Introducing Blot: the Notebook

In preparation for The Blot Event last week (huge success, thanks to all those of you who attended, photos coming soon!), we prepared some notebooks for our attendees. They were a hit and we are proud to announce that they are now available on the website.

Okay, so the wax seal plays no role,
we just find it charming.

Blot: the Notebook are 3x5 notebooks. They come in packs of 3 notebooks for $12.

Photography by JGublers Photography. Gorgeous, as always.

How to Cover a Sketchbook

A few days ago, I received a call from a delightful women out in Massachusetts. Kim had ordered one of our journals, but had a few questions. I'm so glad she called. It turns out that what she wanted, was not what she had ordered. Kim was looking for a refillable journal that could double as a sketchbook cover. We don't currently sell refillable journals, so we custom made a sketchbook cover around her specifications.

The cover was made from genuine leather

The slips for keeping the journal in place are designed for a 6x9 sketchbook;
 however, they are snug enough to hold a smaller size.

We added a canvas pocket for holding art supplies.

Love this wood button.

The cover was designed for a 6x9 sketchbook,
holding 80+ pages of 80lb drawing or mixed media paper.

It's amazing how often we end up doing custom orders for people. It's one of my favorite parts of the job. Books and journals are such personal items; it's rewarding to tailor them to individuals, plus, it's fun.

Do they still teach bookbinding?

It turns out they do.

When I think of trade schools, I think of HVAC repair, beauty schools, and auto mechanics. The North Bennet Street School of Boston Mass is a trade school of the classical genre. NBSS offers courses in bookbinding, furniture making, violin making, and piano technology. As an institution, NBSS has come to be one of the oldest and most respected trade schools in the country.

Here is a highlight from this article in Felt & Wire:

 “We’ve seen an interesting reaction to the rise in e-books and online publishing. There’s a heightened awareness of our work, both from people who are interested in doing it and from those who are interested in buying. People seem to have recently stopped taking physical books for granted — which might be a short-term phenomenon — as digital technology has come up. I sense a bit of a backlash — a renewed interest and appreciation of the higher end, in owning books that are of higher quality, a little better thought out, in terms of design or craft or both.” He adds, “Even Penguin Classics are beautiful right now, and I think that reflects demand. People don’t want throwaway — if it’s disposable, then electronic is fine. We’re definitely seeing people interested in taking care of their existing books — repair and conservation have been the main source of demand for bookbinding skills. We’re also seeing a growth in demand and interest in hand-bound books. I like to joke that nobody is ever going to say, ‘Oh look, here’s the Kindle that grandpa read during the war.’”

As bookbinders, this is what gets our hearts going, the inherent value of well-bound, beautiful books.

In addition to the article above, I recommend that anyone who is interested in the NBSS bookbinding program should check out Work of the Hand, a meticulous blog by current student, Henry Herbert.

For anyone local who is interested in hand-bookbinding classes, I teach those as well. In the beginner's class, we make a hardback book like this:

I also teach a coptic class:

Give me a call or send me an email to set up a private or group event.

Wake Up the World

We have been working on a really interesting project with the owner of Free-Men Companies, Eric McGuire.

Free-Men Companies is a financial planning organization with a strong foundation in civic responsiblitiy. McGuire has written and published his book, Wake Up the World: Prophetic Warnings and Our Duty to Protect Freedom and the Constitution of the United States. The book is a compilation of instruction from the Founding Fathers and LDS Church leaders regarding the constitution of the United States.



McGuire had a gorgeous cover for his paperback books

 We worked with the author to design a custom cover design for the leather bound edition of his book. All of the cover design is done by hand using a silk screen printing method. This allows us a lot of flexibility in the design and provides a unique affect that is hard to replicate with offset printing or machine stamping. After working with McGuire, we settled on a clean, elegant design.



Books with their new leather covers, laid out to be screen-printed.



The Free-Men logo was screen printed onto the back of each book



Books laid out to dry with the first coat of sealant.



Stacked books getting prepped for delivery.

 One of the best parts of the job is working with authors and being exposed to some of the amazing things being done and said by the individuals in our community.

For more information, or to contact Eric McGuire, send an email.