Bookmaking with Karen Hanmer

Three book blocks, waiting to be finished

Last weekend I was lucky enough to take two bookmaking workshops with book artist Karen Hanmer, who was visiting the San Francisco Center for the Book from Chicago. Not only is Karen a great instructor and book artist, she's also funny and loves Star Trek and who doesn't love someone that can compare binding to Star Trek?

Drum leaf binding

Link stitch binding with sewn on boards

In the first workshop we made three books: a drum leaf binding, which requires no sewing, and two link stitched books with sewn boards. We also got to learn and experiment with edge decorating.

In the second workshop we learned the pyramid book structure, which is just amazing. It can be viewed page by page like a 'normal' book, or flat (it's double sided), or it can be stood up in a number of different ways to be viewed in a more sculptural manner. 

A pyramid book starts with a triangle

After my practice book, I decided to make a pyramid book out of wrapping paper with skeletons on one side and a map of the world on the other. I didn't cut all my paper at the right angle so the pages on this book don't line up perfectly but, it's just the first one of many pyramid books I'll be making in the future.

Seed Book

After making curtains the other week, I had some leftover fabric. It has such a great pattern that I couldn't let it go to waste. So, I did what I do with scraps...I made a book!

I made the accordion pages out of Kraft paper. I measured them to be taller than I needed so that I could fold up the bottoms so each page had a pocket.

I coated each side of the fabric with methyl cellulose (this is not the 'correct' way to make book cloth, but it worked for my purposes), and then glued it to book board to make the covers.

Then I filled each pocket with seed packets and wrote a few quick notes about how well each seed grew.

Once the seed packets were inside the book, it didn't close very well (which is why the springy-ness of the accordion structure works so well), so I added ribbons while I was gluing on the covers so that the book could be tied closed.

Domestic Project

Today was my first Sunday in a long while where I had absolutely nothing to do. So I decided to make curtains for the bedroom.

Our bedroom had curtains when we moved in but they were just your basic off-white color and, since we haven't hung a lot of artwork in the room yet, I felt like we needed to add some color and spice things up.

This wild fabric came from Ikea. It was from a set of ready-to-go curtains but, since we have 2 long windows and 1 short one in the bedroom (and kittens that like to climb curtains), I customized them a bit. 

I cut the curtains shorter so they wouldn't be floor length, and wouldn't collect so much dust. Then I ironed, and hemmed them on my sewing machine. Out of the scraps I was able to make another 2 short curtains for the window over the bed. The measuring was the hardest part, we don't have any table or floor space in the apartment large enough to spread out the curtains so I had to use 2 rulers and do it out on the back deck!

Ready to iron

TA DAA! Here are the 'after' shots of the bedroom:

Journaling Care Package

Things have been crazy this month, especially because this past weekend my job held its biggest event of the year, where we print large scale lino cuts in the street. Fun as it was, now that the event is finished, I'm able to leave work on time and focus on making things of my own. My first finished project is this little care package, made for my summer cat sitter. The package contains a journal and two notebooks made from paper scraps. She's an avid journaler and list maker so I thought this would be just thing to get her second year of college started off right.

Book Artist Blues

I've been away from my blog for a little while, work is busy and it was my partner's (and then my) birthday. Anyway, here's the first little book review I have of SF ZineFest finds.

It's called Book Artist Blues and it's made by Nikki Thompson of Deconstructed Artichoke Press. It's a charming little guy made out of a single sheet of paper, containing a few anecdotes about peoples' difficulty understanding book art and its value. I know I related to it because I am a book artist, but I think any artist or maker would be able to find something they can identify with in here.

Waiting

I have a very busy work week this week and I am waiting for things to slow down, waiting until I can focus on my own work and do my own thing. The above image is of lights strewn inside the A.C.T. Theatre for Humor Abuse. I snapped this photo while waiting for the play to begin.

Views from SF ZineFest 2012

I had the honor of spending this weekend vending at the SF ZineFest. It was great, as usual, my fellow vendors were friendly and the visitors were wonderful. 

This year I had a full table, with a lot more items to sell, and I also lead a workshop so, I was pretty busy and hardly had a chance to leave my table. Here are some shots of the views I had from behind my table.

Of course, what I saw most was my own table and wares. I used some old books to display items this time around.

Vending to my left was Annie Yu of Curbside Treasure. I love Annie, and she makes great stationary sets and zines. Her bubbly personality makes her a great co-vendor throughout the long days.

Just across the aisle was Monstark. Their monster images are a bit disturbing while also being well executed and fun. Their wolf head was also a great conversation starter.

Of course, how could I could home without getting some zines for myself? I got a pretty large stack, stay tuned this month as I read through them all and review them.