Making paper by hand

I've been taking over the house once again with my latest creative project -- papermaking.  (Thankfully my husband doesn't seem to mind, and he even stepped in to take some photos of the process so I could share them here.)  

I met a local bookmaker, Laura, here in Nashville soon after moving to town.  We then met up for coffee to chat about books and new techniques we wanted to try.  We decided that papermaking should be our first project and we wasted no time with getting started.  We made these lovely lavender sheets of paper last week, and we've since made a new batch of raspberry-sherbet-colored paper and have several bags of paper pulp in my fridge prepared for our next papermaking adventure.  

The bowl above is filled with little torn-up scraps of paper leftover from making books.  For about a week, I collected all of the little bits of paper that were too small to be reused.  Then I soaked them in water for about 12 hours.  Then Laura and I blended the paper scraps into pulp using her smoothie maker that she donated to the papermaking cause ("the sacrificial blender," as my husband called it).  

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the blended paper pulp this time.  You might expect it to look like a gross and gooey mess.  But it's surprisingly soft and has a really luxurious feel to it.  It's actually quite nice to dip your hands into it during the process.  

Next, we added our pulp to a large vat of water.  Then we'd dip our mould and deckle (made by Laura!) into the vat to pull a sheet of paper.  With each sheet I pulled, I loved seeing the assortment of speckles and flecks of paper that happened to make it onto the mould because they remind me of the books I'd made with those different decorative papers.  

After pulling the sheets, we'd press them from the mould onto pieces of cloth, and eventually set them out to dry in my living room.  (It's been much too humid to dry them outside.)  It took about a day for the sheets to dry completely.  Once dry, Laura and I got together again to gently peel our sheets of paper off of the cloths.  

And here's the end result:

We experimented with using different types of cloth to press our wet sheets of paper on to dry.  The textures of the cloth effects the final texture of the paper.  You can see an examples of the different textures below.  We used linen, felt, and cotton to achieve different textures.  The sheet on the left was pressed onto felt; the sheet in the center was pressed onto linen, and the sheet on the right was pressed to a wrinkly piece of cotton.  We also experimented by rolling wet sheets of paper onto plexiglass, which yielded an incredibly smooth texture. 

I love textured paper.  In fact, such textures are the namesake of my business: linenlaid&felt.  (You can read more about that in the FAQ section of my website.)  While commercially-made papers of these names are made to resemble the textures of these cloths, making paper by hand allowed for us to create these textures ourselves.  Laid paper refers to the lines impressed by certain types of papermaking molds, like those that I used in Italy.  

Both Laura and I have already put our new sheets of handmade paper to use.  I made two Italian longstitch journals last week with suede covers and pieces of our handmade paper as decorative accents inside.  It has been a while since I've made a book for myself.  I'm typically busy working on custom orders, books for my shop, or gifts for friends, so I decided to take the time to make a book just for me. 

The book on top is the one I've decided to keep.  Because these books have the suede straps that wrap the book and keep it shut, it will be the perfect portable book to keep with me to jot down notes on the go.  And as an added bonus, I'll always have an example of my work with me to show as a response to the blank stares I often get when I tell people that I'm a bookbinder.  The other book that I made (the one bound with lavender thread) is now for sale in my etsy shop.  

Laura kindly made a monogrammed bookmark for me using the paper that we made together.  She makes the most adorable miniature books and book jewelry, and she will also be selling her work at the Handmade & Bound festival in a few weeks.  I love seeing the little purple pages peeking out from the little book and knowing that our handmade paper is going to good use.  

A bold and modern guest book

I absolutely loved working on this wedding guest book.  Everything seemed to come together perfectly, and I'm so pleased with the end result.  Jill and Rich chose such a bold color scheme for their wedding. The royal blue and bright orange complemented each other so well, as did the different textures of the papers used for this book.

I designed the personalized nameplate on the cover to coordinate with their wedding invitations.  I used the same colors and fonts, and the circular J+R motif was also drawn from their wedding paper goods.  The couple could also attach extra copies of their invitation, ceremony program, and other printed materials into the book as a place to store their coordinated wedding keepsakes after their wedding.

Congratulations to Jill and Rich!  I hope your wedding day was perfect in every way!

Handmade baby books with a personal touch

Much of what I've been working on in the studio lately has been custom work. I've made quite a few wedding guest books and photo albums this summer, but personalized baby books have been keeping me busy these past few weeks. I wanted to show off a few of the details that make my baby books extra special keepsakes.

I showed a little sneak peek of this particular baby book on my blog a while ago, but never officially unveiled the final product. My husband and I collaborated to write the book, and then I designed it. I added little envelopes to hold Abigail's hospital bracelets and a lock of hair from her first haircut. I also constructed handmade photo corners from coordinating paper to hold treasured photographs in place.

Because every baby book is made individually, I can customize each detail. Parents can select the color scheme of the book, from the decorative paper used for the covers and the ribbon or thread used to bind the book together, down to the colors of the printed pages. 

This particular book uses a light pink cherry blossom paper for the cover, satin ribbon for the binding, and pink printing on the pages. I've also made some baby books recently using handmade, rustic papers and using bright modern prints for a completely different feel. 

I include the baby's name throughout the text of the book, creating a personal effect that can't be matched with store bought baby books. And the nameplate on the front cover can be customized to include the baby's name, birthday, or any other message.

While I have a standard selection of pages that I typically use in my baby books, I can add extra pages if there's something specific you'd like to include. I've added pages to include religious traditions, for grandparents to have extra space to share their words of wisdom, and to accommodate multiple baby shower invitations. I can add extra pages for siblings or pets. And I've even designed a special version of the book for twins. 

If you're interested in ordering a custom baby book, please visit my etsy shop. Or for more information, you may e-mail me at linenlaidfelt {at} gmail {dot} com. And check back soon for photos of my other handmade baby books here and on my facebook page. 

Anniversaries, the traditional way

Earlier this month my husband and I celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary. We exchanged gifts made of cotton. Last year, we exchanged gifts made from paper. 

We've decided that we're going to follow the year-by-year categories of traditional wedding gifts. Since I'm a bookmaker, I was especially excited about year one's paper gifts and that's probably why we started off with the tradition. I think the themes make the gift giving so much fun. The materials give us a place to start with the gift-giving brainstorming, and then we get to come up with a contemporary idea to fit within the traditional boundaries.

Last year, Tony surprised me with a little handbound book made by Ruth Bleakley. The book features hand-drawn jellyfish illustrations, which was especially fitting because jellyfish are some of my favorite creatures and they often appear in my own artwork. (Ruth is a book artist and illustrator living in Cape Cod. To see more of her work, visit her etsy shop or her blog.)

I know I've mentioned before that my husband loves maps. (He couldn't resist getting one of the East Nashville maps at Porter Flea a few weeks ago.) So for his paper gift last year, I got him a silkscreened world map from These Are Things. We also own their map of Europe, so between all of these we have quite the map theme developing in our home decor. 

This year, the theme was cotton. Tony picked out a bird pillow for me, which is now adding a lively splash of color in our new living room. The pillow was made by Janae Easton of Platypusfile, who I met back in May at the Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa. Each of her bird pillows is made from vibrant fabrics and a vintage button, and each one is named after an opera singer. My bird's name is Josella Ligi. 

I got my husband two cotton t-shirts from Out of Print. I settled on the To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye shirts, because I liked their designs best, they are some of our favorite classic novels, and because we read them together in high school back when we first started dating. The shirts from Out of Print are based on book cover designs, and with each shirt sale they donate a book to a community in need. 

Next year our theme will be leather. I've already got my eye on these lovely handmade leather bags...

Congratulations, Jaclyn and Ryan!

While working on this custom wedding guest book, I realized that I had a lot in common with the couple.  Just like my husband and I, Jaclyn and Ryan are high school sweethearts.  They started dating when they were 17, and when they finally decided to tie the knot their guests were absolutely ecstatic.  

As Jaclyn and I chatted back and forth planning out the design for her book, we also enjoyed comparing notes about our relationships and noting how refreshing it is to meet someone else who met their partner at such a young age.  The couple also lives in Chicago, just about a half hour away from where Tony and I grew up.  

Jaclyn and Ryan were married in a rose garden, and they selected a rose theme for their invitations.  I based the design of the personalized nameplate off of the same imagery to unify the look of all of their wedding paper goods.  

The couple chose red and Tiffany blue as their wedding colors, so I used a red lokta paper for the covers of this book and then used a beautifully textured blue paper for the guards (the pieces of paper that wrap the sections of pages and are visible along the spine of the book) and for an accent on the book's cover. 

I'm thrilled that Jaclyn loved the way the book turned out as much as I did, and I'm glad I was able to make a keepsake for the wedding of two high school sweethearts. 

Packing for the art show

Artists may exhibit their handmade wares in "trunk shows," but the suitcase is the real darling of art show booths. The bigger the clasps -- and the brighter the stitching -- the better. Serving as Katie's heavy box lifter, snack gopher, and bookkeeper (as the tax department refers to me) it's this sort of acute observation that I bring to the table for linenlaid&felt. I'm Tony, the newspaper reporter husband, and in this exclusive guest blog post, I bring you a special trendspotting story. 

The suitcase photo that leads off this post comes direct to you from Porter Flea, a handmade market that debuted in East Nashville this month. Although not immediately involved in the displaying of crafts, its presence alone adds style to the whole affair. I am, of course, only half joking. I really do like the style of vintage suitcases, but I'm not totally sold on the best way to use them.

The pictures immediately above hail from the Athens Indie Craftstravaganza in May. The quadruple stack was something new to me, practically a monument dedicated to the indie art show suitcase. Joking aside (sort of) both of these photos show off what happens to be the most beguiling part of the suitcase: the bunchy and silky interior divider. From the first time we considered using a suitcase, that interior has always given me pause. That area is designed for storing socks, I think, and making it practical for anything else may not be possible.

This photo shows another Athens effort in putting the suitcase to work. Such displays really are handy for browsing, even if I haven't yet met a suitcase that can pull off "classy." Which is not to say that we haven't given the suitcase a chance as well, as seen below, displaying prints and photographs.

For the moment, this is the best that we've come up with. When hauling art to our booth, I love being able to easily carry considerable weight inside the suitcase. And once it's there, I think we feel obliged to work it into the display in our own booth.

We got ours for no cost at a church "free sale" back in Virginia, so there's no pressure, but I'd like to see your great ideas for putting a vintage suitcase to work, so please share links or descriptions in the comments.

A gift from her bridesmaids

This book will be making its debut at a wedding in upstate New York this weekend.  The cousin of the bride contacted me about placing the order for this custom photo album, and it will be a wedding gift to the couple from her and the other bridesmaids.  The bride's cousin also designed the wedding invitation suite, so she supplied the artwork for the custom nameplate on this album so it would coordinate with all of the other printed materials. 

Like all of my albums, this book is built with a double-thick spine.  This allows for photos to be added to the pages without the book "yawning" open or appearing over-filled.  I bound the album with orange waxed linen thread in the Japanese stab binding style.  

I selected a light blue bookcloth for the edge of the book closest to the spine, and I used a navy paper for the covers.  I actually ended up gluing a slightly transparent piece of navy paper on top of a blue lokta paper to get exactly the shade of blue I wanted for the covers.  

I wish Anne and Kevin a joyous wedding day and a lifetime full of happiness.  Congratulations to you both!

A book for an Irish wedding

This wedding guest book was made for Raminta and Shaun, a couple in Ireland who married in May.  The color scheme for their wedding was sky blue, yellow, and white, which I carried into the design of their guest book.  

This was the first custom wedding book that I'd made for a couple outside of the U.S.  And I'm currently working on my second international wedding guest book for a couple in Norway.  It is so exciting for me to be able to share my work with people all over the world. 

The book was bound in the Coptic style with yellow thread, and a matching yellow grosgrain ribbon was threaded through the covers of the book so it could be tied shut when not in use.  When untied, the book will still lay flat on a table so it's easy for guests to sign. 

I printed the couple's names, wedding date, and wedding location on the first page of the book.  All of the interior pages were printed with matching blue lines and the word "guests" on top of each page.

I included a little matching booklet along with the guest book when I sent it off to Ireland.  My husband and I used a similar little book on our Portland, Oregon honeymoon two years ago to record all of our wedding memories. While on the airplane or sitting in coffee shops, we would pass the book back and forth, taking turns recording little details we wanted to be sure not to forget.  I like sending little books off to the other couples, and perhaps they'll do the same. 

Porter Flea

On Saturday, Tony and I discover yet another thing to love about our new neighborhood.  We stopped by Porter Flea, the first of hopefully many handmade markets in East Nashville.  We've only lived in Nashville for about 10 days, and we're already falling in love with this city and all that it has to offer.  

The Porter Flea art show had a top-notch group of vendors selling all sorts of goods from jewelry to furniture, and everything in between.  Friendly Arctic was printing awesome East Nashville map posters right then and there.  Because of our love of maps and our growing collection of silkscreened map posters, Tony couldn't resist buying the very first completed print.  We're looking forward to getting our new apartment set up so we can get our new poster on display. 

Alongside Andy and Brendan of Friendly Arctic, the show was also organized by Katie (who makes upcycled t-shirt necklaces) and Jessica (whose linocut prints can be seen below, and in her Pine Street Makery etsy shop).  Of course I'm partial to Jessica's book prints, but my husband was loving the El Camino print. 

Some of my other personal favorites at the show were Modern Arks (gorgeous coffee tables and end tables made from crates and other reclaimed wood), Studio Fjord (I really enjoyed chatting with Tracey about her jewelry), and 400 Moons (they sell terrariums filled with all types of succulents).  Succulents are some of my favorite plants because Tony proposed to me in a greenhouse filled with succulents, and we also used them to decorate the tables at our wedding reception -- exactly two years ago today!

Reconnecting with the past

One of the best parts of starting my own business has been getting to meet so many new people, from talented artists at art shows to the inspirational bookbinders of BEST.  But I've also had the chance to reconnect with people I've know for years.  This journal was commissioned by one of my high school classmates, Kendra, as a birthday gift for her sister.  (While working on this project for Kendra, I also got to hear more about her own business, Connected Healing, specializing in holistic horse healthcare.) 

This book is a 6" x 9" leather journal, bound in yellow thread using the Italian long-stitch technique.  Usually when I make smaller leather journals, like this one, I use a thin leather strap which is attached to the cover by looping it through a series of holes in the leather.  However for this large journal, I felt that the book needed a thick strap to aesthetically balance the book.  

This lead me to try a new way of attaching the strap, resulting in the double X stitching pattern.  While certainly nothing groundbreaking, I loved the extra bit of visual interest that the simple pattern brings to the book.  I wonder how it would look to continue the stitching pattern along the entire length of the strap.  I may have to try that on a future book. 

The inside of the book features colorful bits of paper from a vintage world atlas.  I selected an assortment of maps from around the globe to wrap each section of pages.  And since all of the maps I used are printed on both sides, no matter how you flip through the book you can get a little geography lesson.