welcome to my weekend

Not only do I have one of my favorite craft fairs this weekend, I also have this pile to contend with:

100 pieces of bookboard, 6.5x 9.5, for 50 folding bar menus
4 pieces of bookboard, 8.5 x 5.75, for two custom albums
Eight boxes of A2 envelopes (1600 total), return address printed
Two reams (that's 200 sheets) of 23x35--to be made into 1500 holiday cards

And it'll definitely take me longer than the weekend to finish all of that--so I'll be back next Friday for a recap!

Oh, yeah.

So, there's been a whole lot of this:

in the studio lately.  And not much to write about.

But the end is in sight! And my sparkling commentary should return soon, too!

friday: oh, what a week

Yes, it's been a doozy.  It feels like this heat wave has been going on for weeks and weeks.  Years even.  The studio is thankfully cool, but just getting there is a chore in this heat...and then I'm not in much of a mood to work.

But today I really had to get things done:

Paper folding and scoring...

turns a (single-sheet) folio into a signature of its own.

Carving out an inset for a cover label

Lining up the pieces, in preparation for gluing

Sneaking a peek at my cover, making sure I've left enough room at the spine for my signatures.  I'm sewing up the book tomorrow, and will try to get some good pics to post--this should be a really interesting project!

Also this week--updating my sadly faded sandwich board with a fresh coat of paint, and prepping the stencil for painting next week!

mixed-tape monday: taking measurements

I wasn't able to post this photo on Friday--the recipient hadn't yet seen them...but here they are!

Jodi from Paisley Tree Press drove out to Letterpress Things on Saturday to meet me and pick up her new custom binders--she squealed a bit, I won't lie.  They'll be making their debut to the public at Paisley Tree's booth (No. 1665) at the National Stationery Show in May--do stop by and ogle them for yourself!

Today was a lot of catching up--and then a lot of cutting.  This is a stack of 1200+ 135gsm sheets, if you can believe it.  They started out as 25 x 38" parent sheets, and are now 4-1/2 x 6-1/2".  Whew!

on the bench: getting to the scary bits

Progress!  Bookcloth is all finished, and today I started working on the pastedown/endsheets. 

It's the scariest bit, being the last step (and the one most likely to get messed up).  No mess ups yet, but one is less perfect than I like.  (Did I mention that I'm my own worst critic?)

mixed-tape mondays: on working BIG.

Yep, binders are still in progress.  I took a tiny break from them this weekend to work on taxes (blech.), and was really looking forward to be working with my hands again today.

Today I finished up the insets, and wrestled the big bolt of bookcloth on the table to trim out the covers--they're going to be full cloth, so I was cutting 13" x 35" pieces out of a 50"+ wide spool.  Awkward!

On working BIG--I forget how much time it takes to do everything!  Even though there are only ten binders to do, when the material dimensions are ungainly, it seems like it takes hours to do each small step.

finished fridays: diving in

Did I mention that the three-ring binders are super-deluxe?  Not just thick and big (11-1/2" x 15"), but with two special insets.

Each inset has to be measured and marked by hand, and then the edges carefully scored with an exacto knife--trying, of course, to get all four sides cut to the same depth.  Then the tip of the knife is inserted into a corner, and a few very thin layers of board are peeled up. 

Only ten more to go!

on the bench: hooray!

Just over six months ago, this beauty was delivered to the studio.

And today I finished tightening up the last bolts, and was finally(!) able to put the counterweight on.

And then immediately got down to the business of cutting thick, thick boards for a custom order.

These are .120" thick, and by this time next week will be very big and very fancy three-ring binders!

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!

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: 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!

mixed-tape mondays: late nights

Usually I try to be cheerful on the blog (lots of exclamation points! exciting things happening!)...and lots of good things did happen today.  But now it's just after 11 pm, and after twelve hours at the studio, I'm beat.

Around 8pm I was totally in the groove, listening to one of my favorite audiobooks, and sewing up the last few albums for a big order heading out to Greenwich Letterpress.

They look pretty awesome all lined up like that, and when I think of how many hours went in to each step of each one, I do smile (just a little).  And then, with a big yawn, I say goodnight!

workbench wednesday: my how time flies...

...and then it's a week later, and gosh darn it!  I've missed a whole week of blogging.

Last week I started reprinting papers (to fill all those orders from NYIGF!) and really, really fell in love with these two all over again.

Usually the zigzag has another color layered on top, but I'm leaning towards offering a grey-only sheet.  What do you think?

And today, two more orders shipped out--these guest books (in my new favorite marine ripple pattern) and more are off to Nantucket Looms in Nantucket, MA.  And more goodies will be arriving a Fork + Pencil in Brooklyn in the next few days!

on the bench: the mad dash

It's amazing to me that after cleaning my studio so thoroughly for this past weekend's workshops, the piles still seem to multiply on their own.

Today I'm working on the last few things for an order shipping out to Rock Paper Scissors in Charlottesville, VA.  Above, piles of paper for journal and guest book pages, ready for sewing.

Notepads (their inky backs drying) need corner rounding and belly band labels.

And guest book cases just waiting for pages!

workbench wednesdays: one year later + new and exciting

Yup. I was looking at my 2010 calendar earlier, and I've had this project on the calendar since last January. One year! It hasn't been worked on continuously, but it's been on the top of my projects list for the last twelve months.  And today, I packed the last four boxes and sent them on their way.

And then I had to open up one of the boxes--I forgot to take photos of the finished books!

In other (super fun) news, I'm offering a make-your-own valentines workshop--as featured in the February issue of Country Living:

And now, just one more picture:

I love piles + rows of things...and this is one of my favorites.  Ropey, delicate linoleum shavings (and a brand new pattern is born!).

on the press: almost done!

Yesterday I finished up the last scores on the book covers--the scoring is definitely the trickiest part of the process.  After going through the press four times, just one misfeed on that last score means that cover is scrapped. (Thankfully, I only had two misfeeds!)

finished fridays: making progress

I made a little bit of progress this week--I finished up the Hadestown programs this afternoon..and they're off to New York!

And I got another tiny bit ahead on the big book project--I finished half of the scores on the covers (just the ones for the turn-ins).

And now it's time for a Friday night off!

on the press mondays: still not printing

Yes, it's sort of misleading.  I was hoping to get on the press today, to finish scoring the covers for these beauties, but the sewing took longer than expected, and I had to leave the studio early.

Instead, this lovely pile of book blocks will have to do!

P.S. Go out and pick up the February issue of Country Living, and check out page 18!

on the bench: busy is as busy does

I finally got to take a day off on Sunday (it'd been at least seven weeks!), but as of Monday morning, I had to be full steam ahead on the last of this year's projects.

Starting with the final 150 (of 500!) books of poetry--holes hand-punched, then sewn to the endsheets, and then cased in.  I'm just about done with the hole punching bit.   

Merry merry holidays to all--see you next Monday!