whitneysorrow.com -- My New Website

As part of my renewed focus on my books, I've opened a new website. From this point on, it will host this blog, as well as my portfolio. Currently it links to my Etsy shopfront, and although I don't plan to stop selling on Etsy anytime soon (because it's brilliant,) eventually it will be home to my own independent online store. But that's the future. In the present, please visit my new site, thumb through my gallery, sign up for the RSS feed, bookmark it, and share it with all your bibliophile friends. So, farewell edgybibliopegy.blogspot.com, it's been fun, but this is your last and final post. The Edgy Bibliopegy blog has moved on to whitneysorrow.com Please change your bookmarks accordingly, thank you!

Superman

This project was serendipitous on a couple of levels. My husband, who is a comic illustrator and an avid comic collector, and I had been talking for awhile about making my blank books using comic books. Sometime during these musings of ours, I was contacted by someone on Etsy about doing a custom photo album. It started off as a common enough request. But then the potential customer told me she wanted a Superman theme. A bell went off; this would be a perfect foray into the new comics series. Then she told me that she and her husband had called their late son their little Superman. And another bell went off; this would be a very important book for these people. Their son had been born with a larger than life spirit, but tragically with a number of complications. They only had a few months with their gorgeous little boy. His name is Beck and he was his parents' Little Superman, and of all the bookbinders on Etsy, they had found and chosen me to make the photo album that would catalog the photographs of his all too short life. His mother, Lindsey, is an inspiring, positive and open woman, with strength that I can only admire awestruck. She has blogged about her life with and after Beck, just follow the links if you would like to read more about their story.

So I began making a book that I felt not terribly qualified to make. My dear husband immediately recognized the importance of this new book to me, and jumped online and with some help from his other comic collector friends, found me a beautiful reprint of the very first Superman comic, Superman no.1 (not to be confused with the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics no.1!) It wasn't in the best of shape, even for a reprint, but that just added to the authenticity of the retro look of it (and honestly, made it affordable enough to be used for the book.) We bought the reprint on Ebay and when it arrived, it was perfect.


So, the front and back covers are the front and back cover of Superman no.1.


With a simple light blue as pastedowns.

I used some random internal pages for spine- and fly-papers, which turned out to be an affect that I really enjoyed, and have since employed on a number of my new comics books.



On the spine, I tried to sew the central bindings in a shape that would be a nod to the Superman emblem, but I'm afraid it got a bit lost in translation. I was actually envisioning this to be much clearer and at one point nearly tore the book apart and started the sewing over. Thankfully, my husband can talk me back from the ledge when necessary.




I've included a couple of step-by-steps shots for this post. When I sew bindings in any way but straight horizontal lines across the spine, I use a white charcoal pencil to mark where to punch. Although the top and bottom bindings are straight horizontal lines, the center binding is a (vaguely) in the shape of the Superman emblem.




Prior to sewing, I punch each signature by spreading it along a cardboard box.








As long as I'm divulging Eyes Only details... I'll show you what I use instead of a bodkin. I use bodkins, but rarely for what they're intended. Instead I pull the blade from an Exact-O knife and insert whatever size needle I'm choosing to sew with in the blade slot. That way, the holes punched are no bigger than I need.




I think the book turned out pretty darn cool. And how cool is the subtitle of Superman no. 1? The parents really seemed to like it, too. I don't think any book could have been quite special enough for this little boy, but I tried my best to at least make it pretty darn cool.

New journals, now with LINED paper

I've begun making lined paper for some of my journals. I modeled it after lined moleskines. The line weight is quite light and there are four lines per inch. I offer lined paper in three paper types:
- 25% cotton, 32lb, 30% post-consumer recycled, WHITE
- 25% cotton, 32lb, 30% post-consumer recycled, IVORY
- 100% post-consumer recycled, 24lb, WHITE

I've been making the journals entirely with lined paper and then also I've been experimenting with alternating lined and blank pages. The alternating format I think is quite useful, personally. I find that it's great for an idea book, I can sketch some of my ideas for new sewing techniques and patterns and keep notes along side. I'm sure you creative DIYers have a million ideas for how to use these alternating journals that I haven't thought of, so please leave some comments or email me with how you would use it.

I've also created a very simple month-at-a-glance section that I can add to any journal. It also comes in the same three kinds of paper as the lined.

Mini Books

This is a series of mini books I've been working on. They're great little practical and fun pieces that are great for tossing in your purse, backpack or laptop back, keeping next to the bed, in the kitchen or at the office for to-do lists, those profound yet passing thoughts, or spontaneous sketching and doodling. They are approximately the size of a check book. The covers are sturdy but pliable and the book block is made of 100lb premium Strathmore bristol illustration board, perfect for pencil or ink (even sharpies will not bleed or show through.) The pages are perforated for easy removal or using as a business card on the fly. Each book features either a lovely, textural 'caterpillar' stitch stretching from back to front cover or an elastic or button closure. The elastic covers work in the same manner as a moleskine.

I'm having a lot of fun with these -- using up some of my favorite paper remnants and playing with lots of color. They are for sale on my etsy site, for $15 each or $50 for a grab bag of four. The grab bag will have two with caterpillars and two with closures. Keep them in mind for the holidays... they're perfect gifts for co-workers, white elephant gifts, stocking stuffers or those last minute gifts even the most organized of us occasionally need. Hey, you might even need one for yourself to keep track of all your holiday shopping! (And yes, I'm aware of my shameless self-promotion here... please forgive me.)

They are archival quality, exposed spine sewn with a two needle Greek across the spine method, with waxed Irish linen thread.