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.

A Box Invention - Hexagon's Are Not Much Better Than Circles

Odd fact about me -- I don't care much for circles. Don't like drawing circles, don't like cutting circles, don't like dancing in circles. I've learned recently that I may not like Hexagons much better than circles.

This past Tuesday I was feeling adventurous. I needed to make a box. But not just any box, a new kind of box. I drew a picture of a hexagon. It took about an hour to draw a perfect one and yes I am a bit ashamed of that. I had to run a few tests to find the best possible way to adhere the sides of the box. Gluing them straight to the base didn't go over so well. Things were uneven, sides collided. Plan B came into play.

Key Note for Plan B -- When constructing a french tray one must glue the separate sides to the edge of a piece of cloth with ever so specific spaces between them, fold that over onto itself and then glue the extending cloth to the bottom of the base. This permits the sides to wrap around corners without jutting out awkwardly. Gluing the sides straight to the base and then covering with cloth is part of the clamshell formula.

Using the french tray strategy, I glued all six sides to a piece of cloth, prayed and pieced it all together. My theory was a success. Now all I had to do was make three trays identical to one another and make sure I didn't get glue everywhere. This part was mostly a success. As this was my first attempt at a weirdly shaped box (and I haven't even approached the process of assembling the three trays on top of one another yet) I knew there would be some oversized or undersized cuts and spaces. One or two millimeters really make a difference, especially when the items constructed are meant to be stacked.

The Case -- Two sides of each tray would be glued to two walls of a six part case. This would allow the trays to move semi-independently and sit diagonally a step up from each other. After a lot of gluing, clamping and waiting I closed the box. While slightly uneven I thought this was a darn good prototype. In the evaluation process I realized several spacial issues needed to be addressed with the case and then I'd be able to mass produce these boxes. But HOLD ON A MINUTE. Cutting out each hexagon, even with a fresh large olfa blade, is not fun. No more fun than cutting out circles. The six sides are tricksy and finicky. I enjoyed the process and production of something new, but I can honestly say I don't feel very great about hexagons anymore. I'm hoping the Octagon Project will bring better results.

The Worthy Candidate - The Casing of My First Book with Content

One of my favorite books is William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I was introduced to the novel during my senior year of high school and still love it five years later. A classmate of mine recently found an icky copy of it featured in a two in one book. Sound and the Fury was great too so I thought this book deserved some love.

I used the quarter binding structure for this project. After man handling the leather with the Scharfix and my knives, I molded it onto the book's new case. I use a stone marbled paper as the decorative paper,which I received as a present last winter.

While the case dried I used a Kwikprint Stamping machine and stamped the title onto a thin thin thin thin thin piece of leather in gold, which later was applied to the spine.

Below are some before and after shots of the beautification process and my latest Box creation.

I love boxes. I love leather. Latest Assignment - Leather Spine Box. This Faulkner project deserved the best housing so here lies my newest box.

A Different Kind of Cradle

So as I hope you have seen a few posts earlier, I made a drop spine box with a cradle -- a wonderful home for any book, but sometimes a not-so-easy-to-properly-operate home. I noticed that whenever I opened the box, one tray would always fall open slightly. The other tray is held down by the weight of the book and gravity of course.

With some writhing and catching and hand eye coordination the cradle box can be opened easily. I thought my cradles would forever be a challenge until I discovered a post on the blog of Jeff Peachey, an amazing knife and tool man. His cradle was different. It was simple. It was a breeze to produce. It was pretty. It was glory. And I felt glorious.

The cradle of the "B tray", as it's called, doesn't really exist. No flapping cradle attacks the fingers of a curious person venturing into the box. No... no, no. The box opens and voila! An empty, tidy B tray. In the other, the A tray, lies a neat, cozy-like structure housing and hugging the book within. Check this gorgeousness out. Boxes never cease to surprise me.

See empty B tray heaven on the left above?

Hope you've enjoyed!

If you have items you'd like to house in a cradle box or a regular drop-spine clamshell box, please email me and we can discuss plans for shipping to and fro and pricing details for the production work.

Love hugs?

Book + Box = hug.

Book + Box with Cradle = Everlasting Embrace

Introduction to Parasitology - A Repair Story

While my time at North Bennet Street School is largely focused on creating different book structures, I have learned a few techniques and strategies about book conservation and preservation. Learning how to assemble a book from the very first fold to the final casing in is important when assessing damaged items. Working forwards helps when working backwards. Disassembling text blocks, preserving boards and repairing tears are only a few of the things I have learned at school. There is so much more to learn and I think I am finally ready -- not to simply make boxes to protect old books -- to face repair challenges and execute any conservation or preservation mission that comes my way... and then of course make a box for it.

The following is a repair I completed earlier this year. The spine of Introduction to Parasitology was completely torn and falling off, however, I still wanted to keep it. I first removed the cover boards from the text block as well as the crusty endpapers. The spine had a hard layer of old glue and gunk so I applied methyl cellulose, allowed it to soak for a bit and carefully scraped off the excess material. Then I used wheat paste to adhere a strip of japanese tissue to the spine, followed by an extended cloth lining and a layer of mohawk superfine paper.

The next step was to apply new endpapers. As the spine and new sheets dried I took the time to match a strip of plain cloth (airplane cotton) to the original boards of the book which were in fine condition. I would use this strip as a background to adhere the original spine (in four pieces to begin with).

The rest of the project involves lifting parts of the boards and tucking material and gluing back up. To my fellow binders out there -- I believe I completed a traditional Rebacking.

The final product is a book that can be flipped through and held without crumbled or tearing.

I made a clam shell box with a built-in cradle for the book as a treat for my first re-back.

Enjoy!

The Sarah Vowell Project - Three Clamshell Homes

Last fall I had the opportunity to see author Sarah Vowell at Brown University. She read excerpts from her newest novel, The Wordy Shipmates, and gave a witty and hilarious talk. I had finished several of her other books last summer and was excited to get her signatures.

When I approached her, I told her with a large smile and slightly nervous twang, "Hi, my name is Caitlyn, you rock and I'm a bookbinder. When I learn how to make boxes I'm going to make some boxes for these books. It's going to be awesome." She thanked me and smiled.

Sarah Vowell's autographs are the only I've received from an author. It was a very exciting evening. She signed three books and in keeping my promise, once I had produced several practice boxes, I made the following enclosures. It's a fun memory of mine and the beginning of my love for boxes. Also, her books are fantastic.

Pencil Case/French Tray Clamshell Box

Way cooler than a pocket protector

Brown University Diploma Clamshell Box with built-in Cradle

Pulling the ribbons tight and horizontally raises the cradles,

which otherwise lie flat.

Green Galaxy Mini Clamshell Box - 3 x 3 x 2 in

Classy protection case

$35

CTO Painted Cloth

Butter Mini Clamshell Box - 3 x 3 x 2 in

$35