Tag Archives: words

Japanese stab binding #45 & 46:memories and souvenirs

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JSB memories: 57 holes, JSB souvenirs: 51 holes, both straightforward.

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Hello all! It’s been quite a while since my last bookbinding post, but a lot has happened in the past year. I both completed a masters degree and got married, moved between two continents and three countries, and am still in the process of relocating across the ocean once again.

A couple of days ago I finally sat down to create samples of designs I drew ages ago. I’ve played around with words before in sketches, though I can’t recall if I ever actually sewed any. I’m contemplating creating a free mini-font of these letters, so those of you who want to sew different words can create your own templates using properly spaced/consistently shaped letters. I’m giving some thought to those of you who would need accented characters, and what those letters might look like.

Also, my husband is French…so there will likely be more French-themed or related works on this blog in the future!

A process shot of JSB memories: halfway sewn
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obscure word book: volume 1, light edition

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For a while now I’ve been wanting to create a project using obscure or old-fashioned English words. I just wasn’t sure how I would do it. Enter the fabrication lab and the laser cutter! I decided to create a ‘book’ of laser cut and etched acrylic plastic sheets, sewn together with one of Keith A Smith’s techniques. Though the bind looks ok, I think I might have to redo it with a modified version. There just aren’t enough pages for the design to look right.

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First I sketched the designs on paper, then digitized them in Illustrator. The darker the color, the deeper the laser will etch the plastic. It was similar to the thought process behind intaglio printmaking – the darkest colors will be the lightest, and the lightest colors the darkest. It took a a couple of tries to find the right setting for the laser, but I was fairly happy with the second run.

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I tried a couple of different colors of acrylic paint, but settled on white and a shimmery gold. I smeared the paint into the etched lines and gradients, then wiped (or scrubbed, if it had dried) off the excess paint.

obscure-light-5“lucubrate” – to work diligently by artificial light

obscure-light-6“ignivomous” – vomiting fire

obscure-light-7“fulgent” – shining brilliantly, radiant, gleaming

obscure-light-8“ascian” – a person or thing without shadow

obscure-light-9“clinquant” – glittering, showy, dressed in tinsel

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Finished size: 6 in x 4 in (15.24 cm x 10.16 cm). I’m planning several more ‘volumes’ of obscure terms. If you’re curious about where I found these words, check out this book: Mrs Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words.