A cornucopia of fabulous cards

Dear Everyone ~

The British are, in a word, brill about papery pleasures. Perhaps because England was the first country to have postage stamps (1840, with the U.S. following in 1847). Whatever the origins of this British epistolary epiphany, the inspirations and innovations continue. We have restocked cards and notebooks and cards and envelopes and cards from a quartet of our favourite artists from across the pond. Make a splash!

Kiran Ravilious is an artist in the U.K. whose work I’ve followed—& drooled over—for many moons. In the early-ish days of BZS, we stocked her notecards & notebooks. We have long longed to restock them, and the moment—and the glorious shipment—has arrived! Kiran creates new designs every season, and they are perennially enchanting and enticing.

We begin with an octet of pocket-sized notebooks. Measuring 4⅛ x 5¾, they are staple-bound, and their interior 24 pages are a lovely natural white. The covers are delightfully heavy, and their patterns extend across the back. Nota bene: The notebooks are exactly the height of a Le Pen, so indulge your penchant for colour coordinated writing accessories. Clip, clip.

In the notecard department, two sets of six notecards await: Tutti-frutti (a Kiran classic) and Flora Scallopini (a charming vase and blooms, in a trio of colourways). Cards measure 4⅛ x 5¾, and come with a Euro-kraft envelope. The card stock itself is warm in tone and super-smooth to the touch. The inks sit vibrantly atop the matte finish.

 We’re also stocking ten Kiran notecards sold individually, so you can assemble your own cache. Same pretty proportions, same luscious cardstock, same krafty envelopes.

Moving down to the southwestern coast (figuratively speaking), we have replenished the original three British Seaweed Postcard Portfolios from Molesworth & Bird. And we’ve added their newest set, seaweeds collected on the Isles of Scilly (pronounced silly, not skill-y). The Silly set of twelve postcards is of course presented in Molesworth & Bird’s charming reusable portfoli-ette with string-and-button closure. We’ve also stocked the set of eight Silly notecards, which fold over at the top and likewise reside in their own portfoli-ette. 

 We’ve refreshed our offering of Cambridge Imprint envelopes & postcards with six new envelope patterns and six postcards with complementary botanical borders.

But wait, there’s these! Three new whimsical notecards by Hadley Paper Goods. And we’ve restocked Fruit Salad, a set of ten enclosure cards with envelopes in a sweet box (handy for rogue postage, wild washi, and petite pencils).

Kodai(s) and Cockerells in my coffers can be yours…

Dear Everyone ~

Collecting papers has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Everyone who has followed BZS for a long time may know the story of my childhood paper closet… Since then, wherever and whenever I have travelled, scouting for paper has been on the itinerary. 

Years before I began to make books professionally, I became a frequent visitor, and shopper, at Aiko’s Art Materials here in Chicago. The papers were marvels I'd never seen anywhere, and the shop was an enchanted sanctuary. I quickly discovered that even my simplest book could be dressed up by a Katazome or Chiyogami.

Chuck Izui—manager and eventual owner of Aiko’s—let me know when certain papers would soon become extinct, because the family who made them didn’t have anyone to pass on their expertise to. Such were the circumstances of the family that made the crinkly Kodai papers seen here. Aiko’s would receive two shipments a year, with only one or two sheets of each pattern.

This paper is indeed paper but looks and feels like fabric. I taught myself—by experimenting—how to use it for my purposes. Once I figured it out, the Kodai glued like a charm, for books and for boxes. (I will happily share my technique with you via email or phone, after purchase). And a snippet, a strip, a shard goes a long way on a card.

My prized vintage Aiko’s sample book (below), is opened to one of the papers I am now going to part with. Before Aiko’s closed, I was fortunate enough to stock up on parent sheets of many beloved patterns. A fair number of these have remained in reserve, and are now ready to be pressed into service—after being scored, cut, folded, and glued—by someone other than me.

 In related retail news: Ruby has just assembled what will be the ultimate (in both senses of the word) batch of our Japanese Deluxe Vintage Paper Assortment. As with the original assortment, we’ve selected thirteen (a binders dozen) 8½ x 11 sheets of papers I originally acquired at Aiko’s in the grand old days. Assortments are similar but not identical (no duplicates within an assortment). I will select for you.

Back in the early aughts, Zak & I were planning a visit to our dear friend in Norwich UK. As always, my brain was computing our route by seeing what paper places we might visit on the way. The Cockerell marbled studio—whose papers I’d covered many books with—was located in Cambridgeshire. I sent my inquiry via post, because the trip pre-dated my emailability. A favourable reply was forthcoming (maybe it forthcame!) via post!

We had a lovely visit. We got to stand inside the room where all the marbling magic happened and heard the history of the patterns and techniques. Of course we brought home a large, actually very large, supply of Cockerell hand-marbled papers in assorted exquisite patterns. These have been living, neatly and cozily, in my paper cabinet, and I am deaccessioning several sheets each of a binder’s dozen of patterns.

In my very first Introduction to Glueing Happiness via group Zoom, students covered a piece of binder’s board and a companion butterfly-clip (in a contrasting Cockerell pattern, natch) and the results were exquisite.

This could go without saying, but my years of collecting, and working with, the papers I acquired at Aiko’s are some of the finest papers I’ve ever had the joy of working with, not only for the foldability and glueability, but also because the patterns and textures are timeless. There are books I made years & years ago that continue to make my heart smile from ear to ear. May they have the same, or perhaps even greater, influence on your bookbinding endeavours.

The many glories of Wordy Stories, by the Bookful

Dear Everyone ~

Bookful of Wordy Stories, my 14th Bookful collaboration with Cat Bennett, begins Saturday, September 21—a soupçon less than a fortnight hence! Last week, whilst Cat & I were discussing our inspirations for the upcoming Bookful, she told me a wordy story that she was really excited about. I won’t be a spoiler sport, and Cat will be sharing it with everyone in the workshop, but I will hint that it took place in her teens. We’ve decided to show one of the illustrations that will accompany her story. Voilà! (Cat's knack for extracting Cambridge tidbits always delights me.)

I find Cat’s creative process both inspiring and a bit mysterious. She is always exploring new techniques and ways of illustrating a story whether visual or verbal. Her teachings help students discover their own personal style in a gently encouraging fashion. Even if you don’t plan to join us for Bookful of Wordy Stories, I think you’ll find Cat’s words about her creative process well worth your while. First, a bit of suspense...

In this Bookful, we will make a trio of charming booklets, each one to hold its own wordy story. The book structure is a French-link stitch booklet measuring 7½ x 5¾ x ⅜ with two 4-page signatures (16 serendipitous sides). We will make one together in the first workshop session, and students will make the other two booklets on their own with the live recording for guidance, and even, I like to think, for company.

Listening to Cat got me thinking about the multitude of wordy stories we each have in our library of memories, to record, illustrate, and share. Telling our personal stories in our own personal style elevates an anecdote or a reminiscence into a story you delight in re-reading from time to time, again and again. These books can be private, just for yourself, giving joie de journaling a wonderful form. They can be a very special personal gift to a lucky recipient, or installments in a family history, or you tell me....

Last week, Ruby & I did our ‘kit assembly dance’ for the upcoming Bookful: measuring & winding & counting, and mixing & matching the threads, the papers, and the vintage wallpapers. This week, I will begin wrapping & packing & dispatching the parcels from coast to coast, in between, across the pond, and beyond. 

Here is some food for creative thought from Cat: “I often begin writing projects with a visual ‘mind map’ starting with words. This allows my mind to roam without attaching too soon to any one idea. One thing leads to another and, in this free state, things pop up I hadn’t dreamed of before. Sometimes I do one with loose thumbnail drawings to dive even deeper. Drawing and free association opens the cabinet of imagination in my mind. With the map, I can step back a bit and see possibilities I might not have considered before. Some ideas spark great excitement and curiosity and those are the ones I home in on. In this Bookful, we’ll explore making these creative maps as springboards to creating our short wordy stories. And then we’ll see how adding drawings, photographs and collage items gives them zing.”

Everyone has heard the saying ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ For your Wordy Stories, just a few of your words will make your pictures so much richer, so much more of a story.
 
If you are considering joining us, we still have time to ship your kit(s). As always, Cat & I like to emphasize–especially if you are a Bookful newcomer, that truly no drawing, painting, collaging or bookbinding experience is necessary. The pace is serene and the camaraderie is harmonious. (Plus you will have complete videos to watch and rewatch—all 12 hours-ful!)

Earlier this summer, to celebrate our 13th—a binder’s dozen!—Bookful, we decided to make our full-length live recordings of workshops Nos. 1–12 available all summer, which you can read about in enticing detail here. It’s officially summer until Friday, September 20, which is both the autumnal equinox, and the eve of our 14th Bookful. Our Bookful page (irresistible pun), will remain on the website until 10pm Chicago time on Friday, September 20, for your perusal and purchase. Once purchased, the recordings are yours to watch and rewatch for as long as your heart desires.

Bookful of Wordy Stories
Bookfuls

Looking Bookfully towards autumn, Bari

Très Yay for New Papiers from Atelier Écluse

Dear Everyone ~

Big, flat parcels are among my favourites to receive—and then to decant. My recent parcel from Atelier Écluse included two of their newest, truly swoonworthy patterns. We have named them Feathers & Lace and Tile & Brocade. They are dressy, they are elegant, and they are as luscious to fold as they are to behold.

The parcel also contained a fresh supply of AÉ bookweight papers and the blue & white and ochre patterns we’d been low on. We have also restocked their beguiling St-Henri sketchbooks in every patternway from petite to grand. This is the most AÉ we’ve ever had in the shop, and it’s a wonderful feeling.

Speaking of feeling: Two-ish weeks ago I came down with an awful case of Covid. Ruby has kept up the pace, picked up the pieces, and then some. Thank you, Ruby! I am now well on the mend, and I’ve missed being in your inbox. I’ve been wanting to share that Yannick, the proprietor and papermaker of AÉ, had sent me a report of AÉ’s warm reception at their first National Stationery Show in NYC. I’m delighted that he’s ready to introduce AÉ to an international audience. Yannick wrote, “It was an immense pleasure for us to meet many visitors at the show who already knew our work through you and your store. We are so happy to have our products showcased in such a landmark of the American stationery community.” And we are so happy to have been AÉ’s first U.S. retailer.

Seen above is my slim-case bound book with rounded spine that I made alongside students during a group Zoom workshop earlier in August. I chose to run the pattern vertically, as on AÉ's St-Henri blank books. We think the pattern will look equally divine horizontally, and look forward to experimenting soon.

Atelier Écluse decorative papers & bookweight papers
Atelier Écluse blank books
 
Picking up steam, Bari

Auspicious August workshops

Dear Everyone ~

This past Saturday was the first of my two summer workshops via group Zoom, Slim Case-binding with rounded spine. Twenty-ish students were in attendance, which made my heart smile from ear to ear. Each student’s book was a veritable showcase of Atelier Écluse papers, which are such a pleasure to work with, to look at, and to touch.

Chris e’d me to say: “I'm in love with the Atelier papers from Saturday's class. I'm in love with them… if one can be in love with paper.”

Jen e’d to say: “I enjoyed Saturday’s class and am very happy with my first glue-project!”

If you’d like to learn how to make a Slim Case-binding with rounded spine, you have not missed your opportunity! The complete recording is available here, and its companion kit can be shipped to you promptly upon your purchase of the recording. As always, I am at the ready to answer any questions that might arise, via phone or email or even a micro-Zoom.

This Saturday begins my second summer workshop via group Zoom, Modern Medieval binding with woven headbands. This is a two-session workshop, and the very lovely, truly little book students will make measures 3" x 4½" x 1¼". We will fold down our pages out of sheets of Stonehenge, and make our softcovers from Atelier Écluse blue-and-white—which seems simultaneously Japonesque and maritime and decidedly Delft. The signatures get stitched onto leather strips with headbands that we weave ourselves.

These books make wonderful, and wonderfully portable, sketchbooks. The structure itself is also great in a larger format, and I will explain during the second workshop session how this works, should you be inspired to make one on your own.

Here—because we can’t resist sharing the smile—is a photo of Will, our most beloved (and photogenic) mail carrier, balancing a large armful of kit parcels for my two summer workshops. 

Modern Medieval binding with woven headbands begins this Saturday. If you are tempted, there’s still time to join us live, and your kit could conceivably arrive as well. If not, you can certainly follow along, ask questions, and watch the recording when your kit materializes. Similarly, if you’re not able to attend live, you will have the live recording of both workshop sessions—available for 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!

Modern Medieval binding with woven headbands

Oh, do we L-o-v-e paper, Bari

Announcing Bookful of Wordy Stories

Dear Everyone ~

Bookful of Wordy Stories is my fourteenth Bookful collaboration with artist, author & dear friend Cat Bennett. Our four-session workshop via Zoom will begin on Saturday, September 21. Might I add that it seems an auspicious start to autumn?

As Cat describes in her endearing way, “We'll draw and paint images then write stories about them. Words can describe the real experiences in our lives that images only hint at. We’ll focus on a different theme in each of the 3 books we make—people, places and books that have been important to us. We’ll use colored pencils and watercolor to make strong images with both line and simple shapes. This will be an opportunity to explore color intensity and layering in watercolor. And also how to add line, texture and shading with colored pencils. And we’ll talk about how to write a succinct but powerful memory story with a beginning, middle and perhaps a punchy end!”

Students will make a trio of French-link stitch booklets—one for each Wordy story. The booklets have sturdy softcovers, and two 4-page signatures (16 serendipitous sides). The three booklets are all the same size, measuring 7½" x 5¾" x ⅜". We will make one together in the first workshop session, and you will make the second and third on your own, with the complete recording for reference and refreshment. We will illustrate & tell our Wordy stories in sessions #2, #3 & #4.

The kitful of materials I’ve assembled for this Bookful features three different colours of St-Armand 100% luscious handmade paper for the covers; a complementary assortment of vintage wallpapers for the bands that you will stitch onto, and weave into, your covers; and Stonehenge for the pages. I’ve selected materials for two palettes: Primary & Aqueous. Both include five different wallpaper patterns, and five different colours of thread, providing endless delight whilst you mix & match, and stitch!

In weeks #2, #3 & #4, Cat will begin the workshop session with a curated slideshow. She will then lead the class in painting & drawing & collage 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!

Bookful of Wordy Stories

Zoomiling towards autumn, Bari

A very Abecedary Stationery Store Day

Dear Everyone ~

This Saturday, August 3, is the third annual international Stationery Store Day (SSD). We will celebrate the day—and our passion for all things paper—in true BZS style. This week, as I perused the official SSD website, it was exciting to see the list of participating shops, both stateside and abroad. It has, let’s say, grown greatly grander since the 2022 inaugural event. Stationers in 43 states, from east to west and north to south, will be welcoming epistolary enthusiasts. In Chicago (and environs) alone, there are eight retailers! 

This year's SSD swag showcases the whimsical work of Massachusetts-based illustrator Krista Perry. There are posters, postcards, washi tape, stickers, and of course, a tote bag! We will be wrapping and packing and embellishing every order, both in-shop and online, with SSD swaggaliciousness.

Herewith a preview of our BZS gift-with-purch merch ($60 pre-tax): a BonanZa of Swell small scraps, from vintage Japanese to Cambridge Imprint to hand-marbled to Grafiche Tassotti, in a 3 x 6 glassine. Adding to your scrap-happiness are a mini pencil and tiny butterfly clip covered in Japanese decorative paper. And, because more is always merrier, we have not resisted assembling an envelopeful (Rivoli Rose 6 x 8 with a deep, divine flap) of companion swag as part of your BZSGWP: 5 power to the paper people notesheets, 1 official 2024 SSD postcard, a different SSD postcard, and 5 rows of SSD washi tape (two of the rows are actually perfed between the stamps!) affixed to a Carta Pura notecard. Your envelopeful of swag is not SWAK, but it is sealed with a charming SSD sticker, which you can peel off intact if you are attentive.

If you are feeling spendy, with a purchase of $100 or more (pre-tax), you will be in the pink with an additional GWP, an official SSD reusable polyester tote bag (while supplies last). It is eye-catchy, mixy-matchy, and spacious, as Ruby demonstrates below.

 But wait, there’s this! The much anticipated Abecedary is n-e-a-r-i-n-g completion! We’ve invited Janet Hoffman (the lucky winner, as you may recall), via post, to join us this Saturday and take possession of her prize. And we are delighted to report that she’s r.s.v.p’d to say she will be here with bells on!

Alyson & I are putting the finishing touches on the index, which is more in-depth than we had originally envisioned. I’m in the midst of folding, scoring, and stitching the signatures into the cover (which we will keep under wraps for now). Emmy is scanning the beguiling A to Z pages for future facsimilizing. 

If you are able to swing by on Saturday, you can view the Abecedary in person (until Janet comes & goes). We will ask that you wear our thin white gloves while looking at Janet’s book, and we are requesting no photographs. If you cannot join us this Saturday, don’t fret. We are excessively documenting, photographing, and videoing every square inch of the Abecedary.

This Saturday, the shop is open from 12–5pm. Because we are ardent equal-opportunity shopkeepers, online shoppers may place their Stationery Store Day orders beginning at noon (Chicago time) on the 3rd to receive the BZSSSDGWP (while supplies last). 

Always stationery, rarely stationary, Bari

Midsummer Merch Memo

Dear Everyone ~

My ninth anniversary of shopkeeping and teaching on Lincoln Avenue flew by on June 26. Three weeks later, it’s high time to present this year’s little present-with-purchase to celebrate the occasion. Ruby & I have assembled an abundance of Mezzo-Bundlissimi: the scrap-happiest of samplers with the dazzling diversity of our big Bundlissimi, in a smaller size range (business card-ish up to 5 x 7). Splendid for jotting, listing, enclosing, collaging, and experimenting. Until the end of July, every order of $81 or more (excluding shipping or tax) will include a bonus Mezzo-Bundlissimo, beribboned of course.
 
In related papery pleasures, our midsummer merch report highlights a lovely handful of new notecards from the U.K., a delicate new brush pen, and the triumphal return of the much loved Coccoina mini-glue sticks (10g).

James Winrow has added two new birds to his aviary notecard collection: a Purple Sandpiper and a British Robin. We’ve expanded our original set of four notecards & envelopes to become a sextet. The new cards are printed on the same glorious cardstock, fancy but not flighty.

Cambridge Imprint has gotten in the swim with a new pattern called Sea Urchin, which has debuted with a splash. The two colour combos are Sky & Cocoa and Neon. 

 We’re delighted to report that our repertoire of Mary Feddon notecard portfolios has been restocked and two new sets added. My apologies to all the feline fans wondering where the Two Cats & Cats and Compass set has wandered off to. They will be back in a few weeks, and we will broadca’t their arrival immediately.

 My heart went pitter-patter when I spied this notecard duo from British artist & printmaker Sarah Battle. Her whimsical birds ’n’ blooms inhabit a free-flowing domesticity. (A certain muse of mine has gone gaga for the plaid pitcher.) They are sure to swoon your recipients!

Moving northward to Helsinki: We’ve stocked Réka Király’s Herbarium notecards in the shop for many moons, and have finally added them to our online shop, singly and as a set. Black-and-white bearers of delight!

We’ve also added a very fine Japanese brush pen to our writing implement repertory. This brush & its bristles are beautifully slender. The ink is water-based, highly pigmented, and waterproof. It flows smoothly and consistently on a multitude of paper finishes, from Rivoli to Hahnemühle and beyond.

James Winrow
Mary Feddon
Sarah Battle
Réka Király
Lush-ious brush pens

Nary a moment without stationery, Bari
 
PS:
Mark your calendars! The third annual international Stationery Store Day (SSD) is Saturday, August 3—less than three weeks from today! The official SSD swag has arrived and is under protective wraps. We can reveal that there will be washi tape, pads of paper, postcards, stickers, and as always, SSD tote bags! And of course we are making a BZSSSD giftie too. Details forthcoming fast.

Summertime, and the writing is easy

Dear Everyone ~

We are delighted to showcase four new postcards by watercolourist and BZS in-house illustrator Janet Bouldin: three bouquets in beguiling vases and a teapot collage. This is Janet’s inaugural teapot postcard—she has been making these collages with scraps from my bookbinding projects since 2021. We first featured the originals here in our A New Season of Serizawas blog post. 

 The snippets she’s used to make the teapot on this postcard are from a Japanese Katazome paper whose pattern we refer to as Japanese Floating Garden. These scraps were from a buttonhole-stitch book I had made for my postal muse. The texture and colours are reproduced beautifully on the card. 

 Janet comments, “I try to make use of the pieces exactly as they come from Bari, without any alteration, to see if I can make a coffee or tea pot, sometimes even a cup.”
 
The floral postcards are quintessential Janet. “When I’m looking for things to draw and paint, it seems I land most often on a vase with flowers—there’s something calming and meditative about the combination. The hellebore in the bird-shaped pottery pitcher is a bit different and quirkier. The pitcher belongs to a friend I visit. I love the colour of the hellebore and the way it looks a bit like a hat.” 

Janet’s whimsical postcards measure 4 x 6, so you can indeed mail them at the postcard rate. They are all printed, including her previous sets, on Mohawk Superfine in the eggshell finish, a surface that welcomes all manner of writing implements.

Speaking of writing implements, I have just refreshed our Kaweco fountain pen shop listing with three new colours in the Collector series: Mellow Blue, Sage, and Teal. Also in the writing accessory department are four new glorious Kyo-no-oto inks: No. 10, Ochiguriiro (a rich dark chocolate); No 11, Ruriiro (a deep nautical blue); & No. 12, Ryokyuuiro (a glorious aquamarine);  and one Special Edition, Ginkaisyoku (a shimmery sage). It occurs to me, as I’m thinking about ink, that all of these colours are fairly marine, an opportunity to add a soupçon of summer, a seaside breeze, to your communiqués.

A summery summary of Bookful recordings!

Dear Everyone ~

Cat Bennett and I have been co-teaching our Bookful workshop series via Zoom since September of 2020. We began with Bookful of Art. Every year since, we've presented three 4-session workshops with a different theme, from Bookful of Illustrated Notes to Self (No. 6) to Bookful for the Arrival of Winter (No.9). In Boxful of Summer (No. 10), students made a drop-spine box to hold their hand-folded envelopes and notecards that they illustrated with fruits & flora of the season, complete with a slim compartment for the pencils they covered in Cambridge Imprint papers.

In a Bookful workshop, we begin by making a book—learning a different style of binding or structure each time—under my tutelage. In the next three sessions, Cat leads a never-ending variety of drawing & painting exercises, sharing her creative process and inspiring everyone to easily & joyfully fill their books. Here is one of my favourite post-Bookful posts showcasing everyone’s finished oeuvres and their general delight.

We usually take a Bookful break during the summer months. This year, as we conclude our 13th (a binder’s dozen!) Bookful, we’ve decided to make our full-length live recordings of workshops Nos. 1–12 available all summer. Each recording (12-ish hours-ful) comes with the same kit of sumptuous materials as the original workshop (barring the occasional palette refreshment or replacement), plus my standard discount on any tools you order at the same time.

Here are a few of Cat’s Bookful reflections:

​​“ I’m always trying to think of interesting themes for our books that will motivate us to grow our art making. There are endless ways to make art from the same subject matter. At the beginning of each class, I often do a slideshow with examples from other artists giving us ideas about how we might work. This is how I work as an artist too. I’m always looking at art to see what sparks an idea for me. Sometimes it’s a color or the way someone wields a brush with a bit of swagger or a pen with delicate sensitivity. Even when we take inspiration from other artists, the work always turns into our own. In Bookful, we explore drawing and making art in many ways to grow our own art.

As a teacher, I hope to encourage everyone to work with imagination and try things out. Even to go to the edge of their abilities and ideas. That’s where we really discover things and make creative leaps. I’m always excited to see the beautiful work our students do and think the books we make and fill are real treasures. ”

If you’d like to purchase more than one Bookful recording, we are offering this enticement: a 15% discount ($44.25!) on your second recording, likewise on your third, and so on & so fourth. The collected Bookful recordings will be available for purchase until Labor Day, and the recordings will be yours to use for as long as you need.

Bookfuls
 
Calm, cool, collected, Bari