Summer Vacation!

I forgot how relaxing free time can be. This weekend all I did was things I wanted to do. My house is still totally trashed, my laundry still needs to be done, etc- but I did expose my first screen at home this weekend!
It took a few tries as I was using our newly found sunshine to develop the screen, but I had the time so I enjoyed the learning process. Eventually I will have to set up an indoor exposure for the 9 months of rain we get a year but for now I can use the energy mother nature provides. The lovely boards to the right are my first hybrid binding/screening project. I think I'm gonna have to screen two more because I wasn't thinking and if I bind these two together the bike on one of the covers will be along the spine, and I just don't think I like that. I also think I might screen a few of the pages that are going into the book too- because I can :D

I officially have started the ball rolling towards teaching classes in August. I need to write up the proposals for the classes and submit them for review. I think I want to teach one simple class with things like a pamphlet stitch with some variations like the dos a dos, the accordion fold, and maybe one other thing. I need to start looking into my books and see what I can find. I also want to teach a more advanced class with something like a case bound book but we'll see what they say about that as the resources are more complex.

I'll be working on that idea while I am in Minnesota this week. I've never been to Minnesota and it's where a large chunk of my husbands family lives, and where his parents summer. It's his dad's birthday this weekend so it seemed like the perfect weekend to take a trip- and the perfect time to write proposals about book binding!

Time, I need more time....

This past week was the first week of class and the first week of my new schedule and it knocked my right on my rear.
The good news is that I love my silk screening class so far, the bad news is it is detracting from my book making time. I had to bring my screen home this weekend to get it ready for the first layer of color on Tuesday- I'm really really slow and messy with painting screen filler. As you can see from my colored fingers and loaded glue brush. It's funny with books and pva/paste I'm the cleanest person but I get screen filler everywhere!

My screen is starting to take shape for the first layer. Our first print will be a reduction so this is the starting and the next layers will be smaller and smaller.
Everything assigned for class is going to be huge (11x14 printed) so if I want to do anywork for books this term it will have to be outside of class time. I've already decided that I want more than one screen so maybe I'll buy a few and start a side project for book covers in my non existent free time. I've been thinking more and more about printing right on to binders board instead of paper and then pasting it down. The more I think about it the more it grows on me. We have to keep a log book for class so naturally I just made mine.... (why I didn't photograph that I'll figure out later).... and I left it blank board so I could screen on it one day if I felt so inclined.