Of books and bikes

Had another idea in the book space the other day. Small daughter and I had a bookbinding afternoon and I taught her what I had learnt about making a text block, and then we covered them with paint swatches. Yep. Paint swatches - those little squares of paint colour printed on cards that people use when they're redecorating (used plenty of them for that purpose myself!). Re-purposed. They looked pretty neat actually.

Haven't made anything since this session with daughter, but am plotting a sushi-mat binding. I was digging around in our drawers looking for some kitchen implement the other day when I unearthed our sushi mats from hubby's several attempts at home-made sushi (usually very tasty but not exactly structural!) and I was struck by the idea that it should be possible to bind signatures directly onto the mat. If I cut the pages tall and thin it could make a cool book. Planning to try this sometime shortly. Definitely need to have another crack at case binding too, now I've found some hard, thick non-corrugated cardboard (this is surprisingly hard to find) and a slightly less stinky glue than PVA!

Am quite busy with work, and have recently joined the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce for networking opportunities. It was quite weird at the meeting on Tuesday night - I found myself thinking that I used to think it was only boring old farts that were members of things like the Chamber of Commerce, and here I am part of one! I hope that doesn't make me a boring old fart....

I am also spending a lot of time on the exercycle, and am considering getting myself a x-trail bike. Hubby and I went to have a look at bikes the other day and I found something I really liked - which is mildly scary because I haven't been on a proper bike in about 20 years! But most of Rotorua is really flat through the city, with wide streets, and surrounding us are some of NZ's best mountainbike trails. It seems silly not to take advantage of what our city offers! I could easily get to and from town on a bike based on the distances I'm getting on the exercycle each day, and I always loved going for a bikeride when I was younger - the freedom of it all, especially when I wasn't using it as a means of conveyance from A to B. Watch this space!

In pursuit of books

It is no secret that I am a bookworm. I have been called that since I was really tiny and it offends me not at all! It is perfectly possible for me to simply not hear someone when they talk to me when I am truly engrossed in a good book - although the opportunity for that kind of deep concentration is less now that there is a small daughter around!

Recently though, I have been investigating another side of books - the making side. It all started just after New Year when hubby and daughter were away for 10 days in Wellington, while I was working in Rotorua. I was wishing that I had a hobby that I liked to pursue, and not feeling like picking up my current tapestry canvas (which has been languishing on the frame for some years now!). I was reading The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber (great read, by the way) which begins in an antique book dealer and restoration shop, and I began to wonder whether it was possible to learn to bind books at home without a great deal of equipment or cost.

I came, I googled, and I made books. There is a heap of information out there, plus buckets of very cool photos of art-bound books that I am totally in awe of. My favourite website so far is "Adventures in Bookbinding" and there are some great Youtube tutorials. The best I've found are by a lady calling herself Sea Lemon, which are video/narrated tutorials of how to do different parts of the bookbinding process, including making a stitched text block (the pages bit), case binding (hard cover with glued fabric), and lots of kinds of fancy binding including moleskine and Japanese stab binding that I haven't tried yet. My first attempt at case binding didn't come out quite as well as I'd like but it looks okay, and my second book attempt (which was basically a sewn text block with sewn-on cardboard cover) looks really cool. I want to try case binding again because I think it will need some practice to make it work properly.

I got an idea today that the fancy papers that scrapbookers use might work quite well in books - so far I've just used plain 80gsm white A4 printer paper for my text blocks because that was pretty much all I could immediately lay my hands on at home (unless I raid small daughter's craft papers which I am strenuously resisting doing!). I got a small pack of scrapbooking paper, cut each sheet in half to make it go further, and made a concertina book, gluing each of the folded pages to make a concertina. It looks great: I just have to figure out what I'm going to cover it with.

I might use the rest of the scrapbook pages interleaved with other papers and stitch another text block. I've also got an idea lurking around about a slightly unusual cover, inspired by the photo on this blog post. I also want to fossick around in hubby's art gear - I seem to remember that we've got some art drawing paper that would probably do really well. I have an errand to run for work tomorrow and I think I'll try to time it just before lunchtime, as there is an art supplies place in Rotorua that I haven't been in (I was sighing for Gordon Harris Art Supplies - I remember ogling all the gorgeous paper stock they had there when hubby was getting his last set of photography matte board!). I also want to find an awl for punching pages for sewing "signatures" (the groups of pages) - I have been doing this with a sharp needle and seem to be going through rather a lot of sticking plaster....

I wish there were book binding classes in Rotorua. Such a pain that I discover this after we leave Wellington, where there are a number of specialist binderies and lots of classes. Anyway, I seem to have found me a hobby. And I like it!