A couple weeks ago, I bound two books for a friend’s press in Santa Cruz, Enframing Press. They had been asked by their client, for whom they printed wedding invitations, to print pages for a register book. The printers designed and printed the cover sheets and the text pages and I got to do the rest. Because I assumed (correctly) that they planned to print single sheets , not folios, I decided that an album binding would work beautifully.
Honestly, I am not sure exactly what this binding is called. What I did is take two sheets and fold each an inch on the foredge. I then slipped them together creating a single sheet folio. Please correct me if you know the actual name of this binding. I learned this structure about 18 years ago from my boss at a book bindery. Its a great and practical structure. You don’t have to worry about printing on huge sheets, plus, the folded fore edge allows for the book block to accommodate photos, etc… without swelling. Genius!
For the overall structure of the book, I opted to do an exposed spine / coptic stitch. This allowed the printers to create a nice cover that I could glue onto book board, again, without them having to print on a giant sheet of paper that would have been required for a fully case bound book. Coptic stitching is a nice way to sew pages together. I like it especially for albums with stiff paper and not too thick a book block. Unlike a case bound book, the spine is only comprised of stitches with no other strengthening materials. It can get a little too wobbly for my taste if you try to make it too big.
A very fun project! I look forward to doing more of these. BTW: if you are planning to have a Big Event, whatever it may be celebrating, it is so nice to have a book available for people to write you good wishes, advice, draw pictures, etc. When I got married, I bound a large blank book and left it on a centrally located table for guests to write in. I love looking through it to this day, nearly seventeen years later and remembering all the special people who helped us celebrate our wedding.
This past week I finished up a set of wedding invitations for another local couple. She is from NJ and he from Oakland. They were really interested in a theme that represented their two backgrounds and also one that was not too traditionally ‘wedding’ (flourish-y script, etc..). The final design came together fast and both of them offered creative input for the project. All in all, a really fun project for a charming and fun couple.
An hour or so before I had planned to meet the bride to deliver the work, I decided to construct a simple case to hold the cards. The form is quite simple, just a single sheet folding fortified with chipboard. I can’t come up with a word to describe the structure so I’ll just say that the cards stack in the center, all four sides fold in together, a pair of tabs slide inside the other and the top folks over, secured with a ‘paper lock’ and waxed linen thread. The ‘lock’ is made of some leftovers from the print run. I must say that it looked nicer than the plain brown kraft paper I wrapped it in initially. (Although it was wrapped quite nicely). I would like to make more of these to present to clients.
Details: Finished size 5 x 7″, qty: 100, Cranes Lettra 110# Pearl white, Black and custom blue oil based ink.
I bought this tiny little book from Tiny Splendor’s booth at Patchwork. I love tiny books that contain simple but compelling content. Compelling doesn’t have to be deep, it just has to ring true for me. Take a peek!
Instead of spending Mother’s Day weekend doing what I love, working in the garden and hanging out with the kids (while trying to convince them that working in the garden IS fun) I spent my Saturday and Sunday working two shows. Saturday’s show was a neighborhood show featuring the works of the Glenview neighborhood. It was a friendly and relaxing show. There was a wide representation of ages and media present. I met an 87 year old woman who painted the most exquisite flowers I’d ever seen. I also got to hang out with some good friends who were also exhibiting.
Sunday morning, after I ate up a plateful of homemade beignets from the kids, I went to Jack London Square to set up for the Patchwork show. This show seems to be growing nicely and I was happy to participate in it. Extra bonus was that I was able to switch booth spaces on the fly to a much nicer one that had way more light. I also inherited two fabulous booth neighbors who kept me in good company all throughout the day.
Oh! there was also a photo booth. Not analog, sadly, but it was surprisingly good. Here are a few we collected. Thank you Magnolia Photo booth for coming out and taking pictures of us!
I just finished a set of wedding invitations for a local couple who found me through the farmers market I sell at. They were an absolute joy to work with and came to me with a postcard that inspired them, from there we worked together to come up with these.
Details: Letterpress printed / black ink on Stonehenge paper in ‘kraft’. Envelope is custom die cut with custom digital printed liner showcasing a map of the neighborhood that they live in. Mounted on the back of the invites is a digital print inspired by the vintage postcard of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge that sparked their interest.
I am the proud owner of a gallon jug of Jade 403 PVA.
Yes, it might be strange to get happy about glue, especially if its the kind you can’t get s buzz off of. But this stuff is the bomb. Super strength, permanent , yet beautifully flexible, what more could a girl want?
So, I’ll be at the Temescal Market again this Sunday. I’ve got some new stationery designs that I’ll be showing off (think wood grain and ledger paper!).
So , come on down and say hi, buy some more stationery, and pick up a free sample from me!
After you go to the market, hop on the train or get in your car and get your tush to the San Francisco Public Library for the monthly meeting of the SF Correspondence Co-op! You can meet other people dedicated to creative mail writing/sending, actually write some letters, and show off the fabulous new stationery you bought from Pickypockets!