Ink Stained Book Arts

Endangered Species

 

This outstanding video puts the spotlight on two treasures near downtown Los Angeles: McManus & Morgan, Inc., an almost 90-year-old paper and stationery store; and Aardvark Letterpress, which has been around since 1968. 

USC student Ben Proudfoot made this video, and it is sad and uplifting at the same time. Sad because both of these businesses are threatened, as are many businesses now, and uplifting because of the passion that goes into keeping these places alive.

If you live in L.A., or if you live in a place with companies like these, please support them. It is becoming a luxury to be able to see the rich colors and feel the wonderful textures of handmade paper first hand, and to be able to work directly with artisans who create letterpress.

Please don't let them become extinct.

I'm in Pages from Cloth Paper Scissors!

I'm honored to have one of my books featured in the premier issue of Pages from Cloth Paper Scissors. This is a new special issue that's nothing but books, books, books, with a side of books. My kind of magazine.

I made a somewhat large journal with fabric collage covers of a bookcase, and bound it with a braided binding. All the instructions are in the issue, which you must pick up. There is stunning work in there, and a lot of inspiration. 

For the cover I used real book spines in addition to faux ones I created from fabric. My favorite is the one above--a coptic stitch book for which I used an embroidered chain stitch to simulate the coptic chain stitch. The journal was so much fun to create and I got to incorporate a lot of stuff from my stash, which is always a good thing.

One reason I made the book so large was so I could use it as a sketchbook/mood board. The pages are big enough for drawing as well as for attaching bits of inspiration, such as fabric and paper scraps and photos.

For the back I used more book spines and cut out a teacup from Ruby Star Rising by Melody Miller, one of the most amazing fabric collections (the alarm clock on the cover is from the same line). She has a new collection out, Ruby Star Shining, which is equally fantastic. Portable typewriters. 'Nuff said.

Seam binding was used to to sew the pages to the cover (I also used seam binding for the crochet book in Adventures in Bookbinding.). It's pliable, strong, and fairly thin, so for a book like this it doesn't add a lot of bulk to the spine. Also, it comes in a bunch of gorgeous colors and isn't expensive. 

The braided binding is very easy to do and also quite eye-catching, if I do say so myself. Since each signature is sewn into the spine separately you can use different colors of thread. The binding can be adapted to a hard spine as well. 

I'm itching to make another fabric collage book, maybe one with a floral theme. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

Flea Market Sunday

After weeks and weeks of being a shut-in on weekends, thanks to various projects and deadlines, the husband and I were finally able to get out into the fresh air and go to the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena. 

Going to flea markets may be my favorite thing to do on Sunday mornings. It's the thrill of the hunt, not knowing what treasures you'll find, that always gets me out of bed pre-dawn.

Rose Bowl is usually heavy on antique furniture, but this Sunday I saw lots of booths with gifty-type items such as handmade pillows and jewelry, no doubt because we're so close to the holidays. They were busy with customers, which was nice to see.

If I had all the money in the world I'd come home with a truckload of things--there are so many gorgeous items with interesting histories. This time I coveted an antique thread cabinet from the 1800s that had glass drawer fronts, a wrought iron thread keeper and vintage French linens. And that was just in the first half-hour.

Those monogrammed lawn balls at top were gorgeous and would look great in an antique basket on a coffee or side table. I was tempted by these vintage earthenware English pots which at one time held potted meats; I can see my glue brushes sitting in there. Maybe next time.

Textiles are always tempting, and these were no exception--if they hadn't been an arm and a leg (and another leg and a hand) I would have picked some up. I'd make pillows for sure, and maybe some tote bags (note to self: win lottery).

Not sure what to make of these, but I love them. They'd look great in my pretend house in the south of France. Or my imaginary thatched roof cottage in England.

Old photographs. Not much more to say except I'm obsessed.

I find it interesting that old typewriters are as expensive as they are; obviously few people actually use them anymore, so they're just for decoration. I wonder if some who collect them have ever typed on one. This one was exceptionally nice and if I had an extra couple of hundred dollars lying around it would have been mine.

I was at a flea market a couple of years ago and passed by a booth that had a display of what I thought were cool-looking frames. On closer inspection I realized it was a vintage display of car gaskets. Before seeing this, if you would have asked me what a vintage car gasket looked like I wouldn't have been able to tell you. But I can now. They look like cool frames.

Anyway, I asked the vendor if he was selling the display as is, or would he consider selling some of the gaskets separately. He said he would sell some to me for a couple of dollars each. I was giddy with happiness.

As I looked them over he turned to me, paused, and said, "You're a crafter, aren't you?"

*Sigh*

Is it that obvious?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sewn Journal Redux

One of the best and most rewarding parts about teaching is hearing students say they love the projects they've completed. Maybe ever so slightly better than that is when they make another book after the class and you get to see the finished product.

That happened the other day when a good friend of mine, talented jewelry designer Shari Roan, showed me a book she made after doing a make and take a few months ago at Seed People's Market in Costa Mesa where we made sewn journals with vintage Bingo cards as covers.

The journal Shari designed had special baseball tickets as covers--these were super large and made of heavy cardstock. She incorporated score keeping pages (sorry, I don't know the official name of those) in her signature. A bookmark was made from a lanyard--brilliant idea. 

I think the result is amazing and was so thrilled when she showed it to me. Also, it's a great reminder to keep your eyes open for everyday things that can be turned into books.

Thanks, Shari! You made my day!

Etsy Craft Night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum

Last Thursday I had the pleasure and honor of leading Etsy Craft Night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum here in Los Angeles. The museum recently started hosting these monthly craft get-togethers, and it's a brilliant idea--for $5 you can make a simple, fun project, hang out at the museum and have some snacks. What could be better?

The projects were gift toppers and ornaments made from paper and felt: fan paper toppers and ornaments made from punched and die cut decorative paper, paper roses made from recycled text, music and map paper and felt flowers. 

It was such a great group--people were so nice and made fantastic projects with cool variations that I can't wait to try. We had terrific sponsors: Craftside, Sizzix, Marvy Uchida and I love To Create. Stefanie Girard (author of the amazing book "Sweater Surgery"), who hosts the Craftside blog and pulled the whole thing together, manned the die cut station and made the evening run smoothly.

As you can see from the photos, it was a whirlwind of activity!

For those who live in the LA area and who have never been to the museum (or who haven't been there for a while), please check it out. It's such a treasure and we're lucky to have it here. The shows are outstanding and the gift shop is the best.

Thanks to everyone who made this happen! I'll have tutorials up soon for the projects so there will be no excuses to give undecorated gifts this season!

(For those wanting to know where I got the vintage sheet music, it's from a great Etsy seller, Love Dove Trading Company. Her stuff is the best!)