Merry Christmas! Also - The Mega Book is Completed!

Merry Christmas everyone!
I just love this time of year (if only it was snowing it would be perfect). I hope everyone has the most amazing Christmas and a fabulous start to a wonderful New Year full of inspiration, fun and adventures!

So the Mega Book...I don't mind telling you that it is kind of nice to have space back in my studio again. The Mega Book was just so HUGE that it seemed to take up every available space going (even the bits of my shared space that are not meant to be invaded by my book-binding...oops!).

 

 I actually gave this to the client on the 18th, but I have been so busy dashing around and trying to catch up on sorting out all my own Christmas gifts that this is the first chance I have had to sit down and write a few words about it! (SO big! Just look how mega huge it is!)

A3 in height, but slightly slimmer. Leather covered boards, coptic bound with metal embellishments. Different papers interspersed in a specific order dictated by the client's needs (collation was a challenge in itself!).Such a lovely personal gift though; the client's girllfriend speaks several languages so he had picked a poem in each native language and several images of paintings from that country to go with it. He wanted tissue paper to protect every painting page and the poems were to be displayed on handmade paper. Such a thoughtful and romantic gift don't you think?

I must admit I was a bit overwhelmed by this project, but I am so pleased with how it turned out. So nervous when I presented it to the client but he was speechless and later said that I had "created a wonder". Very happy! I hope the girlfriend appreciates all the hours of thought and work that went into it!



On that happy note, I shall leave you with more fabulous festive wishes.
Have a most wonderful time everyone!

Lizzie x

Well this is all rather exciting!

 Let me see...

Still working on the 'Mega-Book' commission as I had to wait for board to arrive. The sheer scale of this still scares me, although I haven't admitted that in such bald terms to the client! It is fun to have so much space to play with though...maybe I will up-scale in future...maybe...unlikely!

However, this morning I opened my e-mail to TWO orders from etsy! Unprecedented! I am now officicially all sold out of rainbow 'Be Happy' books... so I will just have to go and make some more, hooray! (I love making these wee books, they make me smile the whole time because they are so bright and cheery. Honestly, who could be grumpy when they are sewing a rainbow together?!) Orders are now both packaged ready for their trip to the post office in the morning (One of them is going to the States! Wow! And yes, these things still require dancing around the living room. WAY too exciting not to!)

I also finished off the double custom order for two A8 Rainbow 'Be Happy' books this evening. I was contacted by a lovely lady who said that she would like one of my books...but she was a strict vegetarian so could she have the cover made of something else? Now as you know I love challenges so I said yes and suggested paper covers, made of layers to make them nice and strong. Sounds great doesn't it?

I forgot that glue (or paste) and I have an agreement of only minor skirmishes, no full on usage...hmm... (I stitch wherever possible when it comes to books) We had a minor falling out and accidentally created a lovely collage piece but then we sat down and talked things over... Eventually I had two really cute wee covers.

The request was that the books were quite different so I made one with all rainbow pages and one with plain pages with rainbow ones interspersed. One cover was soft handmade purple paper (with a stunning white handmade paper lining that was loaded with silver flecks of mica to pick up the silver thread binding) and the other was a bright blue handmade with a shiny finish (turquoise handmade paper lining with gold stars on it that I brought back from Nepal). You get the idea, they are the same yet very individual.


I was really worried half way through this project (when the glue was winning the debate) but I love the way they have both turned out. Similar yet completely different. I will be making more of this size of rainbow book very soon! Although I will need to check how long the glue will agree to keep the peace... :)

Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with something that most people consider completely essential? Just me? Why does that not surprise me?! ;)

Let It Snow!

Finally my snow dances have paid off! There is snow in Scotland! Not at my front door quite yet, but I will be heading up north to visit it at the weekend. Snowman and snow-angels here I come! :)

To celebrate I finally got brave enough to use the lovely pendant that I bought from the lovely Miss Erin of Tresoi Trovati. I just have to wear it to celebrate the arrival of the snow tomorrow (and help cheer me up that I have to go to work instead of bind books all day!). I hope she likes what I have created, and forgives me for it being a last minute inspitation thing and not quite finished yet.
(Hence the reason it doesn't have a clasp quite yet...I'm working on that! The options I had just didn't seem quite right so I will re-visit that a little later, but I can't wait to wear him so it will be ribbon tied tomorrow if I don't get inspired tonight...good thing I not a professional at this jewellery business, no image to up-keep :))

This cute wee chap is a bit bigger than most pendants I wear so I have been mulling over how best to frame him for a while. Then today, in the midst of a flurry of fun and inspired bookbinding I pulled our this glorious deep red ribbon...ooh...now I have a plan... Layers of ribbons to capture the colour pallete, plaited to give substance and colour matched beads spaced to create interest. That makes it sound much more planned than it was but I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Lots of bookmaking has been going on today, I will share that soon. Let me just say that working on rainbow books is the happiest work ever, smiles are guaranteed! :)

The Challenge of Colour was a Challenge Indeed!

Phew! This was a HUGE challenge for me, mainly because this is really my firat attempt at making an actual piece of jewellery! (I'm not sure if I actually specified that to the lovely Miss Erin, because I was a wee bit worried that I wouldn't be able to play!) Therefore you have to please forgive me some technnical fumblings and less than professional finishings as I figured out how to do most of this as I went along (making jump rings for the first time people, was my learning curve steep or what?!) However I am pleased as punch with the outcome, my first necklace!

The second major challenge in all this was the fact that my pallette came with PINK in it. Now, this may not seem like a big thing to anyone out there but I am the original anti-pink girl. So much so that I once raised hundreds of pounds for Scottish Mountain Rescue by wearing pink for an entire day, my friends have SO many photos!) I thought I was stepping out of my comfort zone with green (I normally hide in purples and reds) but pink...hmm...

This is the pallette that the lovely Miss Erin picked for me...gorgeous isn't it?

See the lovely original pallette post on Miss Jessica Colaluca's Design Seeds blog here.

I did as Miss Erin said and printed it out...and contemplated it...and stared at it some more...then I think I ran away and hid because it was scary pink AND green! However, I am not such a wuss as that makes me sound so I armed myself with some 'orange-juice' and started brainstorming. Naturally, as a bookbinder, that gorgeous rose suggested layers of petals made of paper and my thoughts turned to books... What about a focal that was a book, made of layers of all the colours from the pallette, layered up like the rose? Now there's an idea, hmm... To work!

(please excuse the photos, I have just finished and taken photos and as it is 1am here there is no natural light to take adventage of! If I miraculously manage to surface early enough to prepare for my 9am meeting with the boss's boss and have coffee, I will try and get some better shots. Not sure that these show it but the centre layer is a glowing burnished gold with a partial layer of green handmade tissue paper with actual grass in it on top. I am using my pallette, all of it!)

I love the result (although I feel that I could have made a much better clasp, the ribbons are too over-powering although they do look fun on) and I hope you do too. I think I may have to turn my hand to this wonderful jewellery-making business again in the near future (all I can say now is that I need new tools, the pliers I have are up-cycled from some other use and are actually slightly rusty! Please don't faint in horror!) :)

Please check out all the other wonderful people taking part in this brilliant challenge, I can't wait to see what they have all created. I bet I will have half a notepad full of ideas when I have been through all these...

go look and be inspired!

Last, but very definitely not least, thank you so much to Miss Erin of TesoriTrovati for hosting this challenge and encouraging us to dip at least a toe in some unfamilliar waters. She never fails to inspire me with some tiny (or large) gem in her blog.

1 Norma Turvey ~ Teal ~ Color Crave

2 Jeannie Dukic ~ Green ~ Mineral Tones

3 Mary McGraw ~ Teal ~ Embellished Hues

4 Jo Tinley ~ Red ~ Decadent Tones

5 Rebecca Anderson ~ Pink ~ Tulip Tones

6 Kristi Jaro ~ Red ~ Temple Entrance

7 Stephani Gorman ~ Green ~ Dew Tones

8 Melissa Meman ~ Green ~ Fruit Star

9 Kathleen Lange Klik ~ Teal ~ Silk Hues

10 Cynthia Riggs ~ Red ~ Autumn Comfort

11 Heidi Post ~ Teal ~ Flora Bright

12 Cece Cormier ~ Teal ~ Merino Teal

13 Amy Freeland ~ Gray ~ Cultured Tones

14 Alice Peterson ~ Blue ~ Island Play

15 Rose Noble ~ Gray ~ Autumn Stacked

16 Kristina Johansson ~ Yellow ~ Sunny Flower

17 Kirsi Luostarinen ~ Teal ~ Dragon Hues

18 Tari Kahrs ~ Orange ~ Citrus Tones

19 Mallory Hoffman ~ Purple ~ Petaled Dark

20 Molly Alexander ~ Brown ~ Peppered Tones

21 Regina Santerre ~ Red ~ Frosted Berry

22 Emanda Johnson ~ Teal ~ Color Purl

23 Amy Severino ~ Orange ~ Winged Tones

24 Bobbie Rafferty ~ Teal ~ Lime Hues

25 Tanya Goodwin ~ Gray ~ Pecked Tones

26 Lisa Lodge ~ Blue ~ Nocturnal Tones

27 Hope Smitherman ~ Blue ~ Bloom Tones

28 Linda Landig ~ Green ~ Cacti Dark

29 Ambra Gostoli ~ Teal ~ Perched Autumn

30 Lori Bowring-Michaud ~ Blue ~ Sharpened Blue

31 Pippa Chandler ~ Teal ~ Hungarian Hues

32 Keirsten Giles ~ Purple ~ Mineral Brights

33 Jennifer Justman ~ Blue ~ Autumn Rays

34 Sandy Richardson ~ Purple ~ Moroccan Brights

35 CJ Bauschka ~ Teal ~ Teal Air

36 Shaiha Williams ~ Teal ~ Sushi Hues

37 Kay Thomerson ~ Purple ~ Autumn Spectrum

38 Sally Russick ~ Purple ~ Golden Gate Tones

39 Cilla Watkins ~ Purple ~ Autumn Infused

40 Shirley Moore ~ Purple ~ Frozen Heather

41 Jenni Connolly ~ Gray ~ Paw Tones

42 Tamara Soper ~ Green ~ Field Tones

43 Sharyl McMillian-Nelson ~ Blue ~ Nested Blues

44 Jen Velasquez ~ Pink ~ Sweetened Tints

45 Maria Grimes ~ Red ~ Bright Bloom

46 Elisabeth Auld ~ Gray ~ Petaled Tints

47 Susan Kennedy ~ Pink ~ Zinnia Tones

48 Shannon Chomanczuk ~ Gray ~ Autumn Leaf

49 Holly Westfall ~ Yellow ~ Sprinkled Tones

50 Patty Gasparino ~ Red ~ Color Carton

51 Angela Little ~ Pink ~ Singapore Brights

52 Lizzie Zawinski ~ Green ~ Budding Hues

53 Kristen Stevens ~ Pink ~ Scooped Tones

54 Dawn Doucette ~ Brown ~ Jarred Tones

Books galore! First Etsy Sale!

OMG! I have almost stopped leaping around the living room celebrating...almost! How exciting! Some complete stranger wants to buy one of my books! This wee cutie (pictured abover) is one of my favourites, so they have got good taste! 

I have also got a new commission for a HUGE A3 book. I find this a bit terrifying as I normally work on a fairly tiny scale, but challenges are the way to grow aren't they?

Oh life is so exciting! I also have to share a wee planning book I made for a friend's engagement gift, super cute wee heart bead (from Venice in Italy!) but bright orange. She would have hated anything conventional!

 
Right, I had better get going and start packing up an order and checking that I have the materials for 'The Mega Book' as I have taken to calling it.
(Yes, I am still dancing around the living room! :))

The Turquoise Challenge of the Wedding Photo Book

A friend of mine got married a wee while ago now and I promised her a wee book as a congratulations. However she said that she would really like one that she could put some of her photos in...hmm...I haven't made any photo albums before thought I... Well, what would the world be without a challenge?! I have to admit that I have been extremely tardy in creating this, mainly because it was a constant learning curve and I kept making mock-ups and rejecting them! I think I have at least four that I dismissed as not good enough (don't worry I will find some other use for them).


Her bridal colour theme was this gorgeous deep turquoise and she used lots of soft ribbons and tissue paper in her favours so that was my starting point. I didn't want to create a hard-back book because I had decided that a small soft-back would be much more personal and tactile. I also wanted to use a couple of light crepe-style papers to give the top of the book 'ruffles' to remind the bride of her wedding dress (I think it was at this point that I started to think that this was almost taking as much planning as the actual wedding!). Because of this I had to layer several different types of paper to get enough stiffness in the covers to hold the weight of the inner pages and seperators (to give space for the photos). This came out really nicely though and I was happy with the final result.

The real challenge was the internal pages, both stitching them up with the seperators, and them stitching them onto the cover. Because each sheet was attached individually to the concertina seperator, it meant that they couldn't be bundled in signatures so each sheet meant a seperate line of stitching on the spine of the book. Phew, that was a LOT of work! However it did look really lovely when done (not sure I will choose to repeat it in a hurry though!).

I think my favourite bit is the spine feature though. I decided to make a feature of the ends of the threads from the stitched seperators so I knotted a seed bead onto each one and threaded them all through two slots in the cover so that they created a waterfall effect at the head of the spine.
Overall I am really pleased with how this came out, although I wish I had managed to complete it earlier! (Also I wish I had been able to take photos in natural light as the colour values are slightly off here, you get the idea though!) Definitely worth the challenge!

First Double Commission!

So nervous, I got my first double commission a few weeks ago (it actually took me a little while to realise that they were serious about wanting the books and not just 'being nice'!) and tomorrow is the day that I hand my creations over for approval!

 Right now, getting paid for it doesn't seem as important as the fact that they like them! I guess that it's always harder when you know the people that you are selling to, as you will have to face them again even if they don't like the result. My mantra right now is 'I have faith in my product. I have faith in my product...'

 I have taken special care with the packaging and included a wee extra just for the couple who placed the commission (the two books are for presents they tell me) and that has helped to keep me a wee bit calmer. I am imagining this being shipped off like an etsy order (the as-yet mythical etsy order as I have still to win over a potential buyer and get my first sale!) and have packaged it as I think I would like to receive it.

I hope this is all going to work out fine. Is everyone this nervous with their first commission? Do you get any less nervous the more you do, or is it the same 'performance anxiety' every time?
Right, ok...breathe...'I have faith in my product...'

Star Books and Festive Spirit

Well I'm feeling really quite festive today. I have done some Christmas shopping, have rosy cheeks from the nip in the air and I have been making star book decorations for my etsy shop. How could I not feel festive after a week like that?!

 I really love star books (also known as carousel book did you know?), the wonderful structure and the fact that you can build them up to be so complex.

They can be made with just thread and paper, although many people do use glue for ease, and they look like a team of architects would have to have spent hours designing all the angles and folds to go together just so.





Useful for so many things, lovely special messages, scenes from stories or festive decorations like the collection I have just made.
Check out some of these star books in my etsy shop here. More will be coming soon too! (Hmm, think I need to work on my photos...what a great excuse to get them all out to look at again!)

What would you use yours for?

I Love Paper!

When it comes to paper, I just can't help myself.
There is always something extra special about each sheet, especially handmade paper, and I find it so hard to resist bringing a whole shop-full home with me. I love the fact that it can be used for everything from notes to clothing and this has led to quite a stash in my wee studio!

 Paper was actually what first got me into this wonderfully exciting world of book-binding, in the form of the most wonderful shop I have ever had the pleasure to visit 'The Japanese Paper Place'. When I lived in Toronto (working in a book-shop appropriately) I used to pass this shop every single day on the way to and from work. This was often one of my favourite parts of the day, and always inspiration-sparking.

 One day I noticed that they were offering book-binding classes and this was my revelatory moment when I realised that you could actually BE a bookbinder, people got to create artworks of books for a living! Amazing! Although I never took one of their classes (too poor, official learning had to wait until I was back in Scotland) I held onto that thought and read up on the subject, creating mini-books and journals from some of the lovely papers I had aquired.


I still have some of the papers I bought in that magical emporium...and many more bought since then! I never seem to use them up as fast as I aquire them which is why this morning was a sorting extravaganza, nothing more fun that sorting rainbow of gorgeous almost-forgotten papers though. I have so many new project swimming in my head after seeing them all out in the sunlight again.

Watch this space... :)

First Sale!

I sold my first book today! (Well my first one since I finally and firmly decided that I really was going to do my utmost to actually be a full-time bookbinder, rather than just my test selling last year) I am so happy I want to frame the notes and hang them above my desk!

I just had a friend around for a 'coffee and creation' afternoon (you know, getting crafty while solving the world's problems over a cup of good coffee. I love afternoons like this!) and she almost immediately got completely distracted by my desk full of projects. Lovely to hear when someone likes your work but I really didn't expect her to turn round and say "How much is that one? It's perfect for my writer friend's birthday.".

I told her the price and she said "Great, I think I have that with me. Do you have a bag?". You could have knocked me over with a feather! I really had only invited her for coffee and this was so unexpected! So happy to know that my 'Woodland Reverie' is going to a good home, and now I feel like I am a tiny step closer to my dream! Let the celebrations begin!

Information Overload...Almost.

Wow, I think I have just had the more useful and informative afternoon workshop of my life! It was brilliant!

As you will have gathered my aim is to become a bookbinder (at least most of my time) and I have been putting a lot more effort into working towards this recently. To this end I booked myself onto a 'Starting Out' workshop run by the 'Cultural Enterprise Office' which is all focused towards creative businesses. Amazing!

Their webiste alone is stuffed full of more information than you can possibly take in, even after visiting it several times, but it is all organised so that it makes sense and is easy to find. Perfect or what?! It is a Scottish thing but a lot of the info is highly relevant to anyone just getting into starting up/running you very own creative business.

The one and only bad thing about this is that I now have a to-do list about as long as I am tall and, although I am really quite short, that is a lot to get going with! It was helpfully all broken down into bite size chunks however so I have 3 points to work on first and the rest should flow from there. So inspired! (This is also the first time in my life I was excited to learn about tax, have you ever heard anything so crazy?!)

Good luck to all of us carving out our own wee creative corners around the world! :)

A lightbox ate my evening!

I knew I had a few hours to myself tonight so I had big plans for making in-roads on my creative to-do list...enter the lightbox...and now it's almost 10pm! What happened?!

Mostly it was distraction (I like to say I have ADOS - Attention Defecit Ooh Shiny!). I forgot to factor in that although my main challenge of the evening, making myself a pauper's lightbox from a cardboard box, wouldn't take too long playing with it and taking test photos would! Oops...but a fun oops!


Anyway here is the finished product, as rough on the eyes as sandpaper (as my aunt would say) but functional - hooray!

I used tracing paper for the side and top panels to keep the light properly diffuse but I think I need to get at least one better light. The one I was using seemed to have that yellowy cast to it. It's all a learning curve right? :) I was also wondering about playing around with coloured backgrounds... but maybe I should make sure that I can get the simplest version right first! Wish me luck!

If anyone has any tips about lightboxes and photography of books please feel free to share! I also haven't quite figured out how to stand the books up to get total flat-on views, would a hidden book stand work do you think?

Etsy Shop is open! SO scary!

Ok, it's open! OMG! I am really quite scared. Not sure exactly what of, maybe just putting myself our there. I really have to get moving though because, although it is now officially open, I have only listed one thing! I really need to work on my photos...but I want to put more stuff on there right now to make it look a bit more like a 'real shop'.
Please do go and have a look and let me know what you think, I need the advice! Starstruckbooks on Etsy! This is one step closer to my dreams coming true. I am scared but grinning SO much right now! :)

Bee Happy Mini Book

This is just a mini-post to go with the mini-book! I have been working so hard on my new designs, inspired by my recent trip to the land of colour that is Morocco, that all my good intentions of many blogs have fallen by the wayside slightly. Will try harder!

This wee book (only A9!) makes me smile because it is just so bright and jolly, hope it brings a splash of cheery colour to your day! I was so totally smitten by the mini star button/beads that I have used them as the fastener as well as the accents on the end of the wrap-cord, but stars make me happy so they are a perfect fit for the book :)

(It is also an excellent reminder that I need to be working on my photography skills though, especially as I want to take the plunge and get my Etsy shop up and running. Is there anything scarier?!)

Safari Photo Album

I swear that I have been busy in all this time I have been neglecting to communicate with the wider world! I will be proving it in the next couple of months by showing you some of the lovely things that I have been making.
This wee photo album was made for a friend of mine who once went on Safari in Africa and has never forgotten the experience, I swear she almost tried to smuggle a baby elephant home in her hand luggage...

 I up-cycled a rejected old photo-album found in a charity shop to create the basic interior because it was made of lovely handmade paper with rustic looking raffia as photo-holders. I decided that I would stick with the side stab-binding because that meant embelishments and beautiful external stitching (which I love!). I had a lovely patined flat metal-looking bead which was a perfect match for the earthy colour pallete that I was using and the wholw project came together so fast I was amazed.

I covered a couple of board strips to accentuate the side binding and ensure that the bead and the pattern of the stitching would stand out well. These had to be pressed and I was a little worried that the raised pattern on the paper would be obliterated bt they came out just fine, happy days. I left the ends of the side binding threads visible and put several colour-coordinated beads onto each end as finishing touches.

I wanted to be sure that the closure didn't hide any of the detail of the side binding (and the album did need some form of fastening as it was an unlined leather cover) so I gave the front cover an interesting scoop cover with plaited ties leading from each corner round to the back of the book.

This is the back fastening. I put a double loop of leather in place on the back; one part round some of the side binding stitching and the second part left open so that the ties could be threaded through it and then tied in a bow. I actually thought that this was all a bit complicated but my friend sussed it immediately and was quite happy so I guess I stand corrected on that one!

End result, one very happy friend who tells me that she now thinks of Africa and smiles every time she sees this. That's the kind of ending I like! (Although my other friend, who has appointed herself my business mentor, scolded me for giving books away when she thinks that I 'should be selling them and escaping the rat race'. I can't say I disagree with that part but the smile on my friend's face was more than payment enough this time :))

Birthday Book Creation

This wee book was created for my mum for her birthday. She wrote a collection of stories about our family adventures in our summer cottage and I bound them for her. She was thrilled to be 'published'! (I actually found that the printing and collation of the pages was the most challenging part of the whole project and once that was sorted the binding itself was just fun.)


It was an interesting project because the binding had to reflect the feel of the cottage to be sucessful. I decided that it had to be super tactile and 'friendly' and needed to be slightly imperfect and rough around the edges to capture the essence of the unconventional setting.

I used bundled stitching (which I would have loved to straighten up a bit and, in retrosect, should have left a wee bit looser) to give interest on the spine. An old button and short lengths of twine, thread and wool plaited together for the closure fastening, I liked the raggedy ends in the plait giving that slightly unfinshed feel to the tie.

The leather for the cover was specially cut from the edge of the hide to include the fluted and buckled edge so that it didn't look too 'pretty' and perfect and ruin the look that I was going for.

I included several images on blank sides in the book but stitched these in and left the ends visible to keep with the rough handmade feel that I was going for.

She loved it :)

Time...

Wow, I can't believe that time flies so fast. I think that work is sucking out all the spare minutes and seconds of my days and churning them into more numbers in the never-ending spreadsheets.
Within these over-full days I must reclaim some little scraps of time for myself, a few moments in which to let my imagination sing and my fingers to shape the sparks that it creates. A touch more self discipline and timetabling to give my self some creative freedom, how oxymoronic.
Let the wild rumpus begin!