O unworn world enrapture me, encapture me in a web

Dissertation

2011-09-15T07:18:00.001-04:00

All of my energy and mental control was put into this. A MA dissertation. Due to strange timing issues I didn't end up at the binders in time. So I stared at some "velubinding" methods and concluded it was simply a post binding. Or in other words, a mechanized Westernized Japanese stab binding. A 5 hole binding stabilized with strips of mountboard with further stabilizing done through a 3 hole binding through the textblock itself. Fully satisfies my departments requirements: "bound securely and able to be displayed in a glass cabinet"

Orchestrelle

2011-06-14T11:59:00.001-04:00

cover is a 1920s advertisement for the Orchestrelle set upon a background of an 1800s manuscript of Ishtar

simple coptic

Steamship

2011-06-12T11:56:00.002-04:00

Cover is from an 1872 newspaper special of royal boats and their associated personalities. My favorite bookshop here in sheffield has tons and tons of these interesting old clippings and I now have a small stack of them waiting to be made into books

simple coptic

Night Sky

2011-06-10T11:55:00.000-04:00

doubled over twisted link and kettle

Let's Just Make It Work

2011-06-08T11:53:00.002-04:00

would work well as a budget book cover methinks

doubled over twisted link and kettle

Trees in the wind

2011-06-06T11:51:00.002-04:00

made with a friend, this is a closed spine book with various layered 3 signature bindings

it's nice end paper, no?

Please

2011-06-04T11:48:00.002-04:00

another twisted link and kettle

Alice

2011-06-02T11:43:00.003-04:00

background of nice gold/green brocade with a Mervyn Peake's Alice in the corner

Simple twisted link and kettle

ok, a confession. I've not really made any books for months...time, space, etc all conspire against me. I AM working on a massive autobiographical artist book though that is all crazy and ambitious and involves tons of turkish map folds...we'll see when that gets finished! haha.

Totally

2011-05-31T11:42:00.001-04:00

I love, love, love these illustrations

standard coptic

Get a Book from Me into Your Home!

2011-03-28T18:28:00.005-04:00

SO! I've made an online shop through Etsy. I'm now in the internet-selling-my-books business!

click here!

Soaring Song

2011-03-14T11:08:00.000-04:00

background is a map of Sheffield (Rivelin Valley, 1920s) with birds cut out of a 1800s manuscript of Ishstar

lately my bindings are lacking much creativity...simple coptic. but I tried out dyed, waxed linen thread (the so-called proper thread for this work) and all I can say is NEVER AGAIN

Doubt Less

2011-01-10T15:10:00.000-05:00

cover from a Sheffield magazine

binding is a multiple distance coptic

curve

2011-01-04T15:02:00.000-05:00

simmery silver cover w/ caterpillar stitch on cover and a modified leather binding

Angles

2011-01-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

cover is this stunning iridescent paper

coptic modified into angles

Drops

2010-12-31T14:57:00.000-05:00

simple little book with a modified leather binding

Ideal Spanish Lady Take 2

2010-12-29T15:07:00.004-05:00

cover is the same drawing as last entry's but the original tracing paper used as carbon paper sealed by silvery matte medium

a standard coptic

interior pages are purple/blue dyed, textured by lying on my tile floor, interspersed throughout

Ideal Spanish Lady

2010-12-28T15:04:00.003-05:00

cover is a redrawing from a 1932 Spanish magazine cover with the Neruda quote: "Zumbando entre los arboles, orquestral y divino"

binding is a coptic with off set, modified center stitches

Folk Musician

2010-12-26T14:57:00.000-05:00

cover drawn on tracing paper then glued down

a slight variation on the zig zag coptic variation

blue flower embedded front sheet

blue papers mixed in

Varias Ventas

2010-12-24T14:55:00.002-05:00

ads are from a Spanish magazine (blanco y negro?) from ca. 1932

Fretboard

2010-10-31T13:16:00.003-04:00

a present for a guitarist friend's birthday. Since the only drawing things I have are apparently water based which inevitably smears upon application of the matte medium I use to seal off my covers, I lit on the idea of drawing it on tracing paper and then simply gluing the drawn side to the cover. simple innovation that erases all that frustration!

binding is a twisted link and kettle with doubled over variation

Artist Cards

2010-10-18T11:04:00.008-04:00

So when I first created this blog and begun to sell my books, I also developed an artist card. Since the first one, I've gone through 3 designs but the basic premise has remained the same; my artist card is a mini book-zine to stay true to my DIY aesthetic.

my first card was not at all slick-handwritten, glue sticked, photocopied much like the zines of the 90s underground scene.

the text is the same as the sidebar to this blog.
I went through some other designs that I was not too fond of so they had limited runs and I couldn't find evidence of my taking pictures of them...

My current one is very different. It incorporates my own photos as backgrounds to each page and was designed on the computer.

the text is a little more philosophical/political and less autobiographical than my original one, but it's in a way, much more my own than previous ones......and though it doesn't quite fold too well (illustrator and me printing don't quite work out too well) it is my favorite

Dandelions- teaching book

2010-10-17T19:51:00.002-04:00

Subtle

2010-10-15T13:18:00.001-04:00

it's very hard to see but this is a centipede stitch with stabilizing coptics at the edges.

Icarus

2010-10-09T06:41:00.000-04:00

heavily modified coptic

Series- Webs

2010-10-05T06:39:00.001-04:00

a little petite double 3 signature book

simple bindings, modified leather and pamphlet bindings

Series- Watch Out

2010-09-19T04:37:00.004-04:00

3 covers ended up this way. One was already posted, another a coptic variation, and the last a twisted link and kettle.

Hide and Seek, Final

2010-09-11T13:06:00.002-04:00

I originally posted this as my teaching book for the 3 signature binding. However, when it came time to give it away as a gift, I felt like it needed more. Like, more signatures and a more interesting (for me) binding so here is the final result.

Hide and Seek

2010-08-27T09:49:00.002-04:00

made as a teaching book (hence the super wide spine for such a thin little book) for 3 signature binding

Escaping Away

2010-08-22T10:35:00.001-04:00

binding is a straight up twisted link and kettle. This is the first use of an etching tool as my makeshift awl...

Watch Out

2010-08-20T19:14:00.001-04:00

My latest books are slightly different from my usual books for the simple reason that I have none of my book-making kit and am improvising while on my dig.

Zig zag variation on single needle coptic.

Heraldic

2010-06-04T21:58:00.000-04:00

cut out to show striped (recycled newspaper) paper

binding is doubled twisted link and kettle
intended as a gift

Tile

2010-06-02T21:54:00.003-04:00

Cut out cover. Design comes from a rather popular design for medieval tiles.

Binding is twisted link and kettle, doubled over with thread shift
created as a gift.

"I thought it was too late, but I learned. There's more than one way to capture a heart."

2010-04-24T17:37:00.002-04:00

front

back

binding is modified leather binding, my binding of choice for closed spines. The cover is a screenprint of mine of a cobwebbed heart and octopus tentacles. The image came from the phrase,"I thought it was too late, but I learned. There's more than one way to capture a heart" which is written along the bottom. Along the top it's written in castilian spanish.

Masculine

2010-04-20T17:35:00.000-04:00

cover

binding is some more double coptic modified into chevrons

Strange name for the book maybe, but it refers to my mother and grandmother's responses to the cover which was originally made as a gift to my godmother. It was rejected as too masculine and I made a different book for my godmother. I was entirely nonplussed.

Memories

2010-04-19T17:33:00.000-04:00

This cover is unusual for me in almost every way. Was I having a good day when I made it? nope. does that explain it? you bet.

binding is a double needle coptic modified into chevrons

Mountains-Redux

2010-04-17T17:30:00.000-04:00

Cover is of handmade blue paper and my linocut of the Alaskan mountains. It was my first attempt at oil printmaking and it...didn't go as planned.

is it obvious to do the zig zag variation for mountain scenes? yes. do i care? no

Vines

2010-04-13T17:25:00.006-04:00

Cut out of grape vines with handmade tinted denim paper underneath

internal shizen end papers

binding is a double, twisted link and kettle. I usually wouldn't do such a harvest style color scheme but the colors suit its recipient

usually link and kettle is done just once giving alternating stitch and blank bits on the spine...but I went twice, both to strengthen the binding and to suit the twist and curl of vines (...left unpruned?)

Another of the gift books. This one gave me a headache b/c I broke my own rule-don't do risky variations with books you must have professional at the end. well it really didn't work out and I ended up with strangely spaced holes in my covers (and had to scrap the signatures)...and of course, it's meant for one of the people I respect the most and to whom I have the most gratitude! *sigh*

FLW

2010-04-11T15:49:00.006-04:00

I admit, I haven't made a lot of books lately...

cover is cut out with an xacto knife with handmade denim paper underneath

double needle coptic modified into circles

Close-up of binding.
This is meant as a gift...I'm giving books as gifts to a few people whom I respect a lot at the end of the semester and so am nervous about them and am intent on making them as unique and unreproducible as possible...

15th century europe

2009-12-18T15:40:00.002-05:00

cover is a 15th century map of europe

binding is two double needle coptics with a zig zag single needle coptic in the middle

close up

Motion

2009-12-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

cover is a photo I took of curled up extension cords. Binding is a modified coptic

unintentional

2009-12-16T00:43:00.000-05:00

twisted link and kettle

2009-12-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

closed

cover is a screen-print of mine. binding is modified leather

If only....

2009-12-13T12:37:00.002-05:00

cover made out of handmade celery paper with some if onlys written along the edge in opalescent ink

binding is the modified leather binding ending in braided cord

izena duen guzia omen da

2009-12-12T10:56:00.002-05:00

cover. "izena duen guzia omen da" is my sole phrase in Euskerra (Basque language) and it's one of those traditional sayings, that which is named exists.

sewing w/ weaving variation

close-up

archaisch Kunst Gorgonen

2009-12-11T11:58:00.002-05:00

from a withdrawn dissertation on the Archaic representation of Gorgons

straight up double needle coptic

Polka Dots

2009-12-10T19:42:00.000-05:00

Series: Map Books

2009-12-09T08:57:00.002-05:00

So libraries withdraw things from their collections and my library was withdrawing a guidebook to all of Europe. I was like, say it ain't so! and took advantage of having maps! in color! and made this series of map books sewn with coptic. Some of them had lined pages...some didn't...

let's see, I had London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague, Moscow, Berlin, Madrid, Dublin...

Barcelona

Amsterdam

Imagery

2009-11-07T00:38:00.001-05:00

cover is from a linocut based upon the griffins from Avaris, Egypt

binding is multiple width double needle coptic

brushed with silver

Untitled

2009-11-04T23:58:00.003-05:00

cover

binding is a rather dense twisted link and kettle

this book is one of those that is far better in person. The cover has so much texture caused by the 4-5 layers of paint of various kinds...

Auspicious

2009-11-04T00:37:00.003-05:00

cover

binding is a double needle coptic modified into arcs

inside pages decorated with bits of the (long) entry for auspicious in my latin dictionary

Drops

2009-10-16T12:29:00.000-04:00

binding is straight up double needle coptic

Yellow, Dark Red, Orange

2009-10-14T22:40:00.002-04:00

more smaller ledger books

Golden

2009-10-13T20:40:00.004-04:00

cover

zig zag variation on coptic with zig zags left unfinished as a variation on the variation

close up

edges are dusted with gold

Awake

2009-10-08T23:46:00.003-04:00

I've figured out that lately I stay most focused in class when I'm making a book. Any of the more complicated stitches that fall in line best when I don't think about it. I've been making a lot of books lately

binding is a double needle coptic modified into X shapes

Schoolbook

2009-10-05T23:38:00.006-04:00

Wow, it really has been awhile since I last updated here. Well, I've been making books, I keep awake during lectures by making them but my card reader has not really been working...but, anyway

my notebook for this semester

a suitably ambiguous cover (a litho print) made water resistant by too much matte medium.

I took the opportunity to use up some of the bits of thread that I have lying around that are too short to use by themselves but are the last of their color to create this two-tone single-needle coptic

Sunset

2009-08-21T16:13:00.002-04:00

3 signature binding

Quite

2009-08-10T22:55:00.002-04:00

covers

spine view

a Sewing with weave

blue papers placed in the signatures.

"Perfect" Binding

2009-08-07T11:02:00.004-04:00

cover

open

the last book made for the book arts class I took last semester. My first adhesive binding. This is the binding that most books in the library are bound with so I have to admit that my library job fixing all those books doesn't put me in the fullest confidence of the handmade version but it was a good thing to learn to do.

Film Art

2009-08-06T15:19:00.003-04:00

cover

usually I don't do coptic on small books but I was stuck in a film class screening of film art...hardly my cup of tea so I decided to do one of the bindings that took the longest on this one

as the pounding noise from the screen went on, I realized I had extra thread and began to embroider the inside pages

most of them

Deliberate

2009-08-05T12:14:00.003-04:00

cover...interestingly this looks a bit like the Belgian Secret binding

spine view of X shape

Another original variation on standard Japanese stab binding using 2 stations per spine wraparound instead of 1.

Water

2009-08-04T14:34:00.004-04:00

cover

binding is double needle coptic

related to Blood, somewhat unexpectedly.

Blood

2009-08-03T23:24:00.002-04:00

the name is a reference to how the coloring inadvertently turned out.
Cover was added after the book was sewn

binding is double needle coptic with 10 signatures

double needle coptic practically creates a cord of its own

Inverse

2009-07-22T12:51:00.006-04:00

These two books are aaaaaaall about the binding. oh boy, are they about the binding, they don't even have covers because those'd be distracting.

interior page

binding

detail

binding

detail

These two are exactly the same binding except that one is flipped inside out (bottom set is the non-flipped book). Sewing with overloaded weave variation. Am actually not sure which I like better, what do you think?

Untitled

2009-07-21T15:13:00.005-04:00

Another Greek binding. Another monster of a book with 600+ pages that uses 4 needles at one time per stitch. I sewed this for a friend for whom the emotional toll of the binding proved to be too much. I just came from Greece and miss it terribly but this binding is diabolical and at the moment I can't really forgive them for it. It's getting easier so I will prevail... Anyway, have left it for her to decorate and I will never again make such a thick book.

Untitled

2009-07-19T19:05:00.003-04:00

cover

binding is tortoise shell

Magpies

2009-07-17T10:29:00.002-04:00

cover

binding is twisted link and kettle

Vestiges, Blue

2009-07-15T09:50:00.004-04:00

the cover

Sewing w/ weaving variation and covers incorporated

close up of weave

Part of a set, its sister by style and binding is here and its sister by virtue of cover is here. I really liked the weaving variation and had I been in the US, I probably wouldn't have parted with them...but I think their new owners will appreciate them better than my bookshelf.

Vestiges, Red

2009-07-13T22:16:00.006-04:00

Cover. This book is part of a set-one is related by cover, the other is more similar and yet to be posted.

binding is Sewing w/ weaving variation and covers incorporated

I made my very first book after the AP Art History exam. In lieu of continuing to teach her students art history, my teacher made art with us. So there is no name for the book-making stitch she taught us because she believed in art for the masses. No fancy thread or paper or anything was really needed to sew the books, just a minor idea of sewing...so I called it the Sewing stitch. Fast forward and I now can no longer do this stitch without improvising in ways too complicated to explain with words...

Winding

2009-07-07T03:38:00.002-04:00

I've fallen in love with the centipede stitch. This book has grid interior pages.

Crawly

2009-07-02T03:47:00.002-04:00

Japanese stab binding with centipede stitching for cover embellishment. Inside is grid paper

Vestiges, Weave

2009-07-01T04:11:00.007-04:00

cover. This book is part of a set by virtue of its cover, its sisters will be posted later

binding is twisted link and kettle

in the center, a weave.

Sorry, I have not updated in awhile...I'm in Greece, still making books but not taking pictures of them.

Graduation

2009-05-25T21:31:00.004-04:00

For years my best friend has been watching the people closest to her make books that are smaller than anything she'd like to regularly write in. I'm notoriously bad at giving presents even remotely on time so finally, for her graduation, I made her a nice big book

cover

inside cover. The paper has leaves and twig shreds embedded in it so that the inside paper continues the trend of the cover stencil

coptic zig zag variation...this took awhile

Beautiful Old Books

2009-05-12T23:07:00.007-04:00

Sorry, still no pictures of books I'm actually making. Books are dominating my life however, as I claw my way to the finish line of finals, shelve books, and mend books. Here is a series of pictures of the fascinating or beautiful books I've been handling, fixing, and encountering this semester.

whoa this is a beautiful spine. American history books don't generally have so much attention paid to their spine so this one caught my attention. Since it is pretty old (turn of century), it needed to be mended with a bit of glue...

such a striking cover! (which hides broken hinges)

I also appreciated the artwork in the midst of labor books

rough cut pages of rag paper, beautiful cover, and only minor repairs needed. Italian Castles book

an oddity I found in the Dewey stacks (the stacks in our library that are notorious for the age and poor repair of the books...well, amongst those who know they exist) It was a copy of Martin Luther's catechism in Algonquian Indian. This map fold out shows the Schuylkill River, helpfully labeled.

I love it when we find inscriptions in the books from the donors. This one begins, "A half century since this book was given to me..." It was a book on Cree grammar.

What continues to fascinate me about these old books is in their construction. To keep the textblock together and separate from the spine pieces, these book publishers (seems to have been standard practice) grabbed scrap paper and glued it on offering us tantalizing scraps of text, pictures, advertisements, etc. Sometimes the paper matches the book's content, often it's completely random.

"An English-Japanese Dictionary for Military Translators" with its textblock held together with Japanese printed scrap paper. (Now binding is split down the middle...sadly)

Another oddity that I found and the library didn't know we had. A handwritten grammar of Old Bulgarian in German.

Beautifully hand-written.

Another beautiful imprinted cover

even the more modern books can have interesting things in them, like this deacidified book.

2009-05-10T20:32:00.001-04:00

Red Centipede

2009-05-08T22:57:00.002-04:00

my very first centipede stitch using the wrapped variation

Concept Book: Tradition

2009-04-28T16:28:00.004-04:00

For my intro to film class we were assigned a creative project. With little desire to actually try to fit in filming a film into my hectic schedule, I instead thought, "why not use the skills I actually have" and made a storyboard into an artist's book. Simple concept that worked in practice.

closed with string to help keep the case for the book closed and storyboard safe

open. the book is a maze book folded from a single sheet of paper

expanded all the way to make a more traditional storyboard

How to do Tortoise-shell

2009-04-25T22:33:00.004-04:00

~~I haven't posted any of my tortoise-shell bindings and I'm not sure why...but~~ here is the tutorial for it. Tortoise shell (kikko toji) is sort of the other step that traditional variations take from yotsume toji and you should read that sheet first.

remember you can click on the picture to enlarge it

How to do Hemp-Leaf style Japanese Stab Binding

2009-04-23T16:18:00.002-04:00

this is the logical progression from simple (yotsume toji) to noble (kangxi toji). Please read those first, I provide less detail in this one.

remember to click to enlarge and don't hesitate to ask questions.

Kangxi Variation

2009-04-21T22:15:00.001-04:00

ok, so you'll find this much easier to follow if you first check out the yotsume toji sheets.

New Spines!

2009-04-20T19:27:00.001-04:00

a week's worth of new spines for my library job

How to do Japanese Stab Binding (simple)

2009-04-19T20:45:00.006-04:00

Years ago, I consulted books. 3 books about Japanese Stab Bindings later, I was convinced there had to be a simpler way. I'm a college student, moving in and out every semester is traumatic enough without adding power tools, sewing bench, and book presses into the equation. So I simplified things.

I taught a workshop recently on Japanese Stab Bindings. I wrote up (I mean this literally) a sheet explaining my methods. I figured I might as well share it with the internet as well...

Yotsume toji Tutorial

first sheet with textual instructions and preparation

numbered diagram

hope it's readable! (you can click on the images to get the full view) ask questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Hard Cover

2009-04-18T14:12:00.002-04:00

binding is twisted link and kettle

showing end page

Having never used book board before, this is an exciting book for me!

my books, let out into the world

2009-04-15T23:38:00.004-04:00

exhibition of student art (and photographed by the professional photographer at the event)

selling w/ Anna

zumbando entre los árboles, orquestal y divino... aka Ragged

2009-04-12T20:31:00.002-04:00

It's much larger than my usual

binding is hemp leaf

Untitled

2009-04-09T17:31:00.003-04:00

cover

cover...other side

full view

each page was individually interestingly tea-dyed.

I recently learned the centipede stitch! (This is a wrapped variation.) I love how it can curve and go onto the covers in whatever patterns i'd want. wonderous!

o.O

2009-04-09T00:56:00.002-04:00

simple japanese stab with kangxi corner for demonstration for my workshop

Bunny Rabbit

2009-04-07T21:55:00.002-04:00

a trial of 3 signature arrow sewing along a crease

Pam Binding

2009-04-02T16:56:00.003-04:00

for my library job I'm supposed to be just pamphlet binding old pamphlets to covers...it's hard not to add some embellishments! (and some locks to the sewing to make the sewing stronger)

Frustration

2009-03-11T16:34:00.004-04:00

cover

binding

close-up

This is a monster of a book. It has 20 signatures and more than 600 pgs. This is a Greek binding which at one point on each stitch uses 4 needles at once. The Greek binding is kind of stressful for the uninitiated learning from a book...this is the first book whose making of made me cry a little. But it's gorgeous. A strong, gorgeous binding that I have no doubt will hold up over time.

Brocade

2009-03-09T23:05:00.006-04:00

cover

back cover. My cover design for this book was unorthodox. The interior page of the back is identical to the front and vice versa.

I alternated regular white pages with tea-dyed pages

The binding is experimental.

I utilized braided cords with coptic changeover at the ends. This picture also shows the first of the twisted blanket stitch

At the top is traditional blanket stitch followed by another twisted blanket.

This book was purely experimental. I rarely use cords, I've never separated them before, and the blanket stitch is not actually meant to be twisted.

Two Quite Small Books

2009-03-04T19:15:00.008-05:00

number 1

I love the color of the inside paper (which is the same for both of these

number 2

These are pretty small, definitely the smallest books I've sewn. Originally the inside paper was in this fair-trade pad thing with an interesting (kind of complex) binding but the cover wasn't flexible enough for it work well so I disassembled the pads and reused the components in other projects. The paper is a fibrous, mid-weight rich paper which was really, quite nice. The first book's cover is also a fibrous paper while the 2nd's is scrap cardstock. Binding is simple Japanese

Blue but Shiny

2009-03-01T21:36:00.004-05:00

the cover

for the interior pages, I periodically put in blue papers in between the usual white paper

binding. This is another zig-zag coptic binding variation.

School Book

2009-02-27T23:43:00.004-05:00

cover

i love the color of this semester's book

Untitled

2009-02-26T22:47:00.005-05:00

wine dyed cover. variation on simple japanese binding with various spine stitches per station.

finally have gotten around to taking pictures

spine reconstruction

2009-02-15T18:36:00.002-05:00

my new job. my first spine reconstruction

"Liberal Arts" Education

2009-02-03T16:55:00.003-05:00

yay for unlimited library accounts!

Going Places

2009-01-31T10:52:00.004-05:00

cover with vintage postcard

stenciled interior

a tea-stained simple japanese binding with kangxi corners. this is an oldie.

Green Bird

2009-01-31T10:47:00.004-05:00

cover

a much saner version of the Coptic variation (same exact as here)

binding close up

More Ledger Books

2009-01-31T09:32:00.006-05:00

green's binding finished in a 4 string braid

green

yellow

i love making this type!

Mountains

2009-01-31T08:23:00.005-05:00

cover

interior

binding

binding close up

word to the wise: when attempting this binding, do not make your zig zags so close together! I blame insomnia for the sheer amount of holes sewn in this book. It is a modified Coptic. on the cover is my study for my Alaskan mountain linocut (here in action) overlaid onto a teal ink cover