In Praise of My Kwikprint

I was asked just last week what services I offer that are unique. What a great question! It got me thinking about my journals - they are unique in and of themselves but do not qualify as a service. Then I thought about my years of experience as a bookbinder and the terrific equipment I have amassed. One piece that is unique for a small bindery is this Kwikprint machine.


This hand machine enables me to personalize my journals with names, wedding dates, or just fun images I find by searching eBay for lead type.


Basically you place the letters or dingbats (see below) in the type holder you see above. Then you place the item to be stamped on the platform and wait while the heating element heats up the type.


Here are examples of "dingbats" as they are called. They, and the type, are cast from lead. It is a fairly soft metal so I keep the heat on the lower side so as not to melt the pieces. Brass is more duable but hard to find and more expensive.

When the machine is heated up I place a piece of silver or gold foil onto the journal I am personalizing. I then pull the big lever and Voila - personalized items!


These are some examples - a guest book with the name of the family and a book Christmas ornament with a star dingbat on the cover.

Country Living Magazine Online!

The Country Living Magazine spread "Decorating with Floral Prints" is now on their website. Picture 2 is of the large format accordion photo albums I made for the shoot.  Time to see if the article has hit the newsstands!

Here are some example of smaller format (i.e. for 4X6 pictures) albums I made with the leftover wallpaper from this fun project

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Wallpaper Accordion Photo Albums - Soon to be seen in Country Living Magazine

Many months ago I was contacted by Country Living Magazine about making something for their April 2009 issue. So here is a preview! The issue has a lead article about wallpaper and its many uses. I was asked to come up with a large accordion photo album (10 X 12) to accommodate wallpaper samples. Here are the recently returned to me albums:


The Yellow album on the left is covered with a Farrow & Ball St. Antoine paper and the pink Hydrangea pattern is a Thibaut paper.


Here is the inside of the yellow album with an assortment of vintage and new wallpapers.



This is the Hydrangea album with more wallapapers. The album leans because they actually cut it up for the photo shoot!


Here are some examples of the wallpapers. This is a vintage pattern (above) - can't you just see Carmen Miranda performing at a club wallpapered in this pattern? This vivid green Pierre Frey "Odalys" pattern (below) is my favorite. The colors are so vibrant and the flowers so large and detailed!

I can't wait for the April issue to come out. It should be to subscribers by mid-March. A big thanks to Brooke Walis who worked with me. It was a pleasure to collaborate on this project.

Since there were some leftover pieces of paper, I am making smaller versions of this album for sale in my etsy shop. Stay tuned for details!