Another Book

Here is another book that I made in my Bookbinding I class. It is a hard spine (flat-back) book. One of the aspects that I like about this book is the coordination between endsheets, bookcloth, and decorative paper.

This is the classic quarter bound book. The headband is handmade using a cord wrapped with a scrap of the endsheet paper. I love this spider mum decorative paper and I have it in three different color combination.

The front of the book.

The handmade headband.

The opened book.

Another Book

Here is another one of the books that I am developing. I call it my Three Quarter Binding Book. The title is a play off the traditional three quarter binding. My Three Quarter binding refers to the fact that the cover paper covers the entire back board (1/2) an 1/4 of the front board. The cover paper is the Prestige line of papers that are currently at Kate's Paperie. It is a velvet (flocked velour) paper that is paper backed. I believe it to be strong enough to act like a hinge. It is similar to the Laval Bookcloth found at Talas.

The decorative paper is an embroidered paper found at Kates Paperie. It comes in several colors. I will be developing a Magenta version of this book as well.

I chose this particular model becuase I am constantly bothered by not knowing which is the front of a journal. Of course, when the book has a title, you don't run into those problems. My solution is to somehow designate the front cover. In this case, the front cover is the side with the decorative paper.

I also like the tactile difference between the decorative paper and the covering paper. The Prestige paper and the Laval bookcloth have a nice feel to them.

In future models, I will line the front board with a white paper because you can see the board through the decorative paper. All in all, I am very pleased with this book.

Second Project

The second project of this past weekend was a jeweled box. The interior box dimensions are 5" by 7" by 2" (width by height by depth). The paper is a printed paper from India. It comes in a teal color (which is the one that I used), an orange variation , and a green variation.

As you can see, there are three different star clusters in two different colors. I used hot fix crystals to highlight these design elements.

The interior of the box is lined with a lime green velvet paper.

The box lid.

The long side of the box. The crystals travel on all four sides of the box.

Here is the interior of the box.

A second look at the entire project.

Project Number One

I had a lot of fun this weekend just doing my thing and being creative and all. My first project was one that I was helping someone else develop. He had the idea and needed help in developing the logistics.

The idea is a jewel encrusted book. How does one go about doing such a thing? You could simply affix crystals to the top of the surface which is certainly possible. The problem with such an approach is that they could easily be dislodged.

The second idea was to drill into the bookcloth and affix the crystals in the crater created. The problem with this approach would be the rim of the binder's board would be visible once the crystals were placed into their positions.

The third approach was to create a divot in the binder's board before covering the board with cloth. Once the boards were dry, the divot could then be depressed in the same fashion that an inset would be created. Once the crater was pressed into place, the crystal could then be put in place.

The problem with the third approach is that you have to be very careful in the making of your indentations because they can easily become misaligned. Also, you have to be careful with the covering material. Too thick of a bookcloth or paper would make it nearly impossible to create the indentation.

Here is my solution to the issue at hand. I marked a harlequin pattern (diamonds) on the board before covering with a velvet type paper. This type of paper removes the need for bookcloth because it is very sturdy and is paper backed. Because of the thickness of the paper, there is no need for a hinging material. I used the velvet paper because I thought it would look good with the inset crystals.

I used a size 34 crystal (SS34) and made the indentations with a hammer and punch. After punching each hole, I removed about 1/4 of the board's thickness to make space for the crystal.

Overall, I am pleased with the results. I don't know if I would do this again because of the work involved but I am glad that I was able to help out one of my fellow students.



The Cinderella Book--red velvet paper with Orange-Red crystals


Text block is from Hollanders--Medium Journal, 144 pages, imported from Italy

A Crystals Weekend

Well, it is already 8:00 PM on Sunday night and I have two projects done and completed. Should I start another and possibly have a late night before an early Monday morning?

You damn betcha!!!

I will be listening to the radio broadcast of the Mets in San Francisco and working on project number three.

Oh, by the way, as for my projects this weekend--let's just say that there were lots of crystals involved.

Pictures to follow.

Open Weekend

I am so happy that I do not have any pressing commitments this weekend. The whole weekend all to myself.

I have so many projects that I want to get to this weekend, I can hardly contain my excitement. I hope to have lots of Weekend Projects pictures for you on Monday.

Now, I gotta get back to my projects.

I hope you have a great weekend as well.

Bingo Card Book

It started with a simple, everyday Bingo Card. Slightly used, definitely loved.



A few embellishments--yellow ribbon, and Bingo markers



A little sewing along the way (Coptic Stitch) with matching yellow linen waxed thread.


The Coptic Stitch allows the book to open flat. The Bingo pieces prevent the cover from resting directly on a surface when opened flat.

The large and narrow pages that have been rounded are best suited for an artist who thinks and works outside the box. The paper is thick, cold pressed watercolor paper.

This project was made for a great artist by the name of Janet Hofacker. Google her name to see samples of her work. Her etsy store is found at foundart.etsy.com. Check her site often.

Another Book

The book for today was the third book that we prepared for the Bookbinding I Class. It is a modified spine book. The signatures were sewn together with kettle and herringbone stitches. The spine was then lined with crash/mull. The endsheets were then tipped in. The text block was then rounded and headbands were glued in. A piece of bookcloth acts as the spine.

The front and back boards are covered in the bookcloth that matches the spine. The endsheets and the hinge are then glued into place.

The text block of this book was made from hand torn sheets. This book is the perfect size for 4" by 6" photos or for an autograph book.

Even More Japan Journal

Since it has been a while since I have shared pages from my Japan Journal, I decided to add two more pages.

One of the aspects that I enjoy about Japan is the orderliness of the people there. Also, people are very nice and polite to foreigners. Signs appear in several languages and the expectations of people are clearly delineated.

The first page deals with travelling on the subway and riding the escalator. The second page is the subway map. These maps are everywhere in Tokyo and most hotels will give you a map every time you leave the front door.

Travelling in Japan

The Tokyo subway map

All Kinds of Books

I have been taking so many classes recently that I don't know what to do with all of the models/structures that I bring home. Before I start using them or packing them up, I decided to photograph them and share them with my dearest blog readers.

In my Bookbinding I Class, we were required to produce five different structures. The first structure was an accordion book with a hard cover. Unfortunately for you dear reader, I donated my text block to another student because she ruined her book during class. I gave her my text block so that she could use it and then take it home.

I will make another one and will post it online.

The second book that we made is one of my favorite book structures--the pamphlet stitch book. We used hand torn pages and were required to use a soft cover with a paper wrapper. Here was my final product.

This is the pamphlet stitch. I used a red waxed linen thread.

Here is the paper wrapper.

I am thinking about designing a series of five of these booklets with coordinating paper wrappers and then encasing them in a handmade storage box.

Box with Drawer and Divider

I finished my class yesterday and I am very happy to say that I completed my project. The difficulty with weekend classes is that sometimes there just isn't enough time to finish the project. Usually, I have to finish the project at home because I just don't move as quickly as the instructor anticipates.

For this project, we were required to make a slipcase. The slipcase would surround a drawer. The drawer would have a divided section. Within the divided section would be a lift out tray. Keeping in mind that there were eight students and the time necessary for the glue to dry between components, I was very happy to get my project done.

Step One: Build the slip case. Because the interior would be visible when the drawer was not inside, we had to line boards before assembling the case. Once the individual pieces where glued together, we had to cover the case. I chose a printed paper for the lining and rust colored bookcloth for the exterior of the case.

This is the lining inside the slip case (when the drawer is removed).

Step Two: Making the drawer. I made the drawer with a divider that ran along the entire width of the drawer. I also put two "lifts" so the tray that I would make later could rest evenly across the divider. The drawer is covered with Thai Reversible Unryu Paper. I chose the pink/orange combination. The exterior of the drawer is covered with the orange side. The divider, lifts and paste-ins are the pink side.

The three components of the project. The drawer is located in the back of this photo.

Step Three: Making the Tray. The tray is made to fit in the drawer. I chose mine to run the entire length of the drawer. I covered the drawer with a different decorative paper because there wasn't any more paper that was used for the lining (which was my first choice).

Here is the tray lying of top of the drawer.

Here is the tray fitted inside of the drawer. The orange ribbons are connected to the underside of the tray so that it can be easily lifted out.

Step Four: Fitting the Pieces Together. The last step is to embellish the project. Of course, this seems easier than it really is because most of these steps have already been pre-determined and pre-planned. For me, I decided to use a decorative pull for my drawer. I used a button that I purchased from M & J Trimming.

The drawer pull.

The assembled box.

Overall, I am very pleased with the finished project. Granted, it not perfect but I always have to remind myself that the goal of the class isn't to make a perfect project. The goal of the class is to learn the techniques and to go home with a working model.

I was very pleased with the class and would definitely take another class with this particular instructor. I have also come to realize that I am further along with my box making skills than I realized. I problem-solved many of my own problems in class. I pre-planned my project well--in other words, I pretty much did my project in the correct sequence.

So, I feel that it was a very successful weekend.

Taking Another Class

Well, I am taking another weekend class at The Center for Book Arts in NYC. This class is being taught by Ben Rinehart and is based on his book Creating Books and Boxes. This class will be dedicated to boxes with drawers and dividers.

Dividers in a box are one of the hardest skills to master because there are so many ways to approach the problem. I wanted to take the class because (1) I love making boxes and (2) I wanted to learn how someone else approaches the problem.

An interesting aspect of Ben's method is that he covers the exterior of his boxes in one continuous piece of material. Most people will cover the sides of the box with one piece of material and then paste in a top and bottom piece of material.

One of the most agonizing aspects of taking classes is making artistic decisions on how you want to design your class project. What decorative paper? What covering materials to use? What notions will you use? The problem is that many of these decisions have to be made on the spot. When you are designing at home, you can pick and choose from your own stock. When you are taking classes, you have to pick and choose from what is available on site. I wish teachers would indicate what decorative materials to bring should you want to bring something from home. For example, a 6" x 12 " piece of bookcloth, and a 18" x 23" piece of decorative paper will be sufficient for this project if you want to bring materials from home.

So here are some of the choices I made for my class project. The decorative papers and bookcloth were provided by the Center. The notions I picked up from M & J Trimming during my lunch break. Tomorrow, I will show you how the materials were used.


Decorarive papers and bookcloth


Notions from M & J Trimming

Finally Done

I have returned from my trip to England and in my exhaustion and jet lag, I decided to try and finish the Coptic stitch artist's journal that I have agonized over for the last two weeks. As you might remember, I started it last weekend and I just wasn't happy with the way that it was turning out. On the first attempt, the holes that I made just weren't lining up. Since the spine is exposed, that is a bad thing. On the second attempt. I couldn't get the tension even so the chain stitches weren't even and it looked awful.

So last night, in an attempt to get the bloody thing done, I tried again. This time it worked out fine. So, the lesson of the day--just do it and don't overthink.

I have taken two of the Bingo cards that I have mentioned before and used those for the covers. For the text block, I used watercolor paper since the artist asked for durable paper. Because of the thickness of the paper, each signature is made up of two folios. Since this artist does landscapes, the size of the paper will work to her advantage.

On the front of the cover, I will be placing Bingo markers to act as feet so the cover will rest on the markers rather than the cover's surface when fully opened (since one of the characteristics of the Coptic stitch is that it allows the book to open fully).

Since the artist reads this blog, I will provide pictures of the finished project as soon as the artist receives her book.