New bookbinding classes in Nashville, Tennessee

It's that time of year again — time to go back to school. But even if your school days are behind you, that doesn't mean you can't learn something new this fall.

I will be teaching two bookbinding classes, a bookbinding workshop, and a graphic design class at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film this fall. Online registration is now open, so it's the perfect time to browse the catalog and pick out a course that catches your interest. All of these classes are offered through the community education department at the college, so anyone can sign up.

You can find all of the details about my book arts offerings below, and please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions. Hope to see you in class this fall!

Introduction to Book Arts

When: Mondays, Sept. 15 – Nov. 10; 6 – 9 p.m.

Where: Watkins College, 2298 Rosa Parks Blvd., Nashville

Cost: $210, plus $40 materials fee

To Register: Sign up online or call 615.383.4848

Learn how to make more than a dozen types of books in this introductory class. Students will become familiar with the materials, tools, techniques, and vocabulary of handmade books. Students will create their own books each week, starting with simple folded structures and building toward intricate books that can be used as journals, sketchbooks, photo albums, and sculptural displays. Students will explore the essentials of paper grain, folded signatures, hardcover and softcover books, and binding by hand. All tools and supplies included in the materials fee.

Intermediate Book Arts: 

Exposed Spine Bindings 

When: Wednesdays, Sept. 17 – Nov. 12; 6 – 9 p.m.

Where: Watkins College, 2298 Rosa Parks Blvd., Nashville

Cost: $210, plus $40 materials fee

To Register: Sign up online or call 615.383.4848

Build your bookbinding skills in this class focusing on a handful of ambitious bindings with exposed stitching along the book spines. Students will go in-depth with a series of binding lessons — learning new techniques and styles while having substantial time to personalize each project. We will explore long stitch and link stitch variations, exposed tape binding, and the icicle binding, among other styles. These bindings will allow students to create journals, sketchbooks, and photo albums. You’ll leave this class with handbound books and the skills to continue binding at home. Prerequisite: completion of Introduction to Book Arts, one of my bookbinding workshops, or comparable experience. Tools and supplies included in materials fee.

Handmade Miniature Book 

Holiday Ornaments 

When: Saturday, November 15; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Where: Watkins College, 2298 Rosa Parks Blvd., Nashville

Cost: $80, plus $20 materials fee

To Register: Sign up online or call 615.383.4848

Create eye-catching ornaments perfect for the holidays! Students will complete three types of miniature books while learning basic bookbinding techniques. One ornament will be a hardcover book with blank pages, ideal for collecting holiday memories to reflect on each year. The second book will be bound in a lotus style that can hang on your tree in two different shapes: either opened into a three-dimensional star, or folded closed into a neat diamond. The third ornament will be folded and stitched together to create an accordion book resembling a festive star or snowflake. No bookbinding experience required. All tools and materials provided.

A big birthday sale in my Etsy shop

For the first time ever, I'm hosting a sale in my Etsy shop. In celebration of my birthday this month, I've put more than a dozen books on sale. 

Throughout August, you'll save up to $20 per book on my high-quality hardcover Coptic bound books and a few other styles. Take a look at the sale section, and pick out your new favorite journal.

This sale will help me make room in my studio for some of the new designs I've been working on. You can see some of those books in my shop now, and I'll be adding more throughout the month (like new leather Instagram photo albums, hardcover books with my original screenprinted patterns, and softcover notebooks) so check back often. 

Make your own leather journal this Saturday

This Saturday I'll be teaching one of my most popular bookbinding classes at The Skillery. You'll learn how to bind your own large large leather journal from start to finish. And if that wasn't reason enough to get excited, this will be the first class I'll teach in The Skillery's brand new (and super awesome) space in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville. 

There are still a few spots left in the class, so register now to reserve your space. This is not a class you'll want to miss! See below for the details.

Create a handbound leather journal or sketchbook

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2014

Time: 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Where: The Skillery, 1323 Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37208

Cost: $115 (or $105 for Skillery members)

To Register: www.theskillery.com/classes/create-a-handbound-leather-journal-or-sketchbook

Learn to bind your own unique and functional book from a professional bookbinder. 

In this workshop, you'll learn to make a soft-cover leather book that can be used as a journal, a sketchbook, or a photo album. Using the Italian Longstitch style, a historical binding that dates to 14th Century Europe, each student will create a book with a leather cover that features exposed, decorative stitching on its spine and pages that lay completely flat when open. Students will use leather for the book cover and have the option to include interesting contemporary papers inside. The book will feature a wrap-around leather strap to keep the book closed. 

The class will also include an introduction to the world of handmade books. You'll learn the fundamentals of bookbinding, including proper techniques for folding, tearing, cutting, and stitching using traditional binding tools. And students will have the opportunity to view and handle a collection of professionally-made examples. 

All students will leave this class with a completed leather book, and the skills and resources to continue binding at home. No previous bookbinding experience is required. All tools and supplies will be provided.

Porter Flea summer market 2014 – a huge success

Porter Flea just keeps on getting bigger and better. The summer market included the art show's best ever Friday night preview market, with great art, music, and beer. Saturday began with a delightful breakfast for all the artists. And the big, blowout show on Saturday brought so many friendly shoppers and close friends.

Here are a few of my favorite photos, pulled from Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #pfsummer. I recommend you click to see them fullscreen!

TODAY: Shop for mom, and support a great cause

I'll be selling my handmade books today at the Thistle Stop Marketplace in Nashville. This handmade marketplace will be a fundraiser for Thistle Farms, a social enterprise that is run by women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, or addiction. 

There will be about 20 other crafty vendors there (all of whom are either Thistle Farms volunteers or employees) selling their creations, and 50% of all sales will go towards supporting their papermaking, bookbinding, and sewing studios.

This will be a great place to do some Mother's Day shopping, grab a tasty treat in the Thistle Stop Cafe, and support a wonderful organization all at the same time. Get a sneak peek at some of the handmade goods you'll find at the event here, and then come to Thistle Farms today between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

Adventures in homeownership and a sneak peek into my new bookbinding studio

A few months ago my husband and I purchased our first home, a cozy little bungalow built in 1935. Since moving in, we've been happily spending our days getting settled and enjoying our new surroundings. 

The picture above was taken just after we finished signing all the paperwork and were handed the keys to our new abode. As soon as the house was officially ours, we picked up our dog, Riviera, and brought her over to explore her new yard and house for the first time. I think she was just as happy about the new house as we were.

Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I've still been keeping busy.  Most of the rooms in the house are unpacked, organized, and decorated, and now that the weather is warming up we've been starting to do some gardening in our new yard.

I've also been getting settled into my new studio space. My studio is located in a downstairs bedroom in the house with a big window overlooking a flower bed with peonies and lilies. 

While getting my studio set up is still a work in progress, I'm pleased with how it's all coming together so far. I've hung up my collection of art show posters from Porter Flea and Handmade & Bound above my worktable, along with a few other posters by local printmakers. 

I also invested in a some new shelving to get things organized in my studio. All of my inventory now gets safely stashed inside the glass cabinets, and the open shelves display some of the first books I ever made while studying in Italy, prototypes of new styles of books I'm working on, and other lovely little books that I've collected from other book artists. 

My studio is also full of plenty of books in progress. I've been creating new styles of journals and photo albums in preparation for the upcoming marketplace at Thistle Farms next weekend and the next Porter Flea on June 7. I'll be posting more updates here in the coming weeks, but in the meantime be sure to check out  my Instagram photos for more images of the new house, our garden, and of course, beautiful handbound books!

West Elm Maker Market returns Saturday, Dec. 21

If you are still looking for last-minute gifts — especially handmade goods — then the West Elm Holiday Maker Market has arrived just in time.

Conveniently scheduled for Saturday the 21st, just a few days before Christmas, this Maker Market will welcome independent artists into the West Elm furniture and home goods store at the H.G. Hill Center in Green Hills for the fourth time.

This cool partnership allows artists to display their work on, in, and around West Elm's hip furnishings. You can count on seeing handmade jewelry, custom furniture, printmaking, and artisanal foods.

I showcased my work inside the store for the first time this fall. My husband and I already own quite a few pieces from West Elm, so it was a cool opportunity to arrange my books on one of their chic desks. All of the artists find ways to play off the store's design sensibilities, making for a unique event.

West Elm Maker Market

When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Where: West Elm, 4019 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville

A global wedding captured in a map book

A couple living in Australia. The bride from the U.K. And a wedding in Bali, Indonesia. If ever there was a wedding guest book fit for a map design, this was the one.

For this international destination wedding, I ultimately decided to use a map print paper from Paper Source for their book. It has a vintage map feel that Laura liked. And I made sure to include all of this couple's important places across the covers.

Learn to bind a book during Maker's Month

The Skillery is planning to kick off the new year with a full schedule of creative classes. As part of their mission to shine a spotlight on Nashville’s creative entrepreneurs and the brands they’re building, The Skillery is designating January as Makers' Month. 

You can take a look at the class offerings here, and you'll be sure to spot some gems. Teaching artist extraordinaire Allison Jarrett of Precious America will be teaching an Intro to Hand Embroidery class. Chris Cheney and Nieves Uhl of Sawtooth Printhouse will be teaching a Letterpress Poster class.  I took a screenprinting class taught by Chris earlier this year and had a blast, so I'm sure the letterpress class is a can't-miss experience.  I will be leading a bookbinding workshop as part of Makers' Month, I'm thrilled to be teaching alongside such a talented bunch of Nashville creatives. 

Learn to create a handbound journal

When: Saturday January 25, 2014; 5 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Where: Dandelion Salon, 1117 Porter Road, Nashville, TN 37206

Cost: $38 (or $30 for Skillery members)

Description: Start your new year with a creative project: learn the basics of bookbinding while creating a one-of-a-kind handbound blank book. Then use your book this year as a practical day planner to get organized, or as a sketchbook to stoke your creativity. We'll be making a book bound with the French link stitch. The stitching will be exposed on the spine of the book, allowing you to see and show off your handiwork. This class is appropriate for all skill levels, including beginners. Katie Gonzalez, a professional book artist who has taught bookbinding to more than 200 students, will guide you through the process in this one-night workshop. You will leave the class with one completed journal, and the skills to create more books in the future. The class will also include an introduction to the world of handmade books, and the opportunity to handle a collection of professionally made examples.

To register: theskillery.com/classes/learn-to-create-a-handbound-journal

Porter Flea is back with Holiday Market

Just look at that poster. You know you can't wait for Nashville's best holiday market, Porter Flea! If you recall from a year ago, just about everyone seemed to show up for the last holiday market. I tried to capture the excitement in a write-up at the time.

The show is on the move again this season, setting up at Track 1, just south of downtown at the corner of Chestnut and 4th Avenue South.

This Porter Flea begins with a ticketed preview party on Friday, Dec. 6. Limited tickets are still available at Grimey's on 8th Ave and Hey Rooster General Store in East Nashville, so if you want to get first dibs on the handmade goods and beat the crowds, pick up your tickets soon. On Saturday, Dec. 7, the market is free and open to all ages from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  I hope to see you there!