The Art & Craft of Tiny Books: A Workshop

Next weekend I’m debuting a brand new bookbinding class: The Art & Craft of Tiny Books.  There are still a few spaces so I wanted to invite you to join in the fun!  

It’s a two day class, and we’ll explore 4 different structures, each one teaching different bookmaking skills.  We’ll re-purpose old books, use fancy papers, and bits and remnants from previous projects.  

Of course, this means that there will be time to play with materials and personalize your set of books, making them perfect for gifting or keeping.

Everyone will leave with at least 4 finished mini books, but likely more as time permits.

If I’ve piqued your interest, here are the details you need:

When: Saturday & Sunday December 1 & 2, 2018 (10am – 5pm both days)
Where: CBBAG Bindery, 180 Shaw St.

For more information & to register, please go here.

*Please note that registration closes Wednesday at 11:59pm.

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Road Trip to Guelph

Look at these beautiful hand bound, hand painted journals!  This is what students made at Sunday’s workshop at the Guelph School of Art; Painted Longstitch/Linkstitch journals.  If you’ve never been, this is a gorgeous, light filled studio on the 3rd floor of Wyndham Art Supplies in the heart of Guelph.

A big Thank You to everyone at Guelph School of Art, it’s always a pleasure teaching there.

If you missed out and want to join the bookbinding fun, I have more workshops coming up over the next couple of months.  Go here to see what’s next.

Studio Talk: My Favourite Part of Fine Binding (so far)

As part of my 2018 plan to expand my little company and grow my bookbinding skillset, I’m taking classes in Fine Binding!  These classes are offered through CBBAG (Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, ‘cabbage’ for short).  Most of the books I currently make for Sprouts Press are exposed spine bindings; Coptic, Long/Linkstitch, etc.  These new skills will create fancy round backed books with raised cords and leather spines!  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry, I’ll be chronicling it all right here in the coming weeks.  For now, here’s my favourite part so far: sewing endbands from scratch!  I think I’m drawn to the pearly sheen of the silk thread, the rich colours and the patterns for wrapping them. 

For more information on CBBAG’s core bookbinding classes, see their website here.

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*NEW* Bookbinder’s Toolkits

If you haven’t already met the new Bookbinder’s Toolkits, please take a moment to check them out now.  They’re lovely, tactile, functional and beautiful – I’m so proud of these!  And the best part; if you’re not a bookbinder, or you already have a tool-carrying system, these kits come with tools, and without!  This means you can use them for other crafts!  There’s lots of pockets and even a detachable tool roll.

I’m currently making them in just three colours: Grey, Brown and Dark Green.  I’m undecided if I’ll make more colour ways, most likely I’ll just stick to these colours for now, and if there’s interest I may consider additional colours or patterns.

To see the full line of Bookbinder’s Toolkits, go here.

As a fun bonus, these kits work well with my newest online bookbinding class.  You can see it over on Skillshare, and get a two month free membership by going here.  Yippee!!

Studio Sunday

Today’s Studio Sunday is a throwback to a couple of weeks ago when I took a wonderful paper marbling class over at Paperhouse Studio with the talented Liam Blackburn. Last week I promised to continue with the series of posts about the Bradel Binding I was working on (last week was sewn headbands).  I’m so thrilled to be able to use paper I marbled myself as the covers.  This is what the vat looks like just before dipping the paper in.  The washed-out design (with terrible ceiling reflections) is actually the paint sitting on top of the fluid.  We had about 5 minutes to perfect our designs before the paint started falling into the vat, making it impossible to pick up on the paper.  While this wasn’t my favourite design, I did learn a lot from each technique and can’t wait to try it again!

Studio Sunday

This week I’m throwing it back to last week when I practiced my sewn headbands on a Bradel binding.  Just a simple single bead with silk thread onto a single core.  Perhaps it’s because I get to use a needle and thread, or perhaps it’s because of instant gratification (no pressing or drying time!), but I really enjoy sewing headbands.  It’s still fairly new to me, but I am hooked!

I’ll be posting more about this project in coming Studio Sundays.  See you next week for part two!

Studio Sunday

dsc_0707While I’m taking a day off today, yesterday I was at CBBAG (Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild).  I was teaching folks the joys of deconstructing old books and making them into new ones using the coptic stitch.

If you’ve missed the first couple of workshops for 2017, don’t worry, there are more coming up!  Just visit the workshops section of my website to see a full list.  If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer your questions via email (sproutspress@yahoo.ca).  See you in the bindery!

Studio Sunday

photo-5-5Today I’m over at the Guelph School of Art teaching folks the ins and outs of coptic bookbinding.  Look at those gorgeous windows and all that natural light!!

If you missed out this time around, don’t worry, I’ve got more bookbinding workshops planned to keep you busy during these cold winter months!  Take a look at my workshop schedule to see if there’s one near you!