A Big Batch of Books!

I've been busy recently, making more books.  A couple were for presents, one was a commission and the rest were stock for my Etsy shop. 
Photo Gallery coming up!

Birthday Scrapbook-Card, for J's 14th Birthday on 26th September. 

(already posted this here, but thought I would like to include it in this post too)

A large (A4) sketchbook, as a Birthday Present for J.

(also posted on the above link!)

A Mini Book in Coptic Stitch, for a friend's daughter.

It is covered with a Cath Kidston designed paper, with a bubblegum pink lining of smooth art paper. The pages are white cartridge paper (smooth drawing paper) and the binding is in hot pink linen thread. I hope she likes it!

A Large Guest Book, with a Japanese-style stab-stitch binding, for a Wedding, Engagement etc.

This cover paper, with lovely birds and butterflies, has been so popular this Spring and Summer.  Birds are still popular for weddings etc, so I thought I would update the colours a bit, to make books that are more suitable for Fall or Winter events. 

The edges of the covers are embellished with a silk tussah fabric, which is a shot silk, in turquoise and russet.  The turquoise threads are the heavier, more dominant ones, but the russet shows up nicely from certain angles. 

I used a contrasting shade of linen thread to stitch the binding and made a matching tassel from threads of the turquoise and russet silk. 

I added a silk dust-wrap round the bound edges of the pages, to give the book a "spine" and protect the pages from dirt.

Then I chose a Murano paper in a soft, marled-effect aqua shade, for the linings of the covers.

This book is quite large, measuring 11.75" x 8.25" / 28.5cm x 21cm - approx A4 size.

I think it was pretty successful overall and I'm quite proud of this one!

Another book in the same paper.  This is a Coptic-style binding.  The book is smaller - it's around 9" x 6.5" in size.

I used the same cover paper and the same aqua marled paper for the linings.  I also used the aqua paper to make section wraps, for the sets of pages. You can see that it gives the book a really nice appearance at the bound edge. 

The binding is a Coptic Stitch style of binding, stitched with 6 needles, in deep turquoise waxed linen thread.

The pages have folded spacers, as well as the section wraps, so the book has lots of room at the spine, for inclusions, like tags or photos.  It's not really a photo album, as the pages are made with medium-weight drawing (cartridge) paper, but it would take some photos or tags quite well, so long as it wasn't over-loaded.

The colour-scheme I used most in the summer, was with red cover linings and red linen binding.  I also made a couple of books with chocolate brown linings and brown thread.  I really like this new colour-way though - much softer and more seasonal for autumn and winter.

Another book that I'm very pleased with!

Another Coptic-stitched book.  This has a 10-thread Coptic binding, in two colours - ivory and deep moss green linen.  The cover paper on this book has also been very popular this year - birds are definitely "in"!

This book also had section-wraps, in soft peach art paper.  There were 10 sections, of four pages (2 pairs) each, making this quite a deep book for a Wedding Guest Book.  This one is not designed to hold photos - or not more than one or two anyway.  The pages are of medium-weight cartridge paper, in an ivory-white colour. 

The binding has a stepped pattern, to emphasise the deep green threads.  I really like this stitching design, but it takes 2 hours to sew, as it's very fiddly - even with my new curved needles!

If you're interested in the process of making a book like this, I posted about it here.

The customer who bought this book, on Tuesday, also bought a custom label.  I came up with this design for her, using cut-out pieces from the cover paper.  She was very pleased with this - and it should have been delivered today, so I hope she'll be even happier, when she sees it "in real life"!

And finally...

Today I made this book and listed it for sale.  A Japanese-style stab-stitch binding, with the same cover paper and art paper for lining and edging the covers. 

This is a thinner book, having just sixteen pages of nice, crisp white cartridge paper, in a slightly heavier weight than the previous two above. 

The pages have folded spacers, but I decided that the white folded edges would look nicer under the binding, than coloured wraps. 

The binding is a stab-stitch side binding, in deep moss green thread. 

Overall, I think I have been a bit busy recently! I'm rather pleased with this latest batch of books.  Making more tomorrow - they are already planned!

I am currently writing the third part of my "The Binding Makes the Book" series of posts - see Part One here and Part Two here...  Part Three will cover the Japanese-style stab-stitch bindings that you can see above and probably some other side-bindings too.  I'll carry on with the writing and post it as soon as possible.

Meanwhile,  I hope you enjoyed looking at my latest stash of books, while you wait for the Next Exciting Installment!