I love handmade books.
Hello Readers,
Sorry I have been a little absent. My dear friend started a literary journal where I am an editor and I started a new job at the reference desk at my library (yay adulthood!). In other words, like all of you out there in internet land, I don’t know where the time goes, but it must be lost in the couch, with the spare change from my jean pockets and all the good intentions I had of being more productive.
I had the pleasure of celebrating the fiftieth birthday of a former art teacher this past week and was wracked with what to get her. What do you make the person who first inspired you to be an artist? Well, you give her some art.
That’s what everyone else did. She got paintings and photos and sculptures. Her party was a painting party where we all made a…
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Shawn L. Bird 
I would love to be a Bookbinder. It would be wonderful to possess such a special skill as bookbinding. It would be satisfying on so many levels. A great career change. Even though I have and read my Kindle from a child I always Loved the smell, feel and texture of books. That would be such a Blessing if somebody would take me on as an apprentice albeit a middle-age apprentice. I’m the type person who loves projects, bringing something from start to finish, enjoying the creative process. This is wonderful!!
When I first wrote Grace Awakening, I wanted to see it as a book to do editing (and ‘just because’) but I didn’t have money to pay for expensive copies, so I actually learned how to bind. First I did ‘perfect’ bindings which involve roughing edges and glueing them into a cover. Later I learned how to print it off in signatures, stitched the signatures together, and glued them into the cover. Fascinating thing to learn! After a real publisher bought it, of course it’s not professionally printed and bound, but there are still half a dozen of my hand bound copies floating around. 😉
I have been a bookbinder / conservator for 30 years or more. My most treasured things are notes from students and professors that I taught my book making classes to. As an artist I would have “Ugly tie & Poetry readings” in the summers when all the professors were away. Loved giving a small book to the winners, not for the poetry but for the ugly tie. Keep writing…
Ha. I love that.
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I’ll have to do something similar in my school library this year.