Dear Everyone ~
Boxful of Summer is my tenth (!) bookful collaboration with artist, author & dear friend Cat Bennett. Our four-session workshop via Zoom will begin on Saturday, June 17, shortly before the summer solstice.
Our inspiration for this bookful is a boxful of summery stationery: notecards, postcards, and hand-folded envelopes to share with your correspondents. We will celebrate farm stands, farmers markets, and their bounty of colourful fruits & vegetables, flora & foliage, and the season of sunshine.
The drop-spine box structure you will make measures 7¼ x 8 x 2 with a single three-sided tray covered in Cambridge Imprint papers & linen bookcloth, with a flax linen ribbon tab. The main compartment will hold your stack, your stash, your cache of freshly hand-folded envelopes (A7 size, 5¼ x 7¼), notecards & postcards, ready for embellishing and sending. The box will also feature a slim divided section to hold a binders dozen of pencils you will cover in assorted Cambridge Imprint papers.
In sessions #2, #3 & #4, Cat will lead us in creative exercises using a variety of mediums including coloured pencils + watercolour, pen drawings, and collage. For the first time, we’ll also explore gouache painting. We’ll embellish our hand-folded envelopes inside and out, including experimenting with putting an all-over pattern on the inside.
The kitful of materials I’ve selected for this boxful showcases bright & cheery patterned papers from Cambridge Imprint. They will be paired, by me, with complementary linen bookcloths for the spine of the box. We will hand-fold our envelopes from Cat’s favorite drawing paper, and the notecards & postcards will be Stonehenge heavy cover stock, in natural white, with a smooth finish.
And, natch, you can restock your box for subsequent seasons. We are devising a “replenishment kit” of supplies and will announce this in our upcoming kit assembly post.
Cat & I want to assure you, especially if you are a Bookful newcomer, that truly no drawing or boxmaking experience is necessary—all levels of artistic interest are welcome. Our pace is relaxed & supportive, and the camaraderie is delightful. Plus, you will have four complete workshop videos (recorded in real time) to watch and rewatch at your leisure. We look forward to seeing you soonish via Zoom!
Boxful of Summer
Springing towards summer, Bari