Thursday, March 3, 2016

Journal & bookbinding impressions

I've been quite busy lately but I'm still alive and, mostly, binding books these days. I'm afraid there aren't a lot of new fountain pens to show though I've acquired some, mainly demonstrators -. some TWSBIs and an Asa Galactic!

Working with my hands brings me more joy these days though. It also keeps me quite busy as it's complex stuff. Still no perfect specimen in sight!


Who knew that Carta Fiorentina is made in a variety of color ranges, like these autumnal shades of brown and yellow?


These endpapers are french marble with gold print. They remind me of lava veins.


I'm learning to make silk headbands. This has been one of the first ones. They are made by wrapping and typing silk threads over a core.


I choose the colors to match the cover. Luckily buttonhole silk is available in a myriad of colors and rather inexpensive. I bought a mixed lot off eBay.

The book block is held within the press so both hands are free for sewing.





The core can be vellum, leather, paper or a combination of those.


The finished headband. It's been a few weeks since I made this one and looking at it makes me cringe, my recent ones are much neater. Practice helps, as always.


Headbands in their natural habitat, ie the finished books. I really like the wide range of colors and designs that's possible. Ready made headbands frequently aren't a perfect match color wise.


Finally, a book! This is what it's supposed to be all about, right?
It's a small book, smaller than DIN A6, filled with about 400 pages of Tomoe River paper. I'm really having trouble with this paper, it's so flimsy and slippery!
The cover is terracotta colored Oasis goatskin and French marble.


Some more Carta Fiorentina with a dark brown goatskin spine.


Grey goatskin and French marble. This one turned out really well and makes me think I'm on the right track. The "getting there" part will take me a few years though.




Of course all of these books feature some kind of fountain pen friendly paper and I'm looking into options to purchase some larger quantities, maybe even some really nice paper like pure cotton which I'm a huge fan of.

15 comments:

  1. They are beautiful! Amazing work as always!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great dedication to the task, resulting in some very impressive work. A delight for the reader.

    ReplyDelete
  4. so beautiful....words escape me...

    ReplyDelete
  5. They are so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Miss Elderberry,
    I just want to tell you that I am very impressed by your works, your dedication, your writings and your pictures. When it comes to book binding you are playing in a totally different league than mine. Due to some limitations I'll stick to my basic codex design as you can see if you click the link below. But as long as the recipients of my codices are happy, I am happy too.

    Liebe Grüsse

    Lennart Wennberg
    Schweden

    http://lennartwennberg.com/tag/codex/

    ReplyDelete
  7. The notebooks are a wonder to behold, and now one is getting desperate for new entries; on notebooks as well as pens and ink

    As always, thanks Miss Elderberry for a such public service

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just want to thank you for sharing your information and your site or blog this is simple but nice Information I’ve ever seen i like it i learn something today. Unique Promotional Pens

    ReplyDelete
  9. NBA 2K22 Park After Dark brings some fun to the night with a new luminous outfit. Players can buy NBA 2K22 MT to a specific store to get luminous clothing.

    Attached link: https://www.gamems.com/nba-2k22-mt

    ReplyDelete
  10. The LAMY 2000 is a very famous pen due to its timeless classic design. It is a perfect pen for paperaholics who love to write and people who love to collect pens. We hope that this blog post has given you a little more insight on what the LAMY 2000 is and why it is so popular. If you have any other questions or just want to find out more about this pen, please feel free to contact us at any time. Thank you for reading, we are always excited when one of our posts is able to provide useful information on a topic like this!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ballpoint pens are the most prominent type of writing utensil used in the world today. They are viewed as a cleaner and more practical alternative to the fountain pen, which has been out of favor for a considerable amount of time. The ballpoint pen dispenses ink through a ball bearing at the point of the pen, which can be rolled in any direction and a uniform stroke of ink will appear.

    ReplyDelete