Dear Everyone ~
I am delighted to debut two workshops via group Zoom: Glueing Happiness Season 3 and Introduction to Drop-spine Boxmaking.
In the earlier incarnations of Glueing Happiness, students made two different structures: a hardcover padholder and a medium-sized clip-board, each accessorized with a freshly wrapped butterfly clip. Students used three different materials: Japanese decorative paper, hand-marbled paper & paper-backed bookcloth. Glueing these diverse paper surfaces allowed students to experience their distinct personalities.
My inspiration for the new workshop, Glueing Happiness Season 3, came while I was experimenting with covering a few pencils with Tassotti papers from Italy. They are the thinnest decorative papers I stock in the shop (Wanderlust papers being the heaviest). The Tassottis are excellent for many paper crafts, but lightweight papers typically can be more tricky to glue—but they also can be incredibly charming on a book or a box. So, I paper-severed. And I believe it’s always well worthwhile to experiment & experience firsthand how papers behave before starting on a more complex book or box. By making the same structure from various materials, we will be able to discern their differences—and discover our preferences on the path to ultimate glueing happiness.
In Glueing Happiness Season 3 you will make a trio of identical structures—three hardcover padholder-folders measuring 4½ x 8 x 1¼—using a quintet of bookbinding materials. In the process, you will learn & actually feel how grain direction impacts the way paper will curl when you are in the midst of glueing. For dessert, we will beautify butterfly clips and wrap pencils. You will be able to emulate my technique for trimming & glueing your pencil-covering papers perfectly.
Whether you are a glueing novice, a budding bookbinder, or merely in the mood to make a trio of hardcover padholder-folders accessorized with beautified butterfly clips & wrapped pencils to delight your desk or someone else’s—this gluetorial will be educational & entertaining.
Introduction to Drop-spine Boxmaking is my first boxmaking workshop via group Zoom! Students will make a twosome of drop-spine boxes, one in the workshop (the smaller, 4½ x 6½ x 2) and the larger (5½ x 7½ x 2) afterwards on your own. This particular box structure was my introduction to making a box over 30 years ago, and it has been my springboard for adapting this foundation to various box styles. It is ideal for practicing the fine points of trimming decorative paper for wrapping around the visible edges, corners & seams to create “seamless edges”.
The drop-spine structure is an elegant way to encase cherished volumes and ephemera; it is also a great home for photographs, postcards… or even a collection of washi tape. Your duo of boxes can stack chic-ly on a desk, or stand up on a bookshelf, where they look very much like books!
The materials I’ve selected for the kits are a colourful array of Japanese papers & bookcloth. I look forward to assembling each kit individually with a complementary combo.
As always, I will live record all workshop sessions, and these will be available to you later the same afternoon to watch and rewatch at your leisure. No previous boxmaking or glueing experience is necessary. You will have ample time during each step to ask questions while we work. If you have any questions now, please feel free to call or e me to discuss!
Glueing Happiness Season 3
Introduction to Drop-spine Boxmaking
Zooming into spring, Bari