawn notes and fairy tales of yore. What was most striking to me about this presentation was the range in the types of work shown, most being small detailed hand-drawn illustrations and found media.

This class was a pleasure to take. Jean is a down-to-earth and patient person, and knowledgeable to boot about all things press related. Not only did Jean provide me with enough epiphanies about life and art to last me for quite some time, it provided a perfectly balanced technical and creative outlet tailored to our own artistic needs and wants.

A few more photos on Flickr

Guest Blogger Elizabeth Sanford, Tunnel Books

2011-07-09T20:30:00.013-03:00

Elizabeth Sanford is a watercolor artist who was seduced several years ago by the book arts. She is fond of flexicubes and teaches at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville, TN.

Elizabeth's website is currently being remodeled but be sure to look for the revised version of elizabethsanford.com this Fall. Elizabeth has kindly agreed to tell us about the tunnel book class that she took at PBI this year. Thank you, Elizabeth.

I love Andrea Dezso's work (www.andreadezso.com), so when I saw that she was teaching a tunnel book class at PBI, I had to sign up! We learned 3 tunnel structures: the Jennifer, the Stephanie and the Luminitza.

My favorite was the first one, the Jennifer, so I spent most of the workshop on that one. It's a structure that Andrea invented that involves sewing the panels to the accordion sides so that they almost float. If you look carefully, you should be able to spot the silhouette of a bird (a yellow-billed cuckoo) in the front panel; there's another hiding in the branches on the second panel.

I started cutting these panels with an x-acto knife but switched to a scalpel in the middle of this model, and it was so much easier! I got mine from the PBI store run by Nancy Morains (here's her website: www.colophonbookarts.com/binding.html). I'm also interested in trying the kind of Olfa knife with carbon steel blades that Andrea uses.

The other 2 approaches are based on commercially printed books. The Stephanie is adapted from Winnie-the-Pooh's Pop-up Theatre Book (1993). The panels are attached with tabs at the top and bottom, and it folds flat. Here's my model in the open position:

The Luminitza is a 4 layer pattern based on a German book published in 1878. Here's Andrea's diagram, which reveals some of her humor:

I'm currently working on a more complicated version of the first model. Here are the 5 panels:

I'm planning to have more space between the panels this time so it will be easier to find the creatures that are hiding in the woods.

A few more photos on Flickr

Origami animals

2011-07-03T11:08:00.002-03:00

I just worked through a brief origami addiction. Made some fish...

Some crabs...

And some frogs...

Maybe I can get back to the books now!

Secret Belgian Binding - not a secret anymore

2011-06-19T20:47:00.008-03:00

A few years ago, I posted on my blog a list of historical bindings that I wanted to revisit. One of the bindings on that list was the Secret Belgian Binding. The history of this binding was obscure and, other than it being somehow Belgian in origin, nobody seemed too sure about it. As it turns out, it's not even an historic binding!

Hedi Kyle and Emily Martin were both at PBI last month, and they have been the unofficial experts on this binding. So, as I'm sitting across the lunch table from these two, I made some mention of the Secret Belgian Binding. I don't remember my question, and it doesn't matter, because the two of them became excited about telling me the important news: they found the person who invented this binding! Anne Goy invented the Secret Belgian Binding - and she does indeed, live in Belgium.

In the 1980s, Anne Goy developed this binding because she really liked the look of the Japanese stab bindings, but wanted a structure that would open fully. She showed the binding structure to a few people, they showed a few people, and they showed a few people, etc. Eventually the origin of the structure was obscured but its popularity had spread across the globe.

Thank you, Anne Goy!

Guest Blogger Amy Greenan, In Search of Content

2011-06-11T21:32:00.011-03:00

Amy Greenan is a fine artist, graphic designer, teacher, and also a bookbinder and she was a fellow participant at PBI this year. Amy agreed to tell me more about one of the PBI classes that I didn't take (since one person can only take 3 out of 10 classes). This is her account of the class, "In Search of Content" with Susan Skarsgard.

You can see some of Amy's work on her website (www.amygreenan.com) and learn more about her activities on her blog (www.chociblog.blogspot.com).

Two of the classes I had the pleasure of taking were with Rhonda – Book Doctor 101 and Fragments of Bookbinding Structure (otherwise known as Extreme Bookbinding!), which she’s already written about. So, Rhonda has asked me to tell you about my experience in a class that she didn’t take, which largely dealt with creating content for the artist’s book and the creative process in general. Of the three workshops I signed up for, this one was the most “arty” for sure.

In the over ten years I’ve been making books, my focus has mainly been on playing with structure and design, and so producing mostly blank books for other people to fill in. As an artist whose main medium has been paint on canvas, making books for me has been something to relax in and not feel pressure to make something particularly meaningful. I must admit, though, that was getting stale – I’ve been spinning my wheels for way too long, and for someone who also ended up becoming the bookbinding person about town over the years and teaching it quite a lot, I really wanted to up the ante and get more serious about it. I wanted the work I was making in that form to be as interesting and meaningful as I hope my paintings are.

The Paper and Book Intensive was truly transformative in that way – I found what I was looking for in the sense that I did have a lot of focus on more serious things like book conservation and historical bindings, but I also found myself really inspired during and outside the workshops. The people – don’t even get me started on how great every person attending PBI is. Being amongst a large group of “your own” is truly life-affirming – I am not exaggerating on this point. The one workshop that really opened my eyes and my imagination up to the possibilities of communicating big (and more personal) ideas visually and via the written word (hm, going back to my zine days!) was with Susan Skarsgard, an amazing woman of many talents, least of which is designing logos for cars (Saturn was hers!), but also beautiful and illustrative calligraphy, and an challenging but effective teaching style – a little drill sergeant mixed in the first couple days to draw us out of our respective modus operandi for sure.

In the first two mornings we had together, we created content, almost unknowingly. Using the old exquisite corpse trick, we as a group of 12 wrote 12 different poems, each with its own surprising tone and message. A similar method was used to create visuals, “merely” mark-making exercises where Susan’s real boot camp tone came out at its best. Moving around the tables almost constantly and working with varied media and colors, with less than 30 seconds to connect with the paper in front of us at a time, we truly got a workout, creatively and physically. We were urged to make different marks every time, usually with a prompt, for example “Make a dotted line across the page!” “Draw four squares!”, “Draw a slow line using your tool in an unexpected way,” etc. We also worked on creating the essence of letterforms one mark, one person at a time, and then tried working with India ink only (and then washed away our efforts with a hose outside the studio!). A couple hours of concentrated effort resulted in a series of large pages for each of us to claim and further work with for our individual projects.

Then came the challenge of putting all these disparate parts together into a book structure. Susan showed us one she devised that was Frankensteined out of the “Instant Book” that involves only some simple folding and cutting and creating a section out of just one sheet of paper. This I was familiar with, but then she proceeded to put a few together using some sewing similar to a Two Sewn as One binding, except there was an extra sheet in there somehow. Very clever! She then demonstrated a wrapped soft cover using some Bristol board and Canson Mi-Tientes (one of my favorite papers!). In the end, these simple and familiar techniques yielded a beautiful, sturdy structure that presented many possibilities. We now had imagery to respond to, add words to, develop further visually. Sometimes pages, by fate alone, appeared to be perfect compositions without any additional workings. Others suggested the need for something, anything. Everyone had a slightly different approach, of course. Hedi Kyle, the luminary of our bunch, reveled in cutting out windows in some of her pages and using pochoir (stenciling) to create deceptively simple and stunning abstract imagery. I should have taken note of her approach – taking care to work into every page a bit at a time so that she was able to have what appeared to be a complete work in a very short time. But hey, it’s Hedi Kyle! Would you expect any less?

My particular book ended up being one of those that wasn’t so felicitous. I decided to work into all the spreads, but only got so far as the third one before class was over. That was fine, it gave me something to take home with me. I found myself inspired by the natural surroundings we lavished in at Ox-Bow, and I used a pine cone and an acorn top as visual talismans. My poem (though not really just mine, but everyone’s) worked perfectly with the images I was producing, so I let myself be inspired by Susan’s lovely calligraphy and explored not only the words and how they danced with the images, but also the letterforms themselves as individual images. This naturally appealed to the graphic designer in me.

All in all, this class was immensely satisfying. Susan was a delightful study in contrasts – one moment extolling the virtue of slowly folding the paper, and really feeling its pliability, taking time to really know it; the next barking out orders like the most efficient line cook. I tell you, sometimes, it’s really nice to have someone tell you what to do and how to do it. When you can give yourself over to that and let the process take over, it can result in the most amazing things.

CBBAG Book Arts Show and Sale - June 11

2011-06-09T00:03:00.003-03:00

Everyone in and near Ottawa needs to check out the "2011 National Handmade Book Arts Show and Sale" this weekend at Library and Archives Canada. I wish I could be there - if anyone goes and wants to report back and tell me all about it, please do!

Saturday, 11 June 2011, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Library and Archives Canada,
395 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ontario.

Open to the public and admission is free.

Exhibition: The Nature of Words - all day

Speakers include: George Walker "The Future of the Book" at 4 p.m.

Future of the Book is the theme for this year’s CBBAG Book Arts Show. An impressive array of book artists and artisans are coming together to look at this intriguing question.

Hosted by the Ottawa Valley Chapter of CBBAG

Extreme Bookbinding

2011-06-05T22:29:00.013-03:00

The third, and most intensive, class that I took at PBI was with John Townsend who is a bookbinder and conservator extrodinaire and operates Anonymous Bookbinder in upstate New York. In this class we made three books. Extreme bookbinding, because there was a lot to accomplish in a short time. We were folding and tearing, setting up the sewing frame with cords for one and tapes for another, we were paring leather and molding vellum, we were plouging textblocks, and we hammered and rounded, and on and on... We focused on structure, and I love structure.

My finished books...

First, the publisher's board binding. John had several examples of this kind of binding from its heyday - beginning in the mid 1700s - when the structure became widely used in English binderies. Key features of the binding: it is sewn on recessed cords, and two are laced into the boards and the others are cut; the textblock is left untrimmed; the boards were almost always covered with blue or grey paper; paper spine pasted directly to the spine of the textblock; endpapers are pasted down with the book lying open.

A couple of the publisher's board binding models made by our class...

Second, a type of German case binding, or Bradel binding, also from the mid 1700s. This structure uses a molded spine wrapper attached to cover boards to create a case. We made a variant of this traditional German case binding with vellum for the spine. Other features: textblock is trimmed on all 3 sides and often speckled; sewn onto tapes using a French link then the tapes are removed; sewn endpapers; paste paper or marbled paper typically used on the covers.

A couple of the German case binding models made by others in my class...

Third, we made a single section book a la T. Harrison's 1947 article in Paper and Print. This structure was really interesting because even with only a few pages, the result was a rounded and backed textblock - not easy to achieve with a single section. This structure was presented as a solution for library binderies when a few sheets need to be bound for the stacks, this binding will allow the slim volume a bit more substance so it doesn't get lost on the shelf. The model that I made has a textblock of only four folios (I barely finished this book, so thank you, Jean for helping me with the leather spine on this one after the class was finished!)

My single-section book...

More photos on Flickr

Paper Engineering

2011-05-24T23:58:00.009-03:00

At PBI, I also had a class with Carol Barton, doing paper engineering...otherwise known as pop-up and moveable books. Carol is, of course, the queen of pop-ups. Carol has two books about making pop-ups, The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I and Volume II. She is currently working on Volume III.

We spent our time making about a million different pop-up structures (ok, I'm exaggerating, but only a little bit). We started with the basics, like little pop-up squares and triangles that are very common and often used in cards and accordion books, etc. and we worked our way through all their variations, moved on to more elaborate props and platforms that can be built up higher and higher, and even did a few 3-D shapes by the end of it.

My favorite of the single shapes, the star (good thing I wrote "star" on this sample so I'd know what it was...)

Also really enjoyed making these little accordions...

And a sample of combining different shapes and structures...

Carol was a great teacher, be sure to grab any chance of taking a class with her. And thank you, Carol, for helping me find my gate at the airport as I rushed to catch my flight!

More photos on Flickr

Book Doctor

2011-05-20T18:17:00.009-03:00

So I'm at PBI (althouhg my luggage look the scenic route and arrived two days later than I did). One of the classes I have been taking is book repair with Ann Frellsen. The focus has been on quick treatments for damaged books, so that they will withstand continued use (in other words, not for rare or ancient books requiring specailized detailed treatments).

We used Japanese tissue to repair holes in pages and to reattach a page that has been cut out. We also did tipping in of pages, endpaper replacement, spine replacement, end cap reinforcement, and all sorts of other things in between. She was very good at showing us what needed to be done for each of the books we were working on since they are all different and some required treatments that others did not. These are not very exciting things to photograph since the finished work is not very obvious - or it shouldn't be very obvious!

One book that I worked on was this lovely orange book.
[Edit May 30]
The most obvious problem with this book was the dirt as it had been stored in a very dusty area for a long time. The photos I had here originally didn't really convey the magnitude of the cleaning that was involved so I've removed those in favor of this one that just shows a closer view. The front cover (on the right) and part of the spine have been cleaned. There were some little pen marks, scratches, and stains that didn't change, but the overall dirt layer has been removed. The back cover (left) hasn't been cleaned. Click on the photo to make it bigger if you want to see more detail.

[end Edit]

Also with this book, I reinforced the head cap, cleaned old adhesive from the textblock spine then re-rounded and backed it. The hinges of the case were weak, so they were reinforced and then new endpapers were attached and the whole thing was put back together.
Pretty exciting, eh?

Another book for PBI

2011-05-15T15:31:00.006-03:00

Each year at PBI, there is an auction to raise money for scholarships. I've made a journal for the auction, specifically an OxBow-theme journal, since that's where PBI is being hosted this year.

The last time I went to OxBow, I brought home a booklet about the college which included some photos of the campus. I tore the photos from the booklet and tore a few strips from a Michigan map showing the Saugatuck region, and pieced them together on the covers. The endpapers are hand-marbled by me, and there is a folder pocket sewn into the textblock, made from the OxBow booklet as well. Also includes the bookmark, made from an OxBow information card.

Next week it's PBI

2011-05-13T23:13:00.007-03:00

Next week I'll be going to Michigan for Paper and Book Intensive. I'll be taking classes from John Townsend, Carol Barton, and Ann Frellsen. I'm super excited about it and can't wait to share my work and experiences on my blog in the coming weeks.

I made myself a journal to take with me this year. The cover is Suminagashi marbling that I made at PBI in 2008. The pages are a mixture of papers, most of which were acquired at PBI in 2008 and 2009. There are also folders and envelopes sewn into the text block.

Flip Books on a rainy afternoon

2011-05-09T21:55:00.004-03:00

My kid came home from school today with a little kit for making a flip book. I don't think he was prepared for my level of excitement. It was, in fact, touted as a "cartoon creator" and the packaging and instruction sheet never used the term flip book. I suppose, a cartoon creator kit sounds more exciting to 6-year-olds! I showed him a flip book that I got from Green Chair Press and then we attempted to make a few of our own. So now we have a stick-man who drops his hat and picks it up, and a rocket circling Saturn. When I have time, I'll definitely want to try a more refined flip book someday!

Mixed Paper Journals

2011-05-07T22:37:00.006-03:00

The only thing better than writing in a handmade journal with mixed papers, is making a journal with mixed papers. I love making these because it gives me a chance to sort and fondle my hoard of paper. These small leather journals are each made with an assortment of papers including different kinds of lined paper, decorative papers, handmade paper, some marbled papers, various colours of plain paper, and even a few maps and illustrated pages from an old story book.

Some of these are now available on Etsy.

The Illustrated Accordion

2011-05-04T23:05:00.006-03:00

The Illustrated Accordion is an exhibit at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center Gallery in Kalamazoo, Michigan (kalbookarts.org). The exhibit will open May 6th, continuing until May 27th. I have a miniature accordion, titled "Piano Generations" that is part of this exhibit.

All the work in this exhibit has been photographed and can be viewed on Flickr. But be sure to check it out "in real life" if you happen to be in Michigan!

"Piano Generations" is a limited edition artist's book, hand-marbled paper on the covers, ink jet printed piano keys, family snapshots in pockets. Limited edition of 10.

Halifax Crafters Spring market - this weekend!

2011-04-27T13:53:00.002-03:00

For my local readers in Halifax NS and nearby, this is going to be a fabulous Spring market - if you're in the mood for a little/lot handmade goodness this weekend. I'll be there with my work!

Happy Earth Day

2011-04-22T13:34:00.007-03:00

So I've really blown my New Year's Resolution this month but let me get back on track today, celebrating Earth Day, with some journals I made using all recycled and repurposed materials. These are hardcovers, each with an exposed spine and chain stitch binding.

The paper for the pages in these journals is 100% recycled. The board used for the covers is all scrap board that would have been destined for land fill: chip board, eska board, and some pressed cardboard from the back of a large sketchbook. The decorative papers on the covers are pictures torn from magazines. Each cover image is created by combining two different pictures that were torn into strips. Click the photo to make it bigger if you want a better look at the images.

Suminagashi marbling this time

2011-03-29T11:15:00.003-03:00

Yesterday, I pulled out my supplies for doing Suminagashi marbling. A very different experience than Ebru marbling, and very different results too. I really should practice this more often - I haven't tried it for a long time. So rather than paint and carageenan size, Suminagashi uses ink and water.

A couple of the results -

What to do during Earth Hour?

2011-03-26T22:08:00.005-03:00

Our household participated in Earth Hour today by turning off all the lights, computers, and TVs between 8:30 and 9:30pm. What to do, when you would rather be bookbinding? I planned ahead, made sure that my solar-powered book light was charged, and spent the hour reading some Szirmai.

This book light is a handy gadget - check it out on Useful Things. (The bendy wire can be argumentative but the light is good and stays charged for a full earth hour and more.)

Happy Earth Hour! What did you do during earth hour?

Some new marbled papers

2011-03-24T19:38:00.004-03:00

A few of my favorites from my last marbling session.
A bird wing pattern:

A waved chevron:

Spanish wave on stones:

The thistle pattern:

A new travel journal

2011-03-19T20:20:00.003-03:00

I finally finished this book for myself. It's my 2010 travel journal. As I've explained before, my travel journals are made after the fact - rather than during my travels as most people would do it. Some previous examples of my personal travel journals are here and here.

We didn't make any big trips last year, just a bunch of small road trips, camping, etc. All the papers that I collected from those little trips, tickets, maps, etc are incorporated. Some maps and brochures were folded to make folders and the smaller items are tucked into the folders. The front cover has a small clear plastic container embedded and it contains a shell and some dried wild rose petals, which we collected at a campground. I used a sheet of my marbled paper on the front cover - a favorite that I had been saving.

Marbling a bouqet pattern

2011-03-15T10:15:00.010-03:00

I just spent a few days doing some marbling so I took some pictures of the different steps for making the bouquet pattern - which is one of my favorite patterns when it turns out well. There are actually four different patterns created in the process. These photos are taken of the paint floating on the carageenan size, so the colours look strange, but hopefully you can get an idea of what's happening. Click on the pictures to see them larger.

First, the stone pattern.

Then a gel git (or git gel... the jury is out on which is the best way to say that).

Then it becomes a Nonpareil.

And finally the nonpareil is transformed into the bouquet.

Here it is, printed and rinsed and drying in the sink.

And after it has dried completely.

All for the love of a single sheet of paper!

Something Odd

2011-02-28T12:14:00.002-04:00

Rats, I have broken my resolution already - which was to post on my blog at least once per week. I will try to make up for it at some point!

I made an odd little accordion book from a feather mask - this is part of a February challenge with the Trans Canada Etsy Team - the theme being "something odd". Visit the TCET blog and vote for your favorite odd item!

Gold Suede Elkskin

2011-02-15T19:50:00.007-04:00

Just showing off one of the small journals currently available in my Etsy shop. I love this gold suede Elkskin leather - this is the end of the hide and it has been hard to find another hide like it - I'm still looking!

Congratulations Rob!

2011-02-15T09:40:00.003-04:00

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and left comments for me during the past week. Last night I numbered all the entries; with the blog comments and facebook comments combined, there were 90 possible winners. I used random.org to pick a number and it selected Rob Ross' number so he's the lucky winner of the weekly planner!

"It's not too late to stay organized in 2011" Giveaway!

2011-02-06T22:08:00.009-04:00

So I thought all the weekly planners were dealt with, but I had a sold one returned which was undeliverable and the buyer no longer wants it. So I'm going to give it away to some lucky blog reader or Facebook fan, yay!

Here's how you can get your name into a random draw for this weekly planner:
Tell me what you think of the new product photos in my Etsy shop (check them out here: www.MyHandboundBooks.Etsy.com). Leave your feedback as a comment either
1. Here on my blog or
2. On my Facebook page

Also be sure to leave enough information so that I can contact you if you win. I'll do the random draw on February 14th - this is the planner that you could win!

This weekly planner has a wrap-around leather cover and is bound using a longstitch sewing, visible on the spine. The wrap-around cover is soft honey yellow cowhide leather. There is a leather strap to wrap around. Book size is about 6¼" x 3¾" (or 16cm x 9.5cm). This book contains:
* a 2011 calendar with a 2-page spread for each week
* other standard pages for personal info, phone numbers, conversion charts, important dates, 2011 & 2012 at a glance, reference maps, etc.
* a set of pocket pages at the back
* lots of blank pages for notes
* an attached ribbon bookmark

--> Comments for this Giveaway are now closed - winner will be announced shortly!

Girdle Books

2011-02-02T21:38:00.001-04:00

A couple of my Girdle Book replicas...

The last 2011 weekly - 15% discount

2011-01-28T10:35:00.003-04:00

For real, this is the last one for 2011 and it's on sale for 15% off. I am not making any more until next year!

Available on Etsy.

Brown paper bags

2011-01-19T09:48:00.006-04:00

We use way too much of everything and throw away most of it. So I try to find a use for some of that stuff that normally gets tossed aside. One of the things I have been saving is paper bags.

I also save the board from the back of sketchbooks, so I combined that with the paper bags and made some little notebooks with a chain stitch binding.

They are a million miles from archival, I know that; but, they are just notebooks for scribbling grocery lists or other simple things and I don't think they need to outlive me!

Here's a shot of the spines - as requested!

Girdle Books

2011-01-12T10:47:00.007-04:00

Another project that I was working on in the last few months, was making a few more Girdle Book journals. I have made some before and each time, I tweak the process a bit. As always with the girdle books that I make, I'm not technically binding these like they would have been done historically - I'm playing the 'artistic license card' with a lot of the details. You can read a bit more about this structure in an earlier post. This time I sewed my own endbands which, I think, is a nice touch. This is how it looks after the text blocks are ready with endbands completed.

Some of them looked better than others in the end, here are a couple of the better ones up close.

I wanted to use my own marbled papers for the endpapers too so the endbands were made to coordinated with them.

I used leather for the coverings and added either metal corners or raised bands and each one has a clasp.

New Year's Resolution and Tea-stained Paper

2011-01-04T20:49:00.006-04:00

Happy New Year to all my blog readers! I have just decided that my New Year's Resolution is to post more regularly here on my blog - no less than once per week. I used to be able to manage a weekly post but last year was slack; so, I resolve to do better this year!

I'll try to catch up by posting some things that I meant to post last year. There were several projects where I took pictures with the intention of sharing them here on the blog - but never got around to it. One such project was my first attempt at tea-staining paper - the results were quite good. I realize that introducing tea will make the paper non-archival but I wanted some old-looking paper and this seemed the best way to achieve the effect.

This is how I did it...

I made some strong tea and put it in a shallow pan. I crumpled the pages and tossed them into the tea. I did not fully submerge the paper.

I removed the papers, flattened them a bit, and laid them out to dry.

When they were all dry, I had a stack of paper like this,

Which I put into the press, and got this:

I used this paper to make some thick signatures - here they are on top of some regular signatures made from the same paper (unstained).

I used the thick sections to make some journals in the style of the Nag Hammadi books. I've discussed this book style before so you can read more about the history in some of my earlier posts.

One of these with the stained paper was included in the December BEST book swap and another is pictured here. I think the old-looking paper was exactly right for these journals.

If you have any suggestions for improvements to my tea-staining process, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T00:04:00.005-04:00

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon will be here!

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers. In spite of the long absences from my blog, I have been continuing to make books and have been very busy during the past few weeks with local craft markets and working on orders. In January, I hope to start working on more projects that I want to work on, rather than just orders from other people. That should give me more interesting work to share here on my blog.

I had a chance to make a Christmas book for my mother this year; she needed a guestbook for an event she was hosting. It is a hardcover book bound using a traditional Japanese stab binding. Some of my own marbled paper is used on the covers with a little Christmas tree image inset on the front.

Happy Holidays to everyone and best wishes for a fabulous year in 2011.

Local Events - Dec 4 & 5

2010-12-02T18:52:00.005-04:00

If you are in my area (which is Halifax, Nova Scotia), you should know about these events! MyHandboundBooks will be present at both, this weekend. Come by and visit. The two events are within spitting distance of each other (sorta), so you can easily do both!

12 Days of Christmas - Nov 22 to Dec 3

2010-11-23T18:59:00.005-04:00

Until December 3rd, I am participating in the 12 Days of Christmas event in conjunction with the Trans Canada Etsy Street team! This means, that all purchases from my shop during these 12 days, will earn ballots into a draw for a really fabulous prize! I am also offering Free Shipping on almost everything!

The ballots will earn you a chance to win a prize package of handmade goodies from TCET members and you can see the list of participating Etsy shops and the prizes by visiting our team blog. You can get one ballot without making a purchase if you share your letter to Santa.

Visit the team blog each day for fun holiday stories, recipes, pictures and more about each of the team members, as we count down the 12 Days of Christmas together.

Woodblock Letterpress printing - 4

2010-11-07T11:23:00.008-04:00

Our final woodblock letterpress class at the Dawson Printshop was a couple weeks ago and I never finished my blog posts to show the final results! Better late than never.

I was using the Kelsey parlor press to make notebook covers. I printed them in two colours, first "My Analog" in dark brown then "Blog" in dark red. I made several of these so I'm selling them on Etsy if you like it!

Another night, I was waiting to use the proof press and passed the time by using the parlor press again, printing a few more notebook covers that have a silver "ME" on them. I really like this font.

The final project that I did in class was assembling and printing this collage of many woodblock fonts. It is just a jumble, don't try to make it say anything clever, it is just letters A to Z and numbers 1 to 9 and a few punctuation blocks, arranged on the bed and printed all in one colour. I might use these as decorative papers in bookbinding; that's the plan right now, although I haven't done anything with them yet.

Thanks Niko, for a great introduction to letterpress!

My first pop-up book

2010-10-30T14:13:00.004-03:00

This is my first attempt at making a pop-up book. I didn't attempt any amazing pop-up structures; I just attached my trees to little pop-up squares made with two cuts on the fold.

I've submitted this book as part of a BEST challenge so you can vote for it if you like it! Or vote for whichever you like best - by visiting the BEST blog. There are some really great entries in the challenge this year.

So, this is a Time for Patience. A handmade pop-up book to celebrate the procrastination innate in leaf raking. No sense starting until every leaf has fallen.

It is a 2-page pop up. So the first pop-up spread is a tree, barren of leaves, except for one at the top.

The second spread is a wider scene of that same tree and a couple others, with the rake and the raker and the fallen leaves, all waiting patiently for that last leaf to fall.

I also collected a few leaves and made some rubbings which are used on the covers of the book. Leather spine.

Gaspereau Press Wayzgoose

2010-10-25T20:58:00.006-03:00

As I mentioned in the last post, I dragged my family to Kentville on Saturday to an open house at Gaspereau Press for their annual Wayzgoose. They also had other activities throughout the weekend like printing demonstrations, presentations, bookbinding workshops etc. I only made it to the open house. This is the first year that I have attended and they have been doing it for 11 years; maybe next year I'll get down to more of the events.

One thing I hadn't seen before, was this handy machinery that cast lead type in an instant. This is Andrew Steeves making a lead cast of my son's name - the whole process took only a minute and the lead was cool enough to hold when it came sliding out the front.

I also came away with a bundle of posters that were printed during the open house. Shown here top left, the BlUNT poster letterpress printed on a Vandercook proof press, then top right, a sample of some offset printing for the quotation from Henry David Thoreau. Bottom left, is the letterpress poster that Nicholas and Amos printed on another Vandercook proof press, and bottom right, a couple little cards printed on a parlor press using the lead cast that Andrew made a few minutes previously.

They also have an offcut paper sale, where you can buy offcuts of nice paper, and it's cheap. So of course, I brought home some paper too - bonus.

Visiting Letterpress Artist - Amos Paul Kennedy Jr

2010-10-23T21:13:00.008-03:00

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr is a letterpress artist from Alabama. He has been visiting Halifax this month with his work exhibited in one of the NSCAD galleries coinciding with the recent city-wide "Nocturne" art event. He also presented a couple of public talks and attended some classes at NSCAD as a guest artist and teacher.

There is a gallery of some of his work on his website (www.kennedyprints.com). He designs and prints some terrific posters, including a great series on the virtues of coffee. Many of his posters are very clever and entertaining but many are also very serious in their message, dealing with a wide range of issues like racisim, civil rights, ecomonics, artistic freedom, etc. Apparently he served in the Peace Corps and also studied and worked as a computer programmer in previous lives, but left that behind to pursue the creative life of a letterpress artist. There is a very good article about him on the Daily Mountain Eagle website.

His visit to Halifax also happen to coincide with my last letterpress class earlier this week. He visited our class so it was nice to meet him and have a chance to talk to him a bit. And I saw him again today at the Gaspereau Press Wayzgoose where he was demonstrating one of their Vandercook proof presses and helping people print souvenir posters. I had packed up the whole family to go to the Wayzgoose, so my son got to print the souvenir poster - with some help from Amos.

Woodblock Letterpress printing - 3

2010-10-13T22:36:00.004-03:00

Someone mentioned that I never showed a picture of those Christmas cards after printing the second colour. "Merry" was printed first in black, then "Christmas" was printed on top in silver. So here's how they turned out - some were printed on red and some on white...obviously.

After those were done, I started another project using a different kind of press. Here is one of the Dawson Printshop's parlor presses, all inked up with red right now.

This is a Kelsey parlour press; it is a table top press and it is entirely manual. Using this was much different than the comparably gigantic proof press that I was using before. Niko was explaining to me that these small parlor presses were really common in Victorian times when printing was a popular hobby and people just wanted to have one in their home, and of course they kept it in the parlor. So I used this press to print a cover for a notebook. I printed the second colour on them last night so now they are just drying and I'll make them into notebooks and show off a finished one here soon. We have one class left - I've already started something to keep me busy during those last three hours.

Autumn Leaves

2010-10-05T10:10:00.006-03:00

This is my Autumn Leaves / Autumn Memories journal that I made for the current TCET Challenge! That's a photo of my kid a couple years ago, buried in a pile of fallen leaves. Drop by the TCET blog to vote for your favorite handmade item. Also, if you have an idea that you think our team should use for our next challenge, leave a comment and we might pick your idea!

Go here to vote:
transcanadaetsyteam.blogspot.com

Morgan Conservatory Open House and Auction - Today!

2010-10-02T13:28:00.003-03:00

The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation is an Ohio non-profit art centre dedicated to the preservation of handmade papermaking and the art of the book. I have met some of the key persons involved in the centre through my attendance at PBI in previous years. For its third year, The Morgan is having their annual Open House and Auction, today, October 2 from 6 to 10pm. So if you are in the Cleveland area, check it out at 1754 East 47th Street.

The silent auction will raise funds for The Morgan and its programs. Many of the auction items are made with, from, on, or otherwise featuring handmade kozo paper, made on site. There are also many other art objects for auction as well. Many well known artists, paper makers, and book artists are involved in this event and have made the items for the auction. And some not as well known - in fact, this leather journal, by me, is one of the items available (I didn't have any of their kozo paper to use). It features a full leather cover with an abstract floral detail, with marbled endpapers (marbled by me). Pages are Mohawk Superfine cream.

Woodblock Letterpress printing - 3

2010-09-29T10:14:00.005-03:00

During our third class I was able to print the second colour on the cards that I started last week. Here's one of the cards coming around on the print roller, with the silver text now printed on top of the black.

I also got some pictures of the bookbinding gear that lives at the Dawson Printshop. You know you want a paper cutter like this one. It can cut through anything - paper, book board, arms...

More gear, presses, hot stamping machine, finishing press... imagine having such equipment at your disposal!

Discoveries of an amateur marbler

2010-09-26T21:37:00.015-03:00

When I first took a marbling class in 2008 with Nancy Morains, she provided a bouquet rake so that we could try making that classic pattern. Her bouquet rake (or double rake) was made to fit her tanks perfectly and it seemed almost effortless! Well, the results from the class were far from perfect, but they were recognizable. Here is one that I did in that class - I think the biggest problem with this is the globby paint, not the technique with the rake. Yikes.

After that class, I set myself up to do some marbling at home and I have done a lot and even sell some of my papers on Etsy. Alas, I did not buy myself a bouquet rake because I thought I could do it with two passes of the standard rake. That technique, however, never worked very well for me. So I gave up on it for a while. Eventually, I made myself a bouquet rake and still couldn't get it to look right.

I made a substantial effort to improve my bouquet rake technique during my last marbling session. Many papers were terrible and discarded immediately.

Many others were mediocre. I could tell they were a little better, but still wobbly and almost out of control with bouquets of all different shapes and sizes. Like this...

Then I discovered something. I discovered that my bouquet rake made small bouquets! It started working so much better! I had to nearly stand on my head to watch the pattern emerge as I used the rake, to see what was happening and then it all came together - understanding the spacing of the nails was far more important than I realized. This is probably the best example, so far.

As you can see, the bouquets are quite small; but finally, they are nearly consistent in size and shape.

Also, a rather successful Frog's foot pattern too (or thistle pattern?) using the same rake.

I will continue to practice. Also, I may try to make myself another double rake with more spacing. But after all this, I think I made it over a little hump.

If anyone reading this has any advice about making the bouquet pattern, or anything at all to say about it, I would love to hear from you!

Woodblock Letterpress printing - 2

2010-09-22T09:50:00.005-03:00

Last night I went to my second class of woodblock letterpress printing at the Dawson Printshop. The first project is a simple greeting card and last night I was able to print the first colour on mine. We were using a Vandercook Universal 1 proof press.

Definitely a big part of the fun is looking through the drawers of type, selecting fonts and designing the layout and all that. So, here is the wooden type that I picked out and arranged, set on the bed of the printer and ready to go. ("Bed"? Is that the right word? Still not overly confident with the lingo!) I do like how the extra wooden blocks for spacing are called furniture. (So maybe it is a bed.)

I was the first one to start printing so Niko was using my session as a demo for the class so she is here helping me get started.

In the end, I have the first colour down on the cards. Here are a couple of the test prints -

Another member of the class was taking lots of pictures for me, thanks Radhika!

Preparing for 2011

2010-09-20T22:38:00.007-03:00

Every year around this time, I start making these leather weekly planners. So if you are one of those people who come back every year for a new one, here they are, now available on Etsy or Artfire now so you can get ready for 2011. Let me know if you want one made in a favorite colour!

Woodblock Letterpress printing - 1

2010-09-18T22:46:00.007-03:00

Earlier this week, I started a woodblock letterpress class at NSCAD. So for the next six weeks, I'll be playing with wood type. NSCAD is now the home of the Dawson Printshop which used to be at Dalhousie University when I was studying there. So even though it is a new location, it's still familiar. The Dawson Printshop has, literally, tons and tons and tons of equipment and type, both metal and wood. Several antique presses and dozens of huge of cabinets full of type. The instructor is Niko, of Etsy's White Raven Arts, a fellow member of BEST and an experienced letterpress printer and Dawson Printshop maven.

Rows and rows and rooms full of cabinets of type...

That special project, followup

2010-08-31T20:43:00.006-03:00

The journal project that I mentioned in the last post, will include handmade books from several other bookbinders that are all members of the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team. Here are some of the other contributions:

- Buechertiger
- CinderLisa Design
- Kristin Crane
- Minus + Minus
- Tickerfinch
- PaulinePaulette
- Roundtheworldin80pgs

There are sixteen books that will be "adored and adorned by creative women around the world." Each women will create a 4-6 page story in one of the journals, written and illustrated to show who or what made a difference in their lives and their advice for other young women. A short film will be made to tell the story of the books and the ideas, and the film will be premiered at the first TED Women's Conference in December and the books will be displayed and shared at a gallery event.

Journals for a special project

2010-08-12T10:49:00.004-03:00

Hardcover, flat back binding. Front cover uses my own hand marbled paper. Spine and back are cream Japanese book cloth. Three round windows in the front cover containing seeds and bits of dried flowers. End papers are painted. Custom box.

Soft cover, wrap-around with chopstick closure, longstitch binding. Cover is patchwork leather, adhered to heavy cowhide and hand-stitched. Pages are heavy watercolour papers and end papers are bright red handmade paper. Custom box.

These are two journals that I made for the Levi Strauss company when they contacted me about a project they are doing, The Levi's Anthology. There will be fifteen handmade journals (made by women) sent to various women around the world to fill with their thoughts and ideas, seeking to capture the essence of what has shaped young women, what's relevant to them in 2010, and what advice they would have for other young women trying to shape their own worlds. Ultimately, when the books are completed, they will be featured in a film along with some of the women who wrote within them and the books will be made available for viewing at a gallery.

Beautiful Books & beautiful baby!

2010-07-17T21:21:00.009-03:00

Earlier this week, I visited the Anna Leonowens Gallery, which is an art gallery at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. There were two concurrent exhibits that I wanted to see.

The first exhibit was all the winning books of the 2010 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. Thirty books were selected for the awards, chosen from 252 entries published in 2009, from 108 different Canadian publishers.

It was nice to see so many beautifully designed books all in one place. I especially liked one of the children's books City Alphabet by Joanne Swartz, which received an honorable mention in that category. It is a modern abcedarian using imagery and words captured in our urban landscape. A couple of the books in the reference category were among my favorites too. Living Proof: the Essential Data-Collection Guide for Indigenous Use-and-Occupancy Map Surveys is a gorgeous book. The title may not sound very exciting to some, but the presentation of the content is irresistible - even if you don't have a penchant for reference books!

I was disappointed to find that the winners in the Limited Edition category were not on display, boo! I would have liked to see those. If you are interested, there is a full list of the winners on the Alcuin Society's blog.

The second exhibit, was Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word. This was a collection of journals filled with all manner of text, image, object, etc, that were created by NSCAD students in a class where their goal was to "to heighten their sensory experience, expand understanding in unexpected directions, and deepen their artistic vision." It was fascinating to flip through these books and see and feel what each of the artists conveyed.

This visit to the Anna Leonowens Gallery was refreshing since I have been just a little out-of-touch with the book world over the past few weeks. Obviously, since I haven't added anything to my blog for over a month! Apologies for that. As some of you know, my little girl Mallory was born on June 20th so she has been distracting me! As we settle into a new routine, I plan to get back into my bookbinding studio occasionally.

Introducing Mallory! Born June 20, 2010

A little history of the Chain Stitch

2010-07-10T08:30:00.000-03:00

Early multi-section Coptic codices
Dating from the 2nd century AD, the Copts used a chain stitch to bind multi-section books. In most documented cases, it seems that these books were sewn with a continuous thread and a single needle. The first and last sewing stations thus having half the number of loops as the other sewing stations. There are variations in the chain stitches from this period, though, since the technique was still in development. The cover would be made separately & attached after the textblock was sewn, covering the book completely including the spine. The textblock was attached by pasting it directly to the covers.

Later Coptic codies
After about the seventh century, there are very few extant Coptic bindings and most remnants are very badly damaged but it is evident that the chain stitch was still used. It also seems that the cover boards started being attached as part of the sewing process – unlike the separate attachment of the cover described above for the early Coptic codices.

Ethiopian Codices
Dating from about the sixteenth century, chain stitch binding had also evolved in Ethiopia. These books typically had paired sewing stations, sewn using two needles for each pair of sewing stations (so if there are 2 holes, use 2 needles…or 6 holes, 6 needles etc). The covers were wooden and attached by sewing through holes made into edge of the board. Most of these books were left uncovered without endbands.

Byzantine bindings
There were also Islamic bookbinding methods employing the link stitch, and Byzantine/Greek bookbinding methods using a link stitch. An interesting variation employed by the Greeks was sewing the sections in two groups, then joining them so the chains meet in the middle. This makes it look like the chain stitches change direction in the middle of the row. The Byzantine bindings are more likely to have elaborate endbands which are worked onto supports and anchored to the cover boards through holes in the boards. These books typically had full leather coverings.

This quick summary is largely based on information in Szirmai’s text, The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. There are five chapters dedicated to link stitch bindings so this is really a miniscule summary of what I read.

There is some debate surrounding the various terms used to described the chain stitch binding methods that are so often used today, especially concerning the very loose application of the term "Coptic binding." Ekthesis has a nice article about the Coptic binding which includes some discussion of these issues.

Photo courtesy of The Crafty Kitten
Originally posted to the BEST Blog, Oct 2007

More Patchwork Journals

2010-06-10T12:36:00.003-03:00

I had so much fun making the last batch of patchwork leather journals, that I made another batch. These are now available in my Etsy shop, of course.

Each of the wrap-around covers are assembled from my heap of leather scraps, adhered to a larger piece of leather, then stitched to keep the pieces secure. Reclaimed buttons and braided cord closures finish the covers. These ones have all blank unlined, new, recycled paper for the pages (rather than pre-used blue-box papers like the last bunch). The binding is a longstitch and chain stitch combination, sewn directly through the covers.

More books from boxes

2010-06-02T11:52:00.003-03:00

I just have to show some books I recently made by request using fun boxes. Because, not only is it fun to have all the products that are advertised on television, it is even more fun to have notebooks made from the boxes.

The Graty and SlapChop combo, of course.

The Snuggie, and yes, the Snuggie for dogs.

Book and paper arts with a 5-year-old

2010-05-26T21:13:00.007-03:00

Occasionally, my little boy requests that we make things in my bookbinding studio, and he doesn't mean block towers or Lego towns. Last week he asked if we could make a book. We have made blank notebooks before, just using a basic pamphlet stitch (his first attempt was over two years ago).

This time we found printable booklets online so his book would have real content. The layout of the pages made them perfect for a stab binding, so this time Nicholas made his first Japanese-bound book, called "What begins with N?".

He wanted yet another project, so we made paint. Using a simple recipe that we found online, we made three pots of sticky paint. This is esentially paste made from cornstarch with some food colouring mixed in. The result was a very translucent paint mixture, and when the papers dried, they were very slick and smooth. Could be a great concoction for paste papers.

Some book and paper arts resources, if you have a kid who likes to make things:
- Make Paper with Kids
- Origami for Kids
- Printmaking with fruit & veggies
- Preschool Indoor Fun
- Make your own mini books
- Cereal Box Bookbinding
- Making Paper Airplanes

Marbling

2010-05-15T13:56:00.009-03:00

This looks fun, eh?

Recently I haven't had time to do anything very new or exciting in the world of bookbinding. I had two local craft markets which took up my time for a while; I also have a couple substantial orders to fill; and I just spent a couple days marbling. I had to make 30 marbled sheets that were all the same... or at least very similar, using the same colours and all with the same pattern... To make up for that, I spent the next day using as many colours and patterns as possible. Here are some examples - zooming in on the patterns:

Some of these are available on Etsy: MyMarbledPapers.Etsy.com

Crafter's Market, May 8th

2010-05-06T12:47:00.003-03:00

I'm going to be selling my journals at a spring craft market this Saturday!

Spring Crafter's Market!
Date: Saturday, May 8
Time: 10am to 6pm
Location: Halifax Forum's Multipurpose Centre, corner of Windsor and Young Streets.

There will be a fantastic variety of local art and craft sellers. So if you're in Halifax, come by the Halifax Forum's Multipurpose Centre on Saturday. This event is a fund raiser for Feed Nova Scotia so there is a small admission fee, or you can bring a non-perishable food donation in lieu of the admission fee.

This craft sale is perfect timing if you still need to find something for Mother's Day!

Six journals

2010-04-29T20:26:00.003-03:00

When I was preparing for the local craft market that I mentioned previously, I prepared the signatures and the covers for these six journals. I had the covers made, pressed, dried, and the signatures were folded and pressed and I took them with me to the sale to work on if there was any downtime. I got only two of them bound while I was there, each are sewn with four rows of chain stitches, or the small-c-coptic sewings. Now I've finished the others and added the buttons and ribbons. They are now all available on Etsy too.

Celebrating Earth Day (wtih free stuff)!

2010-04-20T11:06:00.011-03:00

April 22nd is Earth Day! In recognition of Earth Day, I am giving away free eco-friendly journals with any order from my Etsy or Artfire shops for the rest of this week (so, until midnight on Friday, April 23rd). Eco-friendly journals are ones that I have made entirely with materials that would have been otherwise destined for landfill.

There are actually two ways you could win something from me:
1. Any purchase from MyHandboundBooks.Etsy.com or MyhandboundBooks.Artfire.com will receive a free eco-book automatically!
2. Leave a comment here telling me what you are doing to celebrate Earth Day. I'll randomly select one person's comment to win an eco-notebook too! (Make sure you leave your email address or link to contact information so that I can contact you if you win!)
Edit April 24: This giveaway is closed.

The winner!
Congratulations to Pegg, the winner of my Earth Day giveaway! I had 15 comments to pick from, and I used random.org to generate a random number and it picked 10, and Pegg was lucky commenter number 10! Thank you to everyone who left comments here telling me about Earth Day activities, and thanks to those who made purchases this week; they got free eco-books too.

Some examples of my eco-friendly books:

Halifax Crafter's Market - April 17 & 18

2010-04-13T20:45:00.004-03:00

Attention local readers: the Halifax Crafters are having their Spring Fling Crafter's Market on April 17th and 18th!

I'll be there with my books, along with many many other very cool artisans.

Location:
Olympic Center, 2304 Hunter Street
(which is really the corner of Windsor and Cunard)

When:
Saturday & Sunday, April 17 & 18

Time:
11:00am to 6:00pm each day

Drop in and shop for your mother's day and father's day presents, graduation presents, gifts for new babies, early holiday shopping, whatever you need, it'll be there...

The Illustrated Accordion

2010-04-07T20:34:00.007-03:00

During April, the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center is hosting an exhibit called "The Illustrated Accordion." They have also posted a virtual exhibit on Flickr so everyone can see the collection. For those of you in Michigan, maybe you can check it out in person at the KBAC Gallery.

Included in "The Illustrated Accordion" is this little accordion book that I made last Fall.

This is called "A Walk on the Beach" inspired by our family's trip to a beach that had an unexpected conclusion. The accordion is made with pockets to hold found objects: shell, feather, driftwood, etc. The first pocket includes a tiny book with a bit of text about the walk on the beach.

Several months ago, I mentioned that I was participating in a miniature book exchange and this accordion book was initially designed for that purpose. For our exchange, we need to make an edition of 6 and we send one to each person. I was really happy with this book so I made an edition of 10; copies are available on Etsy.

It's that time of year again: Edible Books!

2010-03-31T10:32:00.005-03:00

Once again, on April 1st, people all over the globe will be celebrating books by participating in Edible Book Festivals! If you have always wanted to be part of one of these events but do not have a local Edible Book festival to attend, you can be part of the BEST Virtual Edible Book Festival this year.

All you have to do, is make your edible book(s), snap a few photos, and upload those photos to the BEST Edible Books Flickr group before 9pm (EDT) on April 1st. You can join the Flickr group and upload your photos here:

www.flickr.com/groups/best-edibles-2010

You can read all the details about the event on the BEST blog. Photos will also be posted to the BEST blog and a small panel of judges will pick their favorites!

Marbled Papers

2010-03-28T19:04:00.005-03:00

A few more examples of my marbled papers from my last marbling session. I did get past the stones a few times. Starting at the top, these are a "diagonal stripe" with antique spots and a Spanish wave, then the "cathedral" pattern, some sort of "feather" pattern, a "nonpareil" pattern, and a "Gothic" pattern. These patterns may have other names, but these are the names with which I am familiar.

Some of these are available on Etsy, of course!

Repurposing materials for patchwork journals

2010-03-21T19:55:00.009-03:00

I have finished another batch of journals made from repurposed and reclaimed materials. This time, the materials are the scraps and discards that I create when I make books. The catalyst for this project being the mountain of scrap leather on my floor last week.

So, the covers of these journals are made with small scraps of leather that have been matched and colour coordinated, adhered to a larger piece of leather, trimmed to fit a prepared textblock, then stitched.

The paper used for the pages has all come from the paper recycling bin beside my work table. That includes whatever I found in there, like papers from the computer printer, envelopes, sketchbook covers, paper leftover from other projects, etc. The result is an interesting mix of papers in each book, suitable for art journals or any writer who likes to get creative while journaling. Closures on these journals are made from either strips of leather found in the scrap pile and/or reclaimed buttons. I made eight of these books last week, and sadly, there has been no discernible difference in the size of Leatherscrap Mountain.

Available on Etsy.

The Naked Book: Expose Yourself to Journaling

2010-03-17T10:10:00.003-03:00

"The Naked Book honors the technical beauty of book construction with an exhibition of blank, handmade books suitable for use as journals, sketchbooks or other creative gestures. 35 artists from the US, Canada, and even Italy show their books in all their naked glory. Don’t be fooled, though—these blank books are gorgeous and beautifully crafted. All books are available to take home immediately so you can get started adding your own special touches or thoughts to the pages. These books also stand on their own as wonderful pieces of art and craftsmanship."

If you happen to be in Portland, OR be sure to check out 23 Sandy Gallery and The Naked Book exhibit! An online catalogue for this exhibit is available on their website.

Old time recycling

2010-03-14T20:03:00.007-03:00

I try to recycle a lot of materials when I'm making books. It's a common trend now, really. As we all know, there were a few decades of excess leading up to the current Reduce, Reuse, Recycle generation. What happened before those decades of excess? Ah, I see, of course they recycled too! Obvious when you think about how the quilts and rugs and such were made. Apparently also true regarding scrapbooks and diaries. My mother works with a local historical society and has transcribed some old dairies and is now digitizing old scrapbooks. She mentioned that some of the diaries were homemade, using brown paper that was stitched together to make a book. These scrapbooks, which belonged to Mrs Burnett, are also very homemade.

This first photo shows a scrapbook made from wallpaper. Large sheets of wallpaper were folded in half and sewn together with string to make a book. These newspaper clippings were collected during the 1940s and 50s so they are aging pretty well. The wallpaper was likely much better quality paper than the newspaper clippings, so that has probably helped.

Before Mrs Burnett made that handy scrapbook from wallpaper, she also used Eaton's catalogues for her newspaper clippings. One of these scrapbook catalogues is from 1925, also aging very well. Check out the price of those full-grain leather workboots - shipping included!

Wallpaper books and Eaton's catalogues, filled to overflowing with newspaper clippings. How's that for some recycling genius?

New marbled papers

2010-03-11T10:11:00.005-04:00

I did some marbling last week. Each time that I pull out my marbling gear, I try a wide range of patterns and techniques, but also I will focus on a couple techniques or patterns in an attempt to improve them by doing them over and over. As you can see from the first few pictures here, I did a bunch of free-form curls on stone patterns - with and without antique spots. (Looks simple, but in fact, I find the antique spots very difficult to apply well.) Actually, these are all basically stone patterns - the black one is the Italian Vein variation, and the last one is stones with a spanish wave.

Of course, some of these are available on Etsy at MyMarbledPapers.Etsy.com. I'll get some more of my new papers scanned and share them soon!

Collecting the mail

2010-03-07T11:52:00.008-04:00

I've been collecting used mailing envelopes from a few different sources and recently realized that the collection had grown almost out-of-control. I save the envelopes to make journals, where the envelopes are used as the pages. With my current supply, I was able to make seven journals, with some envelopes left over. So I started with stacks and stacks of these:

And finished with these:

The covers are decorated with various bits and pieces saved from old mailing materials, like this one which uses a green security pattern for the decorative paper embellished with some clipped postal marks and stamps from Japan.

Or in some cases, the embellishments are printed directly onto the envelopes, like this junk mail sweepstakes example.

And all of them have envelopes for pages, with all the security patterns, plastic windows, and stamps in tact to make for a very interesting journal-keeping adventure.

Available in the "Recycled Journals" section of my Etsy shop!