Workshops at Scrapbooks Galore and More

This past weekend I had the privilege of teaching two bookbinding workshops at Scrapbooks Galore and More in Midland, MI.  The first two hour class was about Japanese Stab Binding. I had seven eager students, and one indifferent feline assistant.  (That is the store mascot Scrapper, enjoying the sunbeam in the middle of our workspace.)

I started by showing the class how to sew a book using the most basic form of Japanese stab binding.  For the second and third books, we adjusted the number and location of the holes punched.  I let the students figure out some of the sewing on their own, and helped walk them through the difficult parts.  Everyone had a great time learning about bookbinding, despite the sore fingers!  (I need to remember pliers next time.  Pulling the needle through gets a little tough...)

The second two hour class of the day was a Case Bound Book class.  This book structure is a little trickier than the Japanese stab binding, so each student only made one book instead of three.  This time I had nine students, several of which had taken the earlier class as well.  The students learned how to fold signatures, sew together a text block, and glue the text block into a decorative case.  Overall it was a great day of teaching, and I am looking forward to teaching again in March at Small Studio in the Cleveland area.

Books 323-328

Saturday was my very last craft show of the year!  The night before the show I finished up one more case bound book, and one more envelope book.  The envelope book is actually one that I started for the book demonstration during the Morgan Conservatory's annual benefit, but didn't have time to finish.

I also finished up a small coptic book made with leftover mohawk superfine paper from a book class.  This is another one that I started a long time ago but never got around to finishing.

I also made three additional coptic books using mohawk superfine for the pages instead of the heavier paper I normally use.  One is a pretty yellow paper with blue dots (the same paper from these minibooks.)

I made covers for the blue one earlier this year when I was making books for the Women of Achievement Awards.  I cut extra boards while working on that project and I'm finally getting around to using them up.

The third coptic is probably my favorite!  The paper has tea kettles and says "where there's tea, there's hope."  At this point I've got 37 more books to go for my 365 challenge.  I'm out of town this week visiting family, so I am hoping to make a few pairs of book earrings while I'm here.  There are still a few more half finished journals at home I can complete on the 30th and 31st...

Case Bound Books 306-308

This week I got to work on books for my next two holiday shows.  At my show over the weekend, I sold all but one of my case bound books!  So I cut boards, tore paper for pages, and matched paper with bookcloth for a bunch more case bound books.

One of the three I finished this week has really cute cork bookcloth with an alphabet block paper.  The combination reminds me of vintage school books and classrooms.  The second book uses a super sparkly bookcloth that matches the copper colored pattern on the paper.  The third book is more simple with a gray and green patterned paper with gray bookcloth.

Overall I spent a lot of time this week doing prep work for books.  Even though I only finished three, I have another 7 or 8 large journals in various stages of completion and another 6 minibooks for jewelry.  Hopefully in the next 18 days I'll be able to finish everything up and complete the rest of my 365.

Case Bound Books 192-196

I had two late summer craft shows this year: Square Fest on August 31st, and Berea Arts Fest on September 8th.  Because the shows were so close together, I spent a lot of time in August making books and stocking up on larger journals.  One weekend I spent picking out papers and making five new case bound journals.

I have a stack of shimmery, metallic bookcloth that was leftover from a workshop several years ago.  The pre-cut pieces have been sitting around at work ever since, and were probably never going to be used for a project.  I decided to use the shimmery bookcloth for some case bound books to see how it would look.

 I picked out a black paper with purple and blue flowers, and a purple paper with blue flowers from my paper stash.  Both papers had metallic outlines around the flowers that matched the bookcloth very well.  One had gold outlines and the other one looked more like bronze.  The next shimmery paper I found was a blue paper with a silver floral pattern.

For the fourth book I used a cool red and blue double-sided paper with crabs on it.  I knew this paper would be great for a case bound book because the decorative end sheets in the beginning let you see both sides of the paper.  I paired this with a shimmery blue bookcloth to go with the nautical theme.  This one is definitely my favorite out of the five!

For the fifth book, I used one of my favorite new papers.  The paper has cartoon beer bottles with fictional brand names like "Cold One."  The pattern is so cool I wanted it to stand on its own without a fancy bookcloth.  I call this one The Hipster Book.

Spinning with Mary and Books 170-171

A couple weeks ago my good friend Mary stayed with me for a few days during a dance workshop weekend.  After the workshop was done we had a whole day to relax and hang out with each other.  She really wanted to learn how to make books, so we did a little trade.  I taught her how to make books, and she taught me how to spin yarn!  It was awesome!  I MADE YARN.

I've had a drop spindle for years, but had never learned how to use it.  Mary brought me all kinds of fibers including alpaca, silk, and yak.  I started with just plain wool while I got the hang of drafting the fibers and adding the right amount of twist.

We didn't make it all the way through our projects that day, so she came back later in the week and showed me how to ply the yarn.  While the plyed yarn was soaking, Mary showed me how to work with the silk fibers.  It is a lovely purple silk and so easy to spin.  I'm looking forward to finishing it up and knitting with my own yarn one of these days.

In return, I taught Mary how to make a small coptic journal and a small case bound book.  I made one of each along with her and ended up with books 170 and 171 out of 365.

This means I am right where I should be for my 365 Books in 2013 (for the first time all year!)  I've been trailing behind where I should be, so it feels really good to be caught up.

Battlestar Galactica- Book 128

Last month a good friend of mine posted a photo on facebook of a journal she really loved, but was out of her price range.  The book had two-toned leather covers and clipped corners, and was modeled after an item from Battlestar Galactica.

Now, I don't know anything about Battlestar Galactica, but I do know something about bookbinding.  I realized that I could make a book that shape using bookcloth instead of leather (since I don't usually use leather.)

So she placed a custom order, and I created a book roughly 5x7 and just over an inch thick with trimmed corners.  It was a fun little challenge, and something very different from what I usually do.  I sent it off in the mail to her last week, and hopefully she likes it!

Books 052-054

I have taken a couple weeks off from bookbinding because of obligations with work and skating.  Now that the big competition is done, I'm ready to get back on track for my 365 in 2013 challenge.  I'm about 50 books behind schedule... But I haven't given up!

Monday I sat down and made books 52-54 of 365.  All three are case bound books, which is a structure held together primarily through glueing.  I had pages and covers pre-cut, so the bulk of my prep time was spent preparing decorative papers and book cloth.  Then it was just a matter of assembling everything.

The black and white book with red poppies is going to be donated to a fundraiser for the Berea Arts Fest.  I have done Berea Arts Fest the last two years and put in an application again for this year.  I've applied for a couple other shows so far this year, and am waiting to hear back about acceptance. 

In the meantime, I'm teaching a bookbinding class on Saturday, April 27th in the Cleveland area.  Spaces are still available!  Class description and materials list is available online.  Call Small Studio (440-808-8599) to register and reserve your space.