Craftside

Interview with Stacie Dolin co-author of Book Art Studio Handbook

Today I have a special treat for you. I have an interview with Stacie Dolin, co-author of Book Art Studio Handbook: Techniques and Methods for Binding Books, Creating Albums, Making Boxes and Enclosures, and More.

   

1. What does your workspace/ design space look like?

  

My workspace is mostly in a corner of my dining room - I store supplies and materials in an old sideboard, and presses and a papercutter are in the room as well.  I do design work in my office, which also serves as a bookbinding library.

2. Do you save your mistakes/ or designs you don't love right away -or ditch them?

  

I save many of my mistakes and failed designs and use them to experiment with solutions.

3. What's on your "next to try" list?

  

Nothing specific, but I like to explore new techniques and methods!

4. Do you ever work with recycled materials?

  

Occasionally I'll re-purpose some old cloth or fiber for book use.
 

5. What music do you listen to when designing?

   

I listen to NPR/WBUR pretty much all the time.

6. How long does a design take you to create?

   

I hate to say "it depends", but it depends!  Sometimes simple is best.  I spend a lot of time going back and forth with a client in order to come up with a design that is exactly what they want.
 

7. How do you organize your supplies? 

  

All of my tools are in an old machinist's chest.

Paper is organized by text or decorative.  Leather is on loose rolls in a large basket.  

8. What books/magazines do you read?

   

Cabinet, The Bonefolder, Print, I also read a bunch of book-related blogs.  

9. How would you describe your personal style?

  

I like to incorporate aspects of other crafts (knitting, spinning, paper-cutting, tatting) into my work. 

10. How do you determine what a design is going to be made with?

  

I'll try out many different mini-models/samples of things to find the right material and make sure that it works well with any other materials on the book.  No bleeding, shrinking, glue reactions, etc.

11. Do you have a collection of anything?

  

Oh man.  I have a house full of assorted ephemera and books.  So in many ways I have a collection that consists of a little bit of everything.

12. How did your book come to be made? 

  

Amy invited me to join her in writing a book after she replied to a call for authors.

13. And the all important question (from Ravelry) what is your favorite swear word?

   

I'm going to have to go with the multi-use "f*ck" (and it's variants)

And the bonus round:

  

14. Name 10 things you've done that probably no one else has. Stacie had four, but wow are they impressive!

• Learned to drive by driving cross-country for 6 weeks with no license.
• Knit my own wedding dress.
• Had my tonsils grow back.
• Lived in a big old house where I had 76 roommates over the course of 9 years.

Thanks Stacie for sharing!

-----------------------------------

Check out  book designs in an Online Exhibit made by 11 members of the

New England Chapter of The Guild of Book Workers at their site.

More about the Quarry book:

Book Art Studio Handbook:
Techniques and Methods for Binding Books, Creating Albums, Making Boxes and Enclosures, and More

by

Stacie Dolin

and

Amy Lapidow

How to Make Books, Albums, Slipcases, and More

There’s nothing like making your own sketchbook, or wrapping a favorite book in the perfect homemade slipcase. And you can create it all yourself! Select the tools and materials you’ll need, master basic book-binding techniques, and practice your new skills on 12 eye-catching projects. Then explore the gallery of variations for more inspiration to make each book form your own. Whether you’re an experienced book binder or new to the art, Book Art Studio Handbook will help you take your books to the next level.

 

With Book Art Studio Handbook, you’ll learn how to:

 

- Set up your workspace or studio

- Choose the right board, paper, book cloth, and other supplies for your project

- Fold a textblock, make a sewing template, glue a cover, and practice other essential techniques

- Create albums: Imagine your photos in an Accordion Album with Frames, for example

-  Create books: How about a flexible Tacketed Book to customize?

- Create enclosures: From Slipcase to French Box

- Challenge yourself: Try your hand at an advanced project, such as a Travel Journal

Stacie Dolin is a bookbinder and consummate crafter located in Arlington, MA. After working in the silkscreen industry for a number of years, she moved to Boston to study bookbinding at the North Bennet Street School. She now teaches numerous bookbinding workshops and does independent binding and book repair. When not playing with books, Stacie knits, spins, and quilts, and looks for ways to integrate her fiber activities into her bookbinding.

Amy Lapidow is a hand bookbinder, trained through The North Bennet Street School and several other institutions including Rare Book School and CBBAG. She teaches through the NBSS workshop program, where she has developed classes on a number of bookbinding concepts. Her personal interest is taking historic bookbinding structures and updating them by using alternate materials and for contemporary uses. Her work has been seen in 500 Handmade Books and as part of the exhibit One Book Many Interpretations at The Chicago Public Library, where she combined a classic binding style with QR codes. She lives in Somerville, MA.

 

How to make a file folder book by Jeannine Stein

A couple weeks ago, Jeannine Stein (author of Adventures In Bookbinding: Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books and Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials), taught at an ETSY craft night at CAFAM. She showed everyone how to make this super cute recycled file folder book. You can see pictures at Jeannine's blog Ink Stained Book Arts. Well, you Craftside readers are in luck! Jeannine wrote up the tutorial on how to make her recycled file folder book so we could share it with you!

And if you need more great book making projects and tutorials grab yourself copies of her books:

Adventures In Bookbinding:

Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books

and

Re-Bound:
Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials

 

Author of 1000 Artists' Books Peter Thomas at ARLIS and how to make a clothespin book

This past weekend I attended the Art Librarian Conference and boy what a room filled with eye-candy! I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Thomas co-author of one of my all time favorite books 1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art.

So in honor of getting to meet Peter and his wife (she came along later) I thought I'd share an inside peek into 1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art and a tutorial on how to make a clothespin book that I whipped up inspired by this tutorial that is featured in the book.

Here is how I made my clothespin book.

All you need is a clothespin, bit of paper, string and a button.

Start by cutting a strip of paper wide enough to fit in the clothespin opening.

Fold one end of the strip of paper into the slot and then wrap it around the clothespin.

To secure the paper to the clothespin, tie a small length of string to a button and the wrap the other end around the backside of the button.

And want to see their adventures traveling around the country making books? Pop on over to Peter and Donna' s blog Adventures of the Wandering Book Artists.

If you are like me and love, love, love books on artists (and unique books made out of all sorts of things), run (or click) to your favorite place to get yourself a copy of:

1,000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art

by

Sandra Salamony

and

Peter and Donna Thomas

The book is a timeless art form, one that is as alive today as ever before, and artists continue to explore and explode the boundaries of what a book is and can be. In this beautiful collection, you will experience close-up various aspects of hand-crafted books: covers, bindings, scrolls, folded and origami structures and books made from found objects. You will find richly illustrated and calligraphed pages as well as books created from a variety of printed processes. Ingenuity and creativity abounds in this carefully curated collection of both historically important and modern works.

Sandra Salamony is a professional book designer. She has authored, coauthored, and curated several books on artisan topics. She lives in Traverse City, Michigan. Visit her online at http://www.sandrasalamony.com.

Peter and Donna Thomas are book artists and coauthors of More Making Books by Hand. They live in Santa Cruz, California.

 

Helen Hiebert to participate in a Local Author Showcase at The Bookworm

First up, we're excited to announce that our very own author of Playing with Paper: Illuminating, Engineering, and Reimagining Paper Art, Helen Hiebert, is going be a part of:

Local Author Showcase at The Bookworm in Edwards, Colorado.
Monday, April 22 @ 6:00 p.m.

"Join us for our Spring 2013 Local Author Showcase, a reception-style showcase featuring authors in the community and region.  Talk to authors, learn about their inspirations and future writing plans, pick out gift books for friends, and purchase books to get signed.  Many authors, one night!"

Featured authors:

Location: 

 

The Bookworm

295 Main Street C101

Edwards, 

Colorado

81632-7932

To get a taste of more of Helen's fabulous creativity pop on over to this watermark post at her blog to see more paper altering goodness.

More about the Quarry book:

Playing with Paper:

Illuminating, Engineering, and Reimagining Paper Art

by

Helen Hiebert

Explore the world of paper crafts with this inspiring book! This guide begins with a section that covers everything about paper, including cool tools, folding and cutting basics, and fasteners and glues. The next section is filled with 20 fun-filled projects, including:

- One-sheet books

- Lampshades

- Clothing

- Accessories

- Hot air balloons

- Origami

You’ll also find an extensive gallery of artists whose work relates to and expands upon each project.

Take a page from this creative guide and start Playing with Paper!

Helen Hiebert is a Portland, Oregon artist who constructs installations, sculptures, films and artist books using handmade paper, thread and light to create transcendent experiences that alter viewers’ perceptions of time, space and form. She teaches and lectures about papermaking and lamp-making internationally, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Oregon College of Art & Craft. Helen exhibits her work internationally, she is author of the books Papermaking with Plants, The Papermaker's Companion, and Paper Illuminated, and she is a regular contributor to Hand Papermaking Newsletter. Helen has an extensive network of paper colleagues around the world and her interest in how things are made (from paper) keeps her up-to-date on current paper trends. Visit her online at http://www.helenhiebertstudio.com.

    

Jeannine Stein teaches bookmaking Etsy night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum Los Angeles

I am so please to share info about one of my favorite events - Etsy Meet & Make: Craft Night at CAFAM here in Los Angeles. On this Thursday night you can make 2 of the cutest little books with author of Adventures In Bookbinding: Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books and Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials Jeannine Stein. Don't believe me? Scroll down to check them out yourself!

Etsy Meet & Make: Craft Night at CAFAM
Book Making with Jeannine Stein
Thursday, April 4 | 7:00–9:00pm
(doors open at 6:45pm)
*Project Demonstrations at 7:00pm & 7:30pm
$7/ Free for CAFAM Members
(includes materials, drinks, and snacks)
In the CAFAM Courtyard

"Book artist Jeannine Stein will guide you in creating elegant, stitched books. Come watch the demonstration, then construct, embellish and personalize your book. Make new friends, peruse the galleries and more."

RSVP preferred to cafametsybookmaking.eventbrite.com

 

You won't want to miss this night of book making, after all it's taught by the author of two great books on book making:

Adventures In Bookbinding:

Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books

and

Re-Bound:
Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials