Latest Sketchbook

Getting ready to start another sketchbook

.

Back cover

Front cover

 These two are now filled up and added to my collection

of handbound sketchbooks.

I bind these books and cover them with my  handpainted paper. 

I am sharing them with Paint Party Friday.

Paper Fun

Been busy painting papers....

Been busy making mini notepads from the painted papers...

Been busy making little notepads from paintchip samples....

 I wonder what this post will look like with the new Blogger?

Blue Sketchbook

One of my handbound sketchbooks which has been filled

up with ideas and sketches.

I like using the wavy cut for the spine.

Hope you are having a nice weekend!!

I am sharing this with Paint Party Friday

Bookbinding Dictionary

A quick link to a useful resource for Bookbinders.

This is a dictionary that combines all the known Bookbinding

and Conservation terms in English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish,

Swedish, Italian and Danish all in one place.

This wonderful reference was drawn up by Suzy Morgan

of Digital Cellulose and Peter Verheyen of Philobiblon.

Click here to view the dictionary.

Fresh Greens

I spent last week painting cover papers with leftover

acrylics.

I bind the books and cover them with these papers.

I am spending the weekend in an acrylics workshop.

What are you painting this weekend?

I am sharing this with Paint Party Friday and Artists in

Blogland.

Look at This

One of my favorite book artists, Ruth Bleakley

has a tutorial on her blog today for a mini

accordian book.

Wouldn´t it be great to take one of her workshops!!

Go visit her blog to see more of her beautiful books and

the written tutorial for this mini accordian.

Ruth´s mini book tutorial here.

The Line Up

The Line Up

A colorful array of longstitch books.

All the covers are painted with watercolors and ink.

The spines are sewn onto leather for added stability.

The Red one with a black leather spine.

The Blue one with a brown leather spine.

Bookbinding is always a fun summertime project.

I have many more waiting in the wings.

What have you been working on this summer?

The Summer of Color is ending this week so I have

added my colorful books to their list.

Have a great week!

Photos Live Here

A Photograph Stirs the Soul

One of the many photo albums I have been binding lately.

I covered the boards with some of my marbled paper.

I like the big black spots....some of which have quite a few

tiny white speckles.....oops, air pockets.

I made a decorative plate for the front cover.

You can see another photo album here.

This is my entry to Paint Party Friday and

Created by Hand.

Think Positive

Think Positive

Front cover of the handbound book.

Back cover. The cover is collaged and painted with acrylics

and stamped with flowers and a quote about thinking.

Did you know that this is the color for 2011?

Every year Pantone picks a color and makes

their yearly declaration which influences

product development and purchasing

decisions in everything from fashion to home

decor....as well as industrial design.

A few things in this year´s color.

If pink is your thing,,,you are in luck.

Pantone produces these wonderful color

swatches to help printers match colors in

their work. I cannot walk past a paint store without

grabbing a few.

I use these to make nice little

notepad covers.

I think my book would fit right in on this coffee table.

Doing any remodeling? How about a

pink room. Pantone says this year´s color

is confident and vital. A brave new color for

a brave new world. Apartment Therapy likes it

too.

What do you think of it? Will it be a winner

like turquoise was last year?

Beneath the Sea

Beneath the Sea

A series of small books that I am working on right now.

The spine is sewn together with satin ribbon.

The cover paper is painted with acrylics and

stamped with assorted Mullett fish.

This is my entry over at Dezina World.

More Books

A little parade of some of my handbound booklets.

The book boards were coated with gesso
and then painted with acrylics.

I then cut the book boards in half and made soft

spines out of heavy watercolor paper covered

with book cloth.

The book block is a single signature of around 80 pages which

I bound using a basic pamphlet stitch.

Punch three holes in the spine and the signature.

Starting from the outside,,,thread the ribbon through

the top and bottom holes. From the inside,,,take both

ribbons out through the center hole,,,one on either side of

the ribbon. Tie a knot around that piece of ribbon and

then wrap the rest of the ribbon around the book.

Tie a bow and you are done.

The theme this week over at The Three Muses is the Book.

More Red and White

Today`s Red and White is a mini book with a Japanese style binding.

This landscape format makes it easy to paint small motifs and fill up the pages with color.

The spine is covered with gray bookcloth. A few beads were added with the knot.

I stamped the cover paper with white acrylics which acts as a resist when dry.
I then did a light glaze of very pale red which was mixed with a touch of iridescent medium.
While that was still wet I wrote some script into the wet paint. When dry, I stamped the
brocade motif in red and added some copper designs.

These little beauties make great stocking stuffers.
Maybe you know someone on your gift list who would appreciate a mini book full of color.

The Perfect Place for Photos

A hand bound photo album always does the trick for me in showing off my favorite

photos in the perfect light.

This is just one example of what I have been making all week.
Each page has an attached piece of vellum to keep the photos from sticking to each other.
The album is covered with French hand painted marbled paper.


The spine is rounded and coverd with book cloth.
Still many more to assemble,,,back to work.
Wishing you all a fun week!

Busy, Busy

I have been busy.

This is a sample of why I have been so busy.

All of the books above start out looking like this.

It entails a lot of measuring and cutting of the book boards.

The cover papers have been painted and as seen here,,,glued onto the book boards.

Here I have used book cloth at the hinge and hammered some eyelet holes.

The last step is to cut the paper used to fill the books.

Two covers are then sewn together with decorative cord and accent beads.

A view of the cords and beads.

Each cover paper is different. This is an example of some of my hand painted paper.

Each book has coordinating book cloth on the hinge.

This paper has a gesso resist and is painted and stamped with acrylics.

This paper is a handmade dyed cotton with added blue coloring. It feels fuzzy to the touch

and reminds me of fluffy clouds in a sky of blue.

Once the books are all finished...they are then packed into hand sewn, felt pouches.

Hope you enjoyed the show. These "little beauties" make great stocking stuffers.