Whew…
I’ve been bookbinding ever since getting back from Ireland. I have so much to do! I had a LibraryThing giveaway finish at the same time as another giveaway was planned for the TomeTender blog (hi Dianne!) so my print editions are in demand.
I should point out that I’ll be doing a monthly giveaway of one print edition, starting in October, for subscribers to my mailing list. If you really want a nice, handbound copy of The Meldling, go sign up now! There aren’t many subscribers yet, so you’ve got a good chance of getting one.
(Anyone who’s already been promised a book – don’t worry, I’m making a copy specially for you!)
I’ve been running out of materials, it’s getting so busy. Thankfully I have a large supply of book board, but I’m almost out of decorative paper for the covers, and I need another whole box of paper for the text blocks. I’ve also blunted every good cutting knife I own, along with my one and only rotary cutter.
That’s another thing they never tell you about bookbinding: I’m constantly looking for new blades at this point. And I long – oh, how I long – for a proper book press and sewing frame. I should just make an Amazon wishlist at this point, and see if I can get stuff on sale. At the very least, I should see about getting another rotary cutter, perhaps with good titanium blades? A Reddit user on /r/bookbinding pointed me towards kiridashi knives, which apparently come sharp enough to shave with.
I’m not sure yet. Top priority is to get more paper. I did another marbling experiment with oil paints, which turned out to be… rather disappointing. Possibly this was due to the oil paints I used being very cheap and crap. Carrigheen (which is used as the size to float the ink for marbling) is CRAZY expensive, however, so I may just have to shelve the marbling idea for my book endpapers and buy already marbled paper instead.
Busy busy… And I still need to get back in the salle. I miss my longsword drills.