The Bonefolder - volume 4, No 2, Spring 2008

Interested in bookbinding?  This excellent publication is available now here.

Absolutely Fabulous!

Well, I feel like I've been away for about 3 weeks, not the 5 days of my actual trip! This is Peppers Convent at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley wine district of NSW. We spent three days and two nights here. It is an old Brididine convent that was built in Coonamble and transported the 600+ Kms to it's present location in 1991. The nuns kept the stained glass, the cedar doors, the beautiful mirror and lots of other goodies when they sold it. Once its rebuild was completed the nuns were invited to visit. They were so impressed with the job that had been done that they gave back all of the goodies they had kept so that it could be truly complete again. It is absolutely gorgeous and now has a tasteful yet comfortable French flavor to its interior decoration. We loved it! Maybe the bottle of french champagne on arrival helped, as did the spectacular service and food perfection, or was it the wine and canapes in the evening... It has been many years since I was last in the Hunter Valley and it was virtually unrecognisable. There are now 130 vineyards and the ones we saw were both beautiful and tasty! We only visited 4 (or was it 5? all a blur by the end of the day) vineyards. And this is how we got around! Frank was our driver and Fred was our Clydesdale horse power.There is not much nicer than a slow day of food, wine and great company. Frank is a true character. I told him that if he had bookings where people asked to have him as the driver and state that they MUST visit Tyrrells, then he would know I had recommended them!!!
These vines were back at Peppers Convent, although we saw this in many places. They are beautiful but have had the grapes left to rot on the vine due to a glut of red wine (a glut!?!?! What have we all been doing with out time???) They will be pruned off with the rest of the vine within the next month when they cut it all back to within 18" of the stem.

Ah, the memories. I drink a few more of them in every night.

A couple more rebound books

I've done some more bookbinding - or rebinding really.
"African Notebook" by Norman E Hickman was published in 1969.  I removed the text block from the covers and chose to keep some of the pages with illustrations on them.  I included these when I sewed the newly cut acid free cartridge paper pages into a new text block.I also included the original title pages with copyright details and the original endpapers which still have the stamp of the RSL club that owned the book and held it in their library before I found it in at a book sale.
When I rebound it I strengthened the spine, added decorative black and white headbands and a ribbon page marker.  I also made a couple of envelopes which are now near the front and back of the book.  Really there are lots of journal, sketchbook or notebook uses for this lovely book, but I think it would make a fantastic travel journal for a trip to Africa.  It's for sale here in my Etsy shop.
But no, I didn't stop there!  I was having so much fun that I thought I'd finally get brave and see what I could do with this gorgeous 'Little Golden Book' I had found.  It isn't vintage, but I found it in a surprising way and place, so it seemed to me to be screaming to be rebound.
I managed to keep it's golden spine and all it's original pages.  I added them back into the new text block when I sewed it all together using coptic binding technique.  I used the same paper again for this book, acid free cartridge paper.  The original pages couldn't go back in order, but I think it just adds to the books quirkiness!

The illustrations are fantastic!  Just as I remember them.  And the book came with 'plastic bandages' (bandaids) fixed to the title page.  I was careful to leave them intact.  This will make such a fun journal!  It's for sale in my Etsy shop too!

Only Good Things Happen to Me! (Part II)

It's true! 

My affirmation is paying off big time!  

But I'll have to keep 'how' a secret for a bit longer.

*dances*

*la*la*la*

*#*#*#*

Spending Spree

I've had a bit of an Amazon spending spree.  They arrived gloriously encased in brown cardboard and a white fiberglass sack yesterday.  I looooove getting books!  I've updated my Amazon widget to only show what I bought.  If you loooooove books, scroll down and check it out.