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!
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.
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.
Day 19/365
This is the aftermath of an evening spent hand-dying paper. I’ve started using more colours and overlays with colour washes. I’m pretty excited to see how they turn out as books. These will become lovely covers for some very special journals!
Day 18/365
In preparation for the One of a Kind Christmas show here in Toronto, I’ve been testing different techniques for cover decoration. One of my first experiments was a series of painted covers.
It’s a pared-down, simplified and more minimal variation of my painted and printed matchbook style journals. 
I really enjoy the process of hand decorating a large sheet and then cutting it into covers. Each book ends up being unique and one of a kind.
Day 17/365
I draw a lot of inspiration from colour, real time and in photos. This post is dedicated to a small slice of my life where colour was my everything. It couldn’t be helped, I was surrounded by it. I’m talking about my time overseas, in Italy.
I used to be a painter, colour was one of the most important parts of that process for me. Now that I’m a bookbinder I find different ways of using colour: fancy paper, reclaimed materials, cover adornments, etc. And when I use my own journals: pens. Oh how I love a good spectrum of pens. I have multiple sets of rainbow-hued markers, ballpoint pens, prismacolour, copic, sharpies, staedtler fineliners. It’s like Christmas every time I use them, so I use them a lot! (When I had a day job, I was the person who took one of every colour of highlighter and pen from the supply room in an attempt to brighten up an otherwise dreary cubicle). These photos are kind of like my pen sets; inspirational, bright, they put a smile on my face and make my colour-loving self sing.
I don’t remember where all these photos were taken, I think some in Venice and some in Tuscany. You can tell by the colour palettes of the buildings. How amazing is that? To know where you are by the colours of the walls lining the streets. I do remember that green shutters were the common denominator no matter where I went.
The richness of these last two places in Florence are so intense. A different feel from the top two bright and sunny Venice towns. The monochromatic-like palette is a lovely collection of ochre, amber, oranges and browns.
Have you ever thought about the colours you use when journalling? Sometimes I like to put a background wash of a light/pale colour (using the broad-tipped, sheer marker sets) on the page before writing with a matching colour on top (with a fineliner, of course). And yes, I enjoy using more than one kind of pen/marker in a single journal entry, you should try it! I’d love to hear about it if you do. What are your favourite colours to journal with?
Day 14/365
Last week I wrote about testing indigo-dying techniques, where I used watercolour paints and washi paper. Today, I’m going to talk about my experience using real indigo dye on both washi paper and handmade flax/abaca and hemp/abaca papers (from the folks over at Paperhouse Studio here in Toronto)
If you’ve ever tried your hand at the popular Shibori technique, which is used for dying fabric with indigo, you’ll be familiar with the science side of this process. Once indigo dye (which comes from a plant leaf) is mixed and heating up in a vat, the trick is not to stir it or otherwise let oxygen into the vat. When the paper is dipped into the dye, it comes out green at first (as seen in the above photo), and then changes to that awesome indigo blue once the dye has oxidized (as seen in the photo below).
That’s the main idea anyways, I won’t pretend to know it all! But there is something exciting about combining science and art. I cannot put my finger on it, but it made the process quite enjoyable and ultimately gave me a real appreciation for the finished product.
To see what I did with some of these papers, take a look at this journal. And stay tuned as I’m still working on projects with the bulk of the papers I dyed.
Day 3/365
For a few weeks now I’ve been playing around with paper dying using indigo. But before I started using real indigo I did many tests with watercolour paints (indigo-colour, of course) and I wanted to share some of my favourites with you.
I cannot stop thinking of blue and white ceramics when I look at this one, the pattern is lovely!
The resulting papers are lovely but they just aren’t the same depth and richness of colour as true indigo-dyed papers. I’ll go over some of the things I made with the true indigo dyed papers in a few days. And at some point in the future I’ll do a post about the actual hand-dying process and how messy/fun it really is!!
Day 2/365
You maybe wondering what that photo was all about yesterday. Why did I decide to post the photo that is also my site’s banner? How does this make any sense!? Well, because it’s time for a change and that photo was a farewell to my current banner. Over the next couple of weeks you’ll be treated to some exciting changes from Sprouts Press and it’s all going to start right here! 
So, without further ado, I formally introduce you to the Sprouts Press 365 blogging project!! I promise to post something every day for 365 days. There will be photos, words, stories and more, so stay tuned!!
If you’ve been following my blog posts lately, you will already know that there has been some exciting news for Sprouts Press! Well, there’s more. That’s right, Sprouts Press has started a new adventure; we’ve joined the ranks of many other talented artists and artisans selling their work in the popular Toronto shop: Arts Market on College! Yay!! I couldn’t be happier with this decision and look forward to seeing what the future brings.
This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, but wasn’t able to until recently. If I’m going to be honest I must admit that doubt made an appearance once (or twice, maybe) when a little voice in my head asked ‘what on earth are you doing!?!’. But I got over that, put the first coat of paint on my space, measured out where my shelving would go (shelves that my dad made a long time ago, before I was born, that I re-finished) and really felt a sense of accomplishment. When it was all done and everything was in place and displayed just as I wanted, it was a truly great feeling!
If you’re in the area, stop by and check it out at 846 College Street, Toronto. There is probably something for everyone at the Arts Market; stationery, home decor, vintage, flora/plants, clothing, jewellery, you name it!
Even though all my pieces are there and up for sale, this is a soft opening. Stay tuned for the dates of the ‘official’ opening, coming soon.
ps. I tried something new and made a short video about setting up my space! I will upload it to social media and provide a link.
Sprouts Press 