A photo album personalized for a man

I like to think of my books as being appealing to men and women alike, but for the most part, when I've worked with men on custom books, they're usually as gifts for women. I've put more attention lately to making masculine books, sometimes making leather and rustic paper choices with guys in mind.

For this book, JT knew what he wanted for himself, and a simple discussion led to his photo album. He knew right away what colors he wanted: maroon and dark purple. He also wanted black pages. I think the trio of colors work well together.

For the size, he wanted to fit 8x10 prints, which required me to make this book larger than my standard, which usually fit 4x6 and 5x7 prints. The pages in this book are 12x12, just like a standard scrapbook. After pondering various ideas for the personalized front cover, JT kept it simple, opting to use his name.

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Nashville's first annual handmade book festival

I have only lived in Nashville for about three months, but I am already loving my new home.  One of the highlights of my time here has certainly been Handmade & Bound.  Earlier this month, Watkins College of Art, Design & Film hosted their first annual book arts and zine festival.  It is so refreshing to live in a city with such a vibrant arts community, not to mention the thriving book arts community as well. 

There were so many incredible vendors at this event, and thankfully my husband Tony was willing to man my booth throughout the day so I had a chance to explore everyone else's tables.  But I think what amazed me the most was how many people attended the festival.  The halls of Watkins College were packed throughout the day with people of all ages who came to learn more about handmade books.  The show also got some great press: check out this article from Nashville Scene and this one from The Tennessean.  

These first three photos are from The Gilded Leaf Bindery booth.  Bob Roberts specializes in restoration and fine bookbinding, and his display was quite impressive.  Even his set of tools was photo-worthy.  You can view more of Bob's work on his blog, facebook page, and etsy shop.  

The books below were made by Lesley Patterson-Marx.  She uses such interesting materials in her work, like vintage wallpaper, locally dyed fabric, old stamps and envelopes, and even harmonicas.  You can view a few more detailed photos of her work, as well as as well as quite a few other photos, in this album on my facebook page.  Lesley will also be exhibiting at Artclectic this weekend, which I am really looking forward to checking out. 

The festival also featured letterpress printing and handmade paper. Festival visitors could print their own shopping bag at the Goldsmith Press booth (left) and purchase paper made by Claudia Lee of Liberty Paper (right).  I've always loved handmade paper, but even since I started making my own paper again I've been a little obsessed.  Claudia's array of gorgeous, colorful papers were breathtaking.  I couldn't help but post even more pictures of her paper on my facebook page.  

Jennifer Knowles-McQuistion of Brown Dog Bindery demonstrated how wooden books are carved, burned, and bound.  Below she's working on a Coptic bound book with wooden covers, and she had some of her gorgeous books for sale at her booth.  Jennifer also taught a miniature pop-up book workshop during the day, which I attended.  

I also took another workshop taught by Kim Jones called Findings & Bindings, where we made a journal using a variety of found papers like maps, paper from a player piano, old encyclopedias, and junk mail envelopes.

The photos below are from my own booth.  I was displaying a variety of journals, sketchbooks, photo albums, and artists' books.  My most popular books at this show were my Italian longstitch books made with leather and suede covers.  While some of the leather I use for these books is new, a lot of it is reclaimed.  My little red suede books are made from an upcycled pair of pants, and some of the other bits of leather came from a woman in Chicago who makes handmade shoes.  I'll be binding many more leather books up in the upcoming months to prepare for my holiday art shows and to sell at some local retail shops.  

I still have a few of these Handmade & Bound buttons hanging around in my studio.  They're a welcome reminder of a fantastic weekend, and I can't wait until next year's festival. 

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Guest post: Above the fold

Thanks to Katie's lessons and patience, hers were not the only books on display at the linenlaid&felt booth during the Handmade & Bound show at Watkins College this past weekend. Titled the "Husband's Corner," I showed off my newsprint books, bound in the Italian long-stitch style and featuring my favorite clippings from Sunday editions of The New York Times from 2010.

Before the show, I'd only made these books for myself and a few friends. I first got the idea when Katie made me a book from pages of Italian newspapers during her study abroad program. As a devoted reader of the Sunday edition, all these years later, I began to save page spreads.

The process for creating the books is pretty specific. In most cases, I repeatedly fold the news page in half, then tear it, and repeat until I arrive at the size seen here. This means that each sheet for the book is one-eighth of a page. Many articles and photos and spreads end up being torn into separate sheets, ultimately allowing me to juxtapose the clippings in interesting ways. On some occasions, when I didn't want to cut something in half, I would toss out the "system" and purposefully select a portion of a page to make one of my little sheets. As I answered one fair-goer on Saturday: Yes, the pages are carefully selected. Because of the style that I chose, there is a "center spread" in each signature. I put my best clippings there.

I assembled about 15 sheets per signature, and there are five signatures in each book. The covers are a cardstock that Katie and I both really like. I used simple brads and thread for enclosures.

I often found myself clipping sports and travel stories because of the amazing photography, infographics, and maps that come from those sections. Other favorites included an obituary on a tuba player, a feature on a bail bondsman for celebrities, all sorts of World Cup graphics, and a text-only movie poster for "Black Swan" ("WICKED, PYSCHO-SEXUAL THRILLER"). I tried to include all of the little things in the paper too, like the wedding announcements, the chess column, and corrections. I also selected pages with friends in mind, snagging particular baseball coaches and pop stars for their books.

At this point, I still have two books that haven't sold. But I've been saving the 2011 Sunday editions as well, and plan to bind those in the new year. I also have a special little collection of Supreme Court articles and graphics for a smaller book. And I've been thinking about some wide-format styles that could use the entire width of the broadsheet spread. A wide shape will allow me to show off the front page, as well as the six-column photos that often grace the section fronts. After all, I do call these books "Above the Fold," so I may be able to do a bit more justice to the big impact put out by the paper.

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Vacation photo on display

The newest addition to our new apartment in Nashville is this tropical flower canvas print.  I was contacted by the folks at Easy Canvas Prints, a photos to canvas company, who asked me to review their product in exchange for a canvas print of my own.

I chose a photograph I took at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden on a recent trip to Hilo, Hawaii for my best friend's wedding.  The botanical garden was truly a wonderland, filled with waterfalls, ocean views, an orchid garden, tropical birds, and so many varieties of plants that I'd never seen before.  I was snapping photos non-stop during my visit (you can see some of my other botanical photos in my flickr photostream) and I was looking for a way to display some of my favorites once returning from our trip.  This canvas print was just what I needed.  

Ordering a canvas from EasyCanvasPrints.com really is, as the name suggests, easy.  The website is simple to use, and it guides you through the step-by-step process of designing your own canvas.  And this handy guide shows all of the options and pricing so you can pick out exactly what you want.  

You can choose any sized canvas (mine is 8" x 10"), and you can either upload your own photograph like I did or you can choose an image from their gallery.  You also have the choice of upgrading to a thicker canvas or opting for photo retouching.  For the edges of the canvas, you can have your image wrap onto the edges or you can select a solid color for the border. 

I opted for a bright orange border for the edges of my canvas.  My print is displayed against lime green walls in my apartment, and I wanted it to tie into colors of the room but still pop against the wall color.  I debated the borders of my canvas for a while before placing my order.  I really like the look of the canvases where the images continues onto the edges, and I think I would probably choose that option next time, but for this particular print the bright orange border worked out best.

The option of wrapping the image around to the edges of the canvas would be best for a picture with a background that's not crucial to the composition.  If you choose this option, the photo will appear slightly larger on the front surface of the canvas so there's enough leftover to wrap.  I didn't think the composition of the tropical flower photo was quite as strong once the whole image wasn't visible on the main surface of the canvas.  The orange border worked out better in my case because I could better control the composition of my print, while adding an extra pop of color.

I do wish there was a better way to select the color for the edges though. It would be a nice touch if the website allowed the option to sample a color directly from your photograph, like you can with the eyedropper tool in Photoshop, rather than choosing a color and hoping it matches.

My husband and I have a fairly extensive art collection (including artwork made by friends, family, and ourselves, as well as original work by professional artists, and a collection of vintage photographs), and we're pretty particular about what we put on our walls.  If we don't love it, there's just not space for it.  That said, we were happy to include this canvas print into our home decor.

And another perk of this canvas is how easy it is to hang on the wall. One nail will do the trick.  My husband and I have lived in four apartments since college, and we've hung our artwork on the walls of each one.  This is by far one of the easiest pieces to hang.

Overall, the vibrant colors and high-quality printing makes it evident that this is a high quality product.  I love having a reminder of our trip to Hawaii on display for me to see each day.  The look of our particular print is contemporary and casual, which is exactly what we wanted for our vacation photo.  But I think these prints could be a great choice for displaying wedding photos too, especially a larger canvas print placed in an elegant frame.  If only I'd known about these two years ago!

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Handmade & Bound

The first annual Handmade & Bound book arts festival is just a few days away!  I've been looking forward to this event for months.  It was one of the first things about Nashville I found out about once we knew we'd be moving to town, and I sent in my vendor application before we'd even started packing to leave Virginia. 

I thrilled to be living in a city with a book arts community, and I can't wait to be a part of this event.  In addition to the various vendors selling handmade books and zines, there will be workshops and demos in bookmaking, papermaking, and printmaking, as well as a film screening, a gallery exhibit, live music and food trucks.  

Handmade & Bound Nashville

September 30 and October 1

Watkins College of Art, Design & Film

Friday, September 30

6:30 pm: Opening reception of "Encoded Structures: Interpreting the Story," a juried gallery show of artists' books and zines

8:00 pm: Free Screening of “$100 and a T-shirt," an award-winning documentary on the culture of zine making

Saturday, October 1

Vendors:

10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Vendor booths exhibiting and selling artists’ books, zines, small press publications, and other handmade bookish things.

Demonstrations:

10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Goldsmith Press Demonstration; print your own DIY bag

10:00 am – 11:00 am and 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Brown Dog Bindery Demonstration; Jennifer Knowles-McQuistion will demonstrate how wooden books are carved, burned, and bound

10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Gilded Leaf Bindery Demonstration; book restoration, fine bindings, blank journals, and gold tooling

10:00 am – 5:00 pm: Pamphlet Stitch Books for Kids with local printmaker and book artist Lesley Patterson-Marx

Workshops:

10:00 am to 11:00 am: Pixels, Print and Presence: How to Make the Most of Digital When It Comes to Print

This workshop is an introduction to web and digital assets for anyone from a DIY Zinester to Small Press publishers. 

10:00 am – 11:00 am: Findings & Bindings 

Use a discarded book, found papers both old and new, and a simple no-sew binding technique to create a one-of-a-kind handmade journal to house your creative notions.

11:00 am – 12:00pm: Zines with Kids & Teens

11:00 am – 12:00pm: Storytime for Children

Children can make paper finger puppets of the characters to take home.

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Miniature Accordion Popup Books

Artist Jennifer Knowles-McQuistion will lead participants through making a miniature hardback accordion book with pages that pop up, spill out, and burst from the folds. 

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Toward A Self-Sufficient, Long-Lived Zine

Examine the nuts and bolts of what it takes to keep a serial zine alive and vital. 

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Felt Sketchbook

Participants will design their book covers using felt and other materials, such as decorative papers, threads, and beads. Then they will assemble their sketchbooks, binding the books using posts and screws.

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: The Art of Saying Something Worth Saving

Discussion will cover the pressure language undergoes when we seek to present it in a book arts project, and how words respond and rise to that challenge or collapse under the weight of that attention, and how we recognize it. 

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Quadraflip or infinity card

Turning the pages of this structure changes their orientation and reveals hidden pages before taking you back to the beginning. 

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm: Open Mic Zine Readings

All day: Papermaking 

Book artist and instructor Annie Herlocker will guide you through pulling your own sheet of paper from pre-pulped materials.

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Made with love for my dad

Today is my dad's birthday, so it seems like as good a time as any to share some more details about the photo album that I gave him for Christmas.  

My dad started to get interested in photography back when I was in high school taking some photography classes.  I taught him some of the basics, and he started incorporating the rule of thirds into almost all of his pictures (including lots of off-centered pictures of me at graduation).  But since then, he has become a really talented photographer with a great eye for capturing unusual sites around the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina.

Each time I would come to visit, my dad would pull out his camera and to show me his latest pictures.  I'd flip through one by one admiring his work on the tiny camera display screen and wonder why he never made prints of any of his photos.  Showing them off in this way just didn't do the pictures justice, so I decided that he needed a better way to display them.

After I gave him the book, my husband and I helped my dad pick out all of his favorite photos and we added them to the book with photo corners. He's taken some great photos like the one above where he chose to photograph the back of a statue, or some complex reflected images inspired by my photos of store window reflections.  I'm glad that he now has a proper way to display his pictures, and I'm sure he'll soon be ready for a companion album to store his newest shots. 

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Making paper by hand

I've been taking over the house once again with my latest creative project -- papermaking.  (Thankfully my husband doesn't seem to mind, and he even stepped in to take some photos of the process so I could share them here.)  

I met a local bookmaker, Laura, here in Nashville soon after moving to town.  We then met up for coffee to chat about books and new techniques we wanted to try.  We decided that papermaking should be our first project and we wasted no time with getting started.  We made these lovely lavender sheets of paper last week, and we've since made a new batch of raspberry-sherbet-colored paper and have several bags of paper pulp in my fridge prepared for our next papermaking adventure.  

The bowl above is filled with little torn-up scraps of paper leftover from making books.  For about a week, I collected all of the little bits of paper that were too small to be reused.  Then I soaked them in water for about 12 hours.  Then Laura and I blended the paper scraps into pulp using her smoothie maker that she donated to the papermaking cause ("the sacrificial blender," as my husband called it).  

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the blended paper pulp this time.  You might expect it to look like a gross and gooey mess.  But it's surprisingly soft and has a really luxurious feel to it.  It's actually quite nice to dip your hands into it during the process.  

Next, we added our pulp to a large vat of water.  Then we'd dip our mould and deckle (made by Laura!) into the vat to pull a sheet of paper.  With each sheet I pulled, I loved seeing the assortment of speckles and flecks of paper that happened to make it onto the mould because they remind me of the books I'd made with those different decorative papers.  

After pulling the sheets, we'd press them from the mould onto pieces of cloth, and eventually set them out to dry in my living room.  (It's been much too humid to dry them outside.)  It took about a day for the sheets to dry completely.  Once dry, Laura and I got together again to gently peel our sheets of paper off of the cloths.  

And here's the end result:

We experimented with using different types of cloth to press our wet sheets of paper on to dry.  The textures of the cloth effects the final texture of the paper.  You can see an examples of the different textures below.  We used linen, felt, and cotton to achieve different textures.  The sheet on the left was pressed onto felt; the sheet in the center was pressed onto linen, and the sheet on the right was pressed to a wrinkly piece of cotton.  We also experimented by rolling wet sheets of paper onto plexiglass, which yielded an incredibly smooth texture. 

I love textured paper.  In fact, such textures are the namesake of my business: linenlaid&felt.  (You can read more about that in the FAQ section of my website.)  While commercially-made papers of these names are made to resemble the textures of these cloths, making paper by hand allowed for us to create these textures ourselves.  Laid paper refers to the lines impressed by certain types of papermaking molds, like those that I used in Italy.  

Both Laura and I have already put our new sheets of handmade paper to use.  I made two Italian longstitch journals last week with suede covers and pieces of our handmade paper as decorative accents inside.  It has been a while since I've made a book for myself.  I'm typically busy working on custom orders, books for my shop, or gifts for friends, so I decided to take the time to make a book just for me. 

The book on top is the one I've decided to keep.  Because these books have the suede straps that wrap the book and keep it shut, it will be the perfect portable book to keep with me to jot down notes on the go.  And as an added bonus, I'll always have an example of my work with me to show as a response to the blank stares I often get when I tell people that I'm a bookbinder.  The other book that I made (the one bound with lavender thread) is now for sale in my etsy shop.  

Laura kindly made a monogrammed bookmark for me using the paper that we made together.  She makes the most adorable miniature books and book jewelry, and she will also be selling her work at the Handmade & Bound festival in a few weeks.  I love seeing the little purple pages peeking out from the little book and knowing that our handmade paper is going to good use.  

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A bold and modern guest book

I absolutely loved working on this wedding guest book.  Everything seemed to come together perfectly, and I'm so pleased with the end result.  Jill and Rich chose such a bold color scheme for their wedding. The royal blue and bright orange complemented each other so well, as did the different textures of the papers used for this book.

I designed the personalized nameplate on the cover to coordinate with their wedding invitations.  I used the same colors and fonts, and the circular J+R motif was also drawn from their wedding paper goods.  The couple could also attach extra copies of their invitation, ceremony program, and other printed materials into the book as a place to store their coordinated wedding keepsakes after their wedding.

Congratulations to Jill and Rich!  I hope your wedding day was perfect in every way!

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Handmade baby books with a personal touch

Much of what I've been working on in the studio lately has been custom work. I've made quite a few wedding guest books and photo albums this summer, but personalized baby books have been keeping me busy these past few weeks. I wanted to show off a few of the details that make my baby books extra special keepsakes.

I showed a little sneak peek of this particular baby book on my blog a while ago, but never officially unveiled the final product. My husband and I collaborated to write the book, and then I designed it. I added little envelopes to hold Abigail's hospital bracelets and a lock of hair from her first haircut. I also constructed handmade photo corners from coordinating paper to hold treasured photographs in place.

Because every baby book is made individually, I can customize each detail. Parents can select the color scheme of the book, from the decorative paper used for the covers and the ribbon or thread used to bind the book together, down to the colors of the printed pages. 

This particular book uses a light pink cherry blossom paper for the cover, satin ribbon for the binding, and pink printing on the pages. I've also made some baby books recently using handmade, rustic papers and using bright modern prints for a completely different feel. 

I include the baby's name throughout the text of the book, creating a personal effect that can't be matched with store bought baby books. And the nameplate on the front cover can be customized to include the baby's name, birthday, or any other message.

While I have a standard selection of pages that I typically use in my baby books, I can add extra pages if there's something specific you'd like to include. I've added pages to include religious traditions, for grandparents to have extra space to share their words of wisdom, and to accommodate multiple baby shower invitations. I can add extra pages for siblings or pets. And I've even designed a special version of the book for twins. 

If you're interested in ordering a custom baby book, please visit my etsy shop. Or for more information, you may e-mail me at linenlaidfelt {at} gmail {dot} com. And check back soon for photos of my other handmade baby books here and on my facebook page. 

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