May and June books

Here's what I've been working on. A book a day is my goal this summer and so far I've only fallen short on 8 days (since May 1st.) There is no reason other than inertia and a bit of laziness that I couldn't have added a new post with a new book every day. So, my obedience of Newton's first law... an object will stay at rest or continue at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force. Though hard at work on my books, the law of inertia has been governing my blog. But, alas, today, some yet unidentified external unbalanced force has rocked me into movement. And, here it is... a new post, blog motion.
This sounds wonderfully more cosmic and romantic than if say, for example, I walked past my laptop and thought to myself, "shit, I have to get off my ass and post those fraking pictures." So, yeah, I'm sticking with the Newton story.

So, I'm not posting every single book I make this summer, but here's a sampling:


7.5"x11" photo-journal, 10 quarto signatures, totaling 40 pages of Premium Strathmore 100lb Bristol. Sewn using two colors of waxed Irish linen thread in a variation on the classic Greek two needle method. The cover paper is made by this cool company called Iota that concentrates on recycled content, vegetable dyes, all that eco-goodness we all need to support. Check 'em out.






5.5"x7.5" journal with 12 octavo signatures for a total of 96 pages of 25% cotton rag, 32lb ivory paper. Sewn with two colors of waxed Irish linen thread using a variation on the classic Greek two needle method. The variation is basically in the length of each stitch being sewn across three signatures rather than two. This particular sewing pattern required sewing with 8 needles simultaneously. I wanted to pull someone's hair out. Not mine... I was already in enough pain trying to keep 8 threads and needles straight! The endsheets on this one are particularly nice... a Thai Banana mash -- basically a tissue weight paper made of 50/50% kozo and banana fibers in a natural wood fiber hue. This book was a commission for an avid botanist and tree lover. The cover paper is an Italian reproduction of a classic Florentine botanical print.



I made this one for my girl, Kiersten.




This, unexpectedly became one of my favorite books this summer. I freaking love the skeleton! It's an Italian reprint of a Florentine classic print.




The Tarot...




Just playing with closures on this one. It's waxed Irish linen thread braided, and a mother of pearl button.



Super cool paper handmade in Italy.



This is Nepalese Lotka paper dyed by placing a stencil and then exposing to sunlight.


The Queen of Sheba! Paper courtesy of my sister in Dublin. I tried to give the spine sewing a little art deco feel. I used a method of packing the spine sewings using a burgundy thread.


This one has a little bit of everything... maybe a little overworked. There's a closure with waxed Irish linen thread and a wooden button, it's sewn on tapes with a French herringbone stitch, and then to top it all off, I added an Ethiopian coptic style endband.


More Iota peapods...





Cool, super deco paper that reminds me of some lady's prized wallpaper. With big birds and lily of the valley.


Caterpillars!
More caterpillars!


Most of these are still available. I'm doing art fairs this summer, so I'm working diligently to keep my inventory significant. Please email me with sales requests or custom orders. Pretty much all these styles and methods can be combined, shuffled, exchanged, etc..

Let's see if Newton is as relevant while I'm in motion as when inert.