Stab Album: Wedding Anniversary Red & Gold

 A client wanted something simple to put her wedding pictures in a nice album as an anniversary gift for her husband, and she chose the theme of red and gold to match her wedding outfit.

At first I thought I'll do a mainly red album with gold accent, after looking at pictures of her wedding outfit I felt it was better to have gold with red accents to balance the red out and to complement the pictures.

I had this really nice design paper where first time ever glitter looked really grand in my stash which I picked up from my travels earlier in the year. I thought it would look great for the album, and the sheets where the photo will be placed have a watermark of roses and daisies if one looks closely. It's getting harder and harder to find these type of paper now, they work so well for wedding themes and special occasions.

The end sheet has a faint print of roses in gold. Used a red satin ribbon to bind the album with a bow in the middle, and peridont yellow crystals with red gem flowers as accents on the cover.

I have plans to make smaller stab books using the same materials, I should've bought more, I only bought one sheet of this design and making this album already took up half. Nevermind, that's the nature of how I work, if it's all used up, that's it.

Stab Bound: 6th Batch!

I actually lost track of how many batches I've been making, it wasn't until I was preparing the invoice when I checked what number I was up to. Goodness, six batches already, and that translate to 120 stab bound autograph books I have made for the school so far. No wait, 130 because the first batch was 30 books and after that 20 at a time.

Note to self, check when does contract making these ends.

In Memory Of Japan...

With the recent events of the earthquake and tsunami that have hit Japan, it's saddening to watch the news and hearing the body counts. Earth should not be taken for granted for one never know when it's might will be released...

Organizations and countries came to help to the people of Japan, donations pouring in, lives are at stake. One picture of a rescue worker carrying a 4 months old baby girl found alive three days after the disaster struck grabbed at my heart, happy that she was rescued, totally upset knowing she cried for three days, hungry, probably lost her mother, feeling abandoned, uncomfortably wet from the soiled diaper and exposed to the elements! Ever since become a mother I get so emotional. My husband calls it the den mother syndrome *ppfftt* because I try to rescue just about every baby there is out there...

How coincidental it was that on the day the earthquake happened I just covered the boards with this beautiful japanese print paper I have in my stash with the intention to do a traditional japanese stab bound binding to it. I haven't touched it since. Maybe when I do complete the binding, somehow Japan will pull itself back together, held by all the prayers and help they received, like how the binding will hold the covers and pages together... just a metaphor...

Stab Bound...

There you go, 30 stab bound books. I never realised 30 books would make a pile that tall. Made them on and off, whenever I had the time. Wasn't going to do the do-them-in-one-sitting mistake again. Destination, Jerudong International School Brunei, sent and delivered this morning. Now I have another lot to do for their next school term in August. Not too sure if it'll still be stab bound though...

Second Batch of Twenty

The first batch took me about fifteen hours to make from start to finish. Started on a sunday morning and didn't finish until about two in the morning the following monday. Somewhere in there was the toilet breaks and feeding. I was surprised that I was able to make all twenty and finish them in that time, but at the same time realised it's not a good thing to do it all straight in one go, not fair to the darling husband because it made me snappy *sorry sweetie*.

waiting for the next step, holes!

So with the next batch, I took my time. These are the second batch of autograph books for an international school here, for them to give to their middle school students when they leave. They couldn't find suitable autograph books in the shops, mainly because of the covers, ie Ben Ten, Hello Kitty, very uncool with the teenagers.

All bound

But, with the amount of work for these particular style I thought I'd use, stab bound, initially I thought it'll be perfect for what they want and their budget. Until I realised the amount of work involved, and this thought kept on nagging at me while I was making them, the amount I'm getting is it worth the time and effort? So, I turned to the Book Arts Forum to ask the opinion of the experts. And the result, they all said I should be getting more for these particular books and gave me a different structure that will fit the budget better. Since for the second batch I already had the boards cut, figured I'll just use them up, and for the third batch of twenty they want, I'll be using a different binding structure.

I'm so glad the forum is around to help.

Pink & Purple Basic Stab Book with Flowers

This started out life as a demo stab book in one of my classes, the original binding was silver with a small bow at the top corner. After a while I got bored with the look and figured it needed jazzing up. I took off the binding and used the pink and purple ribbons, added my unlimited supply of paper flowers to the tail end of the ribbons...

... and to the bottom corner of the book. I think the rose buds looked really sweet here.  Much improvement to the look of the whole book. Sorta like being dressed up :-D

Add on: I just realised the previous post was pink and purple too, I more or less made these around the same time and the colours just worked together.

Images From Intermediate/Advance Album Classes

Now pay attention folks, this part is critical...

Drawing diagrams for better referencing for later.

Black pages are the way to go for old school albums.

Some of the many covers selection to choose from, all coordinated with matching ribbons and end sheets, rolled up in a basket.

Mini pin cushions waiting to be completed for students to choose from made by Wina.

Fiance in baby sitting mode, his mac is loaded with cartoons.

Our kitten Shazam! (yes, her name is spelt with an exclamation mark) taking a nap in one of the students bag.

A completed album by Kat, she did the basic class in the morning and stayed to do the album class in the afternoon.

My maxed out group, fortunately they enjoyed every bit of it.

The album that almost never was. You can't tell what happened can you, especially after extensive surgery was done to it. Mental note, be careful when using chiffon material as covers when there is a drill involved.

So, those were just a few shots of the happenings in album classes. I'm thinking of putting together the images of the foods that I've been serving up in classes. That's alot of pictures to shift through...

More Book Makers On The Loose

I love showcasing those who came with no skill or knowledge in this field, did the class, and come out with a book made with their very own hands. When I do the class, I don't touch their books during the process unless I really have to. This is to give them the confidence and awareness that they are capable of making their very own books. I just have to make sure that my instructions are clear to follow and step by step. Time when I handle their books is at the end of class, and that's when I tell them the bits I'm impressed with and what they missed out on and bear that in mind when they make their books on their own. I'm very proud of these folks, in just three hours, I can see them grow...

Pardon the pictures, they came out really weird and I don't have photoshop on me at home...

Left to right: Kat, Kalsum, Tenten, Mariana & Zuliana

Kat got given a gift voucher to do the class and she comes to the house quite regularly and saw the particular kit and booked it for quite some time until she was able to find a free time to do it. This was a morning class and she stayed on for the intermediate class for the afternoon when one of them pulled out at the last minute and Kat took over. Kalsum and Tenten (who is also a friend of one of my ounger cousins) are the inlaws of Mariana, she dragged them along. Mariana is from the other end of Brunei and an avid reader of this  blog. We also found out some of the people and friends I knew from school works with her and she wanted to bring them along too, that would have been interesting. Zuliana is a lecturer from ITB, my aunt asked me to contact her and an email later she came. She enjoyed herself and has ready access to power drills for more books because she teaches in an engineering university. 

Left to right: Sophiana, Hayati, Me & Danna

Aunty Sophiana is dad's first cousin, Hayati is the daughter, that makes her my second cousin. Aunty Sophiana was very concerned that Hayati cut her boards properly and all that. Hayati seemed to be slightly embarrassed with all the mothering, hehehe, but they both felt really proud that they were able to make something like this. Danna has also been following the blog and figured she'd better do the class now before she's going to give birth. I thought that was cool, can make a book about the baby.

Left to right: Syafeenas, Sofia & Nureen

Three sisters, 10, 9 and 11 respectively. Their mother is the one that is doing my wedding outfits. She got her girls to do the class because she wanted to keep them occupied for their school holidays. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle children as a group because what concerns me is the handling of the knife. I debated on changing the class just to accommodate them, but in the end I didn't as one of my main objective with these classes is to create confidence in themselves and just kept to the original. My usual assistant Wina wasn't available that day and I had to get a sub, Kat. My sister came home at the nick of time because the three of us had to supervise one each. Syafeenas was the shyest of the lot and Kat was with her all the way. Nureen and Sofia had a bit of competition going on and between the two Sofia was the outspoken one and she was quite quick considering she's the youngest out of the lot. Sofia didn't need much supervision but I kept my eyes on her just in case. Nureen got my sister to watch out for her.

At the beginning they were really shy and quiet, by the time they finished their books they were very bold and asked if they'll be doing this again the next week. I said it's up to your mum. Got a hug from each one of them when they left. And their books, beautifully done, better than some I've seen.

Left to right standing: Amoy, Sharina, Kylder. Sitting: Kat, Rachel, Katherine

Kat had already done the beginners and intermediate, she came in again for a refresher as well as to keep her sisters Kylder and Katherine company as she gifted the class for their birthdays including her friend Sharina. Amoy was the daughter to a friend of theirs who was only 13, and Rachel was my sister's work colleague who one night came over to do work and ended up wanting to do the class because Zana was telling her about the books that was all over the dining room that they were doing their work in. Kat was telling me that when she came home the first time around of doing the class Kylder got a hundred and one questions about the whole thing. When Kylder was in class, I think I only got three questions out of her. All of them were really proud of their books.

Residue Of Classes

With every class, I teach the students step by step in the book making process, because of that I end up making a book for every class as well. These are just some of the books I made during the beginners stab binding classes.

This particular binding has a history which goes back to the Japanese era of when the written words were on done on scrolls (paper was invented in 2 AD, 1000 years before the Western world got to it). There were disadvantages to the scrolls that they got damaged easily and it got impractical to roll and unroll a long scroll to look for a particular passage. The Japanese developed a system where they started pleating or doing a concertina fold. The next bit was that while it was a good idea it was still loose. Hence the idea of stitching down one side to contain the folded pages.

The wonderful thing about this particular binding is that each page is a loose sheet. Therefore the content of the book could be completed before assembly and bound with the covers.

To learn more about the history and background to this binding refer to this site, it was a student dissertation, very useful.

Corset Binding Stab Album & Hair... Hair?!

Here's a detailed shot of the binding that I've been teaching in the Stab Binding Intermediate Class. It's a very sexy binding I must admit, kinda look slightly raunchy. I'm not sure if you can say that about a binding...

Here's another detailed shot of the ribbon bow that secures the album. It acts as a practical and a decorative feature. That's what I've been teaching the students as well.

Where is this album now, I gave it to my wedding hairdresser because he is a nice guy and he did a fantastic job trying out different hairstyles for me for the wedding, all I have to do was sit there. Almost all my cousins goes to him and my mom and sister got converted to go to his place for their haircuts and are now regular customers.

Wait til you see my wedding hairdo, so cool! I can't wait! Woo hoo!

Old School Album Class & Notes On Upcoming Classes

Proud faces from left: Suzy, Fizah, Siti, Kay, Shao Ling and little Oscar.

Well, my second class for albums. I had a basic class that morning and the last students finally left at half one, and 15 minutes later Shao Ling turned up with Oscar!  She wanted to get the good seats, ie nearest to me and came early. Funny incidents really that sunday afternoon. My soon-to-be was entertaining Oscar with Batman cartoons and chocolate. Our new kitten Shazam was streaking in and out of the living and dining room, and fell asleep on Kay's bag. Everybody was looking at Suzy's notes because they forgotten some of the steps and she was the one with the complete notes she took from beginners class. Siti, I still remember, from being a none arty person made her album with a flurrish, complete with twirled ribbon and I quite like how she attached the hearts, told her I'm borrowing that idea. Shao Ling worked really fast, and finished before everyone else. Somewhere in the middle, Lian and Nonah turned up with little Ern Ern and maid in tow, a plate of yummy yam cake, the album she made in class last week and the skeleton cover she just made that afternoon. She was having challenges with it and wanted my opinion immediately, hence why she came over. Problem was solved and they went home happy. Nonah made me proud, within a week she had made three books and two albums since the intermediate/advance class last week!

The albums everybody had done all came out beautifully. Beautiful covers of silk and satin with complimentary bows and ribbon ties. They were really excited with the final outcome. The particular stitching method we used was what I dubbed as the corset binding.

I shall post up detailed shots of the kind of album made for this class as soon as I remember to take the pictures.

The last intermediate/advance class for this month for stab binding, aka old school albums, is this sunday. Then I'm taking a couple of weekends off to have some me time and make a date with the sea. I'll post up dates for classes beginning April, some of the previous students have already reserved spots for the long stitch, I'll just have to work out which day it's going to be held.

So next month schedule I'm planning on one beginners stab binding class, one intermediate/advance class and two long stitch classes. Possibly the same goes for May, maybe. No classes for June that's for sure, am going to be pretty occupied *grin*

More Students & New Book Making Class

They have all increased their skill level up by one. Yay! With just this one basic binding skill, they are able to use it in various ways, guest books, albums to name a few. For me, hello birthdays and christmas presents, you're set for the year *wink wink*

Clockwise from top left: Siti, Ong Yin, Shazana and Huwaida

Huwaida was so hyper I had to tell her to stop asking so many questions and listen so we could start the class. After a while, she actually managed to calm down enough to concentrate on making her book. See, patience... Ong Yin got interested when she learnt about bookmaking from my sister, Siti was finding her talent and Shaz got to do the class as a birthday present.

Clockwise from top left: Jasmine, Felicity, Hanah, Iman and Suzie

Iman is my youngest student to date, she's only 7 years old and man, look at that book of hers, it's colour coordinated I tell you. She had a bit of help with the cutting of the boards, apart from that, she did everything herself. Maybe it's all the training she got from her mom Kak Jazz since her mother is a scrapper. I was told the older sister was quite jealous when Iman came home with her book.

Fel came in between her work shift, a five hour lunch break imagine that. Suzie never believed she could do something like this, and Hanah was looking for something different, she's a freelance graphic designer, she did the logo to that scrapbook place at the mall.

Back from left: Adeline, Angeline, June, Meela

Front from left: Elia, Martin, Lin

This group was fun, noisy and rowdy. Jun brought along pizza (more food). Martin was the first male to venture ever since I started doing the class. He did feel a bit girly at one point but at the end, felt very proud that he was able to acomplish making a book, he's gifting it to his mother. Meela and Martin were competing who could make their book better, she was heckling him during the class. Adeline brought Angeline along (she was suppose to do class last week but came down with chicken pox and Ade figured it'll be good to get her sister out of the house after being cooped up all week long) and they worked as a team, they had the most complete notes ever.

And just after class started the power went out and we had to do it in the dark and it was a hot afternoon (it was to do with a sub station in town that blew up), fortunately the electricity came back on.

From left: Bing, Fifah, Chiong and Lulu (seated)

My first morning class. Started very late because some of them came late, appologies to those who came on time. Very quiet, not sure if it was because everyone was still sleepy or was just concentrating on making their books. The food was all gone though that's for sure. Good news we finished on time, everyone worked fast. Chiong went fancy with his book, he even made a locking tie for his out of the chinese coins that were available.

I have the first intermediate stab binding class this sunday, we'll be making albums and I'm cutting back on the basic stab class because I want to put in the long stitch binding class. I did a trial using a soft cover for the book and it worked well. Am thinking that there's a possibility that we could make two books in one class, one type of binding, two different variations in the same three hours slot. Hmmmm....

Also I was requested to slot in a Friday class as well, my other non working day apart from Sunday, any takers? If there are demands for it I can schedule that in somehow...

My 5th Beginners Group

Explaining how the corners should be cut. 

Apparently, I got three cameras pointing at me....

Happy and proud: Renee, Shao Ling, Maya, Suzy

My 5th beginners group for stab binding. Reason why I've only been teaching stab binding so far is because it is a versatile binding. It is also the same binding used for when they get to the level of making their own albums! So the next step they'll be learning is tabbing pages... As soon as I work out how long that is going to take, because a beginners class can go anywhere from the 3 hours I allocated to them finally deciding it's time to go home 2 hours later. You can see why I don't do night classes, we'll end up going home by midnight! Goodness knows how long the intermediate class is going to take...

I'm taking a two weeks break after this. I need a sunday for myself, I got a valentine's book to do, not to mention a few others... 

First Bookmaking Class for 2009

Click on image for a larger picture

L to R: Lian, Suzy, Nonah, Fizah and Jennifer

Phew! A fun class it was. We finished a bit later than I scheduled it to be due to various reasons, but that didn't matter, what mattered was that everybody had a great time and left feeling very proud of themselves. Let's see... Lian had a visual challenge because she left her glasses behind... Suzy took pictures of every step of the bookmaking process... Fizah was James Bond with the power drill... Nonah was very impressed with herself... Jennifer found out she can be skillfully creative.

Lian or Ms Tan to me just over a decade ago, or Madam Tan for others, was my former deputy principle. I used to go to her office every morning to have a chat when I was a student. She owned some of my earlier art (painting I did) and crafty (I made macrame washable bookmarks!) pieces. And the odd occasion where I go into her class for extra Biology lessons. We've kept in touch sporadically after I left school and it is nice how even though we hadn't seen each other in a long time, it felt like it was only yesterday. During the bookmaking class I just said to her how funny it is that the student is now the teacher teaching the teacher who is now the student. She rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and said, "What is the world coming to?"

This was one of the various reasons, Jeon and Chiong dropped by during class to give me a cake. They just got themselves registered yesterday. Congratulations again you two! May you both live happily together.

The book behind the cake was what I made during the class. I picked up the paper I used for the cover in 2006 in Singapore. I think I'll cut the tails of the ribbon bow shorter...

The 3rd Bookmaking Class & Waiting List

Clockwise from left: Dewi, Zana, Wina, LK

Here're the kids from the third class. That day was suppose to be a full class, and on the nth hour, they started dropping out like flies. One of them thought it was at night. Well, it must meant to be for Dewi and LK to have me for themselves, they got my full attention and because of the unexpected opening, Zana and Wina jumped in the chance to join in too. It was everyone gain. Dewi made her book with gusto, she weilded the knife and metal ruler well, straight edges everywhere. LK took down notes every single moment, making sure she didn't miss anything out. Zana and Wina, I left them to their own devices, they made enough books each already to know what they're doing.

The classes for this January are fully reserved since last Sunday, but if there are those of you who are still interested I would advise you to join the waiting list, and any unexpected openings I shall be in touch, as well as when the next scheduled class is happening, you'll be the first to know so you can get your seats if you didn't get it the first time around... hopefully I can sort out where I'm getting one of my supplies before then, the item ran out faster than I anticipated. So, drop me a line and your contact details so I can buzz you as soon as someone said they can't make it, at the very most it'll be the day before, unless you guys say otherwise.

There are two unscheduled classes happening, and they're both sorta like a girls day out event, private sessions. One has already confirmed with 5 pax and the other is still up in the air... We shall wait and see....

I need to make more kits!

The First Bookbinding Class

It was a great session, a small and intimate group. Everything was prepared and provided including refreshments (yummy food) and all they had to do was bring themselves. By the end of the session, everybody left feeling satisfied, happy and very pleased. Not to mention the other freebies I threw in as well. Best of all, they asked when the next class is going to be, so I'm planning the next stage to continue the particular binding method they had learned.

Another beginners stab binding class will be held on the 21st December, for the moment all the spots are already taken. I'll keep you posted if a space opens up. If there is enough of you interested, I can do another class on the 25th December as well, providing you're not too occupied with it being Christmas and all, for me it's a public holiday that I get to rest from work. Just email me and let me know and I'll send you the details.

In the mean time, enjoy the pictures! Link is on the left bar up top.

There are 3 days left before the book giveaway contest ends on Sunday...

Proud Students

(L to R: Jaq, Alina, Intan & Zana)

Everyone's proudly holding their masterpiece.

More pictures soon.

My First Fair In 2006

Look look! Isn't my table display lovely! This was my very first fair. I aimed to make about 30 books because I only had a month to prepare for and I had zero books. And for some reason I wanted to take the opportunity to show the locals hand bound books.


I also put up hand made cards, little note books, and shell brooches that I was making that time for sale.

My books were either coptic stitched binding or stab binding because those were the only two binding methods I knew how to do back then. I just get creative with the covers.

Hmmm, looking back at them I think I'll remake some of them again. But last time I tried that I didn't have the same passion for it. I felt I have moved on. They were nice basics, learned them when in art school and they stuck. But I wanted to do more, when I started work and earning money I ordered the Keith Smith's books, all five volumes. It took me a while to get used to and understand the books, now I'm slowly getting around to using it.

Oh, and what happened to these books you ask, I don't have them any more. They either got sold or given away as presents for when I needed presents.

Also because of this fair I practically stopped making books. Response wasn't great. I had people coming up to the table and having a look, said they're nice and left. Only sold one book and a couple of the smaller items. I felt dishearten because nobody saw the amount of work and time that went into making them, they are hand made for a reason. Well, it was a good experience anyway. I felt good for having the guts to put myself out there and tested the waters. And knew for my work to be appreciated, it has to come from me.

I know the value of my work. And I am not afraid to say no to you if you think you can get away with it by getting it less than what the asking price.

Dragonflies Albums

Aren't they gorgeous? Lovely aren't they, I didn't need to do anything to the covers. The cotton material I used speak for themselves. They came from Sam (lovely expat lady who taught here for nine years) and she figured they might have come from when she visited Japan. Either way, reason being she loves dragonflies and one of the material had dragonflies print on it and the other was just beautiful, she didn't intend to use it but when I saw it I just had to turn it into a book for her. Sam asked for an album for her pictures, I had the opportunity to see what she was seeing and nature is just fantastic being the model. The images she captured was just gorgeous, I felt lucky being able to see that, she showed me one of the albums she kept them in. I instinctively checked out the album, how it was constructed and put together. Book structure... not too bad. Handmade paper and carved bamboo... wow!

Anyway, from the cloth Sam gave me, I was able to make her two stab albums. The black one the material was just enough to cover the board and a teensy seam allowance to fold over the board. Added black ribbons to tie the covers down and my signature whenever doing a stab binding to finish with a little bow at the top corner, and Sam is dragonfly mad, I managed to find these dragonfly charms which are tied to the ends of the ribbons.

The blue album, the covers are padded front and back. The material had prints in squares and I used the portion that had the dragonflies on it for both front and back. Added more dragonflies as embellishment and if you noticed the black ribbon bows echoes the dragonfly wings! How fantastic is that?

Since Sam is moving away to Oman I made her a little A6 journal as a going away present using the leftover cloth. I stitched the five sections with long stitch binding of a sort, was working one end at a time, did the head part then the tail part of the book. I numbered the sections in pencil so I know which order to bind them in after I marked the holes so they'd lined up, and now come to think of it I forgot to rub them out after I was done binding... Nuts... Anyhoozy.

I delivered the books to Sam in the evening, after doing a quick photo shoot before wrapping them up, and she was so happy when she unwrapped them. Oh you should see how her eyes lit up when she saw the dragonfly charms. They were such great finds, there's a reason why I check out practically every single thing in a shop or stall, because you never know what you might find that will be perfect for that art piece, and why I like to have a lot of time allowance for that perfect add on to present itself. When I presented her the journal she was really pleased and decided that all the books will be used for Oman.

My books are going to Oman! Yay! My work are traveling the world! They get to see more places than I do... sorta like they're the diplomats for me, heheheh, how ironic... (personal joke there)

For more pictures of the albums and notebook, they're all here!

I wonder if I have enough material to make another little notebook, it's so sweet!!!

Books In A Week

Considering I have a day job it's pretty good I was able to make all these in a week. Full story here and more pictures here.