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.
The Studio on Sunday
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Tag Archives: Toronto
A Lovely Saturday
Day 25/365
Today I had the pleasure of teaching a wonderful group of ladies the Longstitch/Linkstitch binding. We were at Graven Feather, a fantastic printmaking studio and gallery, here in Toronto on Queen St. West. 
I love seeing the different styles and colours each person is drawn to and the details put into each book. Everyone was happy with their journal and enjoyed learning a new skill! Welcome to the world of bookbinding!!
To learn more about upcoming workshops and classes, please visit my Workshops page.
Boo!
Day 24/365
These are some of my new pieces, not quite finished yet. I thought today was an appropriate day to share these two, as they’re inspired by both ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Happy Halloween!
Old & Unusual
Day 23/365
If you were to walk into an antiquarian bookshop and, after browsing for a bit, spot this in the back corner – wouldn’t your curiosity be peaked? This is the sort of discovery I find pretty exciting. Forgive me, what’s a Biblio-Mat, you say? Well, it’s a vending machine for books! And it’s amazing! I’ve known about this vending machine for a while, and went to check it out for myself recently. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
It’s in a local antiquarian bookshop here in Toronto, The Monkey’s Paw, and it’s so much fun. If you’re wondering whether I tried it out – of course I did! The Biblio-Mat only dispenses old books, the shop itself not selling anything published after 1980. They have a very selectively curated collection of books that will draw you in for a long time. A looong time.
I’m not going to share what book I got from the Biblio Mat, I’m going to double dog dare you to go there and try it for yourself!
Well, okay I’ll share: it’s a beautiful vintage book about British Columbia!!
Wordless Wednesday 29.10.14
Day 22/365
Linkstitch
Day 21/365
It’s workshop time! This saturday I’m excited to be teaching a bookbinding class at the amazing Graven Feather Gallery/Printmaking studio! This is a creative hands-on class geared for all skill levels. I love teaching this workshop, especially when the room goes quiet and everyone is completely and wholeheartedly engrossed in their projects. It’s so wonderful to see people just let go and allow their unique creativity really shine!
The photo above is from a previous class taught there, a similar class will happen this saturday (November 1). But it’s not just bookbinding, we’ll be getting creative designing and decorating covers! Sound like fun? Go here for more information and to register.
The Studio on a Sunday
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!
Covers
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.
A Workshop!
Day 16/365
Just a friendly reminder: my Coptic Binding Workshop is this sunday at Arts Market! It’ll be loads of fun, with light refreshment, merriment and a great way to learn a new skill (or brush up on old an old skill). Also, it’s just in time to start on making holiday gifts, if that’s your sort of thing.
Find out more here.
If you can’t make this one, don’t fret, there are a few more dates on the Workshops tab of my site, and there are a few more in the works for november and december. I’ll announce them shortly.
Coptic Binding
Day 11/365
Next weekend is the Coptic Bookbinding Class I’ll be teaching at the Arts Market on College! This is a great hands-on class that teaches how to make a really nice hard cover journal. Participants will leave with a finished journal, made from scratch!
I personally love the coptic binding for its immediacy as a non-adhesive binding (we will be pasting covers though, but the binding itself is non-adhesive). Once the basic stitch is learned there are many variation possibilities, making this a very versatile binding technique.
It’s a great way to get started on personalized holiday gifts, too.
It runs on Sunday, October 26 11:30am – 2:30pm. Go here to learn more and see how to register, or check out my workshops page for other upcoming dates.
Sprouts Press 