Third Giveaway!

Last night I finished the first of this new technique I'm trying--a faux cord-bound hollow-backed quarter-leather (what a bunch of jargon!). Basically, it's a normal book, with decorative cords rising out of the leather on the spine. 

It's so pretty, isn't it? Reminds me of Cecily from The Importance of Being Earnest. 

Anyway, I'm giving this little beauty away to one of my fantastic readers. Here's how to win, do one or more of the following:

(Note: if you've already completed the following in one of my previous giveaways, you're still eligible to win!)

1. Like my page of Facebook, here.

2. Follow me on Twitter @MakingMyRent

3. Follow my blog.

4. Purchase something from my shop. 

5. Favorite my shop on Etsy.

6. Follow my pinboard on Pinterest here

7. or write a comment on this blog post detailing which list items you did. 

All my best luck to everyone, and may the most devout follower win!

In other news: I've begun renewing some sold books as made to order, so if you missed one you loved, there just might be a chance for you yet! 

Also, the Tax Refund Sale's still going on. Enter the coupon code GOTMYREFUND for 15% off anything in my shop.

Lastly, and most importantly, I'll be doing an Artist Feature of the lovely miniature bookbinder Patricia Sweet soon. She's answered my exhaustive questions about her work and about miniature books in general. Keep a look out, but in case you're too impatient, find her shop here.

The Spring Break Challenge

My sister and I never have overlapping Spring Breaks, so she came to visit last week though I was still busy with school work (and that damn essay). And at the end of her stay, we decided to make a bet: I said I could have 50 books in my shop by the end of my Spring Break, and, of course, she said I couldn't.

At the beginning I had 26 books in my shop. So I posted ten. Then I sold two. And I posted six. And sold  another. So now I have 39, and it doesn't look very promising. It's Saturday and I have a shopping adventure planned later today. Which means I have two days, still, to post 11 books. Will I make it? I definitely feel the underdog.

Here are some of the journals I've posted for the challenge:

B.E.S.T. Book Swap

On Etsy, I'm a member of the Bookbinding Street Team and we occasionally do a swaps, since we're AWESOME. And it's free.

This is the book necklace I'm giving to TheOrangeWindmill.

Check out our Team blog!

Book of the Week: King Arthur Journal

After a pretty long hiatus, I'm back, with a bajillion more books. Including this wee-beastie called the King Arthur Journal.

After seeing a exhibition of illuminated manuscripts last year, I've been wanting to make a journal with vellum, and after picking some up at the Lobby I've done it!

It's a quarter leather sewn on cords with a rounded spine. On the cover I used red and metallic gold decorative paper and textured tan leather, while on the inside I've used recycled parchment endpages and vegetable vellum.

I'm hopeful someone will appreciate it's uniqueness and history. Vellum's not that commonly used as an art medium anymore, but it's semi-transparency causes an awesome effect that gives the contents dimension. Being able to see through the page means that each page's art plays on the next and that one on the next, and so on forever.

I will be honest and say that this book was difficult to make. Unlike ordinary paper, vellum is more adverse to being stitched up and it took a lot of care to round the spine. But I'm pretty satisfied with the end results.

In other news: I've ordered more marbled paper from MyMarbledPapers which I'm looking forward to getting in the mail soon. One's a full sized sheet but I also got two sets of samples in a smaller size. Also, I've been stocking up on Strathmore Drawing and Sketching paper, for my new listings and this week I've posted about 8 new books to my shop.

A long while ago I got a discarded children's book from the Library that was a fairy tale treasury missing it's cover. But inside there were so many wonderful vintage illustrations that I knew I could use in some capacity. So now, I've been making each into a beautiful coptic-stitched journal with corresponding printed scrapbook paper back covers. Find them here.

I'll also be featuring one of them as next week's pick, so look for that. In the mean time, check out my new listings.

ALSO: I've hit 22 sales!

Book of the Week: Ebenezer Scrooge Journal

I made a new journal!

Isn't it gorgeous? It's called the Ebenezer Scrooge Journal, based on the character from Dicken's The Christmas Carol. Although originally it was going to be an Icabod Crane journal (but with the nameplate, it sort of lost it's Icabod-ness). Read the description here.

Also my mom's suggested I make a Mr. Rogers inspired journal, and I think i'm going to make it from a knit cardigan. And now I have a sewing machine!  And speaking of Mr's, I want to make a Mr. Bean journal. And a Mr. Darcy journal. Oh, there are so many Mr's that I can make journals after.

School's back, though, so we'll see how much time I have. Only have four classes, but we'll see how it all goes.

Book of the Week: Custom Shakespeare Journal

 So I need to talk about this book, if only because it's taken me a month and a half to make. Oh My Bookbinding God.

I don't know if anyone's familiar with The Bookbinding Guy videos (more info here) but I checked them out at the library, and apart from having terribly loud and upsetting music, the instructions really are helpful and clear. They differ slightly from most of the instructions in books I've found, but actually seeing people do things like sewing headbands was AWESOME. (And yes I just yelled that.)

In the middle of June, I had a custom order for a Shakespeare inspired journal for a future English professor from his wife. (What would become this book). She was actually my first ever buyer, and she's the best customer I've had. We talked it over, and she gave me a lot of room to do whatever I wanted. My immediate thought: I WANT TO DO A QUARTER LEATHER! Hence the Bookbinding Guy's video.

Anyway, this was my first quarter leather, for all intents and purposes, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I sewed the bookblock on large cords, and the effect was pretty exaggerated. If you're wondering, I used antique leather, that was already weathered and worn, because Shakespeare should never look brand new. The marbled paper was from MyMarbledPapers on Etsy. This particular paper was based on Coriolanus.

I even sewed headbands! And then I sewed more headbands. It's addicting.

In fact, I don't know why more people don't sew them instead of gluing pre-made ones on. Honestly, sewing them is a lot more fun than holding them on for half and hour hoping they doesn't fall off after you let go.

Goodness, this book took so long to make, if only because I was trying really hard not to screw it up. I got feedback yesterday, and a really nice message from the buyer about how much her husband liked it. He said it was very "scholarly". And he's going to use it to take notes for his forthcoming book. Good luck to him!

My First Sales

Tomorrow I'm sending the first books I sold on my Etsy shop away to their new homes, so for now, I'm going to write them a little farewell.

This little burlap covered book is landscape oriented and filled with Strathmore sketching paper. The pages are hand torn and the endpages are upcycled brown paper. The feeling I was going for was completely natural, and transforming the mundane into art.

The next book is a bit different than any I'd made before. It's covered in weathered leather, and bound in the traditional Coptic Stitch, which bares the spine. The spine itself is hand-sewn with waxed thread. Inside there are white sketching pages and beautiful Florentine paper which I glued to the wrong side of the leather with archival bookbinder's glue. To finish it off, I attached an ornate nameplate on top to allow it's new owner to designate it's use.

The third journal I sold, is one of the best hard-back, casebound books I've made, which was themed in Jane Eyre. Jane is this quiet, staid, and very Victorian heroine, and I tried to capture her character in the muted, neutral colors incorporated throughout the journal. However, the cream filigree of the cover paper is still very feminine and beautiful. On the cover, I placed an artist's rendering of the final reunion between Jane and Mr. Rochester, salvaged from a reader's digest edition that was falling apart. 

I used traditional binding techniques to make this journal: by hand sewing the signatures of Wausau stationery with bookbinding thread, and using PVA (bookbinder's archival) glue. It's finished with white headbands and camel colored cardstock for the endpapers.

The fourth book I sold was my all-time favorite. For this mini leather journal, I was inspired by the scene from Disney's Pinocchio when he carries a belted stack of textbooks to school. I wondered what kind of journal Pinocchio would carry, and I decided on this smooth tan leather with black leather straps to incorporate the belted look. 

Each page is hand-torn Wausau Astroparche writing paper with an antique parchment finish, which are hand-sewn in the limp binding method with waxed thread. The end papers are hand-made turquoise paper with a bit of a sheen. 

Well, more to come later. I will surely miss all of these beauties, but I'm sure they're going to good homes!