In the Studio

Little Paris Travel Journal

2013-06-19T12:28:42Z

The story behind this little Paris-themed handmade book is that it’s the first I’ve made in over four months! This might not seem like such a long time, but because of a cross country move I’ve had to pack up nearly all of my bookbinding studio supplies and put them into storage.

Right now I’m living in my grandparents’ house, and though they passed away this year they’ve left a household full of odds and ends which I’ve used to make this little book (which may still be available for sale in my etsy shop)
The Paris map came from an out-of-date travel guide (“loose change is sufficient tip for your waiter at most cafes”) along with the cool “6 Parisians you should know” endpapers – the cover shows the Louvre museum and downtown Paris. The filler paper was a small stack of notepaper I found in my Grandpa’s desk. I glued the covers, made from notepad backing board, with some white craft glue, and pressed them under a stack of heavy books, since I don’t have my book press with me.

My grandparents lived in Poiters, France for four years in the sixties, and my grandma in particular LOVED France, so I made this with her in mind It might still be available in my etsy shop, depending on when you’re reading this.

Suminagashi Marbled Handmade Journal

2013-02-16T19:30:05Z

Suminagashi is a gorgeous type of paper marbling invented in Japan over 1,000 years ago. I wrote a post a while ago when I taught a suminagashi marbling class at Clark University and you can see every step of the process. Basically you float rings of black sumi ink (I really like using this Yasutomo brand sumi ink)on water with calligraphy brushes (these inexpensive calligraphy brushes from yasutomo work well), alternating with “white” rings of water mixed with dispersant – the “white” is actually just the color of the paper underneath. The woodgrain effect comes from the rings pushing closer and closer together and thinning out. Then you lay a piece of paper on top and pull the print! Each session of suminagashi yields just one print, so they’re all one of a kind.

I sewed this journal with a type of binding called chain stitch or coptic stitch. I’ve been doing this type of binding the most because I like that you can make the covers completely separately from the inner pages and just hold on them until you’re ready to sew them onto the filler pages with waxed linen thread.

Bookbinding Tutorial Secret Belgian Binding

2013-02-16T15:51:07Z

It’s tutorial Tuesday! I am sharing great bookbinding tutorials I’ve found around the web on Tuesdays – today’s tutorial is about a mysterious sounding bookbinding style called “Secret Belgian Binding” – This binding was invented in the mid 1980s by Anne Goy, a Belgian bookbinder. She was looking for a Western version of the traditional Japanese stab binding techniques. She wanted a book that would open flat but with the appearance of the stab sewing. Anne Goy calls this binding the “criss cross binding”. I can’t find the author of this great tutorial, so if anyone knows, leave a comment! click on the link or any of the photos to see the full directions: The Secret Belgian Binding

Chevron Washi Tape Chain Stitch Journal

2013-02-16T19:08:55Z

I love Washi Tape! A friend from Japan sent me a huge care package of washi tape, a thin Japanese masking tape with designs printed on it ( you can even get washi tape on Amazon)- I used the tape to create this pretty striped pattern on raw book board, and then sealed the whole thing with a thin varnish so the tape won’t peel up. The stitching pattern is new too, a variation on coptic stitch (no idea if it has a name, I kind of made it up) that I sewed with waxed linen thread. That white circle is my embossing seal but you can’t quite make it out in the photo.

You can see more photos of this book on my Red Striped Washi Tape Journal photo set on Flickr.

Bookbinding Tutorial Accordion Book Photo Album

2013-02-16T15:17:21Z

It’s tutorial Tuesday! I am sharing great bookbinding tutorials I’ve found around the web on Tuesdays – today’s tutorial is about making an accordion book photo album – a lovely gift to give to friends or relatives. This lovely tutorial was made by Carrie who writes at Making Lemonade: freshly squeezed ideas for home and family click on the link or any of the photos to see the full directions: Homemade Photo Album (Mother’s Day Gift Idea)

Blue Bathymetric Handmade Journal

2013-02-16T18:59:07Z

These blue chart journals are always a huge hit at craft shows – before my Christmas fairs this year I made at least 10 and they all sold out! The bathemetry charts I used are underwater topography maps and show the elevation of the sea floor – the local NOAA office was going to recycle them but offered them to me first – of course I snatched them up!

I sewed the journals with a type of binding called chain stitch or coptic stitch. I’ve been doing this type of binding the most because I like that you can make the covers completely separately from the inner pages and just hold on them until you’re ready to sew them onto the filler pages with waxed linen thread.

Bookbinding Tutorial Single Curved Needle Chain Stitch Binding

2013-02-16T15:07:18Z

It’s tutorial Tuesday! I am sharing great bookbinding tutorials I’ve found around the web on Tuesdays – today’s tutorial is about a very popular but tricky style called chain stitch (also known as coptic stitch). This step by step tutorial by Shelly at Cat-Sidh has tons of photos and detailed directions though - click on the link to see the full directions: Single Needle Chain Stitch Tutorial

Rocky Mountain Travel Journal

2013-02-16T18:48:04Z

I made this book specially for a friend who went traveling around the national parks out in the West and wanted to document her trip. I wanted a woodsy feel so I went with raw book board – I also did a little hand-drawn woodgrain pattern on the inside with black and gold pen.

The animals are all hand-cut and glued to the cover, with a protective varnish seal. They’re all animals that are found in and around the Rockies, like grizzly bears, white tailed deer, big horn sheep, coyotes, mountain lions, pine martins and hawks.

The inside paper is 100% recycled French speckletone. The sewing is a type of modified coptic stitch and was done in red waxed linen thread. You can see a few more photos in my Rocky Mountain Travel Journal photo set on flickr.

Bookbinding Tutorial Long-stitch Binding

2013-02-16T15:06:08Z

It’s tutorial Tuesday! I am sharing great bookbinding tutorials I’ve found around the web on Tuesdays – today’s tutorial is about long stitch binding and was created by Sarah at the blog Are you Flowin’ - it shows you how you can use all different types of paper that you have been hoarding to make a pretty little journal using tools you might already have on hand – click on the link below to see the full directions: Make your own long-stitch bound journal : a photo heavy tutorial

Bathymetric Chart Coptic Stitch Journal – Rough Draft Chart

2013-01-17T03:03:08Z

I live in a tiny town next to the ocean on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and one of the perks of living here is that I know plenty of people who use nautical charts day to day and so I have lots of fun creating things out of charts donated my way.
This is a very special REALLY one of a kind book because what you’re looking at is the ROUGH DRAFT of a bathymetric chart – the aniline purple ink leads me to believe it’s a ditto duplication of a map in the process of being made – it had some pencil notations on it suggesting alterations. You’d never see this today now that we have computers! Now it’s in the hands of one of my friends, who I hope will fill it up with lots of writing and drawing!
Coptic Stitched with waxed irish linen thread – approximately 4.5″x6″
More pictures of this book in my flickr photo set : Rough Draft Bathymetric Chart Journal