Category: Bookbinding

Book 4: At Home with Handmade Books

3/10/2016

This book by Erin Zamrzla has 28 projects that can be made from ordinary and re purposed materials. The book I choose to make is a simple accordion book which doubles as a bookmark and a place to jot notes as you read. It is absolutely perfect for books with numerous characters like Tolstoy's War and Peace. It is also very handy if you belong to a book club making reporting to the group very easy.
I have used eco-prints as a decorative feature.

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Guild 16 - Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild Exhibition

5/9/2016

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I was very sorry to miss the opening night of the Guild's exhibition. It must have been amazing with 50 people attending. The exhibition is being held on the mezzanine level of the Civic Library until Saturday 17th of September. I haven't had a chance to get the exhibition yet so I am grateful to Vicki who was kind enough to send me a photo of the 'earthy' case in the exhibition which features my leaf print split board binding book.

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Onion skin binding

25/6/2016

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Last Saturday I spent a delightful, challenging and enjoyable day in a workshop run by the Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild. Tutors, Vicki and Leharne, worked out how the complex sequence of scores, folds and gluings made up the Onion Skin binding and then taught it to the class. What an undertaking!

The Onion Skin Binding Single Sheet was invented by Benjamin Elbel who has a bindery in Amsterdam. The structure grows from the inside to the outside, gradually incorporating the single sheets into a continuous stub.
For other interesting bindings by Benjamin Elbel see the Elbel Libro Bookbinding website.

Thanks again Vicki and Leharne.

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Books!!

13/6/2016

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Since I started having calligraphy lessons in 2006 I have collected over 160 books on calligraphy, paper crafts, card making and bookbinding! Admittedly most have come from book fairs and second hand bookshops so the monetary value is not huge but it is still a substantial number of books. Periodically I drag them out, one by one and look at them then put them carefully away again.
So... my 2016 challenge to myself is to take one book a week (much the same idea as Fiona Dempster's Letter a Week challenge) and make or do something from it. If I can't find any merit in the book for myself I will give it back to the book fairs. I think that I will only review the books that I do something from, after all it isn't the books fault if I don't like or can't do any of the projects.
This should take me just over THREE years IF I don't buy any more books which is practically impossible for me!

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Box for Jams

19/12/2015

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I made this box for a friend and filled it up with homemade jam that I bought out at Strathnairn. The top features another eco print from my collection. The button I bought from the Cotswold Woolen Weavers when we were over in the UK earlier this year. It is a lovely button made of real horn by the last traditional horn button company in England.

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Canberra Bookbinder's Challenge

17/12/2015

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The challenge this year was to create a 'Stack of Books' using five different methods of binding. This was a fun challenge which saw many participants produce more than one of each type of binding. I settled for one of each secured with an old belt reminiscent of days when books where carried with leather straps.
All of my books used the eco prints I had printed earlier in the year. I thought that this made them look like more of a set.

First up was Oriental Stab Binding which I approached in the traditional way. Very satisfying.

Next, the pamphlet binding. Mine was certainly very basic compared to others, but did fit the criteria.

Then came the exposed sewing binding. I rather like sewing coptic bindings so....

Next the sculptural book. I thought that my tunnel book fit the criteria perfectly.

and to finish up, a case binding.

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Split Board Bindings

4/11/2015

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This workshop was run by Rosemarie Jeffers-Palmer who introduced us to Split Board Binding. At this stage of my bookbinding career I don't have the words to describe the binding accurately. The nearest I can come is that book cloth is wrapped around board and then adhered to the case binding.
Rosemarie encouraged decoration of the covers with many people doing beautiful embroidery. The only embroidery I am able to do with any proficiency is cross stitch which wasn't suitable. Instead I sewed eco printed leaves onto the cover.
The outer board was sanded to achieve a rounded cushion look which was very effective.
Another great workshop with an almost finished book. Still have to put in the endpapers!
Below is a selection of books made at the workshop. Mine is the one with the leaves.

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Tunnel Book Workshop

22/6/2015

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I am running a workshop for the Canberra Calligraphy Society on Tunnel Books.
Tunnel books are also called peepshow books. The book is made up of a set of pages bound with two folded accordion strips on each side.
The overall effect of a tunnel book is to create the illusion of depth and perspective. The openings in each page allow the viewer to see through the entire book to the back, and the images or calligraphy on each page work together to create a 3-dimensional scene inside.
This type of book dates from the mid 18th century and was inspired by theatrical stage sets. Traditionally, these books were often created to commemorate special events or sold as souvenirs of tourist attractions. The term 'tunnel book' derives from the fact that many of these books were made to commemorate the building of the tunnel under the Thames River in London in the mid 19th century (not looking through a tunnel, as I previously thought.)
The Tunnel books that we will be making in the workshop are cased into a cover board. The cover board allows the tunnel to be displayed easily as well protecting the folded tunnel.
I have made two books for display purposes.

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Summer School In Winter

17/6/2015

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For one of the workshops I have booked into at SSIW, I seem to need quite a bit of ink. Yukimi Annand has given us a comprehensive list. I am really excited about the workshop and hope that it will be good fun as well. To carry the ink I have made two boxes. The first one was a challenge because it is tall and thin.

The second was easier, possibly because it was bigger and easier to maneuver. Thanks go to Vicki (president of the Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild) who brought in some beautiful red bookcloth for sale at the last Guild meeting. Note that I used another piece of Bev's gorgeous material. How lovely to have memories in items that I use daily.

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Medieval Book

28/4/2015

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A couple of weekends back I participated in a medieval bookbinding workshop run by John and Joy Tonkin at their bindery in Griffith. It was as usual, a well run, interesting workshop with positive outcomes for all participants. I had a great time. I still need to finish the ties for the front and then it is done.