Day 209/365
Announcing the next show for Sprouts Press: Heirlooms Artisan Market! Held amongst the greenery and flowers of Vermeer’s Garden Centre, this show will have a great variety of vendors, including myself, jewelry, body care and even food trucks!
What: Heirlooms Artisan Market
When: Saturday June 20, 2015 10am – 6pm
Where: Vermeer’s Garden Centre, 684 S Pelham Road, Welland
Day 207/365
I’ve got a slew of workshops coming up, and more in the works! The next one is exactly one week away, in Burlington, Ontario. See below for details.
Book Arts 103
Saturday May 9, 1pm – 4pm
Burlington Public Libary: Brant Hills Branch, 2255 Brant Street, Burlington
For more information and to register, go here.
Longstitch/Linkstitch Bookbinding
Saturday May 23, 10am – 1pm
Graven Feather, 906 Queen St. West, Toronto
For more information and to register, go here.
Bookbinding Workshop
Sunday June 7, 10am – 4pm
Guelph School of Art, 125 Wyndham St. North, Guelph
For more information and to register, go here.
Bookmaking Workshop
Sunday June 14, 1pm – 4pm
Mississauga Living Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Drive, Mississauga, Ontario
For more information and to register, go here.
***If you’re hoping to learn something not listed here, please send me a note! I’d love to hear what you’re interested in learning.
For ways to get in touch with me, go to the top menu bar and click ‘About’. Then scroll down for links to my social media and email.
Day 206/365
Today it’s all about using your journals for recipes, my two favourite things! I’ll explain my own hacks for transforming a journal to a recipe book, appropriate books to use and some other fun tips!
As you can see, my two most beloved recipe books, above, are suited for different purposes. The large one stays at home, on the shelf, while the little one is a take-along collection of my most favourite recipes.
This small recipe book is perfect to fit in a backpack, and travels with me when I’m away for long periods of time. It’s coptic bound, so it lays flat when open, which is perfect for leaving it open on the counter while gathering ingredients (I think all cookbooks should be sewn using the coptic stitch, it’s so practical!). 
I started this book way back when I was first in art college. I collected recipes from roommates, a few of my Mom’s best meals, and guessed ingredients from my favourite dishes at restaurants. It’s one of the first books I handbound for myself, not a school project. This was an important step to realizing the immense satisfaction of incorporating my own handmade items into my everyday life.
I have always loved to cook and this robust little coptic book of recipes, started in Toronto, has gone around Europe with me. It’s pages are filled with delicious things like traditional Florentine Ribollita, my grandma’s oatmeal date cookies, my mom’s chilli, and the BEST tomato spread for crostini from an elderly Florentine man named Giovanni. The binding is as strong as ever and the pages are all intact – handmade is made to last!
Once the little book was filled, I needed another book. This time I went larger, and was more organized than my younger, college-going self. There are tabs and pockets and sections, it’s all very practical and well thought out! Bonus: it’s made from a reclaimed cigar box.
Top 4 Tips for Making a Journal Recipe Book:
-Make category tabs by folding cardstock in half and adhering to the sides of pages. You can do this with glue, but it’s more fun with washi tape that runs the length of the page! You can make tabs to categorize by meal, ingredients, allergen-free recipes, or even seasons! (ie. Cookies, Meatless Entrees, Beverages, etc)
-I also liked to make a title page on each tab page. You can draw a picture, use fancy writing. You could also make a mini index here, listing recipes as you add them to each category.
-If you’re binding your own book, incorporate the odd pocket page to collect recipes on pretty paper, or in a loved one’s handwriting. You can fold up your own pocket page, or just use opened envelopes!
-In my smaller recipe book I used scrapbook paper for the covers. I also found fun foodie papers and inserted them at random in the pages: chocolate chips and KD! (Total college-kid food, I know!)
What’s your favourite recipe? Feel free to share in the comments below!
Day 203/365
A couple of weeks ago I put together a collection of items for Moms who love to draw and sketch. With Mother’s day just around the corner, I’ve got another group of items perfect for the mom who loves to read books, collect books, make books and everything in between!
I’ve tailored this collection to inspire people who love books, but might not necessarily write or draw in them. This is a group of items for the book lover, the collector and the art appreciator.
From the top left, clockwise:
Starburst Journal in Garden Sage: Sage colored bookcloth adorns the spine and showcases the spine stitching, with green and brown floral covers. Makes a perfect garden journal or outdoor adventure album. More details.
Mini Book Necklace: A cute little handbound journal made from reclaimed leather! Opens and you can write in it, keeping your ideas and dreams close to your heart. More details.
DIY Bookbinding Kit: For the person who already has everything; give them a new skill! Beginner kit teaches the basics of bookbinding and comes with everything you need: materials, tools and step-by-step instructions. Various colours available. More details.
Red Florentine Starburst Journal: A lively and bold journal perfect for recipes, special memories or someone who loves the colour red! (any fellow leos out there?) Because the spine is wide, there’s enough room to adhere papers to the pages, like some photos or recipe cards in your grandmother’s handwriting. More details.
Queen Anne’s Lace on Linen: A perfect catch-all, coin purse or beach pouch. Hand drawn images of thistles are screenprinted onto brown linen. More details.
Ex Libris Bookplates in Green: For the book collector! A stylish way to label your books and build your library. Hand printed in various colours and self-adhesive, comes in a set of 4. More details.
Day 201/365
Today I’m vending at the Leslieville Flea. It’s the last indoor show of the year, in the Fermenting Cellar at the Distillery District here in Toronto.
I’ll be here all day with my handbound journals, bookbinding kits, book jewelry and hand printed fabric items. Stop by and say Hi!
For more information, check out the show website, go here.
Day 199/365
I’m pleased to share an upcoming workshop I’ll be teaching in Burlington, Ontario: Book Arts 103.
When: Saturday May 9, 1pm – 4pm
Where: Burlington Public Libary, Brant Hills Branch. 2255 Brant Street, Burlington
Spend the afternoon learning basic of bookbinding techniques and the tools of the trade. Learn to make a soft cover book using the longstitch technique. Students will leave with a finished project!
For more information and to register, please go here.
Day 198/365
A couple of days ago I wrote a post about my feature in Uppercase magazine. Today I’m going to talk about the piece that made it happen, an artist’s book titled “O2”.
O2 is an artist’s book about oxygen. While it is not in-depth, scientifically, it is colourful, enjoyable and beautiful.
This project started as a drawing study of the beautiful cell formations of oxygen-producing organisms and their structures. This triggered a curiosity about their function and history, which in turn led to the creation of this artists’ book from accumulated images and information.
This piece is also a labour of love, created entirely by hand. All the paper is my own handmade paper, made exclusively for this project. All images are my own, which I transferred and hand relief-printed. I also wrote all the text, based on my research, which I then screenprinted. And finally, I hand bound each book, completing this project and turning the prints into an art object, an artist’s book.
Hand printed in a limited edition of 9 books, there are only a couple of copies left. To read more, see them in my Etsy shop here.
Day 196/365
Exciting news!!
A couple of days ago the latest issue of Uppercase magazine arrived in the mail. It’s the printmaking issue and I’ve been waiting for it for a while now. 
Wondering why? Take a look at that photo above!! That’s page 85 folks, 85!! Woot woot! I’m honoured to be featured in this magazine, and a little over the top excited about it! (okay, maybe totally over the top excited about it!)
Anyone who’s read Uppercase knows what I mean, it’s a really fantastic magazine. And if you haven’t read it (or even just held a copy in your hands) you really should! I’ve been inspired by past issues on numerous occasions. I keep all my old issues and refer to them regularly for advice, prompts and to look up featured artists whose work I love. I mean, the slogan is: For the creative and curious. Perfection. It’s an informative, insightful, inspiring and beautiful publication, go check it out!
Day 195/365
It’s the best time of the year; time for the Wayzgoose!! I’m not even going to try and hide the fact that this is my most favourite show of the year, anyone who’s attended will understand.
This is an annual gathering of bookbinders, book artists, papermakers, printmakers, paper marblers, and anyone who makes things to do with these things. We all get together for the day to show our work, engage in shop talk and be inspired! It’s the best.
Traditionally a Wayzgoose is a feast held by a printing house for it’s employees. Today the Wayzgoose is a day-long fair, plus a gorgeous letterpress printed poster (like the one above by Graven Feather, of course!). And it’s also when the Wayzgoose anthology comes out, which is bound in a limited edition of 115 copies each year, with signatures from the vendors of the fair and local printmakers. Like I said, it’s pretty incredible! Check it out if you can, details below.
When: Saturday April 25, 9am – 5pm
Where: Grimsby Public Art Gallery, 18 Carnegie Lane, Grimsby, Ontario.
For more information, please visit the gallery’s site here.
Day 194/365
It’s paper-dying time! Believe it or not, I used all my hand-dyed paper from the last session! This batch focused on shades of indigo, as opposed to last time where I also used greens and browns.
Huge thanks to everyone that showed so much enthusiasm for journals with this unique and one of a kind cover! Stay tuned for more indigo journals!!
Sprouts Press 