Strong Arm Bindery

I LOVE F-BOMBS

I've decided to only print the truth. Not that I have a record of setting lies on the press; but I do want to keep it clean and pure. And one beautiful truth that's bubbled to the surface of late is that I love it when I, or a friend, drops a well-crafted F-Bomb. 

There are plenty of extra-curricular and baloney cuss words that just fill space and ears. But thankfully, once or twice a day, I get to hear the real thing.

This is an homage to my ernest and foul-mouthed brothers and sisters, expressed with wood type and linoleum block. Thank you for dropping them.

Selling the Kelsey

I have a lovely little Kelsey press that  needs a new home.  5x8" chase, with composite rollers---it's fully functioning and ready to use.  I've posted it over on Craig's List, though you can contact me directly through this site.  And I think we'd all prefer a local pick up here in Portland...

UPDATE 5/26/11: The press was sold this morning to a couple of awesome ladies from NH.  Many thanks for the inquiries, and best of luck to the new owners!

March (and April) Workshops at Strong Arm Bindery

 

We've got two workshops scheduled for March (and now April), and we're feeling fairly optimistic about the state of the alley by the time they roll around...

To sign up, please call us at  (207) 879-4672, or send us an e-mail: [email protected]

 

Stiff Leaf Binding with Multiple Matting Options   **POSTPONED**

Sunday March 6  10:30am to 4:30pm

***Stiff Leaf Binding Workshop is now scheduled for Sunday, April 10  10:30am to 4:30pm***

This is a nifty little book constructed with museum or mat board and perfect for carrying small batches of photographs, drawings, ephemera, etc.

We'll build the book and then spend the afternoon exploring a variety of matting options and creating handsome frames and enclosures to house your pieces.

This workshop is appropriate for all levels of skill and experience, and will require a minimum of hand tools.  Workshop fee is $80, plus $15 materials fee. 

 

Classic Case Binding 2-day Workshop

Saturday & Sunday, March 26 &27

10:30am to 4:30pm

Build a book from scratch! This 2-day workshop will cover all the steps necessary to make a classic case binding, from folding and sewing text blocks to building a case and covering it with cloth and paper.

This workshop will be a great introduction to bookbinding, but also a healthy refresher course for those with some experience.  Students should expect to bring some basic hand tools.  Workshop fee is $140, plus $20 materials fee.

If you'd like to sign up or you have any questions please call us at: (207) 879-4672 or e-mail us: [email protected]

 

Summer 2010 Workshops at Strong Arm Bindery

We're very excited to announce a small suite of workshops this summer.  Please read below for details on classes.  If you'd like to sign up, or you have questions, please contact Martha at Strong Arm Bindery by e-mail:  [email protected], or call the shop at (207) 879-4672.

Non-Adhesive Bookbinding

  Sewn bindings, with no paste or glue, are a practical alternative to traditional case bindings, and offer unlimited possibilities for such a modest investment of time and resources.  In this day-long workshop we'll build on several sewn structures, from the pamphlet stitch and chain stitch, to the more elaborate long stitch, all the while exploring the diverse decorative possibilities each structure offers.

When: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 10am - 5pm

Fee: $100

Class size is limited to 7 students.  Materials are included in the workshop fee, but students are encouraged to bring decorative papers that they'd like to use in their work.

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Organize! Part One: Simplified Box Making

  This workshop is an excellent introduction to box making and all its organizing power.  We'll make a lidded business card box, and a covered pencil box with multiple interior compartments.  Throughout the class, we'll address special features, such as hinged lids, removable compartments, and alternative surface treatments that please the eye and improve longevity and durability.

When: Saturday, August 7, 2010, 10am - 5pm

Fee: $100

Class size is limited to 7 students.  Materials are included in the workshop fee, but students are encouraged to bring decorative papers that they'd like to use in their work.

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Organize! Part Two: Build a Portfolio

How terribly chic to walk around town with a portfolio of your own making tucked under your arm! While creating a portfolio with an inner envelope to house 8-1/2 x 11" documents, students will gain a solid introduction to case making and protective enclosures, and also get practical experience working with book cloth, fabric and paper.  This workshop will also include a demonstration of backing fabric with Japanese tissue, transforming it into cover material.

When: Saturday, August 21, 2010, 10am - 5pm

Fee: $100

Class size is limited to 7 students.  Materials are included in the workshop fee, but students are encouraged to bring decorative papers, etc. that they'd like to use in their work.

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To reserve a spot, or ask any questions, please e-mail Martha at Strong Arm Bindery: [email protected], or call the shop at (207) 879-4672.  Credit cards and personal checks accepted.

Portland Flower Show 2010

 

Yes, we did it!  Four days at the Portland Flower Show, 14,000 people through the front door and we're still standing.

 This time around we took on a woodland theme.  Screen printed some wood grains and letterpress printed some title work over it (with wood type, naturally).  My heartfelt thanks to Reuben J. Little of 43rd Parallel Press for his advice and assistance with the screen printing of all things woodsy.  

 

And a big thank you to my sister Ann, Will, Desneiges, Diane of Ferdinand, and Rich and Kathy--all for spelling me long enough to take time out for breaks and do some fudge gazing upstairs.  Thank you very much!

   It was a very easy commute, as the Portland Company is located just across the alley from my studio, with ample opportunity to go feed the cat and breathe a little bit.
And check it, right there in the background is our very own Vandercook 223.  Best 3,600 lb trade show prop ever!!  It really pays to do your business where fork lifts are abundant.

Sweet Weed & Pencil Boxes

 

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 I've been working on little, and not-so-little, boxes for the holiday sales this year.  The smaller boxes were originally designed to house business cards.  But then a younger, hipper friend of mine stopped by the table at the SPACE sale, took a look, and shouted "Sweet weed box!"  The rest is marketing history.  Another friend offered "Sweet tampon box!" and while that's probably what I'll wind up using them for, it doesn't have quite the same sizzle.  I'm sure the Pencil Boxes have a number of alternative uses and would love to hear your suggestions.  All that remain can be found at the Etsy site.

Doing the Tighten-up

These days I'm trying very hard to work with what I've got here in the shop.  No new dies and no new letterpress purchases for a bit. This little card is the happy result of rescuing the saw cut from oblivion on a dusty shelf and getting it together with some type I never use.  I threw it up on my Etsy shop a few minutes ago and I'm feeling very pleased with my new frugal ways.

In the next few months we'll be shifting things around a bit at the shop, moving more towards production work and stationery products, and away from the repair work that's kept us busy the last 10 years.  And I have to say nothing makes me happier these days than seeing piles of identical printed matter.  I'll post more work as it happens.

Best Book Ever! No. 1

I had the great and good fortune to be vacuuming mold out of this account book today.

It's your standard mid-19th Century sheepskin account book---nothing special.  It suffers from serious red rot, but the paper's good, the spine's strong and structurally it's still a champ.

What kept me breathing deep was the piling on of seemingly gratuitous appointments.   For example; the masked leaf motif along the sprinkled edges---and given the natural variety of each mask, I think these were made by pasting the tops of whatever was growing outside the bindery door onto the side of the book and getting on with the sprinkling.

And then there's this; a plaid end band.  What the hell.  Who was working at this shop?  Every other book in pile had the same sheepskin, the same stamped covers and board edges, the same lines and columns on the inside.  And all of them have the same nasty ticking fabric on the end bands. This one's got plaid end bands. 

And finally there's the end papers.  Classic paste papers made on the cheap in the shop for the purpose of slapping some color between the covers and the numbers.

Click on these images--they look like rocks and sticks in the shallow parts of a river.

I have no doubt whoever had the inspiration to make these end papers would also be inclined to snap the ends off a few ferns before they sprinkled their edges.  It goes without saying they'd use a beautiful wool plaid on their end bands.

While I'm Hoovering spore out of this gorgeous chimera I'm thinking about the lucky clerk who got to open this book every day, in fact multiple times a day, and put his pen to paper.  It's the same hand throughout, and the records within go on for a year and a half.  They had to notice these details, too.  And actually, the front and rear fly leaves--that includes the paste papers--are torn out.

This is absolutely what I aspire to do in my stationery work.  I want it to be very useful, very durable and to provide some delight to the one who has to use it every day.

My Swinging Pad

Actually, this is Ellen's swinging pad. 

My good friend called this weekend and requested the manufacture of "tag pads" and described her vision.  I believe it goes something like this:

First 100 lb cover stock and binder's board is cut into 2-1/2 x 2-1/2" squares.

 

The corners get rounded, including the boards.

I mix watercolor with PVA.  In this case it's Dr. Marten's watercolor.  There is actual "padding adhesive" on the market---but it just seems like watered-down PVA.  And with paper this heavy I think you need a fairly beefy adhesive.

Spines get glued out under pressure.  If these were any bigger, I'd have them on their sides, on the edge of the bench with a heavy weight on top.  But these are small enough for the press.  And they stay in the press or under weight until dry.

They get a hole from the paper drill.

And there it is:  Ellen's amazing tag pad.  You just peel off a tag whenever!

There's actually two versions; the other has the hole drilled in the corner.  It's very stylish and I wish I'd taken a picture of it.

More Bastards, Now!

We're out of Rat Bastards, thanks to
an odd little run on them over the weekend.

Sewed up a couple on Saturday.
Then disappeared for most of Sunday into the Maine caucuses.

Made and stamped the covers today; just cased them in and they'll be up on Etsy in no time.