The idea of this next piece in the Duotone series started with the binding—long-stitching in particular. I imagined a stack of stitches aligning orderly on a flat surface, instead of only on the width of a spine. The front and back covers of the book are one flat piece together. And then the signatures would just fan out behind the cover boards.

The piece consists of two different books, one is tall and narrow, the other short and wide. As in other pieces in the series, they have contrasting qualities in color elements.

The long-stitching started out with some planning. I mapped out the holes that I’d want on the spine and therefore segments of threads that they will create. It’s like playing with “connect the dots,” an even number of holes (dots) will create an odd number of thread segments (lines).

When piercing holes on boards, it’s better to piece from the right side in. Since the awl pushes the board materials out the side where it exits, keeping those excess inside and tucked away is more desirable. I need the cover to be clean and flat, only the threads should be visible. But how can I mark the holes without any pencil markings on the cover?

One of the great benefits of using hand-bound books is that you can rebind your pages when the cover is worn or simply when you get tired of the whole thing.

I bound this sketch book back in 2005 after a short break, and it was quick and dirty. The cover of this half-filled sketch book was still in pretty good shape, albeit a bit loose. Although it hasn't been worn down as much, I have been wanting to give it a new look. It's about time.

The first step is "tearing down": I snipped the stitching on the spine as much as possible...


as well as the threads inside the sections, so the threads can be removed very quickly and easily without weakening the stations (pierced holes). It's definitely a snap to rebind if your binding is non-adhesive.

Susan Mills brought a bunch of her felt cover books to the NY Art Book Fair last weekend. Among them, there were two very interesting ones that I haven't seen earlier this year at Codex.

The most eye-catching one was a super-sized ledger with thick felt covers and a long-stitched wooden board spine.

The dimension of this phenomenal ledger is well over 1 foot on each side. She says one can put it spine-down and use it like an accordion folder.

Braided Tapes and The Shopping B(ag)ook are traveling back to Indiana. This time, they are going to Ball State University. They will be shown alongside with work from other artists: painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, photography, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, and video.



Reclaim, Reuse, Renew
August 25 - September 26, 2009
Atrium Gallery, Art and Journalism Building
Ball State University
2000 W. University Ave, Muncie, IN 47306
http://www.bsu.edu/art/atrium

Visit Studio CaiLun for more pictures of Braided Tapes and The Shopping B(ag)ook.

A year ago, I completed the book that I have spent the entire month of May working on. It uses entirely paper bags that I have saved, from shopping, of course. (But I definitely wasn't shopping during the entire month to collect bags!) There was a tremendous amount of paper to work from, but I lost count on the number of bags that I have disassembled. I guess it would be around 30.

The book was conceived and created as a respose to Jeannine Stein's recently published Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials, in which I was one of the featured artists. Before the book was published, it has traveled to Purdue University in Indiana and Foundry Art Centre in Missouri.

Since I posted my hybrid button-hole and long-stitch books, people have been asking for their stitching instructions. The previous post only covered the case, but this post will explain the stitching order. These instructions assume that you have done some stitching for books before.




Prepare the signatures, holes are pierced aligning to the 2 inside edges of the button holes. Generally for long-stitch books, the height of the signatures is kept the same as the case, to avoid ripping at the spine.

New books are available on Greenjean's webshop, including those that I have made during the holiday season last year.

Please check them out, or better yet, get them while they last!

The first set of my recent holiday journals was a hybrid of button-hole and long-stitching design. The long-stitching weave in and out of the buttle-hole cover.

Here is how the covers are made:

Construct the case with 5 pieces of boards: 2 for the covers and 3 for the spine. Align the boards and glue onto the cover paper. Cris cross cut the cover paper through the openings on the spine, and then glue them onto the inside of the case.