Bookbinding
2017, 2020
During the shelter in place order during the coronavirus pandemic, Carolee and I started to meet each week over Zoom to be together. She had taught me a basic pamphlet stitch at the Far Flung Forest in 2017, and we built on that skill and added others over time. She has been a kind, patient teacher, and has adapted quite well to holding needle, thread, and paper up to a camera while explaining techniques.
#quarantinebookbindingclub became a place to funnel my productivity during a strange time. I set a goal for myself to avoid purchasing craft supplies, hoping to encourage myself to work through items that had been languishing in my craft closet for years. This was a resounding success, with me working through a significant amount of estate sale stationery and even some leftover leather from the SUPERBEAR utility belt.
La Croix Envelope Books
During the shelter in place order during the COVID-19 pandemic, I made a goal not to purchase additional craft supplies for as long as possible. I quickly ran out of chipboard and began looking for other sources. Carolee helpfully noted that cereal boxes are made out of chipboard, so I cut some La Croix boxes down to size and added end papers. I grabbed a set of Nordstrom envelopes I had procured at an estate sale, trimmed them to allow the envelopes to close after being bound, and used them to make the signatures. I then bound the envelopes into the book, creating a set of 8 sparkling books (plus one extra, forged in secret, for me to keep for myself).
I kept the La Croix branding highly visible and enclosed a small zine with each book about how one could use the different colored La Croix cans to facilitate ritual the same way one would use wax candles. The envelope book would serve as a holder for the pop top, a memento of the magic done. I sent the 8 books off to friends and loved ones with an interest in the intersection of neo-paganism and La Croix. The whole affair is very light-hearted, but also a way to incorporate magic into an otherwise mundane task.
This projects sits at the center of so many interests of mine: bookbinding, zine-making, and ritual. I am chuffed with the results.
La Croix Zine
Did you know that La Croix can be used in place of colored wax candles for all manner of magic-making?
Opening the can is akin to lighting the candle. We drink rather than letting the wax burn. Then, when our ritual is concluded, we break the pop top off of the can instead of blowing out the flame. We also recycle.
A wax candle's color has traditional meanings, which are translated into flavors for La Croix. Consider using La Croix Cran-Raspberry for courage, La Croix Pamplemousse for love, or La Croix Pure for healing. Combination flavors have combined effects, such as how La Croix Peach-Pear can be used for creativity and growth, both at the same time!
This book is a place for you to preserve a token of your magic. It contains 8 sparkling enclosures for your use, just as a grocery pack of La Croix contains 8 sparkling cans.
After you conclude your spell, place the pop top into one of the envelopes in this book. If you'd like, you may include a note about or a symbol of your wish, intention, ritual, or magic. Then seal the envelope. So mote it be.
Blessed be(verage).
Blank Journals
A limp-bound pamphlet stitch leather journal. I handled each piece of the process, from cutting, dyeing, and treating the leather, to punching and sewing signatures, to snap setting. The interior paper is vintage medium weight typewriter paper.
A limp-bound pamphlet stitch leather journal, smaller than the one at left. I got more creative with the color of the stitching on this one. The interior paper is custom monogrammed letterhead from an estate sale. I sent this one off to a San Francisco friend I play D&D with, who used it to log the adventures of our latest campaign, which began in 2022.
My second and third books, single needle Coptic stitch affairs with fabric-covered boards. I threw a rivet in the front and back and threaded a shoelace through the spine to help train the boards, which were buckling outwards because I got overzealous with the glue. The interior paper is custom monogram letterhead from an estate sale. The floral book I gifted to a dear old friend as a birthday gift.
My first book! A sewn boards number I gifted to a Sacramento friend I play D&D with. I've repeated this method for several other books. I like the feel of the kettle stitch at the end of each signature.