Studio Sunday-New Use for a Favorite Tool

I love my packing tape dispenser for mailing packages. It has my name on it because it was my constant companion when I helped my mother-in-law pack up and move last spring. I'm so attached to this particular one that I wanted to make sure it always came home with me. 

I'm always looking for the simplest ways to add imagery, color, and pattern to the books we make in workshops. My goal is always to avoid thinking and planning. I love that the packing tape provides such a straightforward way to attach natural and found materials. I am going to replace this dispenser with individual rolls with built-in dispensers for workshops as this one can be tricky to get the hang of if you're not used to it.

If you missed the calendar how-to book post, you can find it here.

Book Arts Tuesday-Decorative Paper

Karleigh Heywood of Badger and Chirp has a set of videos about decorative papers from around the world (Thailand, India, Nepal, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Italy, France and the U.S.) Here's how she introduces them:

There are thousands of options for using decorative paper in your handmade books. Links at the bottom of this post are places where the papers discussed below can be found. Following are seven short HD videos showing several popular types of bookbinding papers. Although video isn't quite the same as holding a paper in hand, it's actually does a decent job of giving a sense of what a paper is like, much better than a still photo can do. Hopefully these can help you, whether a new or experienced bookbinder, gain a sense of papers you may not have handled before.

View the videos.

Book Arts Tuesday-Korean Paper Techniques with Aimee Lee

Last Saturday I had the most delightful surprise at the Boston Paper Collective in Charlestown, MA. I signed up for Aimee Lee's workshop, "Paper like leather, bark like thread: Korean paper techniques", because I had just gotten her book and was loving it. Since I read nothing about the workshop, I assumed it would be about making paper but decided to go even though it is not a particular interest of mine.

Turned out the workshop wasn't about making paper at all but about techniques for working with paper that has already been made. We had a busy but relaxed afternoon learning five different techniques. As we worked, Aimee told us wonderful stories as she shared her experiences learning papermaking and these paper techniques in Korea as a Fulbright Fellow.

First we worked directly with plant fibers—dak from Korea (kozo is the Japanese equivalent)—that Aimee had prepared. We used awls to tease the fibers apart and make a lace-like surface.

We then moved onto working with paper. We started with texturing paper. We used beautiful Eumyangi (moon-sun) paper that Aimee had made in Korea. We crumpled it into a ball, wet it, wrang it out, and then squeezed it tightly together. We loosened it by throwing it again the table and then used several techniques to add texture and softness to the paper. It became more fabric-like as we worked. I can see lots of possibilities and am anxious to work with this technique again.

We made paper cord by cutting a piece of paper into one long strip (easier than it sounds with Aimee's time saving method) and then wet it and twisted it. Aimee has used this for knitted books. I'm not sure where it will take me.

Joomchi is a way of felting paper. We used colored kozo papers Aimee provided. A base sheet was sprayed with water. Smaller pieces were torn, arranged on top, and then sprayed again. The paper was then crumpled and massaged, opened, and the repeated until the fibers merged. I made the initial K for my daughter Kendra. I do a lot of collage in my classes and love the idea of working without glue. However, joomchi requires papers made with long fibers so my beloved recycled copy paper won't work.

The last thing we made were twisted cords for Jiseung, paper weaving. Aimee showed us a most amazing collection of objects woven from paper. I must say I was daunted by the time and skill required for making the cords, let alone a woven object. By turning two strips of paper in the palm of your hands, you are twisting the individual strips in one direction and twisting the two together in the opposite direction. You can see in the picture of the ones I made where I got confused and started untwisting the two for a while.

If you ever have the opportunity, take a workshop with Aimee. In the meantime, check out her book and her website where she has a lot of information about Korean papermaking including videos as well as her own work.

P.S. I do know it's Wednesday.

Book Arts Tuesday-Randy Asplund

Randy Asplund has a wonderful website in which he shares his work with medieval book arts and manuscript illumination, as well as science fiction, fantasy, and fine art. Randy is an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Here is what he says about the group:

I am very lucky that my career and hobbies overlap so much it is a blur to distinguish between them. My active hobby is the SCA, where we dress and socialize as a medieval society. Many of us put on real armor and play a very active and extreme sport based on medieval combat.
However, lets not confuse the SCA with medieval accuracy. It is a club which exists for people who want to enjoy exploring the romance and ideals of the middle ages, not necessarily the exact way things were. What I mean to say is we are very liberal in our expectations. For example, we recognize that new people (who are often students with little cash) do not always have the means to create perfect costumes any time soon. Instead of not letting them play, we make allowances and try to encourage them toward the goal of creating a more authentic ensemble. Some members just come to party with their friends -and that is cool, while others take delight in pushing the limits of in-depth research, and learning all they can about recreating the look of the middle ages. I fall into both categories.

Randy has indeed pushed the limits of in-depth research. He is both patient and fearless in his quest for knowledge of the old ways. He makes his own parchment and some of the colors he uses for illumination. He also makes and sells reproduction tools.

Late 14th- early 15th c. French reproduction Brush Tray with decorative glaze, for Tempera painting.


Visit RandyAsplund.com to see samples of his work and process which he generously shares it online.

Studio Sunday-Scissors

Here is my collection of scissors. From left to right:

The purple-handled Fiskars student scissors stay in my desk drawer at the computer end of the studio. I get very bent of shape if they get moved.

The orange-handled scissors are my workshop scissors. I have lots of them. When I first started teaching I thought I would mostly work with parents and teachers. It turned out over the years I have most often taught children. They managed quite well and the younger ones found using grown-up scissors rather thrilling. I store them in plastic shoe bins and carry them to workshops in a large plastic container which also holds bins of glue sticks and hole punches.

The small red scissors are in my work kit (a shoe box) for the Spirit Books which holds scissors and needles and whatever beads or thread I need for a particular project.

The silver scissors were purchased at a discount store in Northampton, MA and are wonderful. They are in a drawer at the workshop end of the studio.

The small blue-handled scissors are also for workshops. I really don't like blunt scissors but I use these for DIY workshops where parents and kids move through stations with materials and bookmaking instructions. Occasionally parents are more interested in talking to their friends than watching their children and I go for safety especially when there are young children.

Here's a little scissors history and superstitions at uncommon scissors.

Studio Sunday-Organizing Plastic Bags

More from the studio cleaning: Here are before and after pictures of my plastic bag drawer. Sue Williams from South Africa sent me an email after a previous post which showed my overflowing drawer. She kindly sent me directions for a way to fold plastic bags with handles for storage. Here are her directions with photos I took of the process.

Fold in sides and then flatten the bags with handles at the top.Then fold over in half lengthways and then again and may be again if a big bag. You should now have a long narrow strip of folded bag!

Starting at the bottom, fold over to make a small triangle and then the other way until you reach the top.

Use the handles to fold over your "fat" triangle and store in your drawer.

Thanks Sue!

Studio Sunday/Bins

I've been asked how I keep all my materials, especially recycled, organized. It was a matter of necessity as I packed and unpacked materials for workshops. I am so lucky to have space. And a part of that space is filled with stacked plastic slide-out bins. I think the Rubbermaid ones are better but I have a cheaper version from Tom's Discount. I have 24 and used to have even more.

I started with the bins when I was bringing all the paper and materials to my workshops, before these recycling days of paper bags, cereal boxes, and used copy paper. I used to buy paper from a printer pre-cut in specific sizes and had a drawer for each size and sometimes for each color. When I first started, I kept the paper unsorted in a stack of boxes from the printer but packing was tedious. My daughter was at a Montessori preschool where there were stacks of bins in the classroom with a bin for each child. I adapted the idea for my studio.

Here's what's in this stack:

Stencils and Patterns

I love the Fun with Stencils books with 6 pre-cut stencils in each and reasonably priced. There are ones on Dinosaurs, Flowers, Northwest Indian, Pirates, Egypt, and many more. I've seen them in bookstores, card shops, and toy stores. I order mine directly from Dover Publications, Inc. for the largest selection. I use these most often in family workshops. There are also some patterns I use for specific projects like the ones for the dreidel accordion book which you see here.

Recycled Stuff

This drawer has miscellaneous recycled things I'm saving for book projects. It used to contain rubber stamps but I reduced my collection as I don't bring them to workshops anymore. They make more of a mess and I find that stencils, markers, and collage papers offer inspiration enough.

Index Cards

I use index cards a lot for accordion books (directions for Index Card Accordion Book) and keep a selection on hand. Also in this drawer are a bunch of little pads of bright colored paper that I bought on sale at Staples. I think they're a little small for what I had in mind so they may be going into the donation bin.

Plastic Bags

No matter how much I try to bring my own bags, plastic bags do find their way into the house. I keep the nicest colored ones. As of now, my main use is to cut them in strips and and use them for ties but you never know when a new idea might come along.

Ribbon

I don't use ribbon as much as I used to but still have a healthy collection. For accordion ties, it is flatter than yarn and makes a more attractive book.

Card Stock

This is the last of my collection of paper from the printer.

Studio Sunday/Blocks of Wood

One section of the studio is storage for workshop materials. I use blocks of wood when I do Japanese bindings—one block goes under the book to protect the table and the other is used as a hammer. It works well and I think it is a little safer than a hammer. It doesn't hurt quite as much if you miss and hit your finger.

In a workshop, the sets of blocks are shared by two or three kids. Each one gets a sewing kit.

* 1 size 16 tapestry needle (These have a very large eye. They're bigger than one would usually use for bookbinding but they're easier to thread. I purchase them at JoAnn Fabrics in packs of 5.)

* 1 small pencil (for marking the holes)

* 1 nail (to make holes for Japanese bindings)

* 1 push pin (to make holes for pamphlet binding)

* 1 small piece of cardboard about 2"x 3" (to protect the table when making holes for a pamphlet binding)