Production

Posted on November 10, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 34/365

I’m in the thick of production for the One of a Kind Show, which is just around the corner. So I thought it appropriate to share a bit about my process, about what it means to create a book by hand, from scratch. So here’s a mini step by step photo series to explain.

Once the pages are cut and folded by hand, they are collated and stacked in nice, neat, tidy piles, called signatures. (If you look closely at almost any book you have handy, you’ll see at the top of the spine the pages are divided into groups like this. The exception are ‘perfect’ bound books, which aren’t perfect at all but rather simply glued on the ends, so no signatures).

After marking where to sew each signature, I use this as a template to punch holes, making it easier to sew the book.

You can see the holes in each signature line up nicely with each other, creating a lovely and symmetrical pattern in the sewing along the spine.

This is just the first part of handcrafting a book; sewing the text block (group of signatures) into a case binding. After this I would attach the text block to the case, and voila – the book is done!

The Studio on a Sunday

Posted on November 9, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 33/365

Today I’m working on the largest books I’ll be making all season. Not quite the largest books I’ve ever made, but for a long time at least. I am reminded that I prefer making smaller books.

Measuring 8″ x 10″, the ample page space is great for sketching or writing in long paragraphs. I’ll be featuring these books at the One of a Kind Show at the end of the month. (I’m at booth D49, stop by and say Hi!)

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.

Wordless Wednesday 29.10.14

Posted on October 29, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 22/365

Crisp Transition

Posted on October 27, 2014 by sproutspress

When the air gets that autumn crisp and I know winter is not far, I often think of these journals.

They are a warm and cozy light brown leather, with the last bits of summer brightness captured in the beading detail.

I don’t have any in stock right now and I have made a few variations of these books. But I enjoy the spontaneity and uniqueness while designing and crafting each book (no two are alike). I also love the bead work and the pop of colour and sparkle on the spine.

Colour!

Posted on October 24, 2014 by sproutspress

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

A Book of Plenty

Posted on October 17, 2014 by sproutspress

Day 10/365

No, this isn’t really all of my journals. It’s just the most organized-looking photo of some of my favourites and currently in-use journals. What I want to talk about today are some of the uses of my journals, maybe they’ll inspire you too!

Some of these are books that I’ve handbound, and others are books I’ve collected over the years, from other hand binders. There are several from Italy (Florence, Venice and Rome), and many from other binders here in Toronto and across Canada. I feel I should come clean and admit that I don’t use all of them. A few are in the queue to replace books with only a few blank pages left.

While I have journals for: ideas, to-do lists, sketches, favourite quotes, dreams, ramblings and other categorized observations, I usually have one daily journal. This is the one that goes everywhere with me, fits in my purse, is rugged and tough yet beautiful enough that I sometimes use it as ‘advertising my craft’ when out on the town. It’s also the test-run of my new indigo journals and is pictured above.

It’s pretty liberating to have this book as a catch-all for everything, no stress about perfect penmanship, clean sketches or having the best ideas. I use it for everything: to-do lists, measurements of projects, contact information, ideas, sketches. It’s a lovely snippet of this time in my life. Looking back on my other, older, daily books, it’s interesting to see what my focus was at the time, what my inpirations and dreams were all about.

If you have a book that you really love and want to use but just aren’t sure, this is where I suggest to start; a book of plenty. I’d love to hear how it goes!