Let's go for a ride

Distraction

A little distracted by bikes, books and some other things that begin with a 'B', Stoffer + Blik hasn't been on the top of my priority list lately. That does not mean nothing has been done, there are a couple of 'to-be-finished-and/or-finetuned' projects. I have (finally) tested the wooden textile stamps I bought in India. With a little trial and error with types of ink, I think I might be able to use them for book covers and cards.

After a few weeks of absence my bookbinding course resumed and I am now learning about Japanese binding, which has endless possibilities. You will surely find a couple of these little books at the shop in the near future! The one you see below is not finished yet, but I already love the colors and I am curious to see how it will turn out.

The outline of the next newsletter is also somewhere in my head and I think there might be a 'hurray-it-is-summer-giveaway' in there as well. But before I get my priorities straight, I let myself be distracted a little longer by one of the B's: it's a sunny day and my beauty of a blue bike is waiting for me... 

Today is where your book begins

I started a course in bookbinding about a month ago and I can say I have learned so much already. After the first class I came home with one finished hand bound book and two awaiting only a finishing touch.

Of course it was all about the technique, folding the paper in the right direction (who knew?) and making the sections, binding them together with thread and needle to make a book block. There's also some glueing, pressing and drying involved. Cutting the cover boards and the most challenging task of all: selecting the paper and linen for the newborn book.

The available papers and colors for the cover weren't exactly making me jump for joy. I made a mental note to bring my own and don't complain too much about theirs. After 3 larger books and 3 smaller books with plain white paper and different sewing techniques (cloth bound and cross stitching) and finishes, I got to a much bigger book about tulips that I was binding and setting into a loose cover (also handmade of course). All nice and good for practicing the techniques and being really precise about the millimeters, but then we got to the title. Oh my. I love that! I arranged the lead letters backwards to form the title of the book, did some tests, did kerning adjustments of the letters, tested again and finally pressed the title onto the book with a hot press and colored foil. No room for error there. I can't show you that one, because it's still drying in the press at the workshop.

In the meanwhile my brain was buzzing with ideas for some cool books to make for Stoffer + Blik. I got all the equipment I needed and created my own little workshop at home. One of these homemade hand bound books is all finished and up for sale.

It has a linen cover all around and I have embroidered a feather and text on the front. It has taken me forever and all this time I wasn't even sure if it was going to work out. But it did and I love it! It has 104 pages of blank high quality drawing paper in it. You can have a closer look (and get your hands on this unique one of a kind hand bound book) at the Etsy shop.

Pantone Colored Feathers

Every designer knows Pantone and since it has become sort of a trend to design products with the Pantone color and number (like pillows, mugs etc) most of you will be familiar with it by now. I enjoy flipping through my books, finding the perfect color.

I was drawing black and white feathers at first and then I got my Pantone book out to find inspiration for the (digital) coloring of them. That's where I decided to go along with that Pantone trend of mentioning the Pantone colors. So here they are: my Pantone colored feathers. 

This is a potentially endless project since Pantone has well over 1000 spot colors in their color books. Feathers are pretty diverse too, as is imagination. I might use them for a project someday. I think they would might make nice covers for my hand bound books...more on that soon!

Running out of Y's

I have seen these cute typographic scrabble magnets on Pinterest before and I have been wanting to make them ever since. Last week I finally found myself a vintage scrabble game with pretty wooden tiles and I got my hands on the perfect magnets for the job. And so I started glueing my fingers and the magnets to the wooden tiles.

I am planning on making some more for myself, but these are up for sale at Stoffer + Blik. 
I have made 4 different ones:

- GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE
- EAT BAKE LOVE
- WATER AND WINE
- PIECE OF CAKE

I need more scrabble games, because you run out of Y's pretty quickly...
You can find all of them at the Etsy shop! 

Perfect 1-Person Pastry

You want something. What can I eat? You find yourself in your kitchen, opening the cupboards searching for something you know is not there. Second question: what can I make? That's a good one. I always have a lot of stuff in my cupboards, so with a little imagination I can usually make something of it. But even if you haven't stuffed your kitchen as I have, there is something to make that will satisfy your cravings. 

I always have a pack of frozen puff pastry in my freezer and so should you. Add an apple and you're good to go. This is one of my favorite quick snacks. Not only because it delicious, quick and real easy to make, but also because you can make only one, just for you. I like baking pies and stuff, but I always end up eating the whole thing by myself and after three days of eating the same pie, I'm kind of done with it.

This is what you need for one:

- One slice of frozen puff pastry

- 1/4 of an apple 

- raisins

- cinnamon

- sugar 

(If you're cupboards are real pathetic, you can skip the raisins and the cinnamon and it will still be delicious..)

This how you make it:

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees. Take the pastry out of the freezer and let it defrost for a few minutes, until it bends easily. Cut the apple in small pieces. Mix with a few raisins, a pinch of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar. Lay the apple mixture on half of the pastry. You want to fold two corners together, so make sure to place the apple on the right side. Don't use too much or your pastry won't close. 

Close the pastry by folding two corners together, press the edges to seal it. Punch holes in it with a fork, sprinkle some sugar on it and stick in the oven for 15 minutes. Done!

Handbound Journals

I've been wanting to do workshops of all sorts and somehow I just never do it... I decided that needed to change. I fell in love with these gorgeous little leather notebooks in India and brought a whole bunch home. I knew what I had to do.  I did some research and enrolled myself in a 5 day course of... bookbinding. How freakin' cool is that?!

It's a complete education of over a year to be a real certified bookbinder. I am only doing the introduction course, for now... so for the next five weeks, one day a week, I'll be learning about books and binding and hopefully come home with some great little projects. I can't wait. First class starts Wednesday!

I'm not exactly sure what to expect, but I hope it will give me the knowledge and the skills to set up my own line of handbound journals for Stoffer + Blik.