Four Months

It's been four months since I've been to this area (the blog) of my life. When I think four months, it doesn't sound like a lot of time, but looking back,  so much happened. Here's a brief snapshot of my last four months:

• We took our 1st family vacation since we've been married. 8yrs. This is HUGE because of what we went through the day we got married and the five years following. It's nothing short of a modern day miracle. Thanks God.                                                                                                
  
• Traveled back to the New York Tri-State area...literally going to CT, NY, and NJ for an aunt's funeral, a wedding, and fun. Sometimes I miss the east, but every time we come home to Southern California, I quickly get over it. 
• The daughter, Tiare Kiilani, of a friend passed away after a terrible accident while hiking. It still seems very surreal. Kii is an amazing girl that comes from an amazing family. She loved and inspired so many people and led a life that many of us only hope/ strive for in our lifetime. Kii was only 18yrs. old                                                        
• My co-workers and I collaborated together on an artist book and to date our book has been in three exhibits. more about our book to come. Last month I went to San Francisco to speak at one of the Artist Talks for the Pacific Center for the Book Arts exhibit at the SFPL Skylight Gallery. It was an amazing experience and I'm happy to say that it went extremely well.

That's a teeny snapshot! Now, however, it's time to move forward. As we all know moving forward can mean different things, depending what's going on in our lives. For me, right now, it means spending more time here

xo, jen

Student Projects: a Handmade Book and a Broadside

Today I wanted to share the work of our students. The class is Introduction to Letterpress. The first project is an "Alphabet" book. Each student was assigned a letter of the alphabet and then had to come up with an alliteration for that letter. They printed their letter with wood type and the alliteration was handset with metal type. After printing they bound the book with a french link binding. The books are beautiful and fun to read.

Yesterday the students did this broadside. I love it. They worked really well together in coming up with words, choosing colors, setting-up the presses, printing, and cleaning the presses. It was a whirlwind. we had 3 presses running. They did it though and the print is awesome. I love how both projects turned out and am excited for their next.

xo, jen

Valentine's Week :: Sweet Pamphlet Notebooks

This Friday is Valentine's day! Are you excited for it? For the most part it's just another day however, it's fun planning ways to encourage other people. We can get so busy in life and Valentine's is a great opportunity to let others know that we think of them and that they are loved. So with that this weeks posts will be dedicated to Valentine's. I'll be sharing a few ideas for decorating, gift giving, and a special makeup tutorial from an amazing makeup artist.
First up this week are these sweet little pamphlet notebooks that are not only cute, but super easy to make:

Pamphlet Notebooks

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Supplies: (4) sheets of text paper 5 1/2in x 8in, (1)decorative paper 5 1/2in x 8in, needle, thread, awl, and scissors

1. Trim your text & decorative papers down to 5 1/2in x 8in using a paper trimmer or with a ruler, x-acto knife, and cutting mat. you can trim the decorative paper slighter longer than 8in. and trim it down after you finish the book.
2. Fold your 4 sheets of text paper in half and smooth out the spine with a bone folder. Repeat process with your decorative paper.
3. Use an awl to punch a hole into the center of the signature (the 4 sheets of folded paper) and the cover, then punch another hole about an inch from the top and an inch from the bottom.
4. Insert threaded needle through the center hole, either from the inside or outside of the book leaving a 3” – 4” tail of thread.
5. Next insert needle into one of the outer holes, then skip the center hole and proceed to the opposite outer hole.

Bring thread back into the center hole and on the opposite side of the longest stitch to create a second tail. Gently pull thread taut and tie off. Cut excess thread as desired and your done.
You could make a few and bundle them together with ribbon or bakers twine. sweet.

notes: for the text paper I used a nice writing paper since I'm giving the notebooks as gifts, not copier paper. The decorative paper is actually Rifle Papers gift wrap that I found at Oh, Hello Friend. It's thinner than I would normally use, but I love how pretty it is

xo, jen

Booked: a labor of love

Over the past several months, I've had the privilege of working with three amazing artists Jamie Russom, Leslie Ross Robertson, and Janet Kupchick, on a collaborative book. Wanting to participate in the upcoming exhibit Binding Desire: Unfolding Artists Books is what inspired us to do something we've never done before. We designed, letterpress printed, cut, folded, and bound each book. It has been the most challenging project that all of us have worked on. We were stretched way beyond what we imagined. Seriously so many things went wrong. But guess what??? We're still standing, still really like each other, and we're done! It truly is a beautiful book and can't wait to share it with everyone.

Tomorrow is the exhibit opening reception and it's going to be amazing. There are so many beautiful artists books and am looking forward to seeing many of them. If you're in the Los Angeles area you should definitely come and check it out: Ben Maltz Gallery 9045 Lincoln Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045. The reception is Saturday 1/25, 4-6pm. If you can make it, make sure to say hello.

xo, jen

p.s. the exhibit runs January 25-March 30, 2014

Made :: I Love My New Book

A couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time for me to make a book. great decision. The book I decided to make had a lot of tedious steps and pieces to it, but I absolutely love it. The spine is perfect, the binding sewn tight and beautiful. I love it so much that I don't even want to write in it until I make another one. I hardly have time as it is, but I really want to make more books. So I guess it's just like anything else in life...you just gotta carve out time for the things you enjoy.

xo, jen