Books Without Moths

I was going to continue with more pictures and blathering about my book moth print, but I think I'll save that for when I have some other things done with them that I have planned . . .

Instead, here are some little books I've made lately. As you may or may not know, I write for Handmade News and I've been doing a sort of Bookbinding 101, working through structures from simple to more complex. The last several tutorials have been on variations of the pamphlet binding, which is a surprisingly versatile structure.

This first photo is, of course, just a plain little pamphlet with a cardstock cover. That's where I started the series, so people could first learn the pamphlet stitch. Learn that, and you can make your own chapbooks.

These next two are variations with fold-over covers. The green one underneath folds right around to hide the stitching and close the book, while the cream one only folds around to close, leaving the stitching exposed. I decided to sew it with ribbon instead of thread, for decorative effect, and essentially sewed it inside-out so the knot ended up on the outside, again for decoration. The green one is actually one I made in intro bookbinding class years ago with Susan Mills. The cream one I made based on the green one, but simplifying the cover to use less paper. Personally, I prefer the green one. I've done other versions of this little book, including these:















Then, after the softcover variations, I moved on to hardcover. Basically, a hardcover pamphlet is a pamphlet-stitched bunch of pages in a case. It's simple to make, and will be a good way to move into sewn bindings.

In these, I had a little fun. I actually only included a plain cloth or paper cover in the tutorial, but I wanted to illustrate how easy it is to dress it up. I had a bunch of scrapbooking stickers lying around, so I used them on the covers of the cream and brown book and the little black one. I also used scrapbooking paper with writing and travel themes for the endpapers. The one with the fish is one I made in Susan Mills' class, where everyone in the class made a set of pages, and we exchanged them and each bound our own book. My pages had a coelacanth print in blue acrylic paint. I had a set of pages left over, so I cut out the fish and glued him on the cover. All of these books are for sale, incidentally, except the fish (and the green one in the second photo), so if you see something you want, let me know.

Finally, the tutorial I wrote today (which will be posted on Friday) has a variation of endpapers, and I showed them how to make a cover with cloth spine and corners and paper covers. I went with a monochrome colour scheme, which I really like (and I get to use coloured paper for the pages, which I love to do).

The brightness of the purple cloth and the darkness of the paper are exaggerated a bit due to shooting outside on a rainy day (that really does weird things to the intensity of colours), but it's not exaggerated as much as you might think. Anyway, I'm really pleased with this little book, and the ones in the last photo, so I think I may make more of them for my Etsy shop. They go together pretty quickly, but the rich materials make them look most delicious. I'd want to buy one, if I weren't the one making them.

Weekly Wishlist: ACEOs by Renee Nault

So I think I'm going to combine "Monday Multiples" and "Wednesday Wishlist" into one Weekly Wishlist post, because this blog is threatening to turn into a "cool stuff I found on Etsy" blog, when it's supposed to a "what I'm making/writing/doing/seeing in my yard" blog. (For the "what geeky thing am I in love with now" see my other blog, BFG, and for "what has Niko learned about bones/archaeology/palaeontology" see my other other blog Osteosophy.)

One of the things I've been working on lately (and I'll post more on this in my next post) is an ACEO or ATC (basically, trading cards for artists) to trade for one like this. I've become fascinated with the tiny trading card format, so I started researching ATCs (and ended up writing an article on them for Handmade News). The latest result of this, my newest distraction, is that I've found some wonderful illustrators. One I just had to share is Renee Nault. Here's a taste:


Not only does she make gorgeous ink and watercolour paintings (see her work here on Etsy, here on her own website, and here on illustratedATCs), she's also from my old hometown (inasmuch as I have a hometown) of Victoria, BC. I'm absolutely going to buy one of her ATCs, as soon as I can decide which one. And one of my goals is to get accepted to illustratedATCs (it's a juried site), so I can trade for her work, and the work of some of the other fabulous illustrators who hang out there. Whee!

New Bookbinding Article

I've finally got back into writing my "Bookbinding Basics" column (formerly "Leaf by Leaf") for Handmade News. The latest one, in preparation for more tutorials, is "Basic Toolkit." It describes what I think are the few tools you really need to do most bookbinding, from basic to intermediate structures at least. These are the tools I wouldn't want to be without. If you read the article and like it, it'd be nice if you could click the little "thumbs-up" doohickey at the bottom.

Another One Down

Yesterday I finished off another print job. This time it was 500 business cards and 1000 hang tags for Lesley Armstrong, a Halifax textiles artist. Even printing two-up, it was a big job and would normally have taken four days of printing, plus a day or so of prep and finishing. As it turned out, the "soon, but there's no rush" timeframe I was initially given was actually more like "right now, but Tuesday will have to do" (from now on, I'm going to insist on actual completion dates). In order to get it done on time, I condensed four printing days into three (thankfully, there were no big problems), and printed on the weekend, which I don't normally do.

While I was finishing the job, I thought a lot about the difference between "perfect" and "acceptable." Usually, I like them to be the same thing. But when printing a big job on a press not known for its accuracy of registration, the difference between perfect and acceptable gets bigger. I always print more than the actual number required, but sometimes it still comes down to weeding out the worst misprints and leaving the rest in. Of course, I'm talking about prints off-register by less than a millimetre, but I can see it's not perfect, and it bugs me.

Another factor, though, is the "handmade factor." When something is handmade, clients want it to look handmade (without being shoddy). A perfect letterpress print by the old definition would be indistinguishable from a digital print, except the printing would be denser, and perhaps softer on the edges. These days, though, the appeal of letterpress is its ability to impress the type or image right into the paper. You can feel letterpress. And the imperfections that would once have been rejected become interesting.

I was speaking about just this concept with Vince (former Dawson co-manager) during his visit from Kingston last week. He commented that people want some of that imperfect look, and I suggested that maybe we need to start thinking of printing from polymer plates the same way we think of wood type--the imperfections will happen and maybe we shouldn't try so hard to get rid of them (with old wood type, it's often impossible to get a perfect print, anyway).

So I finished the Armstrong Textiles job on Tuesday when I weeded out misprints, clean up a few ink smudges, and did the final trim. Oh, and hole-punched all 1000 hand tags by hand. Ouch! Today I finally started on the binding job that's next on the list, sent a quote off for the NSCAD President's Chistmas cards (to be printed next week, most likely), and caught up on some paperwork. I even got an article for Handmade News done (on how to make a little book from a single sheet of paper--it'll go live tomorrow), blogged for About PSP, and tidied my worktables. The studio is still a mess, but it's just a teeny bit less of a mess.

Tomorrow I need to finish a PSP article and maybe get started on a review, and finish prepping the digital files for my calendar and holiday card so I can send them to film on Friday.

Photos (all by Niko): Top - Vandercook Universal 1 proof press inked up in green. There's a little polymer plate on there, ready to print the second colour on the hang tags for Lesley Armstrong.

Middle 2 - Armstong Textiles hang tags and business cards, 4 to a page.

Bottom - A colourful beetle that landed on the ground in front of me while I was taking the air just outside my house.

Latest Writing: Flying, Books, Words

• Leaf By Leaf: The Beauty of the Book Form (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  Can the way a book looks (and feels and smells) influence your experience of reading it? I think it can, and in this installment of my column, I tell you why. (Books and photo by GILD Bookbinders on ArtFire.)





• Sunday Word Find: Painterly Pursuit (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  I use BillyZ's easel in the living room as inspiration for the latest word find. Because the puzzle has switched from Wednesday to Sunday, I made a new graphic. It's still not ideal, but just changing the text from Wednesday to Sunday actually makes it work a bit better.





• Leaf by Leaf: It's What's Inside that Counts (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  So after using one column to talk about the outside of books, this time I talk about the insides, and include a bit about my process of artist's-book-making. (Photo and artist's book by AnnaHawthorne on ArtFire.)





• Sunday Word Find: Drawing Dreams (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  My latest word find is all about drawing, since a lot of art and craft beings with sketches and jotting down ideas. Of course, drawing is also an art of its own.






• Complete Guide to Flying Games for PSP (AboutPSP.)
  
  I love to fly, and I like to play video games. There aren't all that many flight sims for PSP, so it was a reasonable goal to make a guide to them. So I did.

Recent Writing

It looks like I got a bit behind with my writing updates. So here's what I've been up to for the past few weeks:

• Leaf by Leaf: Hi, I'm Niko, and I'm a Bibliophile (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  
  This is the introductory article for my new column at Handmade News. In which I introduce myself and the column. Not much else to say about that. (Books and photo by Niko Silvester.)





• Leaf by Leaf: Getting Started With Bookbinding (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  
  The second installment of my column addresses the difficulties for people wanting to start making books, when there aren't many resources around. I provide a few links to get people started, and suggest a simple pamphlet binding to start off with. (Pamphlets and photo by Hannah on ArtFire.)



• Leaf by Leaf: It Starts With the Paper (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  
  This is the third article in my regular weekly column on books and paper. As you probably figured out from the title, it's about paper--how wonderfully inspiring it can be, how easy it is to buy too much just because it's nice, and how to choose paper for a project. (Handmade paper and photograph by paintingpam on ArtFire.)



• Glorious Gemstones Word Find (HandmadeNews.org)
  
  
  This time, the word find was inspired by my rockhounding trip to Scots Bay (which you can read about in the archives. I included all the names of gemstones I could think of, and naturally thought of a whole bunch more really good ones after the puzzle was finished and submitted. I also made a quick little graphic to use with every word find. As you can see, it's not the height of design, but it'll serve its purpose until I can make or find something better.



• Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II Review (About PSP)
  
  Niko tackles flying games. And despite the mediocrity of this game, I think I miht be hooked. Flying is fun! (Alas, no image for this one--I didn't even have screenshots to post with the review.)

I'm also working on some articles for Suite 101, but I'm trying to do a set of related articles and post them together. I really need to get going on that, though, as I'm several weeks behind.

I'm a Columnist! About Books!

Yes siree, I am now officially a columnist at Handmade News, in the "Inspiration" department. I'm writing a column about books and paper called Leaf by Leaf. I sort of borrowed the name from Joe's company, Leaf by Leaf Book and Paper Conservation. After spending more than a week trying to come up with a good column title and not being able to come up with anything that didn't sound stupid, and after almost going with "Bookish," I chose Leaf by Leaf partly because the word "leaf" can refer to both a single sheet of paper and a page in a book, partly because it sounds nice, and partly as a tribute to Joe, who has been a fantastic teacher.

My first article is called "Hi, I'm Niko and I'm a Bibliophile," and it introduces me and the ideas I have for the column. Next week I'll have something on how to get started when you really want to make a book but have never done it before.

In other news, the boy and I have continued our exploration of Nova Scotia. Last weekend we drove down the Southern Shore as far as Kejimkujik Park Seaside Annex. Because we meandered along and stopped a few times along the way, we didn't really have time to get out and hike, but we took the highway on the return trip and it's only about an hour and forty-five minutes, so next time we'll drive straight there and spend the day exploring the park.

I took an awful lot of photographs, but didn't really end up with very many I liked. Sometimes it happens that way, I guess, but it was a bit disappointing, considering the fantastic scenery. Maybe I just need to pay more attention to framing pictures, instead of snapping everything that looks pretty.

Interestingly, most of the pictures I end up liking are close-ups. I rarely like the wide-angle landscape shots. Whether that's because I take more time composing the closer-up shots than I do the landscapes, or whether it's because that's just the kind of photograph I happen to like, I don't know.

Anyway. That was Saturday. On Sunday, we went up to Truro to spend some time in Victoria Park, and I didn't end up taking a single photograph, though I carried the camera around. We also wandered around the town (or city--I think it's actually a city) and had lunch. We peered in the windows of a couple of Real Estate places and found some interesting-looking houses. Yesterday we went back up and tried again to find one in particular--a cottage, really, but two bedrooms on four acres--that we had tried to find last week. This time the office was open, so we went in and got directions.

It's definitely a cottage sort of property, but it might work fine as a year-round house, too. It's rural, but about half an hour's drive from supermarkets and such, and actually only forty-five minutes from where we live now in Halifax. Also, the price is very good. Whether we'll take the plunge and make an offer, I don't know. We didn't get to see inside the place, but hope to get back on Monday to do that. We'd have to get my mom to co-sign the mortgage, too. But it sure would be nice to be paying into our own place instead of paying rent every month.

I took a couple of photos, but haven't uploaded them yet, but the listing is here.

Oh, Wait . . .

In all my blathering the other day about the terrible state of my finances and the fact that I might not get the Handmade News job after all (oh, poor me), I completely forgot: my editor at Handmade News (or the woman who will be my editor) is in New Zealand. This means me being in Canada shouldn't be any sort of problem at all. I just have to get the right bits of paper to fill out. Yay!

And today's mail brought my paycheque from About PSP, which means I can pay a few bills and things without having to get out the old VISA. The coolest thing about said paycheque is that, because About, Inc. is owned by the New York Times Company, the envelope is New York Times letterhead. So it looks like I write for the NYTimes, which is pretty darn cool.

And also in today's mail, I got the last part of my print order from deviantART. A while back they had a sale where members could order prints of their own stuff for the same price as Premium Print Account members do, which is more-or-less at cost. I was curious to see what the quality was, so I could decide if I want to offer prints of my stuff through dA. They ship different items separately, even though they only charge a single shipping fee, so I've been getting bits and pieces of my order every week or so. The two images I chose are my two digital illustration pieces (the only ones I had enabled as prints at the time).


I ordered postcards, small magnets and a small print of each one. The magnets arrived first, closely followed by the postcards. Then the 8 x 10 photoprint of "After Hokusai" (above). I couldn't get anything much larger, because the resolution of the original isn't high enough.


For "Orpheus and Eurydice" (above), I ordered an art print, matte on paper. It's 12 x 18 inches, which I think is the smallest I could get. That's the one that arrived today, and it looks fantastic. Woo hoo! I have to say, though, my very favourites of the things I ordered are the magnets. Now I have fridge magnets of my art! Just like I was a famous dead person whose work is cannibalized to raise money for art museums. Okay, it's nothing like that, but they are really, really cool. At some point, I'll order copies of the things I've since enabled as prints, to make sure they look good, too, but first I have to sell some stuff.

Oh, and on selling, the buyer for the last book I sold paid after I sent the invoice, so SteamBook 04 is on its way to Norway! I think I might get a world map and stick pins in it for eveywhere I've sold stuff. Or maybe I'll make a virtual one on my website, whenever I eventually get my website together. It would be cool if I could have one where you could click or mouseover a pin and an image of the item sold popped up. Yes, that would be cool. I wonder how I could make such a thing?

Links for prints: "After Hokusai: 37th View of Mt Fuji" here
"Orpheus and Eurydice, After Dulac" here