Iain and Rachael's big day

travel theme, ideas for a vintage wedding, guestbook, wedding pictures

Since Spring has sprung (sort of) and love is in the air, I thought I would post about a beautiful Scottish wedding I had the pleasure of being a (very small) part of. Rachel Boyce (now Mrs. Iain McCallum) contacted me last summer about doing a map-covered guest book for her wedding, which was to have a vintage travel theme. We worked together, long-distance via email, to come up with something custom and very personal to her and Iain. Here are a couple of photos of the guest book.


 
  Rachael requested a map of North America for the cover, since she and Iain 
  have traveled here several times. This map is from a 1920s atlas.




The date on the passport stamp is their wedding day. Travel images illustrated each
page and there was space for guests to write their best wishes for the couple.



And now for the big event! They deftly carried the vintage travel theme through all the details of the wedding:





 

 
 Handsome Iain 


Beautiful bride Rachael










Happy day! Congratulations to a lovely couple.

All wedding photographs by Craig & Eva Sanders Photography.

A steampunk-ish journal with some history and romance

Years ago, I purchased a pair of 1930s leather motorcycle pants at an estate sale. They were jodhpur style with canvas-lined pockets and they laced up at the waist like football pants. The leather was a rich, warm brown, beautifully weathered and worn. They were wonderful. For a long time now, I have been wanting to make a leather journal out of them and I finally did. The journal/sketchbook was given as a thank you gift to a friend of mine who is an artist.



The journal fits down inside a canvas bag fashioned from one of the pants pockets.

 
The journal's wraparound cover is cut from one of the pant legs. I believe the fore-edge of the wrap is the hem of the pant leg.
 


I added a metal stud where the stitching on the leather terminates.
 


The rawhide tied around the journal is the lacing out of the pants. Click for a larger view to see the wires wrapping around the ends of the rawhide lacing. This is an original detail.
 



The book has three signatures, each wrapped in a piece of handwritten sheet music from an Italian-American Marine band composer. I got two boxes full of his hand-written musical scores at an estate sale on The Hill, the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis.
 


The book is bound with a long stitch, or more
accurately, running stitch.
 

It's got kind of a steampunk feel, don't you think?
I hope he enjoys it.

Sharon

Working studio

It was rainy today, perfect for holing up in the studio and making stuff. I spent the afternoon working on a custom bulk order for some Vintage Index Card gift tags and Vintage Paper key tags. Here is what the studio looked like (click on any image for a larger view):

The studio is not as dark as it looks in this picture.

Some book "guts" I am using for the key tags and other things. My Teflon folder, one of my two Japanese screw punches and a bookbinder's awl are in the foreground. TIP: Teflon folders are better than bone folders because they do not rub shiny areas on your paper.

Vintage paper key tags for the order.

These bowls, filled with postage stamps, ends of book spines and other pieces and bits, are always on my work table.

Coffee mishap. This shot is for Ann and Elizabeth. ; )

We see all of these photos online and in magazines of beautifully designed, perfectly organized arts studios. Thought you might like to see what a studio looks like when work is in progress.

How do you keep your studio? Is it ready for a photo shoot? Messy, but functional? One step away from condemnation?

Sharon

The ties that bind...books

I love binding books by hand. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find time to do it as much as I would like. There are some really simple sewn bindings that are beautiful and easy to master: the long stitch (of which there are absolutely endless variations), the pamphlet stitch (very easy), and a criss-cross binding that I don't know the name for but that I love because it is gorgeous and easy--like tying your shoes.

Here are a few books I've made using these types of bindings. I think I will follow up tomorrow with a post showing some more complicated versions of these bindings by other people.

 
Simple, two-signature long-stitch books. Click to view larger.

Three-signature long-stitch binding with vintage button closure. The brown ribbon is the closure on the bottom book. Click to view larger.

A leather, long-stitch book I made in a class and underneath, a simple Japanese stab-binding. Click to view larger.

Pamphlet stitch. Click to view larger. These are available as a set in the Etsy store.

Criss-cross binding. Very easy and so pretty. This was a custom photo album for my mother-in-law, Linda, housing photos she took on one of her many trips to Paris. Click to view larger.

The same stitch on some address books that Ann and I made. Click to view larger.

These are all simple versions of these stitches. Tomorrow I will post some elaborate versions from other book artists.

Sharon

The ties that bind

I have decided to participate in NaBloPoMo this month and attempt 
to blog every day. Why? I don't know. I'm a masochist, I guess.
The theme for the month of February is "ties."




Stay with me. They'll get more interesting, I promise.

Sharon

Map Photo Album

Below are pics of a custom-designed trip photo album I completed recently. It is to be a wedding gift for a couple who are traveling around the world for their honeymoon.


The cover was a map of Central Europe taken from a 1924 World Atlas. The back cover was a linen-textured handmade paper.

The album was tied with two pieces of vintage French seam binding.


The endpapers were from an old 1950s atlas and said Occident and Orient--fitting for a trip around the world.

I included old-fashioned picture corners that matched the heavyweight, cream-colored interior pages. The packaging coordinated with the album's endpapers. One packet had a European postage stamp and one had an Asian postage stamp.

I hope the couple likes it.

Sharon

Custom work

It seems we have been doing a lot of custom work lately. This is a card set we did for a woman who rides horses competitively.

Below is a custom correspondence kit we designed for Elizabeth Maxson's soon-to-be mother-in-law, Diane Benitz. It is a housewarming gift for a writer.

It contains blank cards, Stamp Notes and gift enclosures.

Contact us if you have a need for a special personalized gift.

Sharon

Some stuff we made

Sharon