I want to show off some lovely pastel rainbow journals I made using Boko Undo Suminagashi inks (affiliate link) – and before you leave a comment, YES they are very light in color once they dry! If you are looking for bold, vibrant colorful marbled paper, you need to try a different style of marbling […]
Summertime memory: coming back from the beach during the heat of the day to eat ice cream sandwiches and watch “Saved By the Bell” reruns at my grandparent’s house. And now I live in the same house! But…no TV…and also I’m lactose intolerant now, so no ice cream. But hey, one out of three ain’t […]
Paper from West Palm Beach While I didn’t marble the paper on this book cover myself, I won’t forget where I bought it from. It was a hot afternoon in September and we were driving past West Palm Beach for a follow up appointment for my husband’s Lasik eye surgery. We planned to stop at […]
Inspiration strikes… The thing I love most about these journals is how well the two black and purple papers go together, even though I aquired them years apart. This is certainly a case of me being inspired by my materials. When I get stuck, or run out of bookbinding ideas, a quick trip to (one […]
I’m so excited to unveil a new style of handmade artist book. It features a luxurious Japanese silk book cloth cover, with precision circle inlay that features stunning, one-of-a-kind marbled paper. I like the idea of a book containing a hidden surprise, so I used the same beautiful paper for the inside endpapers as well. […]
This is a very special journal I made all in one go. By that I mean, I was “in the crunch” for at least 8 hours putting the finishing touches on it, adding gold leaf, cutting out birds with an exacto knife, hand-painting in tiny bird beaks. Also somehow I managed to make it without […]
These handmade Temari Ball journals are kind of meta-handmade, because not only is the Chiyogami cover paper handmade in Japan, the colorful toy balls on the cover are also a depiction of a beautiful Japanese handicraft called Temari (手ã¾ã‚Š) Balls. Temari translates as “hand ball” and supposedly were sometimes used in games, but the idea […]
This gorgeous crane paper is one of my new favorites! A big flock of white cranes flies across clear aquamarine sky, with golden swirling clouds. The aqua color perfectly compliments the other paper I used here, a vintage chiyogami pattern of golden clouds on a peach sunset sky. If you look closely you can also […]
Don’t you love how the cherry blossoms coordinate on the two pieces of paper I used on the covers of this “twin journal” ? If you use chiyogami or yuzen paper as often as I do, you start to see trends and themes emerge. (All of a sudden I just pictured someone talking about the […]
Feast your eyes on the rich, saturated colors of these beautiful lay-flat coptic stitch journals that I finished last week. In addition to Japanese Chiyogami paper, I also made a couple journals using some of my favorite new papers featuring hand marbled and hand stamped designs. While their patterns are totally opposite, something about the […]
I think it’s finally time to write up a post about the Falmouth Community School Intermediate bookbinding class! On the wake of the Beginning Bookbinding Class, six intrepid bookbinders continued on to learn coptic stitch binding. Our first class we did a type of paper marbling called Suminagashi where we created papers with neat black […]
I have big plans afoot to create some bookbinding instructional videos – but first I have to learn how to edit movies – fortunately imovie is pretty easy to figure out – I humbly present my first attempt at a movie created by yours truly Morning Bike Ride – AND my first movie ever! from […]
I was approached by someone looking to have a well-loved cookbook repaired for a friend. The book was in sad shape – one of the covers was completely separate from the text block, and the other was barely hanging on by an end page. One of the signatures had come loose as well. I was […]
I have two classes coming up at the Falmouth night school, so mark your calenders – Registration begins January 11th and the classes begin in February – wednesdays 6:30-8:30. PAPER MARBLING Ruth Bleakley – BFA in Studio Art, Bookbinder and Paper Artist. Create marbled paper that will amaze your friends. Use it for card making, […]
Merry Christmas everybody! Here’s a little Christmas craft project I indulged in since we’re lucky enough to have a holly bush (more like a tree really) in our yard.
We had a big snowstorm overnight, with a total accumulation of 15 inches of snow! I stayed in and worked on a book repair job (both covers fallen off, and no spine) and Meowstro the cat decided to “help” – I thought she should go enjoy the snow instead.
I just unearthed some photos of a really neat project I completed this summer. It’s a giant birthday card in the style of an award portfolio – so it has buckram-covered book board outside and inside large sheets of paper for lots of people to sign. It commemorated a 90th birthday and several of the […]
Here’s a really neat Etsy product – a san-serif wall hanging featuring your favorite san-serif fonts (Futura is my favorite) made from laser-cut wood! For $60 from PepperSprout‘s etsy shop , ships out mid-january
In the beginning bookbinding class that I taught in October and November at the Falmouth Community school, we made paste papers – they are a really easy and fun way to make decorative papers. It’s kind of like finger-painting for grown-ups. . You can make your own paste papers at home – first you’ll need […]
