Envelop your mail with a sense of summer

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve just assembled fresh stamp samplers of summery
fruits, with hidden notes (hint) of flora & fauna.
The fruit illustrations are by artist John Burgoyne,
and they are all delish.

A 1¢ apple stamp is great when you are offering
a penny for someone’s thoughts. The 2¢ Meyer lemons
are perfect if you are (a) offering your two cents’ worth,
or (b) encouraging your correspondent to make lemonade.
The 3¢ strawberries are such a rich red,
and the 5¢ grapes are a philatelic aperitif.

Once you have a manila (not vanilla, manila)
stock page of these stamps, you may be tempted to
hoard the horticulture, so to speak. You might even be
tempted to frame them. Instead, I hope you will use them,
and not just for postage.

Put one on a teeny or tiny envelope.
Use one to seal an envelope flap. Deploy them
instead of tape on a gift you are wrapping. Decorate
a bakery box you are delivering to a fortunate friend.
These mini-artworks are a fraction of the cost of a sticker!

This concludes our summary of summery fruity stamps.
This assortment also comes with two four-blocks
of vintage butterflies (13¢ x 4 stamps = 52¢) and two
3¢ surprise stamps … providing charmola postage
for two pieces of mail. Of course, you could use
fruit stamps to make up the final 3¢….

 The Summer Stamp Sampler comes with your choice
of either 10 teeny butterfly clips or two sets
of our most petite envelopes (teeny & tiny).

Summer Fruit Samplers

Juicily, Bari

Private workshops resume virtually

Dear Everyone ~

For several years, students and would-be students
have asked me to develop teaching videos.
I have decided, after letting this idea simmer slowly,
to offer my workshops as live one-on-one tutorials
(rather than trying to create a high-quality online class on par
with my bookbinding video produced by Sonheim Creative).

The live one-on-one tutorials will make the workshops available
to anyone anywhere—starting with students who had booked classes
in March and April at my studio, and students in Boston
who had signed up for my April classes at Studio Carta.

A PAPER-PACKED PARCEL JUST FOR YOU

The week before your workshop, I will ship you
(unless you live in Chicago and prefer to arrange for
curbside pick-up) the materials for the book or box
(or envelopes!) you will make in the workshop.
So that papers arrive to you in pristine condition,
I may fold down or trim some sheets for shipping.
On-screen, I will demonstrate how I’ve done this,
so that you experience the entire process.

In Workshops Online, each workshop description includes a list
of the tools you will need. Most of them are available for purchase
separately (or as a set) in my online shop. A bonefolder
is included with your workshop materials; I also offer
a 20% discount on any tools you order for the workshop.

YOUR PRIVATE WORKSHOP VIA ZOOM

I will use two camera angles (not simultaneously!):
overhead, so you can easily see my hands and tools,
and front-facing for when we’re stitching.
You will be able to ask questions in real time, and to
show me, by adjusting your screen, your progress.
(In our opinion, you may not need to take notes during
your workshop. Read on!)

THE CREATIVE AFTERGLOW

By the end of the workshop, you will have completed one
book or box, and the skill to make more on your own.
To refresh your confidence, we will mail you, the week after your
workshop, our charming illustrated multi-page handout with step-by-step
instructions. If you have questions, you are welcome, as always,
to e or call me. And, likewise, you are cordially invited to
send me photos of your oeuvre!

Workshops Online

Looking forward, Bari

Announcing my hand-folded envelope kit

Dear Everyone ~

At long last I have assembled a kit to share the creative
thrills of making your own envelopes without a template.
I have taught The Art of the Handmade Envelope ever
since I started offering classes at my studio shop in 2016.
Hand-folding an envelope is far less ambitious
than making a book or a box. I typically had six
hand-folding novices in my workshop.

I’ve been hand-folding envelopes without a template
since 1995. At first, I used magazine and book pages …
and then started drawing or painting on watercolour
paper that I had hand-folded into an envelope. I’m also fond
of using decorative papers (primarily Japanese) or gift wrap.
Certain magazine features and advertisements
practically beg to become an envelope.

The kit includes five sheets of versatile Hahnemuhle
Bugra, one of my all-around favourite papers for bookbinding
as well as envelope folding. It’s heavy and slightly toothy.
For the kit, I’ve trimmed the Hahnemuhle to the
size you’ll use to make a handy & handsome 5 x 7 envelope. 
I've also included a handful of cartridge paper (practice sheets).

The new (slightly expanded) hand-out comes in a
personalized envelope franked with used vintage postage
from all over the planet. The six pages of step-by-step
instructions and tips include numerous charming
illustrations & diagrams by Emery Kennett.

You will also receive an assortment of five different
patterned Japanese papers from my archives. These
sheets are 8½ x 11, large enough to line one big envelope
or two smaller envelopes.

The kit is available with or without these basic tools:
bonefolder, Xacto-knife, triangle ruler, aromatic Italian glue-stick,
and a Japanese paper covered pencil, so you can measure with pleasure.
Related items in the shop that are conducive to hand-folding,
addressing & embellishing: usable vintage U.S. postage,
Lyra colour pencils, fountain pen inks, and LePens.

The Art of the Hand-folded Envelope Kit

Flap-happy, Bari

High tidings: My ship has come in!

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve been anticipating the arrival of my shipment of
British seaweed cards for several weeks, and two days ago
I received word that my parcel was awaiting pick-up
at UPS. So, I proceeded to the very huge depot and retrieved
my armful of parcel. I am rather chuffed to report
that Bari Zaki Studio is still the only shop in the U.S.
to carry these splendid cards from the U.K.

The cards are reproductions of hand-pressed specimens
of more kinds of seaweed than you perhaps knew existed.
The new assortment (Nº 2) features these delightfully
named varieties: Thong Wood, Egg Wrack, Dulse,
Sugar Kelp, Gut Wood, Berry Wart Cross, Siphon Weed,
and Sea Beech. And for those of you with a botanical bent,
the Latin is included on the back as well.
I love that the keys of the Molesworth & Bird typewriter
seem to have soaked up quite a bit of salt air!

There are two postcard portfolios to choose from,
each containing 12 different cards, The two notecard
portfolios each contain eight different cards,
presenting a total of 16 more seaweed specimens.
It’s a botanical bonanza!

The postcard sets come in a petite portfolio handy
for holding stamps and other little papery treasures
(once you’ve used the postcards); the notecard sets come in
a generous 6½  x 9½ portfolio that is dandy for corralling
(no relation to coral!) larger epistolary supplies.

British Seaweed Notecard Portfolios
British Seaweed Postcard Portfolios

Swimmingly, Bari

My penchant for ink pens

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve stocked Japanese brush pens in the studio shop
since the very beginning, but I’ve never—until now—put
them in my online shop. They are perennially popular.
Their charms are several: they are a pleasure to look at
and to hold, they perform consistently beautifully,
and they give you a lively & lovely line.
Their tips are made of bristles (as opposed to felt),
so you feel like you’re drawing with a brush.

The ink in both the black and white brush pens
is truly, duly waterproof—and I speak from experience
(accidental as well as intentional). Once you’ve drawn
with the pen, you can wash over your work with
watercolour without even a smidge of smudge.
It’s marvelous and mysterious.

I’ve also stocked Kaweco fountain pens from
Germany since the opening of the studio shop.
I always have numerous colours of Kawecos in stock,
as well as a range of refill cartridges. Additionally,
you can use a teeny-tiny converter (which I stock)
to refill your pen with bottled ink.
All colours are possible!

Delightful detail:
Because a tiny bit of ink always remains right
above the nib (in the queue, so to speak), when you
change ink colours, your first few strokes have a
mesmerizing ombré effect—which, alas,
you cannot dependably duplicate.

The pens are plastic and beautifully engineered.
The nib is steel, with a medium point, which provides
beautiful ink flow. I have been known to leave my pen
sitting for weeks, and when I pick it up to use,
the ink resumes flowing beautifully and consistently.

The Kaweco pens are petite when closed.
They are 4⅛ long, and then when you uncap and
place the cap on the non-writing end, your total length
is 5¼ — which I find very pleasing in my hand.

The Japanese brush pens and the Kaweco fountain
pens are excellent for everyday use.
They are stylish and effortless to tote about.

Black-and White Brush Pens
Kaweco Fountain Pens
Kaweco Ink Refills

Flowing right along, Bari

Mail call: Delight is in the diversity

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve written a couple of posts recently about lovely
emails I’ve received from customers far and wide.
Today, I’d like to share with you some Real Mail
that has been delivered to my desk at the shop.
As you browse through these, note how many different
styles (of artistic technique, of handwriting, of stamp choice)
are represented! May you be a bit inspired!

Julie Wildman is a calligrapher, lettering artist,
and long-time Bari Zaki Studio instructor.
She painted with Sumi-e ink on a sheet of heavy
Japanese mulberry paper, and then cut it down to postcard size.
(That’s how she was able to swoosh right off the edges.)
Of course, I admire her stylized JW tchop.  On the message side,
Julie ultra-coordinated “bari zaki studio” with the lovely love stamp.
I [heart] that!

*  *  *  *  *

Barbara is a newish customer. She “discovered” me thanks
to a slightly-less-new-acquaintance who works at Paper Source.
When Barbara placed her first order, the shop was already in shutdown
mode, but it turns out that she lives quite close to me. So, I offered
to bring her items home with me … and Barbara was able to walk
over and retrieve them. After she placed a second order earlier this week,
we repeated our “stationery for the socially stationary” protocol!
Between her two orders, Barbara mailed me a petite envelope
bearing a hugely charmola card she’d made from a piece
of heavy handmade paper. The bird illustration is a vintage clipping.
Because Barbara has tiny, tidy handwriting, she managed to fit
several lovely sentences on her card, notably:

 “ Thank you so much for my beautiful package...
I slowly and carefully opened each dear little package and
have managed to save all the paper strips, stamps, and stickers
to be used again. Someone else will be able to enjoy your beautiful things. ”

*  *  *  *  *

Patricia is a customer I’ve never met.
She lives in Arizona and recently sent Greetings
in an envelope she’d franked with the perfect postage.
(Apparently, she has a source! Brava!) The cacti at
upper left are rubber-stamped and then hand-coloured.
Succulent!

*  *  *  *  *

Judi is a local long-time customer.
She loves to come in and buy, amongst other things, postcards.
She bought this one from me probably five years ago …
and recently decided to send me some love. Judi herself has
short red hair, so I just adore her personalization of the illustration.
Apropos of her hand-embellishment: Even if you don’t consider
yourself an artist, adding anything at all to an image adds
immeasurably to its charm. It can be a decorative postage stamp,
or a discreet rubber stamp, or simply an element that you hand colour.

*  *  *  *  *

Becky, also a local long-time customer,
recently mailed me her trio of très tasty beets.
She has taken calligraphy classes at Bari Zaki Studio
with both Julie W. & Becka B. I’m so besotted with her lettering.
She bought one pencil cup the moment we announced they were
online, and then proceeded to order three more, for a total of four
so far! Her fabulously flowing Copperplate hand makes my heart swell:

 “ Dear Bari, I love, love, love my new pencil cups!
They brighten the studio as well as my mood.
Thank you! Becky. ”

*  *  *  *  *

Brian is a local artist and book lover/collector.
We met last year via instagram and immediately connected.
I love receiving mail from Brian, who usually doodles
or draws on a vintage book page, which he inscribes
For Bari. I find this heartwarming.
I’m showing the back of Brian’s envelope in
admiration for his use & placement of washi tape.

Janet is another long-time customer.
She is also a student of bookbinding, drawing,
and envelope-making. I love that she drew so whimsically
on the outside of the envelope. And her enclosures had me
in full swoon two minutes after Will handed me the envelope,
which he did with great ceremony. I decanted with delight.
Janet’s bonanza included a little painting on a vintage book page,
a loose lily-of-the-valley sticker & a teeny collage.

*  *  *  *  *

 Emmy Kennett included me in a “30 letters to 30 friends challenge”,
and, as she writes, she expanded the rules to include postcards.
She also says:

“ ... that I’ve enclosed some “silly” things for you,
maybe silly is the wrong word. More like trifling.
Nothing great unfortunately – trying times, indeed. ”

Emmy's enclosures were neither silly nor trifling,
and I consider myself fortunate to have received them.
Emmy also mentions taking more walks along the beach
and seeing “a whole scoop of pelicans hanging on the beach
the other day.” I am jubilant about sending her an envelope
featuring the fabulous 8¢ pelican stamp!

*  *  *  *  *

I don’t think that it is better to give than to receive,
but I definitely pride myself on the energy I put into
preparing mail. Here is a glamour shot of a recent outgoing batch
that included pieces I had been working on sporadically for weeks.

P.S.
My most recent stamp purchase is a triumph of humour
over design. John Oliver, zany host of “Last Week Tonight,”
has designed a quartet of postage stamps in support of the USPS.
You can see and buy them here … until mid-June, if supplies last.
I can barely wait to send mail with a stamp that says:
And now … a stamp.

No need to queue to see these Kew cards

Dear Everyone ~

New in the shop are two collections of lovely & lively
notecards from the U.K. inspired by the Kew Archive
of Botanical Art. I’m stocking seven (rhymes with heaven)
large cards and four (rhymes with galore) petite cards.
They are printed on lightly-toothy heavy stock that is a
pure pleasure to write on, with all manner of
writing implements in your manor.

The large cards measure 4¼ x 6⅛ (see above).
I’m not certain what all of the blooms or stems are …
but I’d be delighted to have any one (or all) in a vase
or a pot or a bed in my garden. The colour combinations
are unexpected and eye-catchy. The petite cards measure
3⅝ x 4¾ (see below), and in their envelopes,
they are indeed big enough to mail.

For a flourish at the finish, the back of each card
bears the Royal Botanic Gardens seal stamped in rose gold.

NEW | Kew cards for notes

Than’Kew very much, Bari

A waterfall of Moriki

Dear Everyone ~

I have just completed a 32-signature buttonhole-stitch
book for the admirable & admiring Virginia from Utah.
I’ve written about Virginia’s bookish enthusiasms
previously—you may remember her as the student who
flew to Chicago in the heat of last summer for
a whirlwind workshop weekend.

This is the third of these books that I’ve made,
and the thrill is not diminishing one iota.
My original commission back in 2016 was from
a gentleman celebrating his first wedding anniversary,
which is “paper”. His wife is an artist, and he thought that
a book where paper is the star would be a perfect
gift for her. We decided on the buttonhole-stitch binding
so that all of the colours would be part of the spine.

I was slightly trepidacious about the orignal project,
for two reasons. It was the the first time I’d made a
buttonhole-stitch book larger than 4 x 5 x 1. And
the Moriki is much lighter than a text-weight paper.
It is strong but feels like gossamer.

Well, the book turned out so well, that I had to make
one for myself as well! I used to think of it as the shop mascot.
It felt so grand to hold in my hand, and all the
signatures lined up so beautifully. There was something
magnificent about its presence. Many customers were curious
about it, so I put up a little sign encouraging anyone
with very clean hands to pick it up and pet it.

I put the book in my online shop, where it rested
comfortably for quite  awhile … until a longtime customer
(and workshop student) bought it. Unbeknownst to me,
Virginia had been eyeing it, and although she was pleased
for me that the book had sold, she suffered a bit of
non-buyer’s remorse. Several weeks later,
she placed her commission. She told me:

“ I have no idea what I will actually use it for.
It is just something that called to me. I think
it was the sheer glory of all the different colours
with deckled edges bound into a big book.
I may use it for block printing with some
writing in it as well. ”

A full sheet of Moriki measures 25 x 38, with a
deckle on all four sides. I can fold the entire sheet
down into a single signature because the paper is so thin.
The signature comes out to be 32 pages, and there are
32 of them in the book, two each of 16 colours.
Virginia is a Japanophile:

“ If I didn't know that it was Japanese paper,
I would say that the  texture reminds me of raw silk. 
What the colours really evoke are memories of when
we lived in Japan—we were there in the mid-50s.
Most Japanese were still wearing kimonos.
I remember all the colourful festivals—and
many of the children’s songs that we learned. ”

The paper I used for the book’s cover is a wonderful
contrast to the delicacy of the Moriki. It’s made
from Belgian flax, and every sheet is dyed several times
to achieve overlapping fields of colour. It is incredibly strong,
the perfect protective “casing” for a book that
is 3½ inches thick. I asked Virginia if she has a specific
place in mind for her new book, and she replied:

“ I have a spot in our living room next to some
mementos from Japan. At first, I’ll just admire it
and handle it; it will take a little bit for me to move beyond
feeling it’s too precious for me to journal in. Actually—when
I really think about it—it is a little intimidating, but it’s kind
of a challenge and a growth hurdle that I want to step up to. ”

I am looking forward to wrapping Virginia’s book for her.
I have something quite special in mind, but can’t
show you today, because it will be a surprise for Virginia.

In deckled delirium, Bari

It’s a trio! It’s a stitch! It’s a kit!

Dear Everyone ~

This kit contains the papers and threads needed to make three
single-signature booklets, each bound with a delightfully
different stitch. I’ve taught the trio as a workshop in the past,
and am now making a virtual foray to offer it as a kit.

The kit includes the same highly detailed hand-out
I’d developed for workshop students. It is fifteen 8½ x 11 pages
with numerous helpful illustrations by Emmy Kennett.
As you might hope, the pages are held together with a teeny
butterfly clip covered in Japanese paper. As you might also hope,
the hand-out sheaflet comes protected in a large
glassine envelope with a handwritten label.

I’ve selected two different palettes of Saint-Armand
100% cotton rag covers, Cool Lagoon (at left above)
and Faded Villa (at right above). Interior pages are
creamy Stonehenge cover weight. Each palette
comes with a complementary quintet of
waxed linen thread colours.

The kit does not include tools.
These are offered as a set and as separate
items in the Threads & Tools department.

I’ve received many compliments on the thoroughness
(and attractiveness) of the hand-out. However:
Should you have any questions before starting to
make your booklets, or in the heat of the moment, you
are cordially invited to call or email for encouragement.

KIT | Trio of Stitched Single-signature Booklets
Threads & Tools

A stitch in time, Bari

Mum’s the word—and the pattern!

Dear Everyone ~

I always keep chrysanthemum papers on hand for my
bookbinding and boxmaking projects. It occurred to me that,
in honour of Mother’s Day, I could feature a gardenful of them.

Chrysanthemums are widely revered not only in Japan,
but also in Chicago, where they are apparently the city’s
“official flower.” Who knew?! Chrysanthemums are a wildly
popular decorative motif on porcelain and ceramics …
and paper! These patterns are among my favourites,
both in traditional prints and more contemporary
interpretations. I love that the colour combinations are so
harmonious and inventive (not to mention labor-intensive!).

I’ve also gotten a bee in my BZ bonnet to line envelopes
with chrysanthemum patterns to complement selected cards.
I’ve selected a bouquetful of floral- and love-themed
cards and postcards for this “spa treatment.”
You can see them in their very own shop listing,
but only until Friday, May 8.

If you’d like to give a BZS gift certificate,
I will be delighted to wrap it in a paper furoshiki
folded from the chrysanthemum pattern of your
choice, after writing the recipient’s name and
amount in a matching ink colour.

Gift Certificate
’smumderful lined envelopes with cards
Buttonhole-stitch: Plum & Lavender Mums
Coptic-stich: Japanese Crysanthemums
Drop-spine box: Teal with Fuschia Cyrsanthemums

May you have some merriment this May, Bari