THE UNFINISHED WEDDING BOOK

Well while chatting in the cafe today, we were all discussing ATC cards and such and up came a comment about the unfinished wedding book that I started some time ago for my nephew and his new bride. Right before the book was to be finished, I heard that they were going to travel for a year so I thought a travel journal would be more fun to have so the rest is history. This little book (a book before I knew that I would come to make books) has just sat on a shelf never to be finished and never to be seen. So here she is:

THE UNFINISHED WEDDING BOOK

First page - not the cover - that never seemed to have gotten made.

Second page of the book - the engagement. This page has places for little stories that tuck away and little picture holders to place their own and a nice quote only a bride would tear at.

On the third page, the theme of how much can one manage to put on one page begins to unveil itself. As you can see, my love for using transparent papers for words and pictures has already started it's development.

As each page continued, new ideas needed to be formatted to add excitement and interest to the readers or viewers so this next page came from typing the same word over and over and then snipping them apart. Each tiny piece was then laid and glued to form the heart. It was actually a rather fun project. This page is a bit sweet for me, but looking back at a bride to be-nothing can ever be too sweet, romantic or wonderful.

The "Wedding Day" is approaching and this page is for those private pictures before the two have joined in matrimony. Oh my, this blog sure is sappy, but some fun stuff. Lots of little envelopes are included in this page to include the vows each will give to the other.

This last page just goes on and on. This page was fun to hammer out the little heart signs and to use the old slide holders for pictures. Each picture frame is for a special moment during the ceremony and once again a quote that only on a wedding day should be read.

One last hidden place to be found in this little book. The book was constructed to include an envelope behind each page, that was to be discovered by opening the spine of the book. If you didn't get the picture don't worry-it never got made either. The next shot is of those envelopes and as you can see, even little quotes were hidden in there.

If the book was ever to have been completed, there would have been a few more pages that now remain blank. The service, the reception, the honeymoon and the first apartment would have been included on the last of the pages. Thinking about all that stuff makes my head spin and perhaps that is why it was never completed. Who knows why art people never finish some things. Shrugs.

So here stays the old maid. She almost made it to the alter, but not quite. She continues to live with her mother who tells her that she was too good for any wedding anyway.

Hope you enjoyed the picture page.

See you around town,
Janet

Do you have a needle and thread? Time to sew up signatures.

Today I finally finished the sewing of signatures. It is most likely the least favorite thing that I do in the studio having to do with the reconstruction of old texts. I will try as always to remember all the details, but as I mentioned this is not my favorite part.

First of all a signature is a series of pages that fold together to form part of the book. If any signature is more than four pages (signatures are always mulitiples of 4 if you have not guessed by now) it must be sewn together to hold the pages in place. Once the sewing is completed, the signature block is then covered as was mentioned in an earlier blog. Let's start at the beginning.

After the printing of the pages, I then determine how many pages are in each signature, count them out and fold; creasing each one with a bone folder. I tightly wrap them in waxed paper and into the press they go. Each book is kept together and placed back to front to make them even during pressing. It is important that I take my time when folding. I use a bone folder to crease each fold and pay close attention to making sure it is square prior to using the folder.

Next step deals with math again. I will try to explain it easily without using too many words. First of all, one always thinks in what is called stations when sewing signatures. This is a set of two holes (in and out- back to the beginning) and is always used when there are more than 4 pages in a signature.

So where would you put your holes? Perhaps it is a good time to note that I am not schooled in book arts, I have read and reread and experimented and figured it out for the most part, so in many cases what I do is not always text book correct. Just thought you might like to know. ;-)

Now, where was I, oh where to put the holes. This is what I do and it seems to work pretty well, eventhough the stations are larger than my tapes, it all works out. Uusually, I can wait in the sitting room or sit in the waiting room and in the end I end up in the same spot so this is how I do it. I like to have about .5" to .75" for my first hole of the first and last stations. These are the holes that start from the top and bottom edge of my text. So, I must first add in the amount of paper I plan to trim off from each side. If that amount was to be .5" and I want my first station to be .5" from the edge of my text- my first hole of the first and last stations would be 1" from each end of the sheet of paper used to print the text. Note illustration. Next, I move my ruler so that it starts at that first hole and measure. In this text, I will have 3 stations or 6 holes. Two holes have already been determined so 4 holes are left. If the distance is around 5 inches or so. I make each station 1inch. Second hole of the first and second hole of last station will be one more inch in. After finding the center mark I use that as the center to determine where the last signature holes will go. I make a mark for each hole on either side of the center mark. I don't know if I understand what I do either, but it is a start.

The text then goes to the cradle for hole punching. The folds that were so carefully made earlier make this job come out more precise. I place the signatures inside of each other, checking to make sure they are even and square. When they look good, I place the sheet of paper where I want to punch my holes on top. Next, I use a little tiny drill with a very small bit to drill my holes. Most instructional books will say to use an awl; however, the tiny drill works well for me. The signatures are now ready to go to the sewing station and be sewn together.

Books are usually sewn at a sewing station. This tool has been around for a long time and still works pretty much the same way as the original designs. Signatures are sewn together and on tapes. The linen tapes and linen threads used to put the text block together are strong and do not stretch so the book stays in proper shape for a long time. The tapes are used to tighten the signatures and then frayed to be glued between end pages and covers. For informational purposes, I inherited this lovely tool and I cannot find the exact set up so I figured out how to make it work for me so if it does not look correct, it most likely is not correct. ;-)

Where do you start to sew? I start at the back of the book and move forward. I turn the book over and then place the back page on the bottom and the folds laying next to the tapes. The tapes have been lined up so when the thread is on the outside of the folds the tapes will be included in the sewing.

Now, that I have sewn to the top of the text and my needle is on the outside of the book, how do I attach the next signature. To hold the ends together of that and the previous signature, a half hitch knot is done behind the previous signature. After this knot has been made, I just add another signature from the pile and continue. If I run out of thread, I use a fisherman knot or perhaps it is called a book knot to put the the new thread on and then clip the threads about .5" from the ends. I do not think that these knots detract from the book when they are seen during reading. It is just part of being handmade. I do not want to have too many knots on the back of my book as I want this to lay flat against the spine. Oh, no wonder so few make books. Anyway, the books have been sewn and taken off the sewing stand. The tapes have been cut and each book is then once again wrapped in wax paper, squared up and placed under my favorite heavy books, the Oxford English Dictionary.

It will be another process to add some endpages and make the covers, but if you keep tuned in I will have pictures before too long. Tomorrow is going to be a break day and I hope to do a couple of silks.

Well see you all around town,

Janet

Ready, set go- let's make a cover for a book.

Doesn't look like much but with what I did today, I could even make some new covers for those old fairy tale books of long ago that seem to have lost their fronts or backs or just are like wobbly old teeth. Using book cloth and the signature blocks I spoke of in my last blog, today I will finish up a series of books right down to signing a colophon to make it all official.

Before I started working on my covers, I unwrapped the signatures from yesterday and found them to be nice and square and the glue had hardened well. Since the signatures were larger than the actual size that I wanted for my books, careful measurements were taken and then the books were trimmed to size. A very sharp xacto knife will work, but after throwing too many blocks in the trash, I found a large size cutter to make my edges nice and clean. Now that the books have been cut to 6.75" x 6" it is time to choose some book cloth, cut the boards and spine and put it all together.

Lets cut the book boards. First one measures the book or signature block very carefully. The example today will be 6.75" wide by 6" tall. I will be using these measurements to determine how large the book board will be. The width of the book board will be the same measurement as the text block is or 6.75." The height of the board will need to be larger so the edges of the books will be protected from dust and well it just looks better when there is an .127" on both the top and bottom of the board. So, yes all that is needed is to add .25" to the height of the book block or 6 .25. " (If the measurements are close as in this book, I will put arrows denoting direction on the book board- you guessed it- too many times I have tried to glue the text in and found I had - well you know what I mean ;-) ) Two book boards-front and back- are cut for each book. Next the measurement of the spine is taken and another very thin piece of board is cut- almost like double weight card stock to add support to the spine. The measurements for the spine will be the actual width of the spine block and the height of the book board not the book block. Remember check things out before cutting. The width of thin books is determined by laying the back or spine on the thin weight board and draw a line on each side and then measure and draw nice straight lines. Scratches head. I hope that all made sense.

Most any kind of paper will make a nice book cover, but I prefer to use book cloth for one reason or another. When I make up some artist sketch books, I will choose wonderful handmade papers to add to their beauty, but in most books book cloth gives a very professional addition. Book cloth comes in many forms, some backed and some with only starch as a stablizier. The backed linens are very easy to use but one gets a better fit with starched, but it can be cranky. The width of the book cloth will be as follows. 2 book board widths, the spine width plus .5 " plus 2 inches. For this piece that will be 6.75" + 6.75" + .25" (that is the spine width) + .5" (when we lay it out this .5 " will become a gutter of .25" on each side of the spine) + 2" that will be used as a fold back onto the board. When I do the math the width of the book cloth should be 14 .25". The other demention will be the height of the book board or 6 .25." To that measurement add approximately 2" for turn ins. So the piece to be cut would be 14 .5 " by approximately 8 .5."( I could add a little more, but not less.) Now, if this was just too confusing, I just lay all the parts plus the gutters on the book cloth give .75" or so on all sides to fold in and cut. Check the illustration above.

Oh, this is always a favorite part for everyone. Let's use glue. When using glue, first of all make sure it is in a consistency that spreads well, does not soak the paper or fabric. Gluing is supposed to be done in a circular motion-from center to edges. This can be a bit tedious on larger sheets that are not square, but start out in the middle and then wing it from there. Once the paper or cloth has been covered with glue, the paper or cloth will begin to curl. This is very normal and if you wait for just a bit longer, I have heard that it lays back down. I never seem to wait that long to see if that is true.

Before applying the glue, I make two tiny marks at the top and bottom of the cloth where the spine will be placed. Now, I apply the glue and place the spine right down the center leaving the turn backs equal on top and bottom. Next, the boards will be laid on the glued up cloth .25" from the spine. This is important and needs to be a nice straight equal distance from top to bottom on each side. I then place the boards down, press lightly and turn back the edges of the cloth onto the board. I like to make little squares at the corners so it looks nice. Laying the cover down and letting it dry well before gluing the text block in.

Here are two finished covers with the signature block in the background. The white is the spine.

The signature block will be glued into the cover when the cover has been left to dry. I take the cover and place the signature block into it so the spine fits snuggly to the board spine. The bookis put together and to see how it fits. The end page will be glued to the edge of the cover .25" in (this is the side edge.) The top and bottom edges will be .127 or close. A scrap piece of paper is put between the two end pages so when you put glue on that back page it will not get into your text block. Once the glue has been applied carefully, I slide out that sheet and put it right away in the garbage. Glue can be my worst enemy when Iforget to cleanmy area. I always have a damp cloth near by for fingers, table and rulers.

Next I place the end page gently on the board and then pressing the end page firmly into the book board checking all your edges and making sure they are nice and straight. I continue in the same manor for the back end page. Now, I take my finger and go back and forth on the gutter areas making sure they are straight and have no wrinkles in them.I Run my finger back and forth making a slight indentation. This is the hinge of the book and some detail should be spent on this.

It is really nice to have a crimping setup for the hinge. If you notice in the above illustration the spine of the book is sitting ouside of 2 brass plates that fit into the gutter to crimp the book hinge together. The book is left in the press until the glue has set in order to get that nice crimping for the hinge that makes the finished piece look so professional. Add a nice title page, sign the colophon and this mission has been completed. Now if only these were the only books I had to make. Over the next several days, I will continue to work on my reproduction titles. I believe the next blog will be on sewing up signatures or how about how to make an artist sketch book.


Well, it will give me something to think about as if I need to think more. So until then find peace and kindness or give it a whirl and if not-

See you around town,

Janet

Putting together a signature block.

First what is a signature block? A signature block contains the insides of a book, to include -signatures composed of pages and end pages that help hold this all together with the cover-that is what I am going to chat about today.

Ok, first of all, one has to understand how to lay out the page order in a given number page signature, but lets start out really easy and do a folded page signature or a 4 page signature.

My laser printer takes a legal size sheet of paper so I start with a layout of 8.5 x 14 to include margins, gutters and a cutting edge. (If saving in some word document you can save so each page is how you want it to print out in your book.) Next, I print the book using a two sided printer that is set in preferences for printing on front and back. This is a life saver; how I hated turning papers and getting them mixed up- oh I know that drill!

The picture above is of folded signatures. There are 2 pages printed on each side-1 and 4 and 2 and 3. I fold the pages in half and stack so the first page lays flat on the table and so on to keep the correct order. I then wrap each one with waxed paper and then off to the press while I cut the end pages.

End pages can be almost any kind of paper, in this particular book, I use a flat black linen paper as the story is about a crow. There are many ways to attach an end page, but I find using another sheet of 8.5 x 14 works very well. After thes pages are folded, they are incorporated as 2 additional signatures to the text block. If one were to use this idea when making an end page, remember that both sides of the paper will be seen so remember that when choosing.

All folded up and waiting for glue and something known as "super." Super is a loose woven linen that is glued to the back of the sewn or tightly held signatures to hold it all together. This backing is glued partially to the end page then around the folds of each signature and then back to the back side of the other end page. (A very proper super would be frayed prior to the gluing of end page to cover.) In these next pictures, look closely how I perform the gluing of a single sheet signature block. I first glue the super to the back of an end page and then across the back. I place enough glue to penetrate the pages but not so much that it will interfere with the turning of the pages. The super is pulled across the glue, stamped a bit to make sure I have a flat back and flipped over and using my thumbs it is pulled tight. So tight that the glue comes through the back of my super and the piece is nice and square. I place this on a sheet of waxed paper and make a nice wrap to keep it all in place. Then under my last press- resting while the covers are put together. It can be noticed that these blocks are not put into the large press, but left under some heavy books. The big press is a bit too heavy and this can cause the signatures to slip a bit-making your book more of a trapazoid than a square or something like that.

Next comes putting the cover together but that will be another blog. See you then.

Thanks for stopping by and

See you around town,

Janet

Going to finish up those lanterns.

Welcome back.

The boxes have been covered and are waiting for the image. There are several ways I provide images one is by using some beautiful papers (I test out to see how they will look behind light) and I use images from where ever I can find them. If I found an image that I knew was copyright free, I could bring it into photo shop after scanning or dowloading from a cd and make it the right size through cropping and such. Many of the images that I use are from old books and designs that need a great deal of work to bring them to their original format so at times hours upon hours are spent cleaning up old works. After measuring my openings in my lanterns, I resize the image and prepare it for printing.

I use a laser jet printer, as toner does not fade and inkjet printers do. I use a translucent vellum type paper (it is really plastic I think) to print on that really makes them "POP" as the elusive they say. After printing, (before I print on the exspensive paper I make sure it is going to work by doing some preprints on regular paper) I dab some glue around the inside frame opening and place that image in. This is done very carefully. Just a little tap into place at first and then I check out how it looks. This paper and glue make it hard to move once it is down so to check it out first makes for happier moments. When using papers not vellums I am very careful as the paper can be very fragil and I don't want to tear it. There all done, starting to look like something.

To finish the boxes, I first put a inner lid of book board in the top so the top of the boxes will have something to be glued to and to stabilize the box. Measurements of the box and plus I add one inch per side for overhang and cut two, cover and make sure one has a hole cut out of it. After the cloth has dried, they rectangles are glued to top and bottom with a heavy book on top so the top and bottom are nice and flat and glue up well.

The final touches are the balls that have been painted red first and then gold. Not hard to figure out where to glue them. When ever I paint anything gold I first coat them with red -I read that somewhere. ;-)
Put in one of those little lights that have a 4 watt cool bulb inside.
Bingo - I have lanterns.

There are lots of ways to finish up the lanerns-that was just one way. The covered boxes that aren't quite finished will have some dowels up the sides and through the top and bottom lid pieces and who knows what I will do with them then. Stay tuned and if not-

See you around town,
Janet