Tag: Skillshare

In less than a month the Texas Avenue Makers Fair will set up shop in Shreveport, Louisiana. I was part of the very first event and will once again be joining the ranks of super cool vendors selling their wares. This year the event has grown, tripling in size and occupying a new location and offering more booths and additions than ever before. It should be a great day, weather permitted, so if you are in the area stop by!

I want to share the progress of what I am working on. Currently I am in the middle of making about 60 books. Whew, and it’s quite the workout. If you are looking at my bookbinding work for the first time, I primarily make perfect bound books but do stitch books as well. I also teach an online class on Skillshare about Making Perfect Bound Books, so if you are interested in learning check that out. Perfect bound books are a great way to get into bookbinding because they take less time and unique materials to create than stitched books.
Continue reading What Are You Working On?

This post covers an extra step related to my Bookbinding class on Skillshare. If you are not a part of my class and want to know more, check this out: Bookbinding Basics: Making a Perfect Bound Book.

Check out the picture below to see what my books usually look like after I make them. You see the endsheets hang over the end of the textblock and my spine tape hangs off the edges as well. I’m going to show you a bonus step that I didn’t cover in the class but like to employ.

Continue reading *Bonus* Trimming and Professionalism

Making things by hand is a passion of mine. Generally I spend the majority of my day at a computer – at work and at home – so sometimes I need to get away and do something tangible. Bookbinding is a skill picked up in college and something enjoyable to me.

Bookbinding is fascinating because books are everyday objects that you never think about. Books are so common and we are so used to them it’s amazing to think, hey, this used to be pieces of paper and thread, and before that a tree, and now a tangible object. Before I was taught the art of making books I never even considered it something I could personally do, or even enjoy. I mean, who makes books anyway, can’t you just buy a book or notebook at the store? Yes, you can, but by making my own books from scratch created a bond with the item that normally would not have happened.

Continue reading Made by Hand