Erinzam News

This is a great little book project to use up card stock weight paper scraps. As I accumulated my own collection of postcards, Print Gocco project leftovers, business cards and other various papers, I came up with this idea to turn them into something wonderful! I have been in need of a little “flash card” style book for memorizing Bible verses and foreign language words (I’m attempting to learn Swedish) and this little book fit the bill. I have a selection of these little books available for purchase on Etsy, and am also including basic instructions below for you to make your own, if you like.

Materials and Tools:

leftover book cover

miscellaneous card stock weight papers

cutting mat

metal ruler

box cutter (heavy-duty knife) and/or x-acto knife

hole punch

hammer

1. The first step is to cut your pages to size using the metal ruler and x-acto knife. I chose to make my pages the size of a business card (2″ x 3 1/2″). I suggest about 50 pages per book if you are using a 1″ book ring.

2. Use the heavy-duty knife and metal ruler to cut your front and back covers. The height of the covers will the be same as the inside pages, but the right edge should extend about 1/8″ beyond the pages. So, my cover is 2″ x 3 5/8″.

3. Create a template by punching a hole in the upper left corner of an extra page, about 1/4″ from the top and 1/4″ from the left side. Use this template to help you punch your holes in the same spot for the rest of the pages. You can use either a hand held hole punch or a hammer and punch for this step.

4. Use the page template for placing a hole in the covers as well. I suggest using a hammer and punch on a cutting mat for this step.

5. Thread the covers and pages onto the metal book ring, and voilá! You’re done!

This is a recent project that I created for a friend who is a designer and artist. The cover is upcycled from a discarded children’s encyclopedia and the straps from a secondhand belt. The pages are sewn onto straps for the binding. I always find this binding to be a bit of a challenge, but it looks great when finished. I made sure to fill it with plenty of goodies… papers selected from old books, papers I printed myself, envelopes and a variety of other papers.

Here are a few ‘behind the scenes’ images of the creation of this book:

I’ve been working on a selection of earth-friendly goodies lately. In order to reduce my large collection of paper, linen thread and book cover scraps left over from other projects, I created a new group of “Recycle Bin Books”. Each one is completely different. They make me think of little patchwork quilts. A few are currently available for sale on Etsy, with more to be posted throughout May.

Another attempt at recycling studio scraps culminated in a series of mini collages. I had several screen printed tags left over from a previous project and thought long and hard about how to recycle them without actually dumping them in the recycle bin. This project turned out to be extremely healthy for me, as I wasn’t concerned about how they turned out. I just went for it and had a great time cutting, gluing, drawing and writing little phrases. Of course, some of them turned out terrible, but others I like quite a bit. A selection of the better ones are posted online here.

Please feel free to post links to some of the eco-friendly projects that you are working on lately! I’m always interesed in new ideas and love to see what others are creating.

I’m multitasking! This time, several of the projects that I recently completed involved the wonderful Print Gocco. Once you start a print gocco project, it’s hard to stop making more and more!

Project number one is a new business card. Ben and I are both setting up a booth with our goods at a local festival in May (this is our first booth experience and we’re super excited!). Thanks to tax season, we have very few funds to dedicate to this venture, so we’re getting creative. For a new business card, I used sheets of acid free chip board. We already had stacks of these that we use to ship with our prints to keep them stiff. I decided to create a design that related to my books and drawings… like part of a page pulled from a sketchbook. I combined scans of my own handwriting and sketches with the font Cyclone (I promise I had no idea I was once again using a Hoefler & Frere-Jones font when I selected it!). I left space on the back to write in extra notes and information. My favorite part is the graphite color, which is a mix of black and silver inks. I like the little bird walking on the page line like a tightrope, too. The fun parts are done now! I do still have stacks of them to cut down to size, which isn’t quite so fun.

Projects number two and three are mini tag books. I really liked the vintage inventory tags that I previously used to make into little books, but my supply ran out. I decided to design my own, made to be filled out with information directly related to the content of the book. The little squirrel book was an idea that I just couldn’t resist. Ideas and sketches are the little nuts that you squirrel away into this book.

I must admit, this is the very first time that I have ever used one of my own books that I made! I have always used sketchbooks and journals that I received as gifts, etc. Sounds kind of weird, I know. I’ve been carrying around one of the little inventory books and so far I really like it. Right now I’m thinking of using one for the car to log gas and maintenance, one for recording my purchases, and of course one for sketches and ideas!

Both of these are currently available in my Etsy shop.

At the start of the year, a fellow Etsy artist requested a custom weekly planner/sketchbook for 2008. I struggled to begin until I chanced upon some great inspiration by designer and artist Amanda Hawkins. She created her very own organizer and planner pages, which are available for download from here. Amanda’s fantastic approach to her own planner helped me to finally overcome my artist’s block and inspired me to create something exciting. Forget DayMinder!

I designed a weekly calendar page, complete with a system for stamping in the dates and the phases of the moon. I printed these pages onto a substantial drawing paper and interspersed various sketch papers and envelopes between each week. My hope is for each week to present a surprise and inspiration to the owner. The cover is machine embroidered canvas covering book board. The snap closure allows for expansion as items are added to the envelopes throughout the year.

I like how this project turned out so much that I almost considered creating one for myself. After remembering how much time it took, I changed my mind. I think I’ll stick to my current system/mess of little pieces of paper and sticky notes for now.

Here they are! Earlier I mentioned a special project that I worked on in conjunction with the online shop, Three Potato Four. We came up with a set of three little books made from inventory tags. I screen printed numbers onto the covers with a Print Gocco, lined them with special papers and bound them using a pamphlet stitch. Each set is bundled in a little handmade muslin bag. I think these would be fun for grownups too!

Here are a few more cute items available through Three Potato Four’s brand new Kids section:

I’m oh so far behind in posts and updates! So much has happened since the Holidays. First, after a link from Boing Boing (yay!), I spent the days (and nights) leading up to Christmas packing up dozens of rocket clocks. The next two weeks were refreshing; time was spent with family and friends back in Kansas. Upon arriving back in CA, I dug right in to a special project for a fantastic online shop.

The shop is called Three Potato Four. The owners continually update their beautiful selection of new and antique items, all inspired by their love of collections. In February they will launch a special section dedicated to kids. We worked together to create a set of little books that will be a part of this section. You’ll have to wait until February to see them, and all I can tell you is that they are super cute!

Here are a few examples of the goodies to be found at the Three Potato Four online shop:

Ready for some tips and tricks? I am currently working on an illustrated tutorial of the coptic binding, which I plan to post soon. In the meantime, here are a few great resources for other tutorials and inspirations.

My favorite published resource is a book by Keith A. Smith entitled Volume I Non-Adhesive Binding: Books Without Paste or Glue. This guy knows his stuff. Although he has several other books available, I suggest this one to start off with. He begins with the basics, such as what tools to use and how to fold your paper and eventually illustrates several dozen different binding variations.

There are many online resources as well. Brian Sawyer has a great collection of bookbinding links here, which include everything from thorough tutorials to inspirations. Even more links are available at The Book Arts Web. I also discovered some great information at My Handbound Books. This blog has a selection of tutorials and ideas as well as a fantastic list of resources.

Last but not least, I suggest enrolling in a bookbinding class or workshop. This is often the quickest way to learn. Check out your local paper or art stores as well as local colleges and art centers to see if they offer any classes of this sort.

I love the way that this idea developed. While working on cassette tape books, I discovered that I somehow cut a stack of pages way too small. Not about to waste paper (oh no!) I began to scavenge around the studio for something that would make an appropriate cover for a tiny book. I came across a set of vintage inventory tags that I purchased from the Etsy shop, Other People’s Flowers. I had no plans for them at the time of their purchase… just a keen interest in collecting functional paper. Voila! The perfect match for my little mistake. These books are available here.

Three more fabric books are ready for a new home! I did hesitate to give up #3 though, as I have a soft spot for typography. All of these covers are reclaimed from fabrics destined for who-knows-what or where. The first is from a damaged vintage tablecloth, the second from an old curtain, the third from a discarded mail bag. Although I have the raw materials for making a series of eight books this size, I want each one to be distinctly different. The first book is quilted and pillowy, the second has a special pocket that runs the length of the cover, and the third is unique because of the printing on the plastic canvas.