Guides
Paper marbling: four preparations that must line up before anything else
Four preparations have to be right at once: paper, mordant, color and bath. The full marbling sequence, and how to work out which one failed.
Archive
August 2026
Features
4 points on handmade journal ideas that matter
Eleven journal formats from an evening to a weekend, plus how folding decides the format and why paste paper is the easiest cover to make yourself.
Reviews
The tools that actually earn bench space in book arts, and what can wait
The short list of tools that actually earn bench space in book arts, what each one is for, where to spend, and which purchases can wait until year two.
Reviews
Which bookbinding tools earn their price, and which are a budget trap?
Rank bookbinding tools by cost per use, name the specific items worth buying, and see which cheap supplies quietly cost more than they save.
Guides
A small bookbinding room still fits four zones: cutting, wet work, pressing and storage
Small-space setup for working with bookbinding projects: four zones in one small room, how to lay out cutting, wet work, pressing and paper storage when the binding.
Guides
Why does drying decide the layout of a small decorative paper studio?
Small-space setup for working with decorative paper: tray, blotting area, drying stack and a dark shelf. Why drying is the real space constraint in decorative paper.
Guides
Folding compared with sewing: a weekend plan for handmade journals
Handmade journal ideas learning plan: four sessions over two days, fold twenty sheets, sew five identical pamphlets, cover them without metal fasteners.
Reviews
Judging decorative paper: start by holding the sheet up to the light
Hold the sheet to a light before you judge the pattern. Chain lines, struck-through color and grain direction, and why no shops are ranked here.
Reviews
Good bookbinding work needs two separate benches: one for cutting, one for pressing
Best work surfaces for bookbinding projects: cutting and pressing want opposite things from a bench. A comparison of surface types for bookbinding.
Reviews
One level tray matters more than a level bench in decorative paper work
Wet decorating work wants different surfaces from cutting. Trays, glass, blotting boards, and why a level bath matters more than a level bench.
Guides
Book arts turns out to be four crafts sharing a single material
Book arts is four crafts sharing one material. How binding, papermaking, printing and paper decoration fit together, and what to learn first.
Maintenance
5 things worth knowing about book arts mistakes
The failures that repeat in home book arts work: grain, adhesive, damp storage and rushed pressing, and the cheap habits that prevent each one.
Industry
Five bookbinding supply decisions from library policy
Bookbinding supply costs expert tips: five decisions from two library preservation policies — when to box, when repair pays, where to spend.
Features
Cutting what bookbinding actually costs: fix the specification, not the supplier
Bookbinding supply costs options: change the specification rather than the supplier, make what only needs to be strong, and cut waste at the layout stage.
Maintenance
Bookbinding Supply Mistakes That Waste Materials
Bookbinding supply mistakes can damage paper, waste stock, or clutter a shelf. Learn what to watch with acidic paper, newsprint, cutting, and storage.
Costs
Budgeting bookbinding supplies by category beats chasing a single price list
Budget binding supplies by category over a whole year. Why storage and shipping are the lines people forget, and why no prices are quoted here.
Guides
Planning a bookbinding project means picking the structure before the idea
Pick the structure first, then write a project sheet and build a dummy. A planning method for bookbinding that catches errors before you cut anything.
Industry
Handmade journal classes run best through university programs, not directories
Handmade journal ideas classes and studios worth finding: university book arts programs run public workshops and hold the equipment you cannot own.
Reviews
Awl versus screw punch: comparing tools for a handmade journal
Handmade journal ideas tools compared for first-time buyers: awl against screw punch, bone against Teflon, and what thickness of polyester pocket to use.
Industry
Bindery equipment lists: they reveal more about bookbinding projects than a portfolio
What studio inventories reveal about bookbinding projects: published bindery equipment lists show where the work really goes, cutting square, pressing flat.
Industry
Decorative paper patterns trace back to marbling imported from Europe
Where decorative paper patterns come: marbling reached Europe as an import around 1600. The pattern families, what they tell you about a binding.
Reviews
What actually separates good book arts materials: pH, lignin or grain?
How to choose materials for book arts in 2027: paper, board, cloth, thread and adhesive judged on the properties that matter, pH, lignin, grain.
Reviews
Choosing bookbinding supplies by what they do to their neighbors, not the invoice
A bookbinder's guide to judging supplies by lifetime cost: acid migration, plastic off-gassing, a specification checklist, and when to stop over-specifying.
Guides
Why do handmade journals photograph best open, moving and lit from a window?
How to photograph and: shoot the book open and moving, light it from a window, expose using the histogram, and keep resolution and print size straight in your head.
Costs
Pricing a bookbinding project: cost per finished book, not per sheet
A costing method for binding supplies: work out cost per finished book, count a run before ordering, and know where the money actually goes.
Costs
Decorative paper costs make more sense per kept sheet than per session
How to price supplies for decorative paper: track cost per kept sheet, not per session. Where the money really sits in decorative paper work.
Reviews
Storing handmade journal materials: avoid crowding, avoid contact damage
Crowding and contact cause most damage to stored paper. Enclosures, interleaving, and where in the house to keep stock for handmade journals.
Features
6 book arts projects, each one built to teach a single skill
Six small book arts projects, each built to isolate a single skill: folding, sewing, casing, sheet forming, mounting and pressing to a flat result.
Reviews
Paste or PVA for first bookbinding projects: three questions
Wheat starch paste or PVA for first bookbinding projects: three questions on reversibility, speed and durability settle which adhesive to buy first.
Reviews
Buying decorative paper supplies works better technique by technique, not by category
Buy for one technique, not for the category. Paste paper, marbling and suminagashi need different kits, and the medium decides the aftercare.
Industry
When does storage matter more to book arts than technique itself?
Book arts expert tips: storage, drying and studio layout decide more than technique does. What published guidance and studio equipment lists tell a first-year maker.