Building Cases

The last few days in the studio have been spent making color selections and building cases. I had a lot of fun matching up papers to book cloth and it actually didn't take me nearly as long as I had originally thought it would. I built a case out of each of the 4 colors I had to choose from; white, black, off white and pink. I put the cases together in a four corners kinda thing and put a pocket on each color and did process of elimination until I ended up with my favorite combination.

I ordered my cloth from Talas and then was headed through Portland a few days later so I bought my papers before I had samples of my cloth to take with me. I was a little bit nervous when I started matching everything up but it all worked out beautifully in the end.

Once I matched a paper to the color cloth I was going to use I paper clipped some scratch paper with the number of pockets and the color cloth on the front and started to make a list and piles of pockets. I was pretty proud of my organization once I was done with everything and staring at my list and piles :)

Once completed with the list I picked everything up off my bench and got to work making the set number of cases that I needed.
This is only my second very large scale order so I'm still working out a process for production work but I think I've gotten a pretty good rhythm down now. I did learn that I needed more equipment to make larger projects, I usually only have 1 or 2 books in my presses at any given time so the two that I've had served my needs just fine. One of my presses was too small for the 3 pocket folios and the other only held two at a time, so the solution of course was to build new presses!

I'll share some pictures of the new presses, and my fantastic trip to the coast yesterday tomorrow! For now I'll leave you with a peak of the first pink folio out of the press this afternoon!

Pockets!

I got just what I needed the other day to knock me out of my funk, an inquiry for a custom order! Once I had a feel what the person was looking for I jumped into my scraps bin and got to work and loved every minute of it. It took me most of Wednesday to finish my final project for my nutrition class and it was hard not spend all afternoon in my studio prepping board and playing in my paper (which was reorganized last week!). Prepping board is all I can really to do get started at this point, as I can't get the cloth colors I want locally. So I just placed a monster order with Talas and it will be like Christmas when the boxes -yes multiple- get here, I ordered the cloth I needed as well as some fun things I've wanted for awhile but didn't have a large enough order to make the shipping worth it.

The project I'm excited about is making custom DVD Folios for U Designs, which is a wedding company. I've been working with Brie who is their head photographer and I am in love with her work! There is one picture of the couple making fists at the camera with their rings on... I just love it!
Anyways back to the project at hand- DVD Folios! I'll be starting by making some 2 pocket folios and some 3 pocket folios, I get to have some artistic freedom as far as matching papers, ribbons, and cloths so I'm thrilled with the arrangement. The 2 pocket folios will work just like a normal portfolio while the 3 pocket folios will be more like my fold up travel albums that will wrap up and then tie closed. I goofed the ribbon placement on the 3 pocket folio but I think it was a good learning experience to remember to watch where the larger "spine" is. I actually really like the 3 pocket folio and am a bit sad to be parting with it... however the samples need to be sent by tomorrow and I really don't have a need to keep one.
I also managed to fling glue everywhere today and have one 2 pocket folio with a glue spot front and center...again... I'm starting to think I need to add a "glue mess" section to my Etsy store.

My local book arts meeting was St. Patties Day and our swap theme this month was luck. Last month I was visiting with one of our members and she was kind enough to give me a few real dried 4 leaf clovers to use to play with on the project. I had been racking my brain for away to use them without glue and then it came to me.... Pockets! I was working on the mock up folio and had to stop part way through and make the pocket for my shamrock! I made a little 3" square portfolio with the a pocket, it was so cute I almost didn't want to give it away. However it was worth it because I received a fantastic blizzard book in return, it is filled with red Chinese New Year envelopes and inside each has a symbol for luck and it's meaning printed on a card. I really enjoy all the creativity the group has and the fun we have each month. Our mini workshop this month was on pop-ups, I'll share that another day.

In non book related news I just finished my last term at school for awhile. It was a tough decision not to enroll in classes for spring term but circumstances as they are we (my husband and I) decided it was for the best. This should give me more time to be a more dedicated book binder and blogger as I'm still only working limited hours at Coconut Bliss. Working there still rocks and I'm really enjoying the new atmosphere and finding my place as I go along.
I'm also going on a mini vacation this weekend across the state to see my Mom, finger crossed it stops snowing at night so we can make a safe trip over the pass on Saturday. I'll be back on Wednesday next week with some pictures of the trip and other news as this post is way too long already!