The past week has gone not like I planned. Canceled performances, meetings and trips, but also a lot of work I hadn’t expected to get done in weeks to come. I wish all colds were like this - a high fever followed by days of feeling not quite right but so bored out of your mind, you turn into a paper folding machine, and have stacks and stacks of books ready for the next steps. I had been so worried about not having enough books in my shop for the holiday season so quickly approaching, but after the last few days I’m confident I’ll get great things done in the following weeks. Taking most of the year off bookbinding - or at least neglecting it - in favour of poetry was something I needed to do, but now bookbinding can be my priority once again. I hope you’ve been patiently waiting for my return to this focus and will continue to support me, especially when you’re picking out presents this year…

This week I’m presenting you with some unique - as always - notebooks. These large landscape format books were made using the sewn boards binding technique, which results in covers that remain flexible despite their thickness. Here I’ve used board that’s a bit stiffer than the one I usually use for this technique, as the last thing you want with a landscape format notebook is covers that don’t provide enough support for writing or sketching in situations where there isn’t a table in front of you. The end product is still really nice and light to handle. If this piques your interest, you can find these two in the Paperiaarre shop.

Apart from folding paper like one happy robot, I’ve been working on my entry for this month’s #areyoubookenough challenge. The theme is ‘Found’ and I’m focusing on some really common domestic items that seem to be going missing all the time. I have actually finished my triptych, but I’m letting the ideas for an enclosure take their time while I work on some bullet journals and watercolour/mixed media sketchbooks. The next steps on those involve a lot of cutting and elbow grease, so I think I need to give myself a few more days to recover before I grab my knife and plough, and work up a sweat. Yeah, bookbinding isn’t always simple and easy and light. Sometimes when you don’t have a lot of big equipment, you use what you’ve got - and I’ve got some sad, neglected muscles and some sharp blades.

See you next week when this thing should be no longer in pieces!