Today is my first day as a contributing member to the Etsy Bookbinding Team blog.
Thursday is my day to post, and my plan is to document and chat about the tools of the bookbinding trade. I'm limiting the tools to those that I find in my own bindery. I've yet to do the count, but I think this will take me through quite a few Thursdays.
Luckily, I have a little helper who will help me choose what to post about, & more importantly what to play with.
Earlier this month I sent this set of eight small travel journals to my friend Stacy. She has a great group a friends, seven of whom recently traveled to New York with her to celebrate two of the friends' engagements. This isn't the first trip of this nature, they've had four previous engagement trips which led them to Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami, and San Fransisco. After each of those trips the gals got together and made a scrapbook for the bride.
The best way to include simple pockets was to use #6 envelopes that I had on hand. I cut the flaps off of the envelopes and cut the rest of the folios and end sheets to match that size. Each book includes two envelopes for a total of four pockets.
Paste was used to secure/align the sewn endsheets to the rest of the book block.
The books were lined with super and a matching paper lining. Endbands were made with the same bookcloth used on the covers.
Each book block was the same size, so I was able to make all of the covers in production fashion.
To keep costs low, I only used materials that I had on hand. The turquoise blue cloth is the prettiest I have in stock, and it was a good choice to pair with the pastel endsheets.
I was pleased to find a different decorative paper to complement each color pairing. Stacy was able to give a unique book to each of her friends. I hope they have fun when it comes to scrapbook time!
Pictured above are an assortment of folded star books. From left to right; pages made from colored construction paper & covers made from Chili's coasters, printer paper pages with covers using decorative paper and a turquoise bead embellishment, a typography journal made with printer and decorative papers, a gift from my friend Erin - made by Jen Swearington of Jenny Threads with ketchup artwork for the covers, and finally the little book featured in my last post.
Creating the Basic Structure
Making the Covers
Adding Embellishments
Folding Paper
Creating the Book BlockPlace your pages in front of you so that your diagonal fold is vertical. Next, flip every other piece onto the opposite side. Adhere the folded pages one to another in an alternating manner. A glue stick may be used for this, a thin even coat of adhesive is desired. When all of the pages are connected, this is called a book block.
This construction paper version is a good example of how the pages should be attached.
Completing Your Book
After you finish your book, if you find that you need more pages, no problem! Just fold another page and glue it in -- as I did in my typography journal (above).
DjStoreRoom was the first name pulled from my virtual hat, when I selected winners for my handmade drawing. Armed with the knowledge that she loves pink, I kept an eye open for rosy combinations.
I found some strips of lovely pink paper that I thought would make great square pieces. From there, I decided that a folded star structure would work, and found the rest of the pieces. The boards of the book are graced with one of my favorite papers from Chena River Marblers. The front cover displays a thin coating of gesso followed by a pink hot iron transferred flower. A sweet size, the book measures 1 5/8 " square and about 1/2" thick.
DjStoreRoom is owned by a woman named Diana, living in Singapore, who makes and sells delightfully patterned pouches on Artfire and Etsy. Visit one of her stores, check out her blog, become a fan on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter!
Last week it was time to make new batches of paste and methyl cellulose and I was pleased to discover a couple of containers from my stash that were the perfect sizes and match beautifully! Aside from patiently waiting for their new use, they have something in common -- olive oil! The paste container was a Fleishmann's olive oil spread container, and the quart jar was for Kraft Mayo with olive oil.
After my olive green excitement, I took inventory of how my container saving habits have come in handy. This is our cinnamon sugar shaker, formerly of Parmesan cheese fame.
I'm pretty sure this was originally a tomato can. I hang my pva brushes, bristle down, from the edge of my bench, but this tin snugly holds the rest of my brushes. I like how the ridges on the tin are similar to the crimped ferrules of the paint brushes. I didn't quite know how to describe the silver part on the brushes, so "crimped ferrules" is the result of googling "paint brush anatomy".
The crimped ferrule look alike is all covered up on this old soup can.
An empty Puffs box was turned into tape central.
Some paste paper covers my jar'o'pens.
Got a nice surprise when I picked up my mail today. My cousin, Jeff, had sent me a box of cds! These aren't just any CDs, these are copies of Local on the 8s first EP, called Low Pressure. Local on the 8s is a band whose members work for Newschannel 5 in Nashville. You'll find Mike Rose on drums, Nathan Sharkey on bass, Bob Stinnett on guitar, and Jeff Tang with vocals and piano.
Back in December Jeff wrote to us, on behalf of the band, about designing the album artwork. They were hoping for a retro theme that would include old TVs, and weather related imagery. Josh came up with the cover and I pulled from his artwork to finish the rest of the design. I was a bit out of practice with Photoshop, since I've been focusing on bookbinding for the past couple of years, but I enjoyed the project and it is really fun to have the final copy in my hands. I must say, what really makes this cover are the awesome photos taken by their co-worker, Eric Yutzy.
The very best part about getting this CD is getting to hear my cousin's voice coming out of my boombox in the bindery! It's nice to know the face behind the voice. I highly recommend it, by the way. If you can't pick a CD up in Nashville, Low Pressure is available on iTunes, and you can also visit their Myspace page. Learn more about Jeff, here, and be sure to check out some of his stories while you're at it. He's a great reporter, Tennessee's best in fact. No, seriously!
Josh and I drove up to Northern Georgia last month to be with his family for Easter and my birthday weekend. During our trip we got to spend a bit of time in the attic looking through his childhood, and high school belongings, as well as boxes that we had both stored there after college. I was excited to find a few gift books that I made for Josh during our dating years!
The book in these photos is the first one I made for him. The image on the front was xerox copy of an image printed in reverse. I used a transfer marker to "print" it on the front cover.
A lovely title page made with my treasured label gun. So treasured because of the fond memories I have using one for the first time with my Grandpa Houston in his tidy garage.
The pages are all pieces of evidence from our time spent together! Pictured here, the Kodak proof page from a day on Tybee Island, a piece of paper bag from a music store, a ticket to a Sand Gnats baseball game.
Although still in working order, the box needs to be handled gently. I had yet to learn about different paper strengths.
An interesting and sturdy binding that I'm not likely to repeat! The pages (copy paper, cardstock, handmade paper, napkins, brochures, tickets, & thin plastic film) were all cut to the same size and then sewn in a straight line up the side of the pages. Similar to a Japanese stab binding without any oversewing. I cut a piece of board to match the height and thickness of the book to form a spine which was adhered to a wide strip of paper. That wide strip was then glued to the first and last pages, which is what holds the whole thing together! You can also see in the photo that the spine is glued into the cover which performs a very minor function in the binding.
The sewing stations can be seen in this closeup of a Russell Crotty spread. We saw his globes at the Miami Art Museum during our 2004 Alternative Spring Break trip.
I am reminded of a paper I once wrote on the importance of the book in Roman Art and Architecture. I'm thinking less about how the books (scrolls, or substrates) were a representation of knowledge and power, and more about how they were a constant theme that manifested in different forms throughout the history of the Roman Empire. Now, I'm not saying that our relationship is at all like the Roman Empire . . . but Josh and I have certainly placed importance in books throughout our time together.
The second book in these photos is a beautiful book that Josh collaborated on with my friend and fellow NBSS alumna, Wendy Withrow. You can see other shots of Josh's proposal book on her website, here. Note the differences in craftsmanship. The pairing of the two is so pleasing, because, although I didn't make the second book, I shared training with the woman who did, and it is a clear snapshot of my personal bookbinding history. It's a pretty good snapshot of J & M history too, but I'll stick to the books on this blog.
Last night we moved a truckload over to our new apartment. As I was unloading boxes, Josh took all of the measurements of our work room. When we got back home he took measurements of all of the things that need to fit into that space and then created this helpful turn-around using Google SketchUp.
View from the entrance
View from the windows
Clockwise starting at 6 0'clock: Josh's drafting table, entrance door, Josh's bookcases and desk, my bench and peg board on the wall, my sewing table (12 o'clock), Kutrimmer, another table and more peg board (my book press and potential future kwikprint will go on this table), book case, door to closet with ample storage space
In a couple of weeks we can see how the real pictures compare to these! I won't be taking any aerial shots, but in the meantime these sketchups will be so helpful for moving furniture this weekend.
Two items of note before I sign off. Last night I was delighted to see that I made my first sale on Etsy! My purple perennial miniature book earrings will be on their way to Colorado today!
For the first SIX people who reply to this note, I will make and send you something. You never know what you might get, it could be a doodle, a painting, a t-shirt, a little creature made of clay... It could be pretty much anything, but it will be something creative and something that I will make especially for you.My version of this varies slightly. I will use the True Random Number Service from Random.org to select six people from however many have responded (in the form of a post comment) by March 31st. The other variation is that, while you never know what you might get, you can bet that it will be some variation on the theme of paper, board, thread, and glue!
The rules, as I have learned them, are that if you reply to this note, you then have to post a note like this yourself and make things for the people who reply, thus continuing the chain of creativity, giving, sharing, and awesomeness.My variation on part II is that you should make a similar posting if your post comment is selected, no pressure if your comment isn't selected!
And not to worry if making things is not your particular cup of tea. You can participate by thinking of other ways to pass along the creativity, like writing awesome messages for people, baking, or just sending a cool thingamajig that you found in your closet or under your bed.
The photos in the post are a mix of some Japanese Stab bindings that I made around the time I was living with Erin (center image) and thank-you books that I made for my Swedish friends before I had to leave them and return to the states this past summer. The thank-you books (top and bottom image) are decorated with Swedish papers and imagery from places and events that we attended together. Inside is a recipe for a snack bar that I made to share whilst there, a special note, and my contact information.