Engagement Box

It was a secret. It was a puzzle. It needed a secret compartment. Fantastic project.

For the book I made a series of envelopes which would be filled with haiku, sewed them using the coptic stitch and inserted the back cover into a pocket connected to the "bottom" of the box. At this section there is a ribbon which lies begging to be pulled. Behold! An engagement ring.

Note: Ring shown not actual engagement ring.

Lion, Duck, and Birdie. Oh My!

I was asked to create a photo album for a newborn baby. The album is a case binding with every other page removed to compensate for photo thickness as they are inserted. The binding also includes a few envelope pages where cards, trinkets and any other lose items can be kept safely. The covers are prints from Kate Endle Collage (www.kateendle.com), which have amazing depth and color.

FRONT

BACK

DETAIL

Wedding Guestbook

I made a guestbook for my friend's wedding. A case binding with rough gold edge gilding, covered with Japanese Asahi bookcloth, and finished with a recessed paper label.

NOTE: Please excuse the dark spot -- there was dust in the camera lens.

FRONT COVER

GOLD ROUGH EDGE GILDING

DETAIL OF BOX COVER

GUESTBOOK IN BOX

BOX COVER

Flashback to North Bennet Street School

Whoosh (a time-travel noise) back to last May.

Yeah. The biggest box I've ever made was a french-tray. Odd indeed. I believe the dimensions are close to 21 x 17 inches. I included my foot in the photo to show the vastness of this container.

Luxury Equipment Box

My Haverford Conservation Internship was fantastic. Bruce Bumbarger was a great boss and we shared many laughs and deep discussions about which repair path to take on any given project--it was a pleasure learning with you sir/bro.

Many four-flap enclosures were made and even more double-wall clamshells. So much tissue was toned and little tears and losses were mended and filled. But of course we know me--the summer would have been incomplete without a unique box project.

Remote control and manual luxury -- these boxes are the presidential suites for such items.

Etherington Repair

Problem: Cover is totally ripped from the rest of the book.

Solution: Etherington tissue repair.

I've told you how this goes in a previous post. Same deal, same awesome results. Woot woot to toning tissue.

BEFORE AND AFTER

S'more Haverford Rebacks. Note: No Marshmallows Involved.

Watson's Annals of Philadelphia were in severe need of a makeover. I nipped, tucked, toned and trimmed. These better looking (and more confident) books are ready to mingle with the world again.

Or they might just stay in their boxes and remain forever young.

BEFORE AND AFTER

VOLUME 1

VOLUME 2

Mission: Tone It

Using a technique that Martha Kearsley taught me, which I believe was conceived of by Don Etherington, I toned tissue until I saw stars, filled losses and repaired the cover to this thin and rare gem. The biggest challenge was toning as the cloth on the spine and cover boards changed in color so drastically.

Haverford Reback Number One

Tissue Re-back.

Welcome to Haverford College - Treat This, Please.

This summer I am a Conservation Intern at Haverford College. I hit the ground running a few weeks ago and have loved the fast environment. I was worried I wouldn't be able to apply my speedy ways to conservation, but I was wrong. While mending can be slow at times, I find the entire process of treatment exciting and oddly spunky. Never know what attitude a book will throw at me. Studying the objects, planning treatments and being in complete control of execution has been rock solid. Below, I share with you my first project here at the Magill Library in hot and humid Haverford, PA.

Love and Truth, by Luke Howard, a rare Quaker book from Special Collections needed a complete conservation treatment which included washing, de-acidifying, re-sizing, paper mending, re-sewing, rounding, and re-casing. Below are some photos from the epic process.

WASHING

PAPER MENDING - BEFORE AND AFTER

SEWING

COVERS - BEFORE AND AFTER

ENCLOSURE FEATURING COMPARTMENT FOR ORIGINAL COVERS

I'm proud.