More strings to my bow

How many blogposts have you read that begin with something along the lines of 'Haven't blogged for a bit....been busy'? I actually started this post like that and then the thought occurred to me that EVERYBODY is busy, and the point of blogging isn't to record every thought word or gesture (well, mine isn't!) but to keep the blogreading public up to date with stuff of interest to them. Why am I wittering on about this? Well, I am starting to consciously think positively - I've had such a dreadful, dreadful year to date that I am not going to allow myself to think negatively any more, and an apologetic start to a blog sounds like a big fat hairy lump of negativity to me. So no space for apologies, on with the good stuff!

So what has been going on at OTR Towers? Well, the big news is that I'm on a traditional bookbinding course - and I'm already learning little tricks of the trade that have opened my eyes to yet more possibilities plus it's going to be immensely helpful in pushing the quality of my other binding projects like Chocolate Jotters and so on sky high.

Here are a couple of pics of my first single signature hand made book with hotfoil lettering. Sounds good huh? I found it easier than I thought I would, which was a great relief!

In the picture above, you can see the hand stitching and the little knot that is made in the centre of each of the signatures (folders of pages to you and me!). When I close my eyes and think about possibilities for seriously quirky hand made books, I can see all sorts of ribbon and thread possibilities that could feature in such a handmade book. I don't know usable the book would be but it would certainly look tremendous!

It was lovely to be a pupil again and the small and very friendly group worked brilliantly well. I'm looking forward to next week's lesson! Well worth a trip out of the countryside to 'that' London.

I'll be back soon with an update on how my Chocolate Jotters have been received down in Devon!