Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Paper Pocket Book – 3 Packs!
Friday, July 9th, 2010
Just listed in the shop!
Three packs of paper pocket books, which were only available at my shows.
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Now, you can order them online!
& Free shipping to the Continental United States!
New Photography, continued.
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
Been working hard to get more Bonsai Collection books ready.
Here are some more shots. I’m really excited about working with natural light again.
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Happy July!
New Photography
Friday, June 25th, 2010
I’ve been working on a new Bonsai Collection these last couple days.
I’ve finished ten of them. I thought you’d like to take a look.
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I decided to use natural lighting instead of the light kit and tent.
Mainly it was because I was being lazy, but also because I wanted a different look.
I’m really loving how these are turning out.
cucchiaino.
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
During the spring of two thousand and eight, I lived atop a hill in Tuscany.
For three months, I studied art, bound books, and wrote poetry. It wasn’t until at least half way through my three month stay that I discovered two of my two very best friends. All three of us fell in love with Italy. The place, the people, and the food all found their way into our hearts. By the end of the trip, we were binding books together, making paper, and hoping by some miracle to never leave. In truth, in our hearts, we never did leave. Our dreams of opening our own bookbinderies stayed in our thoughts, constantly creeping in every time we walked into a paper store or had a cup of cappuccino.
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Now, two years later, we still itch to go back to the place that helped us dream and believe that the impossible could be possible. I opened To Boldly Fold in September of last year, and now I want to share something that is very near and dear to my heart.
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My best friends, Miss Bobbi Pinkston and Miss Casey Berry are two exceptionally talented individuals. One with a love of literature and another with a knack for art history, they traveled to Italy not knowing what to expect. When the left, they were expert bookbinders, and never looked back.
Their wit and excitement culminate into this amazing energy that could keep even the most exhausted fingers binding books for hours.
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Living in three different time zones, we manage to video chat on a constant basis. I miss them daily, but am so proud to see how far they’ve come.
…And don’t worry, we plan to return to Italy very soon, but more on that later!
*All images property of Little Spoon Bindery.
Too beautiful…
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
At craft shows and markets, I’m often complimented on the beauty of my work. While this is very flattering, it often comes in this way:
“This is just too beautiful to use! My words aren’t important enough for these books.”
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At an early age we are often told that we are or are not something. Children are encouraged to be creative, but somehow during the transition to adulthood this encouragement changes. Freedom of expression is often seen as immature or not serious.
Why do adults feel that their words aren’t important? That their story isn’t meant to be written? Just because you write something down doesn’t mean that you must be the next Mark Twain or John Steinbeck. Your words matter. You story matters.
Furthermore, just because you are not a trained artist does not mean that you cannot draw or paint or create. Most trained artists don’t go on to become famous or well known or even make a career out of it. Creativity is in all of us, and more often then not we just need to let ourselves be creative.
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When I first began making books, it was purely for myself. As an artist I couldn’t find a sketchbook with quality artist paper and a binding that could hold up to strenuous daily use. As my interest in bookbinding grew, I began to realize that it wasn’t just about the physical book. I want people to have a place to write down their thoughts, jot down their dreams, and scribble down some sketches. I want creativity to be a constant in everyone’s life, not just for an artist or a writer.
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I think I need to think of some good responses to these comments about my work being too good to use. I usually just smile and say, “Oh no, of course you should use it!” but I think I’ve come up with something better. I think I’m going to say, “If a cake was made too beautifully, would you not eat it? Would you let it sit there and turn to mush just so you could stare at it?”
Too harsh? What would you say?
Where have I been?
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Oh, hi.
It’s been a exciting and busy couple weeks.
I’ve been figuring out where I’d like this business to go, and have been making books constantly. I’m hoping to get some new work up on the site soon. So, stay tuned! I’m currently finishing up a second Juniper Collection, and have begun work on two new Bonsai Collections.
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In other news, hilariously enough, a product that had started out as just a little notebook for myself has turned into an integral part of my business. I’m working on a couple wholesale orders for a lovely shop and a super cool online store. Throughout this process I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. I discovered that I had received invalid information in regards to the copyrights on some of the decorative papers I had been using. So, I had to pull all of the the books with those papers and have been giving them away as gifts. It seemed like a big hassle in the beginning, but now I’m so glad that I went to the lengths that I did to get the right information. Copyrights are a tricky matter. I’d be angry if something I’d created had been used in a manner that I did not approve of and without my permission. So, think about the materials that you use and where they come from. Even though I’m just one person, I’ve been learning how to run a business, and it’s been very rewarding.
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For June and July, I’ll be spending my Sundays at SOWA. Yesterday was my first day there. The weather was gloomy, but thankfully there was no rain. There were a huge variety of amazingly talented artists. (AND I met an Etsy Superstar!)
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More exciting news to come!
New Work
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
It seems like this time of year is always busy for everyone.
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Here’s something new that I’ve been working on.
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Guess What?
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
To Boldly Fold is on Flickr!
I always love to see what goes on inside To Boldly Fold books after they leave my studio.
So, I started up a Flickr Group where you can post your pages!
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This is where Mark’s currently lives.
Fitting in flawlessly between some external hard drives and a Batmobile iPhone dock!
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I’d also love to see where your books have traveled, and anything else having to do with them!
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Can’t wait!
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Happy May!
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
I know, it’s already a couple days into the month.
Anyways, it’s been a busy couple weeks,
but I’m very excited to have a full season of shows lined up for the next three months!
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One of the items that I sell only at my shows are little pocket books.
They come with either paper or wood covers, and have Ingres charcoal paper on the inside.
I love keeping one around for notes, shopping lists, and doodling.
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At my show last weekend I sold my last little pocket book with a robot cover (eek!),
so I’ve been working on some new ones the last couple days.
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Paper Source had some great decorative papers in stock,
including this amazing fish themed paper.
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I also like to sneak little envelopes into the middles of these books.
I often get asked what they are for.
Why, secrets of course!
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Happy May!
New Packaging
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Earlier this month I made the decision to sell my work at outdoor craft shows and farmers’ markets. I had been extremely apprehensive about this type of venue mainly because of the unpredictable New England weather. My work is so easily damaged by water that I didn’t want to risk it. It was also largely a monetary decision, because it would mean buying a tent, more tables, and anything else that I would need for a outdoor setup. Then, my wonderful mom decided to buy me a tent as a gift! So, that cut out a big part of my decision against it.
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The other part of the problem was the books themselves. I really couldn’t risk them getting wet or damp at all. This type of damage wouldn’t even leave the books salvageable. So, I had to come up with packaging that could at least fend off a bit of water if it started to rain and I had to pack up quickly.
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I decided to invest in some clear, resealable cello bags. They keep my books water-resistant and still accessible. They also keep away sticky fingers and protect my books from scratches. A win-win for all!
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Next up, I wanted something that would easily provide a descriptive list of attributes to the customer. Since my books are now plastic wrapped, I needed an easier way of getting the information to the viewer without opening them.
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The nice thing about these information tags is that they can be placed on either side of the button depending on where the button placement is. Also, I perforated the price tab at the bottom so that it can be easily removed if the book is given as a gift.
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Lastly, I wanted to included a couple websites so that customers could send me feedback and share what they were doing inside their books. (More on that soon!!) This inner strip allowed me a space to place this information.
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Mark did an amazing job working on these with me.
We had a great time figuring out the perfect combination between aesthetics and functionality.
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