E is for Envelop(e)

Dear Everyone ~

The Abecedary is progressing nicely, albeit a bit more slowly than I had anticipated, because it has become more elaborate, more multi. Our entry for E, for example, features an envelope. Not an illustration of an envelope, an actual envelope. Not a little tipped-on envelope, but an actual full-page envelope.

This envelope was hand-folded by Alyson (a.k.a. my postal muse), sans template, from Selvedge Indigo, one of her “tip-top five Cambridge Imprint (CI) patterns.” The envelope measures 5½" x 7½", and I will bind it into the actual spine of the Abecedary with the other signatures. It will nestle neatly between D for (Decoration) and F (for Folderol). The envelope flap is 2½" deep and happens to align elegantly where it joins the back body, which has a 1¾" throat. This alignment serendipity is one of the joys of covering, wrapping, and enveloping with CI patterns, especially the geometrics.

Ruby wrote envelop(e) on a pair of BZS ’peccably perfed labels (The red-bordered version is not visible at this moment, but will be…) Inside the envelope, we’ve ensconced a pair of BZS postcards and, for good measure, a petite glassine holding the four corners Alyson nicked out to make the envelope and two tidbits from the selvedge of the CI parent sheet. Janet Hoffman, the winner of the Abecedary, is hereby encouraged to entertain the notion of enveloping other/additional snippets (t)herein.

In related “news,” we are delighted to debut three refreshment palettes for the MORE Art of the Hand-folded Envelope kit, for those of you wanting to hand-fold more envelopes out of fabulous papers. All three palettes present an abundance, probably a profusion, of papers (all handily cut to 8½" x 11") we love to slice and score and fold and glue. Plus cover-weight papers by French Paper Co. (in Michigan, not to be confused with Atelier Écluse in Montreal) for making backless envelopes and enticing notecards.

Two new workshops à l’Atelier Écluse

Dear Everyone ~

I’m delighted to debut two new bookbinding workshops via group Zoom: Slim Case-binding with rounded spine and Modern Medieval binding with woven headbands.

My inspiration for the Slim Case-binding (SCB) workshop dates back to my early days of learning how to make books. I first learned to make an SCB in an eight-week course, where each week we advanced to a new level of technical complexity. The SCB was somewhere in the middle. At the time I realized it was an inventive way to make a hardcover book without the need for a book press, and I still feel that way! I continue to cherish the two SCB’s I made way back then—and I thoroughly enjoy using this binding technique when I want to make a thin book (less-ish than an inch and a quarter).

The structure students will make measures a charming 4⅝" x 6⅛" x ½". The workshop kit includes the materials to make two SCB’s, and their cover papers make for a very handsome twosome. We will make one together in the workshop, and you will make the second on your own, with the complete recording for reference and refreshment. Your SCB’s have a soft fabric spine and glued-on headbands. The structure opens completely flat, which is ideal for journaling, sketching, inspiring.

The materials I’ve combined for your Slim Case-binding with rounded spine are Atelier Écluse Ochre decorative handmade papers for the cover: 1 ochre + ecru & 1 ochre + slate. The interior pages are AÉ handmade bookweight papers in natural white with dramatic deckled edges. Both papers are incredibly fold- & glue-friendly. 

Modern Medieval binding with woven headbands is a two-part workshop with a twist on a binding technique dating back to at least the 14th century. We have modernized it with the materials we have selected. These books measure 3" x 4½" x 1¼" with pages folded from Stonehenge. These make lovely little sketchbooks or mini-multimedia marvels. They also look truly lovely on a table or shelf.

Students will learn how to stitch onto leather bands, and perfectly weave them through the front and back covers, which also have an envelope/pocket. You will also learn how to weave a decorative headband onto the top and bottom of your book-block. We will make one together in the workshop, and you will make the second book on your own, with the complete recording for reference and refreshment.

The materials I’ve paired for this workshop are Atelier Écluse rich blue 100% cotton handmade papers and Stonehenge paper for your ten tiny signatures. The two palettes are: Blue & White and Sky & Twilight.

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 bookbinding 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!

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 bookbinding 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!

And the winner of the Abecedary is…

Dear Everyone ~

We are hugely grateful to Everyone who sent a postcard (or two or three or more!) for the BZS First Ever Epistolary Drawing! Your enthusiasm and participation—and your creatively expressed anticipation—made the run-up to the actual drawing more exciting than we could have imagined—and heartwarmingly so! 

As soon as the postcards began streaming in, Will, our beloved mail carrier, would have a smile on his face when he handed me each postcard. Sometimes he’d come to the door with an armful of mail and say with a straight face, “Nope, nothing today”, and then a big smile would emerge, and he’d hand me a postcard, or two, or more, one at a time. He enjoyed this lead-up as much as we did, and we love that! 

Naturally, we wanted Will to officially draw the winning postcard—which he did last week—and Ruby was there to photo document us! 

And the winner is … Janet Hoffman!

Janet is a knitter of things, a maker of books, and a lover of paper. Janet had signed up for my recent Correspondence Album workshop via Zoom, though her daughter was getting married the weekend of Lesson 2, in another state, and another time-zone, several hours away … so she woke up very early the day after the wedding (the day of the workshop) and made it home in time to join us via Zoom!

The message on Janet’s postcard is addressed “To my fellow artists,” which we love. She writes, “This postcard encompasses many of the aspects of my creative journey. The photo is by a Scottish photographer who is married to a Scottish knitwear designer who creates beautiful knitwear patterns, yarn, and delightful books. All things I love. It also highlights my love of traveling and exploring all kinds of art in other contexts.” The Tomie de Paola stamp was a perfect choice for Janet’s sentiments. And now she has won the Abecedary at the end of the rainbow!

Later last week, Ruby & I made a garland displaying all of the postcards —each attached with two teeny Japanese paper covered butterfly clips to Japanese cording. The garland looks so festive in the shop that we are inclined to keep it up for the summer. We invite you to visit … and take a gander at the garland. 

If you’re able to drop by soon-ish, you’ll also have a chance to admire the Abecedary pages in person! We are putting the finishing touches on several pages this week, and I’ll be binding the following week. You will not have to wear gloves, though we will invite you to wash your hands—using one of our prized lavender soaps from the UK.

I want to assure Everyone that each and every page will be xoxtremely photo-documented (and scanned) before the finished Abecedary is delivered to Janet. We are percolating about making a facsimile copy to keep at BZS for posterity and dreaming about a set of Abecedary postcards. And my postal muse is penning a highly annotated index, detailing what each letter stands for (and why), as well as process notes about the various pages. This will become part of Janet’s Abecedary… and perhaps something we can share.

Later this week, we will post the E (is for guess what?) page. Hint: It’s not exactly a page.

Astoundingly beautiful creativity, Bari

Previewing the Abecedary we are giving away

Dear Everyone ~

Last Sunday, we gathered at Bari Zaki Studio to make the pages of The Thing We Are Giving Away… to the winner of the first-ever BZS drawing. This small group of dear friends includes my most frequent & creative collaborators. The amount of time I’ve known them ranges from the last century to the past year. We are all variously connected by our mutual love for paper. 
 
The paper party players, in alphabetical order, were: Alyson (aka my postal muse); Audrey (hand-letterer, photographer, social media maven, and Alyson’s niece); Bari/me (proprietress, hostess, bookbinder); Emmy (artist and Nimble Shop Assistant emerita); Janet (in-house illustrator and watercolourist);  Ruby (my current Nimble Shop Assistant extraordinaire); Tammy (master winder of waxed thread, co-stitcher, postage assorter & assembler), Wendy (hand-marbling marvel), and Zak (my beloved). The Thing has been given a proper name: An Abecedary of Things to Do With Paper & Things Paper Can Do (Abecedary for short). Our 50-some pages are approaching completion. Assembly—which is to say binding—will follow.
 
As an amuse-book, here is the title page by Ruby. She is also illustrating three other pages, and collaborating with Tammy on two more. For this page, she has hand-lettered everything with a fineliner and tinted with colour pencil—her choice, Lyra Colour Giants, natch!

The drawing is nigh! Sixty-some postcards were received, too numerous (and fabulous) to put in a hat, so we’ve upgraded to a Cambridge Imprint totebag. Will, our convivial & dependable mail carrier, will be doing the drawing early-ish next week, and we will announce instantly.

As an appetizer, here is the A spread, on which an accordion is affixed. One of the panels features azaleas markered by Emmy; another panel features Ruby’s montage of abstract images in colour pencil. Audrey drew an absolutely appropriate initial A. I folded the 5-panel accordion from Hahnemühle Bugra, with perfectly pleasing proportions of 3¾" x 5½".

As you may have gathered, some pages are works in progress: some are already in hand, some are being mailed back to me as I type, and some I’m still working on myself. Soon I will begin binding them all into a unifying structure. Soon there will be much more to report—including the winner of the Abecedary!
 
Absolutely brimming continuously, Bari
 
PS:
As to who is who around the center table, from left to right: Ruby, Me, Alyson, Janet, Wendy, Zak (sitting in for Tammy), Emmy. Audrey is taking the group photo—she will make an appearance in an upcoming post!

Élan, éclat, Écluse

Dear Everyone ~

I am deliriously delighted to herald the arrival of the two newest handmade papers by Atelier Écluse (AÉ). From the moment this fresh shipment arrived, it was all I could do not to be driven to distraction… and to my bone folder: to feel the texture, to fold the bookweight sheets into signatures, to begin making, yes… a buttonhole-stitch book. As I began to decant the box, Ruby immediately exclaimed, “Ooooh, those would make a lovely envelope!” So, that is exactly what I did next. Well, I had to make several, as you can will see momentarily. Then, I made another buttonhole-stitch book with the envelopes stitched in, as seen below. The ensemble, to me, is breathtaking.

The same lovely colour & pattern that graces AÉ’s ochre & ecru sketchbooks is now available in flat sheets. Like their blue & white counterparts, they also measure 11" x 15", with the actual pattern being 10" x 14". They are equally divine to score, fold, and glue. 

 The bookweight papers (100 gsm) are available in four earthy hues: Tan, Natural White, Terra Cotta, and Light Denim. They measure 18" x 24" and you can fold them into signatures measuring 3" x 4¾", or 4¾" x 6", or 6" x 9". Each fold is so smooth, you needn’t even think about grain direction! The dramatic deckled edges look so dressy and divine.

Speaking of luscious paper, I’m doubly delighted to announce that Bundles of Stationery Joy à la Japonaiserie are back in stock! A binder’s dozen to be exact, 13 bundles each swaddled in a unique vintage Japanese paper from our archives. As with the original batch, mostly from the last century, all from Aiko’s. There is only one of each pattern, so, as we have said previously, you might want to spring into action if you have favourites.

Each bundle contains a range of notecards and postcards from European designers and artists: James Winrow, Marimekko, Mary Feddon, Cambridge Imprint, Fabriano Medioevalis, and Hahnemühle Bugra. Envelope accompaniments include tissue-lined Pineider Monarch-y envelopes, an envelope hand-folded by me, and a vintage airmail envelope.

Sophie Harding’s incredible square notecards have been restocked, plus five new designs. Their charming names are: A Bowl of Cherries, (ABC), Last of the Summer Fruits, Marigolds, Sailing into Mousehole, and Shells & Ceramic Fragments. If you would fancy having one of all fourteen designs (a quatorzaine)—allowing you to send/present one very lucky someone with a different card every day for a full fortnight—be our best-addressed guest (and receive the 14th card free).

About a Bookful walkabout

Dear Everyone ~

Bookful of Wordless Stories, my 13th (our Binders Dozenth) Bookful collaboration with Cat Bennett, begins Saturday, May 18—amid mid-spring and early summer, a fine time for fine walks.

The structure students will make to illustrate their wordless stories is a single-signature booklet with decorative stitching and a trio of fab details: a window on the front cover, a triangular pocket inside the back cover, and a companion hand-folded envelope for presenting & protecting your booklet. Speaking of trios, the kit for this workshop includes materials to make three booklets, with three different covers and three complementary envelopes. Students will make one ensemble (booklet + hand-folded envelope) in the first week’s workshop, and the second & third ensembles thereafter with the recording for reference (and company!).

This past week at the BZS palette palace, Ruby & I were in a flurry of measuring, trimming, counting, thread winding, exquisite scrap assembling, and collating the colourful sets of Canson Mi-Teints papers for each kit. Several students have ordered both palettes, Delaunay and Bloomsbury. This means twelve different colours for mixing, matching & musing. It’s chromatically dramatic.

By the end of this week, all the kits will be dispatched to their destinations from coast to coast to beyond, and for in-shop pick up. You can read more about the kits in colourful detail in the shop listing here!

 Cat loves to walk in the dawniest hours of the morning. She rarely takes a sketchbook with her, but takes mental notes in her mind’s eye of the scenery, flora, and people. Once back in her studio she puts pen (or brush) to paper. I asked her to reflect a bit about this creative habit of hers and she shared  …

“ In creating a wordless story, we can capture our impressions of a moment in time in visual images which we can play with in fanciful ways. With the arrival of spring, I’m walking outside so much more and noticing the arrival of birds, blossoms and people too. Everything appears so vivid in spring and our books are records of what we see and feel. ”

“ Everything can spark ideas for images and, with three books, we can focus on three themes. After I’m out and about, I often make pen drawings in my sketchbook. I do these from memory and sometimes add color with markers or colored pencils. After I find some good ideas, I’m ready to work on my book. In our books we can also explore various ways of making images which bring our stories vividly to life. ”

If you would like to join us for Bookful, spring into action. There is still time to ship your kit(s). Cat & I like to emphasize, especially if you are a Bookful newcomer, that absolutely no drawing, painting, collaging, or bookbinding experience is necessary. The workshop pace is calm, and your walking pace can be a saunter (You can be a jaunter.) or a meander or a wander full of wonder. (And you will have complete videos to watch and rewatch—all 12 hours-ful!)

Bookful of Wordless Stories
 
Springing along, Bari

Appetizing & zesty postcards on approach

Dear Everyone ~

Postcard entries for the Bari Zaki Studio First Ever Epistolary Drawing (BZSFEED) continue to arrive from near and far. I have received entries from sixteen states, from northeast to southwest & northwest to southeast. Postage ranges from current to vintage, with the occasional blend. Some cards are overfranked, some sport hand-cancellations, some are uncancelled. The growing stack is a fabulous & fabulously eclectic mix of mediums and materials.

Our friend Carl Herrman has now sent in five postcards (seen above). As we’ve said, the more the verrier. Carl’s name for his rubber-stamping artistic mail endeavors is the Visual Lunacy Society, and his postcards are visually wild & loonily luxe. We have a few vaguely related background details about Carl via our postal muse, who actually met him at a postal design conference in Newport Beach almost thirty years ago. Carl is a lifelong surfer, and one of the thrills of his long tenure as an art director for the USPS was designing the 29¢ Duke Kahanamoku stamp. He comments, “ The First Day ceremony included a luau for hundreds with Don Ho performing. ” Carl also designed the Spiders & Insects of 1999, which was the most popular stamp issue of the year. When we asked him if he had favorites for which he’d been the art director and/or designer, he promptly asked us, “ Like asking which are your favorite children? ”

 At the opposite end of the visual lunacy spectrum, the postcard we’ve received from Frances Reed in Atlanta is more like a little black dress. Her entry is trimmed with red-and-blue piping, bordering both sides of the card. Even so, it’s very narrow, and we are wondering whether Frances could possibly have undertaken to subdivide the washi! You may recognize Frances’s name from our blog post A Morning Glue-torial at the Round Table. 

The deadline for receipt of BZSFEED postcards is Friday, May 10, which is two full mailing weeks hence. Don’t dither—send your card(s) hither!
 
Post haste, Bari
 
PS:
Before I could say Stationery Bundle of Joy à la Japonaiserie, the bundles were sold out! I’ve since received several emails and messages through IG enquiring if I will be offering them again. The answer is Yes! I’ll be announcing them as soon as you can say Stationery Bundle of Joy à la Japonaiserie. 
 
Apropos of which, the email I received from Kristen J. had a heartfelt subject line: Tell me it's not true! And her message began: Hi, I planned on ordering a Bundle of Stationery Joy for a dear friend when I ordered my Bookful of Wordless Stories workshop and see that they are completely sold out!
 
PPS:
And a customer who goes simply by X emailed to say, “ Wow! Japanese bundles gone immediately. ” If X had whined or bemoaned, it could have been a haiku!

Spring Shower of Stationery Joy

Dear Everyone ~

Writing notes is so much less taxing when you have splendid cards to choose from. We’re already halfway through National Letter Writing Month, and we’ve realized we should assemble some superior samplers to refresh your reserves.

Each Bundle of Stationery Joy à la Japonaiserie contains a range of notecards and postcards from European designers and artists: Eleanor Percival, Kiran Ravilious, Sarah Hamilton, Marimekko, Cambridge Imprint, and Hahnemühle Bugra. Envelope accompaniments include tissue-lined Pineider Monarch-y envelopes, Wanderlust envelopes hand-folded by me, and a vintage airmail envelope.

 As you may recall from past editions of our Bundles of Stationery Joy, they have always been ensconced (swaddled, really) in specific papers, from Japanese mulberry-fiber paper to crinkly non-Kodai Kikkō to Serizawa calendar pages to Wanderlust Paper to Cambridge Imprint. For this edition, we’ve upped our game, and will be wrapping each bundle in a unique vintage Japanese paper from our archives, most from the last century, all from Aiko’s. There is only one of each pattern, so you might want to spring into action if you have favourites. 

As you will see in the longest dropdown menu in BZS history, my postal muse and I have put our heads together to name each and every wrapping. The wrapping measures at least 12 x 16; some are as large as 14 x 18. All have been very gently folded, almost finessed, and we declare them suitable for lining a drawer or a couple of envelopes, or making a big envelope, or wrapping anew.

Permit us to point out what is tucked into the knot of the vintage Japanese cording beribbonment! Look sharp, and you’ll see a jumbeau pencil covered in a complementary paper. These are a big addition to our wrapped repertoire of half pencils with rosy eraser and standard pencils with erasers. And a charmola tag with the name of your bundle’s wrapping and, of course, a suitable seasonal stamp.

 If you aren’t in the mood for a shower of stationery joy, perhaps a sprinkling of new and replenished cards will float your bow. I’m delighted to report that two new series of notecards from the U.K. have just arrived: Jane Ormes’ English Garden watercolours (above) and Hannah Pontin’s quartet from 100 Drawings in 100 Days (below).

And Mary Feddon notecard portfolios, which sold out in a mad March moment, have been restocked. Plus we've added a third set of her cards: Two Cats and Cats & Compass.

Postcard-palooza!

Dear Everyone ~

Will has now delivered five days worth of freshly made postcards for our first-ever totally random drawing. We have received almost a binder’s dozen-and-a-half entries already, and they have exceeded our great expectations. What the dickens were they thinkin’, these clever correspondents! For now, we are keeping what people have written under our hat (a different hat than the one in which we will hold the drawing), but we cannot wait to show Everyone a few cards—to admire, and perhaps to inspire.

Here is a map-happy card from Siri B. in Chicago. She drew a map illustrating where her mailbox is in proximity to her home, and where some of her beloved natural wildlife hang out. She shares in her PS that she has sent a piece of mail to a dear friend every week for 25 years! (Do that math!)

Stacey P. in Florida has submitted two (2) postcards, because she “got so excited about the drawing for The Thing.” She asked on one of the cards if it’s OK to submit two, and we hasten to reply that it is AOK. Both will go into the hat. We say, the more the verrier!

Mary McM. of Maryland pressed into service part of a Serizawa calendar page from 1964, plus a few Katazome botanical embellishments adhered to the back of the postcard. She first encountered Serizawa-covered journals at BZS, by way of her daughter who lives in the neighbourhood. She has now imported an incredible number of Serizawa calendars for her personal creative endeavours. 

Carla J. in Virginia has recycled a very thick piece of corrugated (nearly ½"
 thick!) and used mixed-media & collage for the front of her postcard. She reminisces in her message about how learning to bind books during the pandemic opened her world to a deep love of paper, accoutrements for snail mail, and best of all—a new circle of friends.

 The thoughtful expressions, luxuriousness of mediums, and tactile nature of postcards I’ve received to date are beyond heartfelt. Reading Everyone’s connection to paper, bookbinding, and sending mail, brings a smile to my paper-loving heart from ear to ear!
 
More as it’s mailing, Bari

Announcing Bookful of Wordless Stories

Dear Everyone ~

Bookful of Wordless Stories is my thirteenth Bookful collaboration with artist, author & dear friend Cat Bennett. Our four-session workshop via Zoom will begin on Saturday, May 18. May the subsequent weeks be a wonderful time to be out & about walking amongst flora & folia, and sniffing spring breezes—an early warm-up for seeing and sensing summer. 

In this Bookful, as Cat describes in her spirited way, “We’ll illustrate three spring walks on which we encounter fanciful birds, fantastical flowers and a few fabulous people! Our art explorations will be on mixing mediums—drawing and painting with collage, colored pencil or pen with watercolor, and oil or crayon and paint. We’ll also explore making decorative collage papers by painting on tissue and mulberry papers. We will tell delightful short wordless stories with surprise endings. And we’ll look at the work of other artists to find inspiration.”

We will start by making a trio of single-signature booklets each with decorative stitching, a see-through window, a title page (which will also have a see-through window), and a pocket in the back inside cover. Each walk will be documented in its own booklet, and the title page will include a description and embellishment.

We will also hand-fold a trio of envelopes without a template, in which to enclose each booklet. Each booklet measures 6 x 7¾ x ¼ and will fit neatly inside its envelope for protecting, or presenting, or even posting! (We will discuss postage during the workshop.)

The kitful of materials for this Bookful features a colourful mix of Canson Mi-teintes cover papers in two palettes, for our covers and envelopes: Delaunay and Bloomsbury. This lightly textured (on one side!) paper is wonderful for many types of mediums, and its foldability is a joy to behold. And the creative, chromatic potential for mixing & matching is fairly intoxicating.

 In weeks #2, #3 & #4, Cat will begin the workshop session with a curated slideshow. She will then lead the class in painting & drawing exercises using a variety of mediums.

Cat & I want to assure you, especially if you are a Bookful newcomer, that truly no drawing or bookbinding experience is necessary—all levels of artistic skill & enthusiasm are encouraged to join us! The pace is peaceful 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!

 To celebrate our thirteenth—The Binders Dozenth—Bookful, every kit will include a glassine sleeveful of BZS Exquisite Scraps, suitable for collaging, massaging, admiring, and kaleidoscopic contemplation.

Bookful of Wordless Stories
 
Bookfully, Bari