on the bench: the wait

It's perhaps the least glamorous step of bookbinding...and certainly the least photogenic.  What is it?

Waiting for glued covers to dry.  Yesterday I finished eight address-book cases, but there wasn't enough time to case in the blocks.  So into the boards and press they went!

on the press: tiny hearts

After two weeks (!) of only bookbinding, I finally got back on the press today.

These tiny hearts are just about 3/4" tall, and are the first color of a business postcard.

Hooray!  And oh goodness, am I out of practice on the treadle!

mixed-tape mondays: coming or going?

Today was a not-quite-sure kind of day.  I packaged up a few custom orders, but couldn't get started on the next round.  I got some good news, and then some bad news.  The world might be falling apart at the seams, but then people get together and do lovely things.  New England is having a snowstorm on the first day of spring|, but that means the sap will run for a bit longer and my family might get another sugaring weekend. 

It's about time for me to be getting ready for the big event this May, but I just can't seem to find the balance and motivation to move forward.  If you've got any get-out-of-a-funk cures, please share!

finished fridays: what a week

It's been a doozy of a week.  Between client meetings, wholesale orders, member and show applications, and trying to catch up on custom work, I'm not sure which way is up.  I'm hoping that if I can just get these few books finished over the weekend, then a little breathing room will open up. 

P.S. Happy Spring!

finished fridays: a clean table

It may not look like much...

...but it takes several hours to make the studio look this good.  All in readiness for tomorrow's workshop!

mixed-tape mondays: snow day!

So, it was just a quick trip to the studio today--after blasting through a knee-high, two-feet deep plowed-in snowbank, my key broke off in the studio door.  I did manage to get the broken key out, but then lost my steam.

And so I went home.  Apparently, this storm was epic!

finished fridays: lining it all up

I don't think I've ever seen this--

--the pattern lining up perfectly after being folded over.  There are two little tucks under there, plus the paper turns a corner.

And still more to go!

P.S. If you didn't catch Tom Waits on Fresh Air this afternoon, listen to it now!  Mariachi music + wanting to be an old man + a box (!) + melancholy things set to a pretty melody = a pretty damn fine half-hour of radio.

workbench wednesday: miles of piles

Well, not really miles--just thirty inches--but it sure looks like it from this angle.  I spent a good hour or two cutting down bookboard for the 39 address books I'll be putting together over the next day or two.  Step one was to make the big sheets of board (30" x 41") a little more manageable by cutting them into strips.  Tomorrow is the last trim, and then glue-glue-glue!