The Star Book for CBBAG

Welcome aboard BC Ferries

Last weekend I sailed (literally) to Vancouver to teach the Star Book to an eager group of fledging bookbinders.  I was delighted to finally meet people belonging to names I've known only online.  A round of applause for Joni S for coming up from Oregon for the class!







Making some Book Cradles to take to Vancouver



Book Kits all ready to go!

I should have taken more photos.  The venue was spectacular: Creekside Community Rec Center in False Creek which is all part of the legacy of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.  We were entertained early on by many busy bodies warming up outside our windows for Dragon Boat practice.  Unfortunately it was a pretty rainy day for them, but a perfect day to be binding books!

CBBAG is the Canadian Bookbinder and Book Artists Guild and this workshop was sponsored by the BC Lower Mainland Chapter.  I got the feeling they would love to have some new members and if you're interested in bookbinding they are planning lots more workshops.  You may see their website here: http://vanbookarts.wordpress.com/  Contact information is there, too.

 

A huge thanks to everyone who attended. You were a wonderful group!

And you are so lucky to have such a fantastic location for workshops. Floor to ceiling windows, overlooking False Creek. Lots of tables and a great organizing committee. 

Thank you for having me.

Happy binding!

 

And I love the tote bag (celebrating the 25th anniversary of CBBAG) I purchased while I was there:

 

Memorial Guest Book

Well, it's never a great job making these.  In fact we are recycling this memorial book.  My husband's Mother passed away this week and we are using his Dad's book.

For the technical aspects... I cut off the ribbon to unbind the book, created the additional pages and went to rebind the book.  Uh-oh.  I don't have any more of that ribbon and we have to be on the road in a few minutes...  Tim Holtz Distress stains to the rescue.  I'm just doing this post while I wait for the ribbon to dry...  Between Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap, I got a good match - better than the original.

Here is the original book

And here is the lettering

Thanks to Therese.  She and Jean-Marie did a wonderful job with seven beautiful, intelligent children.  I was lucky enough to marry one of her sons.  There is no question, she can rest in peace.

Thanks for stopping by.  Suzanne

Hard Cover No-Sew Journal

Oh, my! Say it isn't so!  It's been far too long since my last blog post!  Blame it on the flu for taking me out for weeks.  Not so much acutely sick as dragging.
Anyway, here are some photos of that No-Sew Book project I did for Paper and Pixels online magazine which is in last month's issue.

For directions, go to Paper and Pixels January 2012 edition.

Reagents for synthesis:
Bookboard
Text paper
Linen Hinging Tape
Decorative Paper (this was Tim Holtz's Kraft Resist)
Book Cloth
Spellbinders Grand Calibur
Spellbinders: Labels Four, Labels Four Small, Labels Four GRAND
Ribbon
Quietfire Design Journal Stamp

A few notes:
Each text page was die cut with the Grand Labels Four - I alternated colours of text paper.
Spellbinders dies cut Quietfire bookcloth really well!

Paper and Pixels - Bookbinding Project

In January I was approached to design and write up a project for Paper and Pixels online magazine.  They preferred a bookbinding project and not knowing their audience, I wasn't sure how complicated to make it.  I finally decided on a hardcover no-sew journal making great use of Spellbinders Labels Four in all the sizes! (and hey, Spellbinders dies cuts the Quietfire bookcloth really beautifully)

Paper and Pixels is a beautifully produced online magazine and "my" issue is available online now.  Happy binding!

Winnipeg Delight

I just returned from two awesome days of teaching in Winnipeg.

On Saturday we Added Funk to our Foundational. Along with reviewing Foundational, we also discussed pen nibs and how they work as well as looking at various inks and different type of nibs. I *think* we managed to get everyone straightened out so they were making their letters without fighting with their tools! Ahhhh, there is nothing quite like making beautifully crisp strokes with pen and ink!

Each participant received pieces of the following papers to test their lettering on:
Boris 37
Cotton Comp
Graphics 360
Paper for Pens
Fabriano Ingres - Celeste (Sky Gray)

In the afternoon, along with adding Funk, we added glitz. We played with
Jones Tones Plexi Glue on the Dreamweaver Tree of Life stencil , which was later foiled with Jones transfer foil.
We lettered with Schmincke Tro-Col .
We lettered with Jerry Tresser’s Gold Size and then gilded with 24K Transfer Gold and Moon Gold
We colour blended with Ecoline Inks
And we decorated letters made with Automatic Pens and Parallel Pens with Gel Extremes

My hostess , Charlotte, lettered with Jerry Tresser’s Gold Size and then applied Varigated Green composition leaf to the letters. The results were amazing! I’m going to have to try that myself! Thanks Charlotte!

We took over a wonderful art room at a lovely private school for the weekend. The lighting was very good, which made it a pleasure to work in. You really want to take a workshop with this group: Every morning at 10 am, the coffee cart arrives with coffee, tea, scones and muffins.

My hostess, Charlotte, fed me a wonderful homemade pizza using her freshly made focaccia. Yum! Subsequent lunches were made on the same focaccia. Lucky me! I was treated to fabulous Thai food and Sushi (ahem, NOT the same evening!) Thanks so much to Charlotte and her husband for the Thai treat and Charlotte and Irene for the Sushi! (Did we ever figure out which one had the eel?)

On Sunday we created the Pipe Organ binding and the group made really lovely books. It was the first time I’d used some of the papers in this kit and results were awesome.
The cord used for making the Pipe Organ Binding is found here, and the punches are here. Waxed linen thread is here. The Removable Tape is here. Another item we used was the Soapstone Pencil for marking dark paper and bookcloth.



Thank you so much to this wonderful group for making my visit so enjoyable. A special thanks to Charlotte and her family for their hospitality!

And thanks to Mother Nature for keeping the temperature above zero and saving me from packing my boots!



Happy lettering and binding everyone! Thank you so much! Suzanne