Im just a book machine, and I dont work for nobody but you

Great! Now that I've gone and titled this post as such, I have that song in my head. Ah well, it beats the Law and Order theme music thats been stuck in there for days and I don't even really watch the show. But I digress....

I've been working in the studio a lot this week and have managed to get a lot of work done that I have listed in my store .

This is an album / scrapbook with black pages (which really make the photograph's colours POP). The cover paper is from Paris and has the lovliest texture to it. It was bound with a coptic stitch in a coordinating Irish linen thread.

This is a lined notebook covered in sililar paper to the item above but in a gorgeous blue. This textured papaer from Paris is so stunning in person! Click on the image to see the entire collection of images.

This notebook is covered in handmade paper by a fellow OCAD student here in Toronto. I purposely left the raw edge of the blue paper along the leatherette spine to add to the organic feel of the handmade paper and the bird theme.

I made this box out of davey board and it is secured with PVA glue (very strong). The blue with stars paper was also handmade by an OCAD student here in Toronto. The silver of the stars is wax, used to ensure that the black and blue dyes wouldnt run. The box has a pen loop so you always have a pen handy for the things you put in the box.

This is my newest listing in Roundtheworldin80pgs . The cover paper is from Japan, to read more on it, please click the image that will take you to a write up on the paper. I have included black book cloth along the spine and then a black satin ribbon running parallel to the book cloth. This is a lined journal with 140 pages.

I have just received (moments ago) my shipment of papers from Japan and I cannot wait to use them! Look for them soon!

New listings on Around the World in 80 Pages

I have recently completed and listed this album. It has 40 black pages for your photos and or scrabooking. It is coptically stitched with Irish Linen thread which allows the book to lay open flat. Please check out my store for more photographs of this book.

Please visit me at Roundtheworldin80pgs!

As promised...

Here are a few of my non-book art projects Ive done in the past.

This is a line of wine glasses I designed as a gift for my sister. I sandblasted the barcode inspired design on the glass itself.

Because I am so stubbornly against working digitally, this is from the one and only digital class I took in university. This image was the center piece of the series, with single images of her walking away were on either side, in 8x10 then 5x7 to give the feel of her walking away into the distance. This particular image was 11x14.
It didnt project here as well as the print itself looked.


This image is one of my ultimate favorites. Im not sure if I appreciate that its a long exposure image with a medium format camera or if I really appreciate it because it was a total experiment that turned out well.
I had just gotten my first medium format camera, a Yashica A, a very old camera that doesn't take a single battery. Its completely manual and I love it.

This next series was completed in my second year. The print quality wasn't as strong as I had been able to achieve later on and the scanning quality was lacking but I am so proud of this piece on Gender Roles in the Domestic Space.





Through my years studying photography, one of my favorite places to shoot was at a local cemetary, one that was the subject of many highschool stories of where to stay away from at night. I found such beauty in some of the statues and the juxtaposition of life and death in one gated place.

She was one of my favorite statues, although this image doesn't showcase why. Her arm was broken off just below where the image crops off. She had such a tragic beauty behind her, she was broken but still so strong. I thought she was beautiful.

Around the world in 80 Pages is on its way!

I have begun listing items in my new store Aroundtheworldin80pages ! I am proud of the books in this store and cannot wait to send them out into the world!

Ive decided to showcase some of my non-book art, so as soon as the crazyness of the new store settles, Ill be posting some of that!

The days are passing all too quickly

 

Just a few more days until Around the World in 80 Pages officially opens up! Im very excited about this. Im also quite busy these days trying to build up some inventory plus submit a donated book for Feed the Children and choose a book for the book swap Im involved in.

So many books and so little time!

I have just learned something new!

And I am stoked!

Just wanted to add a punch of summer on a day that looks a little gloomy outside!

Ive been featured in a B.E.S.T interview!

My interview with BEST bookbinding team was released today!

Read my interview here!

ROUNDTHEWORLDIN80PGS OPENING JUNE 1ST 2010!!!

I will be launching a new store, Roundtheworldin80pgs on June 1st and I can't wait! I will be showcasing and selling the books that I handbind using papers that I have ordered or picked up from different countries around the world : Japan, Italy, Nepal, China etc etc and of course local papers.

I am so excited about the new store and my new focus. I will still be able to fill custom orders but in the mean time I will be working on a line of photo albums/ scrapbooks.

And as always, all my books are one of a kind!

Hope to see you soon!
Be well

Taa Daaaaaaaaaaa!

I have completed the Wedding Guest book and am really proud of myself. I sent a few images of it to the Bride via facebook and she loved it! Of course, I was thrilled (and relieved)

The book is coptically stitched with Irish waxed linen thread, which was the first time Ive used anything of the sort. The pages are strathmore paper and the silver peacock feather was created by a hand cut stencil and silver leafing. I wished that the silver leafing was more patchy for lack of a better word, like when you are leafing a 3D item but then it would be difficult finishing it in a way that it wouldnt chip off an any given time.

Turns out two days after I finished this book, I cut a piece of my finger off and had to go to the ER. THANK GOODNESS I finished the book already! The Bride picks it up this weekend and then the bitter/sweet feelings kick in. My creation is gone but now it is the hands of the Bride and will participate in the happiest day for her!

thanks to UberArt / Studio B at http://www.etsy.com/shop/emersonbindery for all your help! you were fantastic!

Deep thoughts by Jack Handy

"Instead of a trap door, what about a trap window? The guy looks out it, and if he leans too far, he falls out. Wait. I guess that's like a regular window."

I couldn't resist.

Ive been working hard with not only the guest book (which Im pretty stoked about) but coming up with a constant pricing system. Ive been logging how much Im paying for supplies such as paper, how much they cost per sq. inch so I can charge accordingly. Turns out, Ive been charging decently, even when guessing.

Things Ive learned this week when it comes to bookbinding:
When making your own stencil to embellish with a silver leaf pen, the stencil can be as thin as simple computer paper. This saves wrist power when using an xacto to cut the stencil out.

I at first tried to adhere the stencil using rubber cement which can usually be a god send, however it stains certain papers, so test it out first. I was afraid to use moveable spray adhesive because I thought it would stain the paper but it didnt! Turns out that it worked perfectly. But only spray it once or else it will leave a sticky residue on the paper.

Using a silver leaf pen makes things really easy. After applying, let it sit over night and dry out or else its easy to smudge. Ill check on how it is tomorrow and report back. The pen didnt leave the look I originally wanted when thinking about using the sheets of silver, however Im thinking of going over parts of it again to give it a layered look that you get with sheets of silver leafing.

I didnt open a window when using the spray adhesive and trust me, its not ideal. Opening the window is difficult for me logistically with the wheelchair and all so Ive got to figure that one out before the spray makes me ga-ga.

I always keep in mind to measure twice, cut once. But remember to make sure the sheet of paper you are cutting is sat the correct way so the strips you are cutting arent too long and there isnt enough space to cut as many per sheet as you were doing all along.

Words from my old prof...be ok with the mistake you made because you will never make it again.
Here is hoping George.