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I decided after much deliberation to sell the Gocco. It is a brilliantly fun machine but my artistic talents aren't really suited to printmaking and I could really use the money to invest in a bookbinding press and cutting plough. It's already gone to a good home and I didn't lose out too much money-wise. So for the moment I'm in full on book making mode. Today a Twitter pal posted a link to some amazing wrapping papers on this site Lagomdesign.co.uk - I've fallen in love with the map ones and have ordered a selection with an eye to making some book sets. Thanks @Mockduck http://mockduck.livejournal.com for sharing the link.

Meantime, back to resting my broken limbs, and dreaming up new projects to get stuck into once I'm mended.

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From: Emmeline Caines-Gooby <emmeline@gmail.com>
Date: 14 February 2011 17:43:37 GMT
To: post@posterous.com
Subject: Funky Badger & Gocco Printing

Well blow me down if January hasn't been a total right off. Me and the kids have had various illnesses which have kept us all running on empty. Thankfully (touching wood and crossing fingers) we're all fully recovered and raring to go.

Following on from the foxy stole, I started a badger one back in late November which was then put aside whilst December festivities took over. I finally got around to finishing him off over the last couple of weekends and here he is! I almost like him more than foxy... the domed buttons reflect the light which gives him a cute glint in his eyes. He's now been listed on Etsy should you be interested in buying him. Link here

Something else which I've done recently is finally bought a Gocco printing machine. All the way from Japan, these little machines were so popular that about a third of all households had one at one point. However with the accessibility of home computing and printers, the company decided to stop making them some years ago - Riso continued to make the peripherals eg inks, screens and bulbs for a year or two after but then stopped production altogether. More information on Gocco can be found here: http://www.savegocco.com/ and an easy to follow tutorial here: http://www.thesmallobject.com/tutorials/GoccoTutorial.html Ebay often has the machines and accessories available, but remember to factor in your customs charges (approx £30 from Japan) on top of the actual cost and postage.

My first attempt at printing was a greetings card (just in time for Valentine's Day) and it came out pretty well. I used way too much ink and ran out of cards to print on, and the design was a bit too fiddly to print without any smudgy bits, however, I learnt an awful lot. I'm busy dreaming up my next design and have bought some thermal screen to experiment with... no doubt I will talk about the ups and downs here.

Next up will have to be a book. It feels as if I've abandoned my bookbinding of late and I'm itching to get going on a couple of new projects. It'll be interesting to see when I can find time as it's a pretty hectic month coming up. But where there's a will, there's a way!

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Happy New Year!

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Did it! Inspired by this and riffing off this knitting pattern, I made my knitted fox stole. Using Artesano Aran wool (50% Alpaca/50% wool) for the head, body and tail and Rowan Kid Silk Haze in Cream for the tip of his tail, I knitted from the tail end up to the head. The legs and ears were knitted separately and sewn on afterwards. Green 'cat' eyes, a faceted black button for his nose and some black leather thonging for the whiskers completed his face, then a couple layers of wadding were covered with a russet polyester lining. It fastens with a large fabric hook & eye under the nose and at the top of his tail. Voila!

Now I'm waiting for a suitably chilly day so I can show him off properly.

*** Now selling on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeByEmm ***

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My latest A6 books. The cream one uses a gorgeous embroidered silk which has raised velvet flowers on it - a fabric which I've had prepared for months. The other one uses a piece of pretty vintage fabric I picked up at an antiques place in Lewes. Not sure of its age, possibly 30's?

I've also photographed them in their presentation boxes (not by me, but recycled ones from Tiny Box Company) ready for putting on Etsy very soon...

Inspired by the very lovely local shop Purl I've been dabbling in a bit of basic knitting. It's not something which I feel naturally inclined towards but every now and again, a project demands the knitting sticks and not the sewing needles, and my latest side project is to knit a fox stole. Probably way too ambitious but I have the wool and the needles and have even researched some slightly more interesting stitches to experiment with. The rest I'll make up as I go along! Pictures will be posted if it works out :)

*** I'm now selling on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeByEmm ***

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My first paid commission was to make an A6 casebound (hardback) book. It was designed to look like a young woman's diary from 1921 for use as a prop in a 1920's live roleplaying game.

If time had permitted, I would have handwritten the text, however we used an Edwardian script font which worked well (and would be easier to read for the players). Planning the printing schedule was interesting! As it was to be bound in several sections, it was a little more complex than normal, (I usually make blank notebooks) however after a bit of head scratching and sketching out a paper plan, we got there. Then it just needed binding, and this set/slideshow documents the many processes involved in doing so.

To read the description for each picture, select full screen (the button to the bottom right of the screen) then 'Show Info' at the top right).

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I've been lusting after Cassie's beautiful prints for some time now, although it was always going to be difficult to choose from such a gorgeous and ever-growing body of work. So when we moved into our new home it was the perfect opportunity to treat ourselves to one or two. I'm glad we waited, as just as I was about to make the tricky choice, two mini collections were added to her Etsy shop. 9 prints measuring 4" x 4" in each collection - it was too good to miss out on! I ordered the Fair and Floral sets and am over the moon with them.

Square frames would have suited them perfectly but I struggled to find anything which looked right, in the end we opted for some white 5" x 7" frames and had some mounts made up from Moonshine Framing to fit them. All that's left to do now is hang them up! We've decided to put the Fair collection in the children's bedroom - my 5 year old daughter is enchanted by the images (which makes a welcome change from the usual Disneyfied pink that she favours) and the Floral collection will probably grace our bedroom.

If you like vintage style, quirky yet pretty images, then Cassia is your girl. She also has another Etsy shop 'Lola's Room' where you will find equally delicious images. What's not to like?

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Next up I'm planning to rebind an old Enid Blyton book, just waiting to find the right fabric and if that's successful I have a copy of Brideshead Revisited to recover. Other plans include experimental spine bindings using leather thonging and working out how to make larger scale books given the limitation of tools I have (I didn't make the 2nd round of the Bring it on Britain awards sadly). On a recent trip to Lewes I came across some lovely vintage fabric from c1940s so there's another project right there!

Finding time to play has been tricky - summer holidays and Mama time do not go hand in hand. However Miss Minna is back at school (although we are homeschooling 4 afternoons a week, until a place at the local infant school becomes available) and Mr Pickle has started nursery for a couple of sessions a week, leaving me with a little time of my own. My aim is to produce at least 2 different types of notebook before Christmas, and if I can get my website functioning in the next couple of months, I may even get to sell a few :)

And instead of just rattling on about me and my plans, I have to mention the lovely Suw who has been teaching herself how to bind books. Not only has she produced some lovely books, but she is now writing a book 'Argleton' (she blogs about it here and here) which she plans to bind, and has been fully funded by Kickstarter. Awesome work!

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And so (and this is related I promise) that brings me on to the Bring it on Britain Awards.

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I used 160gsm Fabbriano Accademia paper for the book block (the bulk of the notebook) which I love for it's gorgeous texture and nice heavy weight. Four sections were hand sewn with waxed linen thread over linen tapes, the spine was strengthened with mull and kraft paper, then the endpapers were tipped in. It was harder to choose the endpapers than usual - the silvery grey just didn't work with most of my coloured papers. In the end I went for a pretty handmade paper with leaves in it.

Learning from previous books, I used a protractor to ensure nice crisp right angles for the boards and they came out beautifully! Pasting the boards onto the binding cloth is one of my favourite parts of bookbinding, it's always so satisfying to see the book come to life. This time instead of grabbing the heaviest books from the shelves to flatten the cover, I was able to make use of my newest purchase, a book press - incredibly satisfying. Once flattened, a ribbon and green jewel brad were attached for the fastening, then the book block was pasted in. A final press overnight kept the book beautifully flat (sometimes the boards can bow or warp slightly). The finishing touch was to pop it into a hot pink box, along with one of my little business cards - hey a girl's got to promote herself at every opportunity! I really hope it'll give as much pleasure to the winner as it did for me making it.

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It has been a long time since I've had a business card, but with more and more people asking for one when talking about my books, I took the plunge and ordered some lovely mini Moo cards. What's great about this company is the ability to print a different image on each of your cards, up to the entire 100 if you wanted. I chose 11 images which I felt looked good and gave a fair representation of my work so far. The reverse has the text - white on hot pink :) The estimated delivery time was next Thursday, so ever the impatient person, I was delighted when they arrived this morning. And I'm not disappointed - they look and feel fabulous, it's so lovely have a business card which does it's job but also looks pretty! Thanks Moo, small really is beautiful.

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A quick snap of my current batch of books, complete with their sales labels. A friend is selling his hand finished books on a stall in Brighton and is kindly letting me put some of mine on there too so I spent a lot of last night printing, cutting and attaching the labels. Have to say, I'm pleased with the result.

In other news, my website is underway so watch this space!

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There's more information here: http://brighton.twestival.com/

Responding to a shout out for donations (which will be raffled off), I offered one of my handmade notebooks. And this is the very one. I found some fabulous Brighton themed cotton fabric which I backed with 50gsm paper to make binding cloth, then hand cut the 4 sections which were then sewn together using a matching green silk thread. Purple endpapers and an elastic closure completes the book. The following photos document the stages through to completion.

Totally handmade, using traditional bookbinding techniques, it's guaranteed to be a genuine one-off.

32 pages (64 sides) of 160gsm Fabriano Accademia paper with purple endpapers. 110mm wide by 155mm high.

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A truly handmade notebook - I even made the binding cloth using Cath Kidston's blue sprig fabric. This time I managed to document most of the stages. The finished book measures 8cm by 11cm and has 12 pages (22 sides).

Materials used: Cath Kidston cotton fabric backed with 50gsm white bank paper, white mounting card, 160gsm acid free Fabriano Accademia paper, metal heart shaped brad, ribbon. Glues used: PVA and flour paste.

I'm going to start listing these for sale on www.Folksy.com and WowThankYou.co.uk very soon. If you're reading this and interested in buying one, please get in touch via the blog :)

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via makersmarket.com

Stunning tree sculptures made from metal wire. See Kevin's video on how he constructs these beautiful trees here: http://www.youtube.com/user/wiretrees#p/a/u/2/vCfuUqBFvyA

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So, here they are, three notebooks, handmade by me, this time with a floral theme to the paper coverings.

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