I’ve made 10 PenSlips and they are listed on my etsy.com account here:

ComfortableShoes@ Etsy!

They are $9.99+shipping. I pride myself on fast shipping and great customer service. If anyone is looking for one in a different size let know. I’m also working on these in fabric, so look for themin a variety of colors, textures etc if the fabric works out.

These PenSlips turned out well, I think.

Take a look.

Well, I took the order for this ages ao and finally I was able to buckle down a DO IT!

Spec are as follows:
400 pagges of Fox River Ninja Confetti, 25% cotton and 24lb; super thick and perfect for juicy fountian pens. (GOD I LOVE THIS PAPER!!!)

Butter soft olive green sheep hide backed with a matching olive colored paper with chunks of mango leaf spotting it’s surface.

I created a sewing pattern for the spine that is related to the previous book that this client ordered. I used similar spacing but broke up some of the stitches into a set, creating a more dense weave across the spine. I think this is nice.

I used an Irish linen thread that is naturaland unbleached. I handwaxed this with just enough wax for stitching.

Enough words, lets get to what everyone is really waiting for the book pR0n!

I find that often the people who purchase a fine journal are unique. the gentleman who had me make this 400 page ctom tome is a Pastor who rides a Harley and this book was to be his companion as he traveled the US with a group of like minded Pastors. It’s a sueded black sheep hide,lined with a thick textured paper in deep tans and reds and even a little green. It’s pages are Strathmore 25% cotton 24lb paper. It’s built tough to with stand the rigors of riding a Harley.

These little journals are pocke sized and I was asked to create a renaisance theme. They becam gifts for a couple who travel to renassance fairs and dress in costume. Hopefully they fit in with the surroundings.

This 400 pge beast is covered in supple olive green sheep hide. It’s soft and smooth. THe inside is filled with heavy Strathmore paper. The clients favorite color is green and she asked me for a paper inside to match the leather. Luckily I am nearly as obessed with paper as I am with notebooks and buy intersting sheets aI find them. In Ellsworth, Maine is a small art store called “the Craft Barn” I stopped everytime I make the 6.5 hour drive to visit my parents. They have a tremendous selction of papers that rivals many places here around Boston. Their prices are also fair. It was here I found a rainbow of colors of “mango” paper. It’s paper with big chunks of Mango leaf visible throguh the whole sheet. The color matched the olive green leather perfectly.

My addiction to notebooks and subsequently bookbinding has been with me my whole life. It started with small stacks of paper stapled together, childish scrawls filling the innards. In high school it progressed to expensive spiral bound notebooks, which I filled with algebraic notations and terrible poetry; their pulpy covers covered in doodles and art. Sketchbooks filled with pencil sketches and ink drawing, covers made stiffer with stapled layers of card stock. Journal after journal decorated with collages yet filled with painful teen angst.

It wasn’t until college that I discovered decadent leather covers, smelling of fine upholstery and filled with thick cotton paper, deckled edges and the promise of adventure. Here in my second year I discovered the promise o bookbinding. T tease that with some study I too could bind myself an wonderfully artistic creation of leather and fine paper. I met 4 prominent binders from the North East and learned of more than simple stab and accordion bindings.

It was also here where my binding met a 4-year hiatus in learning and exploration. Bookbinding wasn’t seen as an art, and in a typical art school fashion I wanted to be ART and not craft. I chide myself daily for not sticking to my interests and following my heart and wonder where I would be today had I tried new techniques then. It is also here my first several attempts at binding failed in a miserable fashion.

It wasn’t until much later that I would purchase books on binding so that I could gather together my favorite papers to create the sketchbook of my dreams. I started by teaching myself basic bindings- simple pamphlet stitches and figure 8 stitches. Progressing to the Coptic stitch and lingering with it for years, learning many stitches and patterns. I then explored the long stitch and linking stitches and this I currently where I’m exploring today.

As often as I use my notebooks to journal and as a basis r my own art they are still a fundamental section of my exploration. Needle, linen thread and fine leather all bring to me a sense of excitement mingled with a passion for experimentation. Art is a means of exploration of senses and mind.

I have finished the hedgehog and pen slip order! The studio is too DAMN hot to work in right now, so I’ll be stitching in the bedroom- it’s the only room in the house with AC and with temps where they are now I need to chill in AC.

WE officially put an offer in on the house and are currently waiting to see if it’s accepted. I’m very excited and nervous about all this and can’t wait to get out of the rental trap. I’ll find out tomorrow. With all this, it means that for the months of September and October I probably won’t be working on books much. Sigh. I’ll be getting settled into a new place! Which means that this winter I’ll be going full force on books, I’ll need to so I can afford the mortgage!

I’ll be working on the next order starting tomorrow. For now here are some shots of the hedgies and the pen holders.

That brings me to another note- I’ve been calling them “PenSlips” and my brother called them “PenPockets.” Now I‘m torn as to what I should call them, I want opinions! Leave a message and let me know what you think I should call them.

I’m back. My ankle, now 2 months after the sprain, is much better. Because my DayJob as a florist requires me to be on my feet for 8-hour stints it’s taken much longer to heal than any other sprain I’ve ever had. It’s still stiff and sore on occasion and if I feel like my foot/ankle is getting exhausted I put on a brace.

Now as for books, I’m taking orders on a limited basis. I’ve got 2 right now and I know that’s all I can do for a while. I’m being realistic. I know that between my DayJob being a time drain and the healing of my body that I need to take it slow. I’m sure that slowly my ankle will be a-o-k again and I will be able to push myself to the outer limit of bookbinding.

In very VERY exciting news, the studio is getting a permanent home! My significant other and I are purchasing a house! It’s not a huge house; it’s enough space for us, the dog and perhaps a room to rent to a friend. (A surprisingly common practice here in the North East. Housing prices are so high that many of our friends now rent a room to another friend just to afford the house!) It’s got a nice backyard and most importantly both a garage and a basement. The basement is solid and clean, meaning I can use it as a studio in the cold months. The garage is large enough for a car and a large lawn mower, which means that I could take it over as my studio as need be. Needless to say I’m happy to be buying a house with room for me to work. When we worked out our budgets I was worried that we might go for a condo or something terribly small that would require me to put all my supplies into rolling storage and work in a dining room. It’s also in a very ne and cute little city in the north of Massachusetts called Beverly. There’s an art school in town and lots of very cute things, and fun stuff to do. I like the town a lot, it’s perfect for the two of us.

So in all this madness we’ll be moving soon. Hopefully we’ll be moving in September and have that be our last month here in the apartment. It’s not far away but long enough that the nerves of moving are making me too jittery.

This was to be a post about my being back on the bookbinding wagon, not about moving!

So I have 2 orders and they are taking me less time than I expected. I have an order for 10 lined hedgehogs with penslips. I’m done with the hedgehogs and I just have to make the slips. They are really quite time consuming but very practical.

I’ll also start putting things up on ebay and etsy as time permits. I’ll post links when I do.

I owe everyone who ordered a book an email and I’ll be working on those shortly. I’ll apologize for dropping off the face of the planet and everyone who ordered books at I was unable to complete will get an email.

Beth Lee, if you are still reading this, the books I sent your way bounced back to me, seems the address was wrong? I must have typed it into the USPS website wrong. What’s weird I that it took MONTHS to get back here- it got here probably 2 weeks ago, I sent that package out probably 6 months ago.. I’ll resend if you email me your address again!

“I thought the hiatus was over?”

Well, it was and then I turned around and sprained my ankle, right after my car broke down! It’s not a bad sprain enough that I have to keep it elevated and bandaged for a few ore days, as well as visit a podiatrist. I can walk on t and I’ve been on light duty at the day job. Today I’m getting in half a day until my buddy comes in to cover for me. After which point I’m heading home where I’ll rest, ice and elevate my bruised and sore ankle and foot. I must ay that this is the weirdest sprain I’ve ever had; it’s not overly swollen and not overly bruised (not like last time where I was bruised from my toes to my knee, and the whole thing was twice its normal size.) It’s just kind of stiff and sore, with occasional stabbing pains when I over do it.

Because I stand when I cut leather and paper I’m not able to do much in the studio. I also am unable to sit at my table; I can’t comfortably elevate my foot. I am able to sit on the couch with my laptop, so I’m working on the web page!!! I’m not going for drastically different, but it will be much smoother than what I have now. I’ve planned this page out much more than before. I also have a much stronger understanding of DreamWeaver and a handy dandy guide to walk me through all the steps. So now I’m not leaving a title or keywords out. So when you google my page, you may actually get one of my pages. Amazing!!! I’m hoping to get the majority of that done over the next 2 days, the images will take me longer but the main pages should be running over the next few days. I’m pretty excited, as my web page hasn’t changed in 4 years now!

I‘ve got a few books ready to sew and when I get tired of staring at the screen I’ll start working on them.

It’s been awhile hasn’t it? Some of you may be wondering where the heck I’ve been; in fact, I know some of you are wondering this, as I’ve gotten several emails wondering if I’m okay. Well, I’m okay. Here’s the story:

My DayJob, as much as it doesn’t drive my heart, like bookbinding, does pay my bills and gives me insurance, so when it required extra hours I felt it necessary for me to do my part and work those extra hours. So over the last few months that’s what I’ve been doing, working at the DayJob. It hasn’t been especially fun or enjoyable, but it is what it is, a way to pay my bills.

I now know that probably every year I will have to take hiatus from binding around this time of year, essentially Christmas to Mother’s Day. It sucks, but it has to be done. Of course that only stands if I stay with this job. Which depending on what happens over the next few months with my significant other’s position and our buying a home may or may not change my ideas for work. Without going into too much detail I’ve been told by the higher ups that if things continue to go the way they have been that I should think about other locations. This is their way of patting me on my back and saying “Good Job.” It works for me.

Starting this week I’m off my self imposed hiatus. I apologize to those of you who haven’t heard from me in the last few months, but I can tell you that you wouldn’t want my work rushed, it’s much better when I take my time.

In addition to this, I’ve been ill. I was seriously hacking and coughing and sleeping when I wasn’t at work. I had what I would describe as a sinus infection/chest cold thing. It sapped every ounce of energy I had and required to me to spend what little free time I had asleep. I’m still recovering. Not being able to get the rest that I’ve really needed to get well has extended the length of my illness and I think it’s severity.

The cherry on this sundae of a life I’ve been having is the flooding in my area. I live in New England, Boston area and the weather has been insane. It’s rained pretty much for 4 days straight and many areas are flooded. Parts of my town are flooded but it’s not bad. The town where I work; well, that’s another story. There are 4 routes to work and they all have some sort of flooding. It’s dangerous driving and there is some etiquette to this weather. Usually what happens when you come o a deep puddle is that you slow down and either go through slow or let the other person go, especially if the other car is a low slung car. While my little Honda is not that low it is much lower than most vans or SUVs. Now, my head tells me that if I see an SUV headed for a puddle to stop and let it go. Well, I would have done that if I had been given the chance. I was halfway through a puddle when a butthead in an SUV decided to cut the line of traffic and plow through the puddle, fine for him, not so good for me. The wave of water and the resulting wake went high on my car and made it sputter, but not stall. I was barely able to make it to work. Now my car won’t start.

Then to top all this off was that on the way home, C’s car started to over heat and has to be taken to the shop. Now I’m renting a little cracker box on wheels. It stinks of cigarette smoke, BO and the cleaner Enterprise uses to clean their cars. It isn’t a pretty car but it runs which is more than I can say for mine right now.

So expect some book updates in the next few weeks.

There is something to be said for projects coming out damn near perfect. It adds to self-confidence and just makes me feel pretty good.

I’ve had several long-term projects that for whatever reason I’ve continued to put off until this weekend. I started them Friday and they are now more than half done. I’ve made a set of penslips and a stack of hedgehogs. I was unsure of the slips because one was for a renaissance journal, and the covers of those journals are soft. I figured out how to stiffen the slip and make it work for a soft covered journal. The slips also came out very good, if I do say so.

The other project is a stack of hedgehogs made to order with paper sent to me. Strangely enough we thought the cut size of the paper would be significantly smaller than a normal hedgehog, but it came out very nice. I as able to add extra paper to each book and have them be the same thickness as a regular moleskine. I just pulled 3 of the 4 hedgehogs from clamps and so far so good, they have come out great. Te leather is tight and smooth to the text block and my new stronger than ever hinges are working out better than planned. These hedgehogs, I will go so far as to say are some of my best yet. I have 3 more to glue and get ready his weekend and then I can call it quits on the for a few days.

That feeling of getting things done well, is great.