Sunday Workshop Series

Anouncing a new Sunday Workshop Series starting this autumn! These are in-person workshops in Halifax, Nova Scotia. If you're looking for a quick fix of book and paper arts, then you might be interested in these upcoming workshops. Each is just two hours on a Sunday afternoon.


Box Accordion: This is a fun structure that can easily be expanded in length, incorporating more and more boxes. This type of accordion book can be used as an artist's book structure, as a display feature, etc.
Sold out.
Star Book: This structure is versatile and can be modified as a tunnel book or carousel book, which are both useful options for artist's books. This structure also works well as a unique photo album that can do double duty as an attractive photo display.
Sold out.
Christmas Book: Miniature book ornaments, incorporating beautiful Japanese papers and pages of Christmas music, bound using a modified drum leaf technique.
Sold out.



There will also be some more in-depth bookbinding workshops at the Centre for Craft this fall. Schedule to be announced soon.

Designer Craft Shop Online

Craft Nova Scotia has launced a sparkly new online shop at DesignerCraftShop.ca. I'm happy to have some of my handmade leather journals available there. Currently there are about a dozen juried members of Craft Nova Scotia with work now available to purchase through this new online shop and it continues to grow!

Currently available from MyHandboundBooks:

Spring Workshops

It seems that I really took a leave of absence since my last post. After so much blogging during the previous year, it was easy to take a break! I have not been taking any breaks from working, though. I conducted several workshops at the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design during the past couple months, actually. It was lots of fun and the students did some lovely work. Some of the students were returning with varying levels of experience, and some were entirely new to bookbinding and/or marbling.

I conducted five sessions for one group, so it was a very good introduction to bookbinding for the newbies but also included new things for some returning students as well. I believe everyone completed seven or eight books over the five classes.

We made a couple different pamphlet stitches with paper covers (B-L) and a hardcover pamphlet (T-L); multi-needle chain stitch binding (T-R); and a hardcover album (B-R).

We also made hardcover concertinas (T-L) and chopstick notebooks (T-R). In another session, some students made the Japanese account book (B-L), and during a 2-day weekend workshop, I had a different group making books with the Criss Cross Binding, aka the Secret Belgian Binding (B-R).

There was also a weekend spent teaching the wonderful art of Ebru paper marbling.

Workshop season seems to be over now. I have no more workshops planned until August when I will be at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland teaching a workshop on the Chinese Thread Book. In addition to making a thread book, we will also be learning a bit about its history and its variations. Check back for information on Fall workshops at the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design.

Local Events - Dec 4 & 5

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!

More Patchwork Journals

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

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.

Six journals

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.

The Illustrated Accordion

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.

Repurposing materials for patchwork journals

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.

The Naked Book: Expose Yourself to Journaling

"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.

Collecting the mail

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.

Snow Storm Hardcover Journal

I made this journal a couple days ago for the Trans Canada Etsy Team's February Challenge. The theme of the challenge is Snow since we still have lots of it around the country, even if it was scarce for a few days in Whistler! Visit the TCET blog to vote for your favorite item in our snow-inspired challenge (hint: pick "D"!) This journal has a white leather spine and the covers are finished with beautiful Japanese Chiyogami paper that has fine gold and silver bursts that remind me of whirling snow during a blizzard. There are 256 pages of gorgeous snow white cotton paper with torn edges.

And a little more repurposing

I have two more books made from repurposed materials to show you before I move on to other things.

This first one is a hardcover book, using reclaimed bookboard in the covers. The spine material is cut from a discarded pleather jacket. The paper on the covers is from a red paper bag, and the pages are all cut from brown paper bags. (And it's just a pretty red book, very nice to share today on Valentine's Day!)



This next one is made entirely with discarded paper. The cover of the book and slipcase are cut from the cover of a large sketchbook. This is the "Crossed Structure Solo" binding structure. The pages are all from the recycling bin and include previously used papers that are still mostly blank, as well as some lined pages from discarded notebooks, etc.

More repurposed materials for bookbinding

I have a few more items around here that I have made with garbage, er, I mean, repurposed materials. This first photo shows two small tea-bag notebooks, bound using a simple pamphlet stitch. The covers are cut from tea boxes, and the pages are actually the paper wrappers from the tea bags that came in the box. So these two little items were a long time in the making, as I drank my way through all the tea.


I saved all the seed packages after planting our vegetables last year. Some of the seeds came in little boxes and some came in paper envelopes. I transformed the little boxes into notebooks, then I made a cardboard slip case and covered it with the envelopes. Perfect for the gardener who likes to keep track of his veggies!


This next one is a bit odd. I had saved an old calendar that was full of photos of houses. I used the house photos to make this house-shaped book. It is basically an origami house structure, with a hardcover on each end. Not sure what practical purpose this serves, it was just an experiment that didn't come together very well. Old house photos aside, the structure might work well for a special greeting card or as a display format for some kinds of images.


(If you want to make an origami house, check out www.origami-instructions.com.)

Repurposing materials for bookbinding

A while back, I asked Pegg, fiveforty.etsy.com, to help me come up with some ideas for making books with repurposed materials. Pegg is a weaver, and so she wove two book covers for me to play with. This first one is woven plastic - this is the kind of plastic that comes wrapped around products at grocery stores before they are unpacked and shelved. Pegg collected the plastic at her local grocery store, took it home and wove it on her loom. Then I used it to make a photo album. Pegg also made another one for me, using lotto tickets. She cut them into strips, stitched them, then wove them together to make this book cover. It made a very sturdy book cover and I was able to case in a text block (consisting mostly of reclaimed papers in reds and blues) and have a wrap around cover with a button closure. Thanks for working with me on these projects Pegg! Check out Pegg's recycled textile rugs, woven using pre-used sweaters, t-shirts, jeans, etc in her Etsy shop, atFiveForty.Etsy.com.

Happy New Year

Somehow it has become 2010 already. The last few weeks have blown by in such haste that I hardly noticed the passage of time. In spite of my near silence here in blogworld and my little hiatus from Etsy over the holidays, I was working on a few things. So until I get some new projects underway, I'll share some books that I did in the Autumn and leading up to the holidays, for customers and friends, which didn't get mentioned here previously.

This custom steampunk journal was made for a writer who wanted a special journal in which to write her own steampunk-style fiction.


A model Nag Hammadi blank book, with exposed papyrus in the covers (although I used some Old Masters paper from Saint-Armand for the pages, rather than papyrus).


Two hardcover autograph books for my niece and nephew who are planning a trip to Disney World.


A red leather journal featuring the High School Musical cast on the inside, a hardcover chain-stitch journal with a soccer motif, a tan leather journal with a bead closure, and a set of box-board notebooks made from a Don Julio Tequila box.


I have big plans for the new year... well, I resolve to finish some of the projects that I started last year, and the year before...

Merry Christmas

I just finished a little Christmas bookbinding project where I bound together some previous year's Christmas cards. I don't get very uptight about saving cards, but I also don't like to throw them away. Sometimes I will cut them up to make gift tags but there are always some with letters written inside or other reasons why I want to keep them. So I decided to make a book, at least it will be easier to keep them in this format! They are just sewn onto the ribbons with a layer of PVA on the spine.


Let me know if you have other creative uses for old greeting cards! And have a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday too!

Check this out

Super nicey blogger, rikrak, over at therikrakstudio just did a little feature on my shop, showing off a little collection of mine! Check it out for a chance to win one of my weekly planners.