Dear Everyone ~

Earlier this week, Carla & Steve Sonheim of Sonheim Creative
visited my studio. They came to film me as part of their
2020 year-long online class, Words & Pictures.
When I collaborated with Carla & Steve in 2017 for my
online bookbinding course, we worked at their awesome studio
in Seattle. For Words & Pictures, they are filming the
guest instructors in their own creative spaces.

Carla & Steve’s whirlwind visit was exhilarating
almost to the point of levitating. Now that I have come back
down to desk-height, I’d like to tell you about the afternoon.
Steve’s official mission is to film me teaching a simple binding technique,
for which I’ve chosen one of my very favourites: a loopy link-stitch booklet.
My segment will air on March 24, paired with a lesson by
my friend (& Bari Zaki Studio guest instructor),
illustrator Cat Bennett. Here’s a photo Cat has posted of
Carla & Steve filming in her studio.

First, I make a booklet from start to finish, so Carla can see the entire process.
Then, she & I chat about how to present the binding technique,
while Steve photographs and films my studio high and low,
far and wide. I’ll be thrilled by any glimpses of my premises &
wares that make their way into the segment.
And then it is time for my close-up,
an hour-ish under Steve’s expert eye.

I have made a dozen loopy link-stitch booklets
in advance of the filming, showcasing the lovely springy colours of
Saint-Armand cover stock. The pages are creamy Stonehenge,
folded into a single signature. I stock 7-ply waxed linen thread in
umpteen shades, and selecting the thread colour for
the range of covers is definitely part of the pleasure.

Carla, who is an artist, also shops while she is here,
selecting several sketchbooks and inks.
Then I invite her to choose three loopy link-stitch booklets …
which of course I’m fantasizing she will start to use right away,
so that she can show them in her introduction to my segment!
Here’s hoping!

Loopy with delight,

Bari