Enchantée by Atelier Écluse

Dear Everyone ~

I am deliriously delighted to herald the arrival of my inaugural order of Atelier Écluse (AÉ) handmade papers & blank books at BZS. AÉ is in Montreal, Canada, and I am honoured to be their first stockist in the U.S for their wares!

 From the moment I received lovely photos of AÉ’s new line of papers and books, I knew I had to touch them, fold them, and score them. These papers are even more exquisite in person. As you might imagine, as soon as my experimentation sheets arrived, I had to make a buttonhole-stitch book… and then another buttonhole-stitch book, and another …

The paper is 100% cotton and 100% a dream to work with. It is also incredibly glue friendly. Truly, my only quandary was to decide which pattern and what style of binding to stitch first. These blue & white patterns are so wondrous on paper, a colour combo that we love on Japanese ceramics & textiles, English tea sets, and even envelope inside tints. And the paper feels fabulous, felicitous, luscious. The sheets are 11 x 15 (as large as a Serizawa calendar page), so you can take a single sheet and turn it into a voluptuous casebound or softcover book measuring 5 x 8 x 1¼. 

Yannick Allen-Vuillet, the founder of Atelier Écluse, graciously answered my inquiries about his new enterprise. I learned that he had been a papermaker at Saint-Armand Papeterie! And that experience has inspired him to fully dedicate his career to book craft. Here are some details he shared, the next best thing to being there—for now!

“ Ecluse means ‘lock’. We are situated on the banks of the Lachine Canal, which played a very important role in the industrial development of Canada. The canal has always been a center of craftsmanship and savoir-faire, and our name tries to pay homage to that history and location. ”
 
“ Our studio is situated in a larger post-industrial building that used to be an industrial ceramics factory. We're just across the street from Saint-Armand. ”

​​“ The decorative papers are all printed in our studio on our etching press. We had a polymer plate made with our design, and then we printed with high pressure on slightly damp paper so we could get a good impression. For our patterns, I got inspired by fabric and textile patterns, and I tried to emulate a woven surface.”

I am also stocking AÉ’s dreamy Saint-Henri blank books in both sizes: 5 x 5¾ x ½ and 6 x 8¾ x ½. The pages are also 100% cotton, and are handmade by Yannick.