A few new custom orders

Just a peek....if you want to know more about them you can visit my custom order blog by clicking here.

A tapes bound book in the works!

This is a follow up post for Rob who asked a question from my last tapes bound post.

You can view that last post here.

This photo below shows a tiny book that was recently purchased from my shop. The tape I used was actually a strip of linen bookcloth that I cut down to the size I wanted. I sewed the tapes onto the spine while I was sewing the book. If you're interested in how to do this, it's very similar to the cord bound sewing which can be found on a past post by clicking here. You would just replace the cords with tapes. For such a small book, I don't bother with a sewing frame, I just place the tape onto the spine and sew over it as the book is in my hands. Since this book is so small, I can get away with using a 1/4" wide piece of tape and just having one tape to hold the text block to the cover. On larger books, I use wider tape or more of them to give the text block more support with the covers.

To connect the tapes to the cover, I place the tapes on the inside of the cover like this photo shows below and I glue it there.

This particular little book was done differently than a traditional tapes. The tapes on this book were brought across the cover and glued. I then tooled around the leather to create the stripe on the front of the book as shown in the last photo. Since I wanted the stripe to stand out on the cover, I used two pieces of the linen bookcloth tape to build it up. Typically, I would just use one tape, but I wanted it to stand out. One tape was glued down and the other right on top of it across the cover as shown below. So, it looks as though only one tape was used.

This book was one that was made a few years ago but it's the same book that I make and sell in my shop. You can see more photos of this book here.

Add Style To Your Tape Bound Books -An Inside Peek

These handmade books are all in a sewn onto tapes style. You can see that a sewn onto tapes book is a typical hardbound book which can have a rounded spine or a straight hardback spine. The tape is a long strip of material that is sewn across the spine of a text block. The material, which is typically linen tape, is then glued to the cover of the book before the endpapers are placed on. Traditionally, these tapes can either be seen on the inside of the book, or more often, are hidden with built up paper on the inside cover so you can not see the tapes on the inside of the cover. Instead of hiding the tapes, I created designs in the front covers of these books below. I also didn't use traditional linen tape, I used linen book cloth because I can cut it to various widths and the book cloth I used was a bit thicker which allowed for the design to really stand out.

Raised and Inset Book Hinges

These book hinges were done a few years ago but I still love them. I believe this book ended up being a sign in book at an art show out in PA. The hinges are raised and the fleur de lis is inset into the hinges. It took quite a bit of time to tool those tiny designs but I was pleased with the end result.

Custom Artist Portfolio

Wonder where I've been? I've been buried in the studio with custom orders :)

I've had several inquiries lately about artist portfolios. I'm making one next week with the plastic sleeves which will probably be the last Christmas Present I send out.

But today, I sent out the following custom artist portfolio with heavyweight black pages. I love it!

24 pages of black stonehenge with natural deckled edges
Embossed hinges
Soft leather in grey, white and black
Metal plate inset into cover with engraved name
Sewn with strong black linen thread
Sewn in an Ethiopian coptic stitch so the pages will open completely flat
Spacers sewn into spine to allow things to be added to book
Rounded hollow drop spine

I hope Brynn loves her Christmas Present that was special ordered by her brother and I wish her all the best with her future artwork!

The front cover

The embossed hinges along the rounded spine

These pages will open flat and look at that awesome drop spine!

Inside of front cover

A page showing the spacers which allow for photos or actual art pieces to be placed inside while still allowing the book to close.

The inset name engraved name plate

Are you trick-or-treating at my house?

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't hand out candy this year and instead handed out little handmade gifts?

That would be awesome.

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This was my contribution to the B.E.S.T. Halloween Zombie Award Challenge!

Go vote & leave a message on the blog post over on the B.E.S.T. blog for your chance to win a surprise!

Click Here to Vote!!

Longstitch Books

Longstitch Bookbinding Class 

at the Central Utah Art Center 

in Ephraim, UT

September 18th 10am - 1pm - $45

You'll have the opportunity to create a longstitch leather book and we'll discuss different techniques used to make them unique: 

closures, antiquing, painting, burning and more. 

The fee includes the materials for the longstitch book you will make and keep.

If you would like to come please contact me or The CUAC.

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Below are a few longstitch books that Daniel and I have made in the last year or so. This really is my favorite structure to use and therefore, I use it for my own journals and sketchbooks.  This book not only opens flat, but if you use the leather or another flexible material, you can bend the book back on itself like a spiral notebook. It makes it convenient, especially if you want a larger sketchbook format but not the awkwardness of a large size when opened just flat. 

This is my journal which you can read about here.

This is a recent artist book I made which you can read about here.

You can also see more burned leather books on a past post here.