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Things that make you go 'hmm'…

Back to the books

I finally got back into making books. I had been itching to use some of the new paper I bought at Falkiners and took a stupidly long time deciding which paper to use first, they are all so delicious. Indecisive? Me? Maybe, I can’t decide.
japanese_book_cover.jpgjapanese_book_open.jpgjapanese_book_closed.jpgjapanese_book.jpg

This is a sketch book. The coptic stitching binding method is very good for sketch books as the book opens completely flat. It also has rough watercolour paper and smooth sketching paper interleaved in each section, as L’s son said that would be most useful for him. This set me thinking and I decided to make another, bigger format sketch book using a different technique next, which will also be a good all purpose sketch book.

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11 Responses to Back to the books

  1. californiablogging August 12, 2007 at 12:06 pm

    Your books looks lovely. I’d like one like it in my stocking!

  2. Diane August 12, 2007 at 1:00 pm

    Thank you! When I have enough stock, I may start to sell them. I do get very attached to them though!

  3. DoanThuc August 13, 2007 at 7:09 pm

    I am Doan Thuc from Vietnam.
    I love your book. They look beautifull and coloful. Hope to see more books.

  4. Diane August 13, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    Thank you! I’m glad you like them. I am working on another one now!

  5. fishwithoutbicycle August 14, 2007 at 5:16 pm

    Wow!! You really should think about selling these. They are beautiful. There’s a high end stationary store in New York – Kate’s Paperie – where they charge an arm and a leg for this sort of thing.

  6. Diane August 15, 2007 at 5:55 am

    Thank you! I have visited Kate’s Paperie – it is one of my favourite shops in NY. My sister just said she would like some for Christmas presents so I had better get going and build my stock up!

  7. KiwiPulse August 18, 2007 at 9:07 am

    What a nice book you have there. I guess the simple things is always the best. Why complicated our life :D

  8. Diane August 18, 2007 at 9:32 am

    Very true! I am working on a book at the moment which is much more complicated (hence the long gap since my last post!) and it is giving me problems, but I will persevere….

  9. Pingback: Arts: Bookbinding | Informative & Breakthrough News About Everything Designed By Humans

  10. Allison June 30, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    I love the way this sketchbook looks and lays flat. I am very impressed. I am an architecture student, working on my portfolio for graduate school, I was wondering if you would be willing to give me some pointers on self binding something similar to this?

  11. Diane June 30, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    It’s one of those things that is much easier to do than to describe! There are lots of tutorials on the web – it’s called a Coptic binding. I learned from a book by Keith Smith (www.keithsmithbooks.com) ‘Non-Adhesive Binding Vol. III Exposed Spine Sewings’

    This is useful
    http://www.altered-book.com/coptic-binding.html

    This video is useful and shows punching the holes well
    http://seahorse-design.com/moods/?p=40

    This video is useful for the stitching

    Another helpful tutorial
    http://www.cat-sidh.net/Tutorials/Binding.html

    Be warned, if you use a curved needle, you will end up with fingers resembling pin cushions until you get used to it!

    Hope this helps. Good luck!

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