Dear Everyone ~

I recently had a delightful visit from Sarah Bader.
She is a local longtime customer and the managing director for Gensler, a global architecture firm.
Four or five years ago,
she had purchased one of my Coptic-stitch bindings with a vintage book cover.
A couple of weeks ago,
she came by to show me what she had finally put in her book.
And it is so fabulous that I asked if I could photograph it and share some details.

Her finished oeuvre is a wonderful travelogue,
a beautifully arranged sequence of ephemera collages, sketches,
washi tapes, hand lettering, little notes,
and touches of coloured pencil just for the joy.
When I asked Sarah if I could interrogate her about her creative process,
she laughed, and said OK.

Did you collect these bits in some particular way?
Hmm well, we always plan our vacations to make sure we don't find out
we were only a block from some architechtural icon or a quirky landmark (that we missed),
so I always have a folder with me. As the days go by,
I gradually replace all of the reference materials I brought with me,
with those bits of stuff I want to take home.

Had you had the intention for a long time to arrange all these bits in a book?
Your book inspired me to make something special.
I thought of all the things I had collected and felt they would be a perfect match.

You must have had some "process" for laying out your pages.
Your book is too beautiful not to have had some forethought!
Sorry to say there is no forethought other than
trying to be as chronologically accurate as possible.
I like to center each spread with one idea or image and build around that.

* * * * *
Seeing Sarah's book was such a treat, and an inspiration, for me.
I would have swooned no matter what sort of journal or album she had used for her travelogue,
but the fact that she chose something I had made, just thrills me.
As I have said countless times,
there is something about using a handmade book that feels so perfectly personal;.
(You can read bookbinding details for Sarah's travelogue in the Project Gallery.)

In wanderlust,

Bari