Some Weekend Fun in Toronto!

Posted on February 6, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 122/365

I’m looking forward to teaching a new bookbinding workshop this weekend. This Sunday is Creative Bookbinding at Little House in the City!

If you’ve been thinking of trying your hand a bookbinding this is the class to take the plunge! No previous experience is required and everyone leaves with a finished project. And if your Valentine appreciates your crafty side, it’ll make the perfect gift!

When: Sunday February 8, 2015 1pm – 4pm
Where: Little House in the City, 555 Parliament Street, Toronto

To find more information and to register, go here.
To see my full schedule of upcoming workshops, go here.

Learn the Longstitch

Posted on January 29, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 114/365

I’m so excited to announce a new bookbinding workshop at a downtown location! I’ll be teaching a binding method I haven’t taught in a while, straight Longstitch, so if you’ve taken a previous class with me, this is a new one that you should check out!

What: Creative Bookbinding Workshop!
Where: Little House in the City; 555 Parliament Street, Toronto
When: Sunday February 8, 2015, 1pm – 4pm

As always, you only need to bring yourself; materials are included in the workshop fee, and tools are provided for use during the class.

To learn more and register, please go here.

Learn the Linkstitch

Posted on January 26, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 111/365

There are still a few spots left in the Book Making Workshop I’m giving at Graven Feather. This is the class to take if you’ve always wanted to learn how to make your own journal.

I’ll show you how to hand decorate covers, and then how to bind it into your very own journal! Everyone leaves with a finished project!

When: Saturday February 7, 2015 10am – 1pm
Where: Graven Feather, 906 Queen St. West
Cost: $65, materials included

*You must pre-register to participate.
**Can’t make it on February 8? No problem, more dates have just been booked! The workshop is also running on March 7 and April 11!

***And if none of those dates work, just keep an eye on my Workshops page.

For more information and to register, please go here.

Wintertime Book Making Workshop!

Posted on January 22, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 107/365

Join me and learn to design and craft your own hand bound journal! This workshop will introduce you to the basic process of hand decorating paper for use as book covers, and then how to incorporate it into a hand bound book using the Longstitch Linkstitch technique.

No previous art experience is required.

When: Saturday February 2, 2015 10am – 1pm
Where: Graven Feather, 906 Queen St. West, Toronto

For more information and to register, please go here.

Cityscapes

Posted on January 12, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 97/365 It’s that time of year when folks who live in places like Ontario dream of warm places with beaches and palm trees. Did you know that Sprouts Press makes custom travel journals?

I hand-stitch the covers to depict a cityscape of your destination, making it a perfect keepsake when you return!

Usually I put watercolour paper inside, to encourage creativity when travelling, but if writing’s your thing you just prefer thinner paper, I’m happy to help.

Journeys In Winter: a series

Posted on January 10, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 95/365

This is one of the books from the ‘Journeys in Winter’ series, from a couple years back. When winter in Toronto was more mud and gravel than snow. It was a bit disappointing for me as I do love some winter sports, but I didn’t mind the milder temperatures (mostly it hovered around 0 degrees celsius, give or take).

There were several books in the series, and I have a few left. They are based on the idea of combining printmaking, painting and bookbinding, which I’ve discussed here. But I also really like the structure of the book; a matchbox! The binding is a Japanese Hemp Leaf binding, which is great for single sheet pages.
You can see from a side view just little snippets of the page papers: maps, graph, lined, blank and colours! It really is a great little book for a winter journey!
Since I hand paint/print the covers, every book is different. Even the front and back covers are different on the same book.

Use Your Journal! No.1

Posted on January 9, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 94/365

As you may have noticed from my previous post, I’m on a bit of a hand-lettering and calligraphy kick these days. I’m also enjoying the idea of a few posts that promote journalling, sketching and using journals in general. When I first had this idea I immediately pulled my quotes journal from the bookshelf, and decided to share a few of my favourite pages. I will admit that this is a big step for me, I don’t usually share the contents of my journals and sketchbooks. But these are just quick, pretty little notes that I jotted down in less than 10 minutes. And that’s the idea, you can do it too! You can find quotes all over the place: online, via a ‘quotes’ app (there are many!), at the library, etc. Sometimes the best are snippets of conversations overheard in passing, or by looking at groupings of book titles on shelves to see if they form a sentence. It’s also fun to pick up a book and open it to a random page and see what you get, like a box of chocolates! (Well, maybe not quite like chocolates, but you get the idea) Fun pens and markers are also a welcome addition. A bit of colour or shading can give your page just the right tone.

If you want to try this yourself here are a couple of tips:

-Choose a quote that isn’t too long, make sure it fits on the page and that there’s room for a border to be drawn around it.

-Make sure to jot down the author of the quote so you can give credit and search for more inspiring words by that person.

-You can put a ground of colour down first with markers (as in the last photo above), and then write your quote on top.

-Feel free to use a simple, minimalist border or to get more creative and swirly. Really whatever you feel like is what goes!

-Don’t try to make it too perfect, this is meant to be a quick exercise that is fun and enjoyable!

Do you have any other tips for quick quote-taking? Have fun!

Old-New

Posted on January 5, 2015 by sproutspress

Day 90/365

Today has been all about dusting off my old calligraphy stuff. It’s old in age, but new again to me! I’m starting pretty much from scratch, with some great titles from the library to inspire and guide me. I will admit that I actually dusted this stuff off during my OOAK prep as a way to find peace and calm amidst the chaos and stress. But it was short-lived and pretty much just the act of putting paper to pen. Now I’m focusing on my skills and the creative possibilities of hand lettering.

I’m hoping to use this as a springboard to more posts about growing skills to use your journals and sketchbooks. So, follow along and learn with me, I promise it’ll be fun!

Wordless Tuesday 30.12.14

Posted on December 30, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 84/365

The Studio on a Sunday

Posted on December 28, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 82/365

This is the studio on a sunday back in the fall. A great shot detailing the process of punching holes into leather, to be used as a closure for this journal. See similar journals here.

The pictured journal is a smaller cousin of the Indigo Coptic Journal featured in this post from a couple of weeks ago. It’s the same idea with the closure, just a different cover and sized journal!