In the Round ll

Posted on November 8, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 32/365

On thursday I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception of ‘In the Round ll’, a group show at Graven Feather here in Toronto. If you haven’t heard of this show, there are over 150 artists participating, all producing art on a set of three, 5″ birch disks.

Once on the wall, it makes for a stunning display of rows and rows of artwork. I love how everyone interpreted the use of the circles differently, creating a beautiful diversity of 2D and 3D pieces.

While I wasn’t able to participate this year, it’s always fun to attend this annual show and see the beautiful works of fellow artists. And as usual, the pieces submitted were all spectacular!

The show runs for the month of November, go here for more info.

Book Ornaments!

Posted on November 7, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 31/365

Who doesn’t love a good book ornament? I started making these for myself, then friends and family, and then I finally realized I should be selling them. They’re now in my online shop.

Bonus: I’m teaching a book ornament making workshop later in the month! We won’t be making this style of ornament, but it will still be a lovely little book you can hang for the holidays or anytime of the year.

Coming Soon!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 30/365

The last couple of days have been a flurry of activity in the studio. Bookbinding kits galore!!

This year I’ve decided to make a variation of my usual kit and will be officially announcing them shortly. They are a limited edition, incredibly cute and fun!

Wordless Wednesday 05.11.14

Posted on November 5, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 29/365

Join Me

Posted on November 4, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 28/365

It seems to be the time of year; the garden is pulled out, the air is crisp and we all start thinking about cozy indoor activities. So, without further ado, please won’t you join me next saturday at my next book making workshop!

I will be teaching the Longstitch/Linkstitch binding, which is the same binding as last weekend’s class, but we will be collaging the covers into beautiful art books. It’s so much fun!

For more information and to register, please go here.

The Travelling Artist

Posted on November 3, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 27/365

In the spirit of talking about some of my favourite projects, I couldn’t resist a post about these watercolour travel journals. Originally in two colours, only the pink is left. This book was designed to be a tough and rugged workhorse of a journal. I wanted to create a beautiful yet functional sketchbook to take along while travelling or hiking. I put in a pen holder on the spine and a braided linen tie-around closure. It’s sturdy and solid, and beautiful all at the same time.
The hot pink paper is handmade (not by me) with a lovely scattered seedpod-like pattern on the front, and solid, bright, hot pink on the back. I’ve had many discussions with papermakers about how this technique was achieved; maybe the hot pink paper was pulp painted, with rice as a resist? Maybe it was a lamination of sheet forming? I don’t know the answer, but it’s fantastic either way.

The second journal uses hand-decorated paper that I picked up a long time ago. I wish I could remember the artists name, I’d love to get more! It is a textured wallpaper, that has been painted and distressed and then flecks of gold applied. It has the effect of a dark, starry night.

The Studio on Sunday

Posted on November 2, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 26/365

In the studio today: stacks and stacks of pages to be sewn into many books. Fancy coptic journals, to be exact. This is my sunday, along with the lots of tea and some Vinyl Cafe.

A Lovely Saturday

Posted on November 1, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 25/365

Today I had the pleasure of teaching a wonderful group of ladies the Longstitch/Linkstitch binding. We were at Graven Feather, a fantastic printmaking studio and gallery, here in Toronto on Queen St. West.

I love seeing the different styles and colours each person is drawn to and the details put into each book. Everyone was happy with their journal and enjoyed learning a new skill! Welcome to the world of bookbinding!!

To learn more about upcoming workshops and classes, please visit my Workshops page.

Boo!

Posted on October 31, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 24/365

These are some of my new pieces, not quite finished yet. I thought today was an appropriate day to share these two, as they’re inspired by both ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Happy Halloween!

Old & Unusual

Posted on October 30, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 23/365 BMRwo7oCMAAlff6.jpg-large

If you were to walk into an antiquarian bookshop and, after browsing for a bit, spot this in the back corner – wouldn’t your curiosity be peaked? This is the sort of discovery I find pretty exciting. Forgive me, what’s a Biblio-Mat, you say? Well, it’s a vending machine for books! And it’s amazing! I’ve known about this vending machine for a while, and went to check it out for myself recently. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

It’s in a local antiquarian bookshop here in Toronto, The Monkey’s Paw, and it’s so much fun. If you’re wondering whether I tried it out – of course I did! The Biblio-Mat only dispenses old books, the shop itself not selling anything published after 1980. They have a very selectively curated collection of books that will draw you in for a long time. A looong time.

I’m not going to share what book I got from the Biblio Mat, I’m going to double dog dare you to go there and try it for yourself!

Well, okay I’ll share: it’s a beautiful vintage book about British Columbia!!