I Art Books!

Change of Address

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 5 Jan 2013 11:23:00 -0800

A new website for the new year!
Head on over to astonhandmade.com for all further updates. This blog is now retired.

How do I blog?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:08:00 -0800

What do you feel when you write by hand?

Did you know that you are more likely to organize your thoughts and be more creative when you put pen to paper?

I found this out through my own experience and it has directly led to my bookbinding.

Ever since I ended up under the influence of the world fountain pens, I have been handwriting every day. Some days it is little more than mapping my day with lists and notes, but sometimes I get a little more personal. I have noticed that I can focus and get things done much quicker this way. No Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or blogs to take me away from what I am doing.

So I am drafting my blogs by hand in my trusty handmade notebook. Yeah I know I'm lucky, I can just make one to my liking anytime I need a different size or format. The funny thing is that I never used pens before, or never liked them, pencil was always my thing. Ever since I forced myself to switch over to fountain pens, no longer comforted by the trusty eraser to fix what I thought were my mistakes, it has forced me to think about what I am writing before I put it to paper, but more often than not I just go with it, stream of consciousness style.

This process really has helped ignite my creative spark, I find that I can get a lot more done on paper than I can on the keyboard in the same time. You may think that you can type faster than you write, but if you factor in all of the on the spot revising and distractions that are really difficult to avoid, it is really awash, at least for me it is.

I think part of the reason, or most of it, is that handwriting imparts a personal imprint on my writing as much as what I have to say does for my overall message. My handwritten drafts most likely will never see the light of day, but I get to keep them in one place and look back at what I had to say, and see how I have grown as a handwriter as well as a writer.

Take some time today to write something by hand, this should be in something that also says something about you, it could be a love letter that will never see the light of day, a thank you note that you know you need to write, or just something you have on your mind. Your writing medium is an integral component of this process. You may write something profound that you will want to hang on for some time.

Giveaway time. How to get a free book!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:04:00 -0800

Scroll to the bottom to the bottom paragraph for how to win this book!

I promised my Facebook fans I would do a giveaway of one of my handmade books and journals if they helped me get to 30 fans.

Well, we did it. Now it's time to give away a free book! This is a beautiful leather-bound sketchbook with 117 cream colored laid textured pages. This book would sell for about $50 on my Etsy shop. The front flap and the loop are hand stamped and the leather is hand dyed by yours truly.

How do I enter the give-away?

I'm glad you asked. All you have to do is click here to retweet my pre-written tweet. If you follow me, you'll get extra points! I will be picking my winner this Saturday, December 15th, 2012

How do I change my morning to be more productive?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:30:00 -0800

Do you find it hard getting your daily tasks done?

Are you too easily distracted by the fast life you are surrounded with?

Do you want to know how to be more productive and have a more balanced day?

I do, and I will share with you how I am making some changes in my life to make better use of my time.

I have recently implemented easy little tweaks that give me a better sense of direction and purpose. It started with a podcast about social media marketing (which I highly recommend). I exhausted these great but few interviews and one of them led me to another podcast called "Beyond the To-Do List." It is full of interviews with successful people, what their routines are, what habits they have adapted to capitalize on their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Each interview is inspiring and invigorating and has given me some great ideas.

I found a few common threads in each of these interviews.
1. Starting the day with some sort of exercise.
2. Prioritizing the day.
3. Sticking to the plan.
4. Taking breaks and ending the workday to return to a personal life.

So the questions are: What can I do to take these important things that others have learned and adapt them to my life? and do these concepts apply to my vision? Yes they do. It doesn't matter if you run a business, are retired, or work a 9 to 5 job, these concepts can make a huge positive impact on your life.

How am I becoming more productive and well balanced? I am creating my day, from the moment I wake up, with intention.

If you are like me, you like to start your day with coffee. I am the kind of person who needs motivators, and for this exercise I need something to motivate me from the moment I open my eyes. So how about if I create a routine that uses my java love as a reward? There's a cafe called "Go-Go Coffee" about a mile from my house and they have some amazing coffee, no bitterness, strong, full of flavor with a nuttiness. Yum!

I made a new pact with myself that I can only have coffee if I walk to Go-Go's and order it from there. There's my morning exercise, check. And along the way I listen to some sort of podcast to inspire and motivate me even further, and once I have that coffee in my hands, my blood is flowing and my mind is full of ideas. That's when I pull out my trusty handmade journal and my pen and start scribbling.

Getting things done!

The podcast is still going at this point and I start by taking notes, and when the podcast ends I transition to writing about my day and what needs to get done. I make a list and prioritize what is urgent and important, what is not urgent but important, what is neither urgent nor important, and so on. This gives me direction and I stick to it, I start with the most important and the most difficult thing and work my way down the list throughout the day.

Has this made a difference? You bet your booty! I am using my time more wisely and at the end of the day I look at my list and all of the things I have accomplished and it feels great. I can't wait to get up in the morning to do it again.

So what about taking breaks and having a hard cut off time from work? I still struggle with this. I get lost in my work, and when I'm in the groove, I'm in the groove! Folding, cutting, sewing, dyeing, pasting, gluing, I can go on for hours without a break.

But one step at a time right?

If you have any ideas or habits that you find beneficial, please share them in the comments below.

If you found this post helpful, share it with your friends. Check out my Facebook page so you don't miss out on more things that I will be sharing about my life and others' that I hope will serve as an inspiration to you.

How to shop Locally from online stores.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 6 Dec 2012 23:02:00 -0800

How do I justify selling online to buyers from across the country while I emphasize shopping locally?

I had an interesting conversation with a friend on Facebook yesterday that got me thinking. We were discussing the merits of shopping locally versus saving money at a big box store (BBS). My reasoning for shopping locally was similar to what is discussed on the 3/50 Project, in a nutshell, that for every dollar you spend locally, 68¢ stays local in taxes, revenue, further spending etc., compare that to 43¢ at a national or multinational corporate chain. My friend said that they shop at a BBS to save money for their family. Now I, not having extra mouths to feed, cannot judge or pretend to know what it is like. But having family members and friends who work at BBSs I have seen first hand what kind of demeaning conditions under which they work on a daily basis. This, coupled with having made many friends of local business owners has kept me shopping locally for quite a while.
Then our convo took a turn. My friend asked me "Would you not sell one of your homemade books to someone in say Colorado? London?" I had to really think about the implications of my selling online to people across county and state lines. Am I perpetuating a behavior that is undermining brick and mortar stores as badly as the BBS?
I have seen a few stores go through some rough times, citing their inability to compete with online and BBS prices.
So I took an inward look at what I am doing, starting with my shopping habits for my business. I buy all of my materials at locally owned, brick and mortar stores unless there is no local source for what I am looking. So far that hasn't happened. If I can't find it locally, then I probably can do without it. If I absolutely need it, then I can ask a local merchant to special order it for me. If I still can't find a local source, THEN I will look online. This brings me to another interesting conversation that I had with a local art store owner who told me about the 3/50 project. We were talking about shopping locally and how important it is, both of us preaching to the choir. Meanwhile I mentioned to her that I am getting into paper marbling and that I would love to get some into her store. She told me she wasn't interested because she could get handmade paper online so cheaply. She showed me a handmade looking paper sample binder of the company she orders from. I asked where they are located and without skipping a beat she told me "China." China?! I'm not sure what I am trying to get at here, maybe that even those with good intentions get caught up in that bottom line? I don't know, but what I do know is that I am buying locally and only as a last resort do I go to the internet superstore, and I encourage you to do the same. If you can find a handmade journal or book locally, buy it! If you can't, I'll be here holding up the store, my doors are always open and rest assured that I am doing my part to thinking locally in a global marketplace.

Cyber Monday is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 10:47:00 -0800

To find out about my 20% off Etsy Promo and a chance to win a free book, scroll down.

Today I got the chance to spend the day with some local artists and crafters at a locally owned craft/fabric shop here in town for the first annual Small Business Saturday craft fair. I had been frequenting The Cotton Ball lately and while scouring their scrap bins for book materials the owner asked me what I had planned for the random lovely fabrics I had meticulously picked out, or maybe I told her, I don't really keep things close to the chest. When she heard about my books she invited me to take part in a craft fair in front of the shop. I met some other wonderful artists, a painter, a quilter, an embroiderer and a few others. They were all very nice and their made me feel right at home. Sadly I didn't sell any books though I did have quite a few people interested in the process of how I make my books, and where I learned how to make books, so while I was there I actually finished one!

But their loss is your gain. I will be offering all of my books for 20% off through the end of Monday 11/26. Read below.

About the book giveaway: when my fanpage: facebook.com/IArtBooks reaches 30 likes I will be giving away one of my books to a lucky reader.

Cyber Mon Promo

As always, my you can find all of my social media links on the upper left of this blog, follow @iartbooks.

My first public appearance.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 23:12:00 -0800

In eleven hours I will be sitting at a table selling my books at a craft/art fair at a local business, The Cotton Ball where I get quite a bit of my materials. The address is:

1199 Main Street, Morro Bay, California 93442

I know that it starts at 10am, but I am not sure when it ends. I'll update here when I know.

Seriously though, I'm a little bit nervous. Most of the vendors will probably be artists who have been at it for years, then there will be me, sub 30, 2 months in to this craft. Hope to see someone who found their way there from this post. If you do, mention the blog and I'll give you 10% off of a book.

Cheers!

leather stamping and four new books

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:54:00 -0800

Saturday mornings usually start with a look at my Craigslist app on my phone to scope out the yard sales. This last Saturday was a dreary cold and wet morning and I wasn't too fond of the idea of going out there. But I checked anyway and there was one yard sale in town and the description said "art supplies." As if that wasn't enough, it was only 5 blocks away. So I stumbled out and made my way down there, and low and behold there was a great big box of crafting vegetable tanned leather. Straps, scraps, snaps oh my! For the price of two designer coffee drinks I set myself up with some great stuff.
I dug up my old tools from when I used to do hand tooled copperwork, namely about 20 hand stamps that I made out of old wrenches and a Dremel tool.

These steel stamps are all handmade by me

I figured if they could stamp hard copper, leather shouldn't be a problem, so here's what I did.

Fun stuff! These will be making their way to an Aston Handmade Book near you. Let me know what you think.

My first attempt at stamping leather

I also finished four new books:

red and white linen, leather spine, headband, and GRAPH PAPER!

black and white linen, red suede spine, leather snap strap, blank paper

two tone leather blank journal.

These three are "quarter bound," in other words the spine is leather and a different material than the board covers. The first book has a really nice graph paper.

red, blue and purple striped graph paper journal.

A more basic streamlined book, these full cloth books take less time, reflecting a lower asking price, but I assure you the build quality is as good as any of my books.

As always you can check them out and buy these books and more at my etsy shop, (hint: look on the left side of this page) and like and share my facebook page.

groupme group text nightmare

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:49:00 -0800

To anyone who was party to that Groupme nightmare I wholeheartedly apologize, I had no idea that would happen. What I thought the app was supposed to do was allow me to send a ONE TIME single text to a selection of my contacts on my phone. Alas this wasn't the case and people got a bunch of texts for some reason.

Once again I am sincerely sorry for that. If I caused you an inconvenience, it was not my intention at all.

New books and an art show!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:55:00 -0800

Just finished adding five new books on my etsy (check them out on the left side of this page). The first two were made from a beautiful green leather, and the pages are made out of sugar can pulp!

The next three are part of a series of five. I only posted three because I wasn't happy with the quality of the other two. I'm thinking of starting a give-away program with the ones I am not 100% happy with so stay tuned.

About the art show, my brother and I are working on two books to enter into an art show at a local art shop and will be on display through January. We are working on the cover today. Both books are geared towards artists.

The first book will be a combination sketchbook/journal, a reversible two books in one

The other will be a mixed media art book, using two different water color (hot and cold press) charcoal and sketch paper. Too much fun!

Etsy store is up and running

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 8 Nov 2012 21:19:00 -0800

I finally got my Etsy store up and running and my first 5 books are ready for new homes. These are the books I blogged about in my previous post. You can also click through the books on the left side of this page to get to the Etsy shop. I will be adding items (hopefully) every day and will keep you updated on how I am doing. Thanks for checking in on me.

A Family Affair, cont. Five books finished

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 5 Nov 2012 09:35:00 -0800

Working on a collaboration with other artists sounds like a potentially hazardous situation doesn't it? But when you have a common vision and you are working with people that respect each other, in this case, my brother and mom, it can be a fun and rewarding experience. I had just finished my new workbench, and immediately got started on new books, and now with five times the space I can work with other people.

Mom and Brother helping out.

When it was all said and done we got quite a bit done. Five books were finished, photos were taken, mistakes were definitely made and lessons were learned.

At one point after we finished sewing up all five books I realized that there was a flaw in the engineering creating a weak point on the binding. I got to sew five books twice this day!

Anyway, you are here for books. You want to see books? I got your books right here.

The first two books finished!

So these books are made using the secret Belgian binding, covered with different cloths as the cover and spines, (except for that black white and red one in the picture there, that's leather). Most of the books have a sewn design that my mom did and a couple for now, (maybe more to come) have some painted artwork on the covers.

About the artwork:

My brother is a phenomenal artist and I asked him what he thought about doing some artwork on the cover and this is what he came up with. I am in the process of putting these up on Etsy, but if you message me ahead of time I'll give you five dollars off. I will be selling these for $30 on Etsy.

Hand painted pelican

Hand painted parrot

Complementary decorative endpapers

Sewing design by Maggie Lightfoot

Notice how the binding allows the book to stay open for an easy journaling/sketching session?

That's it for now, you can see all of these pictures and more at my flickr page. Like and follow me on Facebook if you want (link to the left). Or just say hi here below.

A family affair book project

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 4 Nov 2012 09:41:00 -0800

I spent much of the day working on my new workplace with my brother who is a fantastic artist and my mom who's fabric skills are great to have around.

It was too much fun to be doing something collaboratively with my family, working together with a common goal: Make functional art that people will enjoy as much as we do.

We got to work on an edition of five books, some featuring art by my brother.

We'll finish the books later today most likely and I'll post more.

Here's a teaser:

A new workbench for a new process

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 3 Nov 2012 00:05:00 -0700

I had plans to get at least five books done today, but life had other plans. A neighbor missed the bus to the next town so I gave him a ride. I ended up visiting a few stores while I was there and before I knew it, half of my day was gone. When I finally got home I was wiped.

I have been working on a workbench about 32 inches long by 24 inches wide for a while now. When my neighbor who is a carpenter and a craftsman himself told me he was interested in my books a light bulb went off in my head. I needed a workbench badly. Up until now I had to constantly clear whatever tool I was using to make way for the next tool in the process of my bookbinding. I essentially had one station for measuring, cutting, pasting, folding, sewing, etc. This really limited my productivity and my flow. My neighbor came knocking today and had something to show me. I followed him to his truck and he had a solid core door waiting for me.

"There's your table Jesse," he said "and let's get you the rest of your wood." He took me into his backyard and started piling on the lumber for me. I thought this would be a nice weekend project and I maybe would have it done in a week or so.

I got to work and about 3 hours later this is what I had:

See that plywood top bench in the foreground? That was my old bench. I decided to mount the new table onto the old one and made one long beautiful bench for all of my needs. I can now set up an assembly line and work my way down the stations. No more moving equipment around, a niche smooth finish that cleans up easily. Ahhh... a nice change of pace.

Here is the bench in action, I mounted on some shelving and put in a power distributor. You can see a preview of some new books I am working on. I will post those when they are done. All in all it was a very productive day.

Five new books and an art shop

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 1 Nov 2012 15:47:00 -0700

Finished five new books. Four of them have some really nice decorative paper inside and out, and the one on the bottom left has new leather corners.

I also met with an art store today who wants to carry some custom made art journals. I'll let you know where when it is set in stone.

An oldie but a goodie

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:01:00 -0700

So I woke up to the sound of a Facebook message from a friend who has a friend with an art store who wants some of my books!

My Blog and Facebook fan page had been up for a whopping 10 hours and I had 10 fans and 2 requests for books.

So I guess i better get to work.

I wanted to share a book with you. This book was one of my first and it has sold already, sorry. It was hard to let it go because it is such a beauty.

This book is constructing using a french hinge type binding and makes a beautiful rounded spine, accented with a hand sewn headband:

A headband is the pretty little woven part at the top and bottom of hardbound books.

First I made the innards of the book, called a bookblock, then I picked a cover:

Then I put the book block in the cover.

Roll on some glue.

Schmoosh it all together.

Shape it to look pretty.

Put it in the press and set it and forget it!

And voila!

Simple right? Hey I didn't say it would be a comprehensive tutorial or anything. These pictures represent several hours worth of work.

Coping with my hobby ADHD

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 20:06:00 -0700

"Do what you love and the money will follow" -Marsha Sinetar

So, I finally decided to document my crazy obsession with doing whatever it takes to keep myself busy. What do I do to keep myself busy you ask? Bookbinding.

"Bookbinding? Well that sounds...interesting." Yeah, people still do that apparently.

How did I get started with such an obscure craft?

Funny story actually. I describe myself as a serial ADD hobbyist. I'll start one hobby; say bonsai trees. Then I'll realize that I need a bench to display and work on my bonsais so I need to build one, that requires woodworking. Oh well then I need to learn the basics of working with wood and once I scour thrift stores and garage sales to get the tools I need to build my bonsai bench, I'll realize that I need a woodworking bench to make the bonsai bench. Now, I have the bonsais going and the woodworking to support the bonsai hobby.

A similar thing happened with bookbinding. I started writing about a month and a half ago and in the process I had a need for a nice leather journal to keep track of my mind when I was out and about. So naturally I went out and bought a journal right? Wrong! I couldn't find my ideal journal, so after a few minutes online, I found a nice tutorial on how to make a handmade leather journal.

When I was a kid I wanted the Indiana Jones Grail Diary terribly. The way it fit into Indy's jacket pocket, the little black elastic strap, the rustic cover *sigh*... it all appealed to my 10 year old brain for some reason. It's never too late to fulfill a lifelong dream, so I found a simple tutorial over at zenseeker.net and next thing I knew...

I had my own handmade blank grail diary!

Look at that! Isn't she beeeautiful?

Now, look, I realize that this is probably only interesting to me and a few Jonsians hanging out in front of Skywalker Ranch waiting to get picked up by the Tardis and taken away to 1938 for a chance to get a nod from Indiana himself. But, I just couldn't stop! I was hooked. One book wasn't enough. I needed a smaller one, one with lined pages, one with a cloth cover, a paper cover, yada yada yada... Then I had more than I needed, so I started showing my books to friends and co-workers. Next thing I knew I had sold 9 books in a week and a half, making back the money I put into this "hobby" tenfold. I made an extra week's pay from these 9 little books, now everyone wants one! I'm onto something, I thought, gotta blog it, put 'em on etsy, tell mah friends. Now that's where you come in, tell yer friends, ask me to make you one, they make great Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza/Solstice-what-have-you gifts.

Where can you get one? Well, I'll have an Etsy shop soon, working on my stock at the moment, but for the time being I'll post my available items here and I can create a custom item on my Etsy to fill special orders. Let me know! I take requests and suggestions for materials/techniques/custom line printed pages/etc. You don't have to buy one, just take part in my (mis)adventures by checking in here periodically.

But if you are interested *wink wink, nudge nudge*...

My base price for a 4 inch by 5.5 inch blank journal with 192 pages is $25. If you want extras such as leather, custom line/grid/etc printed pages and any other ideas you have there will be an additional cost, generally between 5 - 10 dollars per addition. I can also do embossing for an extra fee.

Let's make a deal. You check out my blog periodically and I'll keep feeding your little brain with updates of my obsessions!

Here's a teaser: