BEST Book Swap #14

Last month I joined the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team, and it's been great! I love having access to the opinions of more experienced book makers/sellers and feeling like I belong to a group even though I work all alone all day. I'm participating in my first book swap, and just sent off this book to Askida in Turkey. It's made from silkscreened and machine stitched jersey backed with canvas, containing Mohawk Superfine paper hand stitched with linen thread. It's kin can be found in my etsy shop.  I can't wait to see the book that comes my way!

I'm noticing my addictions today.

My two current journals. The book on the left is made up of all my random scraps of handmade paper. The cover is a collage of handmade papers and embedded cheesecloth. It's my writing-at-the-table journal. The book on the right stays in my purse and has one pal remaining in my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/49179901/petite-journal-with-handmade-paper

Today I had four cups of coffee, a latte, and multiple cravings for more. With each new cup I considered whether I was making healthy choices or not, but never came to any conclusions. Today is also the day I noticed that I have many in-progress journals. I don't see this as a problem, because it is a fact that different writing scenarios require different books. I noticed this idiosyncrasy in myself when I woke up to find that a book I left to press overnight let a glue spot leak through, preventing it from being sold, which means it's mine! Yippee! With my goal of trying to list 50 items in my shop by the end of the month, I've been sadly tucking each book away onto my shelf without any of my own writing inside. But not today! It's covered in gray jersey t-shirt material, and is screen printed with red and blue, and is very exciting. I'm already ready for it to be tomorrow when I can write in it while drinking another coffee.

My new gray journal! This means I'm up to three working journals.

My workspace is a goldfish tank

I've had a very enjoyable day with my new toy. I'd been thinking for awhile about buying a Crop-o-dile, and this week when I knew I wanted to Coptic stitch some fabric-covered book boards but didn't want fraying near the punched holes, I decided this was the week. And it's amazing. Much easier than punching through book board with an awl or trying to line up eyelets with those tiny blue plastic chomping tools. 

I've been so focused on working today that I'm already ready for bed--I never changed out of my pajamas. I finally had to stop because of the situation pictured above--I'm paper-backing some fabric that I screen printed last week, so it will hopefully be ready to become book covers when I wake up in the morning! 

Below is an image of my new shelves and organizational system. It's difficult to stay organized with so many books completed to varying stages while working in a small space, so the containers are helping a lot--it's amazing how plastic tubs can make a person so happy! My husband put together the thinner shelves on top for me, and promptly called me a goldfish after he returned to see I had already stacked things on top of instead of inside them. Apparently I infiltrate any and all space that I am given. It's probably true--I've taken over the dining room and left him the tiny closet pantry to work in. I tried setting up a folding table for him to work on his coasters, but he prefers to share space with our canned goods and vacuum cleaner.   

Guide to Papermaking

This is the other half of my handmade book on feltmaking and papermaking, seen on display in the "Seeds" section of my forest installation, I've been here before, I remember that tree. Flip the Felt side over, and you see Paper (see "Guide to Nuno Felting" here). Enjoy!

Note: Without the machine, you can press a board over your stack of paper using all of your weight. Or press sheets of paper individually using a sponge on the back of your screen.

Christmas comes and goes so quickly

How are we a third of the way through January already?!? I haven't even been able to enjoy being out of school yet since no one else is going either--it's snowing so much here that the university has already canceled classes for today and tomorrow. I spent the day trying to organize my life, deciding what supplies will go with me to my artist's residency, which fabrics can be printed and made into book covers, talking sweetly so my husband will trudge through the snow to take out the many bags of trash I produced in cleaning up. 

Some of the fabrics I will use for book covers are Tim's old canvases. Below are images of the sketchbooks I made our awesome artist-nephews for Christmas--watercolor paper bound inside a hardcover wrapped in canvas so they can paint the cover themselves. It's pretty awesome to be related to little boys who get excited by paper and paint from real life (yes, they are superheroes in real life). 

What do you think: Should I make these sketchbooks for Feeding The Lake on etsy?

Binding sketchbooks. In true artistic fashion, this was the morning we were leaving.

Nolan trying to talk his brother into sharing one of the two books he received. Nolan hadn't opened his own gift yet.

Tim drawing Nolan drawing Batman.