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: […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

Our OLLI class Book of Words: Coptic Stitch was officially completed last week but as we usually do, we assembled at Humboldt Coffee and Chocolates for “debriefing” and sharing. As always, it’s a privilege to work with such talented and daring people. Adding a window to the cover was optional but everyone wanted to make […]

  My Fall stay in Nebraska was very productive in terms of reading books (seven!) and making books (four!). Two of my books were created for future OLLI workshops so you will see those at the end of January. The book I enjoyed the most was created from lacewood boards (a gift from my woodworking […]