When I headed to Nebraska this Fall I had already committed to making a book for the Humboldt County Library Foundation auction to be held December 5 at the Ingomar Club in Eureka, California. I had an idea of what I wanted to make and I brought an abundance of materials along so that I could have choices. I love working in my studio in rural Nebraska; I’ve  done some of my most creative work isolated from people, phones, and internet. I had almost completed the book when I discovered that one of my favorite artists Karen Kunc was offering a class in boxmaking in Lincoln, Nebraska, and this was no ordinary box! I was thrilled to take yet another class from such a talented artist and teacher. So. I built a box for the book.


The Coptic bound book is made from old growth redwood boards rescued from the 1905 carriage house of Liz Murguia, president of the library foundation board. The apple twigs come from a 50 year old Gravenstein apple tree belonging to Sara Traphagen, vice-president of the library foundation board. The book structure was inspired by another wonderful book artist and teacher Margo Klass.


The thread is heavy natural flax, the pebble comes from the Mad River Beach, and the sections inside were constructed  from German Ingres paper wrapped in eco-dyed papers.


The clamshell box is covered with linen book cloth with recessed niches for eco-dyed papers on the front and spine.


When the book and platform are removed a tray is revealed which can also be removed. Whoever wins the bid on this can write in the journal and store their treasures in the tray. This is a fairly large box (9″ x 7″ x 4.5″) and I have plans to make a series of smaller ones. I’m always surprised by the completed project as I never know what I will create when I start out. I love the mathematical and logical ways of putting things together but it’s the unpredictability of the artistic opportunities that are the most exciting. Here is hoping that the auction brings in lots of money to support the purchase of non-fiction books for children – this year’s project.

It was my sincere honor to be part of a reception for Terry Tempest Williams, June 6th, 2016, to celebrate the publication of her new book The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks and the debut of the special limited edition, Canyonlands National Park. I’ve been a fan of Terry’s since reading Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place in the 1990’s; I don’t know how many copies I’ve given away but the most recent gift was given in February. Little did Terry know that she was about to receive a handmade book with black walnut covers and Eco dyed endpapers using sagebrush from her beloved Castle Valley, Utah. I was blessed enough to be the book artist who designed and assembled the book. I will devote another post to the creation of this book – a story in itself. For now, enjoy some of the photos from this event and then run to your nearest bookstore and buy a book, any book, by this remarkable woman.


Terry’s first look at the handmade book. Bill  Hedden, on the left, provided the black walnut covers. Andy Nettell, on the right, is the owner of Back of Beyond Books, Moab, Utah. Andy organized the reception and readings that evening. He also commissioned the three handmade books. One is for Terry, one Andy’s collection, and one for the Yale University Library that holds Terry’s papers.


Two true book lovers. One makes books and one writes them.


After many email messages over the last months I finally get to meet Bill Hedden who created the beautiful black walnut covers. The story of this wood will be included in the next post. Bill is the executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust.


Andy Nettell, owner of the my favorite bookstore in the West, Back of Beyond Books. He is an antiquarian book dealer who specializes in regional and natural history titles of the Colorado Plateau. Want a first edition of Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang? He’s got it.


These special people were also at the reception. My husband, Rollie Lamberson, is on the left and he provided the finish for the covers. Our daughter and son-in-law, Laurie and Brian Evans, are in the center; they were the plant collectors for the vegetation I used for dyeing endpapers. Jen Jones is on the right and best friend of Laurie. Jen is a graduate of Humboldt State University!

Hour of Land and Canyonlands.

Commissioned book: Bradel binding, black walnut covers, black goatskin spine, Eco dyed papers with black walnut leaves and sagebrush on Japanese Nishinouchi handmade paper.

Next Post: Evolution of a Book

In the second OLLI Book Arts class of Spring Semester, 2016,  the students gave new life to old books. Each participant  brought a book that had appealing covers along with decorative and/or text weight papers for the four sections.  They also brought a strip of fabric to use for creating their own book cloth. The results are fabulous and unique.

First, the covers of the books to be repurposed were cut from the text block and spine.  Next we made our own book cloth using Heat-N-Bond Lite fused to the fabric and bond paper. I prefer book cloth made from wheat paste and bond paper but there wasn’t time for this to dry during the four hours class. The strip of cloth for the outer spine was then glued to the covers. The covers of the example below already had beautiful papers on the inside and those were preserved.  A strip of book cloth was glued to the inside of the spine. The next photo shows the positioning of the sewing template. The template was adjusted for each book—they all had different heights!


 Students then pierced the sewing stations. Some of the holes were very hard to see but if you held them up to the light, the holes were obvious.   The books were sewing using the long stitch on four sections.  Here are the beautiful results.


  
 Everyone did a super job. It’s such a privilege to work with students who are SO artistically adventurous. This is the 14th book structure I’ve taught in our OLLI classes and I can always depend on these book artists to go beyond what is being taught to create something that is unique. Gisela added metal corner decorations as well as a pencil and elastic closure. Terrific! 

  Stay tuned for the “What’s It Book” starting March 10.

I like to teach an OLLI basic book arts class each semester. It’s meant to provide beginners with the skills needed to construct their own book; sometimes more experienced book makers will take the class to review accurate measuring, cutting, folding and gluing. We also cover different types of glue, the 3 hole pamphlet stitch, and the need to take paper grain into account. We also discuss local and online book binding resources. The structure that provides me with all of the opportunities to teach the basics uses a single section sewn with the pamphlet stitch into it’s outer folio (usual heavier paper). The back of the outer folios are then glued and pressed into a case bound cover that we also make. I learned the structure from Paul Johnson many years ago at a workshop at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Everyone finished with the additional assignment that they have to glue something on the cover to that we would know which side was the front of the book. Good job class!! I had several of these students in a more advanced workshop I gave today and they did a GREAT job. In the end we’re all beginners; I never fail to learning something new from the people in the class.


I just realized that I hadn’t posted my very first folded book. I love used book stores and thrift shops and always keep an eye out for interesting titles. Next I want to try folding images!

Sometimes I like to create something that involves repetitive tasks. I find folding to be relaxing. I’ve learned to create templates of text using Photoshop. It’s fun to come up with words that reflect something amusing about the title of the re-purposed book and I want to choose my own fonts. I am not a fan of purchasing a templates because they aren’t “mine”. This particular book was folded for the Osher Life Long Learning Institute’s Open House. OLLI means a lot to me. It’s run by caring, forward thinking people who have created an organization that supports seniors by offering stimulating classes, brown bag lunch discussions, interest groups, and a way to connect with people in the senior community.  I teach several book arts classes each semester and the experience has changed my life because of the friendships and our dedication to making really creative books. I also take a lot of classes and have ventured outside of my comfort zone many times—OLLI is a safe place to do that!


Thanks to OLLI for taking this photo. The title on the spine of the book is The Best and the Brightest. I will include a brief outline of the Photoshop commands I used. These steps were adapted from several DIY internet sites and use the current version of Photoshop and Word.

  1. Open Photoshop > New
  2. Set up document with width of 10″. For the height use the actual height of your book in Inches. 250 ppi.
  3. Select the Gradient Tool making sure the two sheets near the bottom of the tool list have black in the front and white in the back. Center the cursor over the center top of the document and drag down to the center bottom and release.
  4. Filter > Distort > Wave: then place 999 in Generator, Wavelength 7 and 7.
  5. Layer > New Layer
  6. Select Text. Choose a font. I like Marker Felt or Hobo Standard, size 300. Type your word and center on the document.
  7. Layer > Rastersize > Type
  8. Select Magic Wand, hold the SHIFT KEY and select each letter in the text.
  9. Select > Inverse
  10. Change to the Background Layer. Edit > Cut
  11. Turn off the Layer with the text (can delete).
  12. Save document
  13. Open Word and Print Options. Select Legal size and Landscape. Format the document with .25 in top and bottom margins.
  14. Insert the Photoshop photo. Stretch horizontally ONLY. This moves the black vertical bars further apart making them easier to see.
  15. Print on Legal paper. I prefer to use a card stock weight paper.

You now have a document that can be inserted into the book so that no measuring is necessary. Simply fold to the tops and bottoms of the bars (be sure to consider the white spaces to be a bar for folding).

The only thing I don’t like about this method is that it is hard to match the number of bars to the number of pages to be folded. I had to work with the font size to make those numbers match. I have instructions for using Illustrator that look promising and if successful, I will report back.

Fold on!

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Learn the basics about the tools, materials, and techniques required to make your own books. A survey of current book arts programs and book artists will be sure to inspire you. You will practice all of your new skills in this clever little structure. The single section is sewn using the simple pamphlet stitch. There is no stitching visible on the spine! The materials are provided and the text block contains information and techniques being taught in the course.

Bring to class: Cutting mat (or old phone book), small utility knife, small sharp scissors, metal ruler, sharp pencil, bone folder (or small wooden spoon), glue stick, bookbinder’s awl (or T-pin).

Day & Date: Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018

Time:  1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Location: Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center

Register Here: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

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OLLI Book Arts: Judge a Book by Its Cover with Michele Olsen

Create your own personal journal by using the covers from an old book. The spine will be replaced with book cloth made in class and sections of the book will be sewn using the easy long stitch pattern.  This technique can be used with just about anything for covers.

Bring to class:

Basic Toolkit: cutting mat, small utility knife, metal ruler, bookbinder’s awl, embroidery thread or linen thread, size 20 or 22 tapestry needle, PVA glue, glue brush, sharp pencil, baby wipes, sewing cradle (or phonebook), bone folder.

Materials: an old book with interesting covers (about 5 ” x 7″ would be best), favorite text weight papers, decorative papers, a strip of fabric for the spine (2-3″ wide and 2 inches taller than the height of your book), button for a closure.

Prerequisite: Book Arts: The Basics or previous instruction in book arts. Level: Beginner.

Day & Date: Saturday, Feb. 20

Time: 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Fee: OLLI Members $50

Class #: 27851: REGISTER ONLINE

Location: Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center

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OLLI Book Arts: The “What’s It” Book

I’m calling this structure a “What’s It ” book because it’s a creative space for organizing anything you treasure. These make great planning journals with pullouts for photos, a couple of pockets, and sections for writing. The accordion spine provides expansion space for attaching tickets, packets, flyers, etc. Everything is sewn together using either the long stitch or French link stitch and the wooden hand-painted covers make it very durable. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A THREE-AFTERNOON CLASS and most of our time will be spent assembling the structure! Some homework too.
Materials List: Bring to the first day of class.Basic Toolkit: Cutting mat, small utility knife, metal ruler, bookbinder’s awl, sewing cradle (or old phone book), bone folder, small sharp scissors, sharp pencil, #20 or #22 tapestry needles, waxed linen or embroidery thread, PVA glue, glue brush, baby wipes, rags, waste paper, 125- and 220-grit sandpaper, two 2″ foam paint brushes. Materials: Pad of sketching paper (11″ x 14″), 1 sheet black Mi-Tientes, 1 sheet colored Mi-Tientes. Several sheets of decorative card stock. Optional: Electric handheld drill (Dremel) with drill bit slightly larger than tapestry needles (1/16 inch drill bit for wood).

Level: Intermediate. Previous Basic Book Arts course required.

Day & Date: Thurs., March 10, 17 & Tues. March 15

Time: 1-4 p.m.

Fee: OLLI Members $65

Class #: 27852: REGISTER ONLINE

Location: Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center