Extremely Exquisite Scraps

Dear Everyone ~

I’m reviving my Studio Sale tradition of packaging amazing assortments of scraps & snippets from around the globe. Each piece is a remnant — and a reminder — of bookbinding projects past.

Most of the papers are Japanese, vintage treasures as well as newer patterns. Each bag, of course, is uniquely unique, and they all include a smattering of hand-marbled papers from the U.K. and The Continent.

I use scraps like these to cover mini-pencils & butterfly clips. Most recently, I’ve taken to glueing a snippet or shard on an envelope back (or front) just for the fun of it. It looks swatchy or patchworky, a touch of colour & pattern. And delights me to no end.

Scrap-happiness is in the air … and on the page! My many uses of scraps are showcased in the new issue of Uppercase magazine, in an article by my friend and postal muse Alyson Kuhn. Bari Zaki Studio has an entire spread in the article, titled Snippets and Slices and Shards, oh my! The subtitle, Little bits of paper and the ways we love them, makes my heart smile from ear to ear. If you don’t subscribe to Uppercase, you can buy the current issue on the magazine’s lovely site.

Extremely Exquisite Scraps

Extremely happy, Bari

Delicious envelopes: vanilla, whipped crème & rosé!

Dear Everyone ~

I have always had a soft spot for deluxe envelopes. Some cotton is good, an elegant colour is good, and a nice flap makes me happy. Here are three sets of envelopes that fill the bill. Actually, I’ve filled them with papery companions.

First, Rivoli 25% cotton envelopes, which I’ve paired with a florabundance of Kew postcards, one each of eight different designs. (These are the same designs as on the Kew notecards, but in postcard format.) You could indeed mail the postcards without an envelope, for the postcard rate, but I generally prefer to envelop! The message side is a delight, with a nice setting of tiny type (instead of the brash barcodes and honking attributions that some institutions now favour, intruding on the message space). And we are rather chuffed to be the first, and so far only, shop in the States to carry the Kew cards.

The Rivoli envelopes are vanilla in hue (which is to say, a bit creamier than the whipped crème shade of the Carta Pura “outer” envelope you see above). That said, the two envelopes look dreamy together. As you see, you can neatly nest the Rivoli Vanilla and its Kew card inside the Carta Pura Whipped Crème. Suite! (The Carta Pura envelopes are also available à la carte.)

I’ve also paired the Rivoli envelopes with their matching notesheets, folded neatly in half (two notesheets in each envelope).

For the summer season only, I’ve decided to refer to the Rivoli Rose envelopes & notesheets as rosé. They are actually a perfect pale pink. (You might be able to duplicate this shade by gently macerating one raspberry into a cup of sour cream, if you dairy.) Multiple notesheets fit gracefully inside the envelope without folding.

As always, you might consider some fresh postage to complement your correspondence. Frankly, our Summer Fruit Sampler is a delish option.

Kew Postcards with 25% Cotton Envelopes

Rivoli Vanilla Notesets

Octet of Carta Pura Envelopes

Rivoli Rose Letter-writing Pad & Envelopes

Go Fourth & Mail, Bari

Wonderful, Colourful, Summery & Sunny...

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve recently received, re-stocked, and rejoiced over new arrivals in the shop: notecards, postcards, notebooks, and mini-noteblocs whose side view absolutely reminds me of striped beach chairs.

For many moons I have been in high swoon over translucent, beguiling watercolours from fir+wren in the U.K. When Zak and I traveled to England last autumn, I had been following artist Sue Kane on Instagram for ages. I knew we’d be relatively close to Manchester, where Sue has her studio. I was able to invite myself for a visit!  It took hours to travel there, waking up at the crack of dawn to get a taxi to the train station, and then the train to Manchester, and then a taxi to her studio. The very heavy rainfall the entire day made the journey to and fro very soggy. But nonetheless, a happy day indeed.

A couple of months ago, Sue let me know that some of her images were being published as notecards, and she put me in touch with her agent. The cards have arrived pronto-ly, and they are dreamy in person. They are lovely to look at, delightful to write on, and even to frame! I'm charmed that Bari Zaki Studio is the first retailer to import them.

*  *  *  *  *

Also noteworthy are notebooks from Korea, with summerweight pages of hanji, which is made from the inner layer of mulberry bark. The paper is almost mysteriously robust, and receptive to all manner of writing & drawing implements. The graphic elements on the covers (here a dash, there a dot) are classic yet refreshing, and perfectly ripe for personalizing by hand.

*  *  *  *  *

To start the summer season, I’ve replenished my stock of notebooks from Season Paper in France, including four new cover designs and one new Jaunty Journal. There’s also a charmola new postcard set, called À La Mer, with two each of five peachy, beachy designs. I’ve also re-stocked the Les Fleurs postcard set.

*  *  *  *  *
For a bit more beachiness, consider a mini-mish-mash notebloc. These petite pads of lightweight cover stock are neat, but decidedly not discreet: they are vibrantly striped. Each bloc presents its own assortment of colours. Perfect for a very little list or an eye-catchy enclosure.

Fir+Wren Notecards
Hanji Notebooks
Season Paper Notebooks & Jaunty Journals
Season Paper Postcard Booklets
Marvy Mish-Mash Noteblocs

Concluding this summery summary, Bari

Boosted beyond belief

Dear Everyone ~

What a boosterful start to my summer! I am thrilled to announce that I am officially “overgoal” on my campaign to donate $500 to MoveOn’s advocacy campaign to #SaveThePostOffice. I will continue to donate $12 per Booster sold through July Fourth, in honor of Will (my marvelous mail carrier) and the United States Postal Service. Here is my official accounting of my immediate donation.

I’ve always enjoyed assembling my Bundles of Stationery Joy, and now they have been given new meaning… and a boost! I’m in awe, and deeply grateful, for everyone’s enthusiasm and contributions to help me not simply reach my donation goal, but to surpass it so swiftly.

Daily mail delivery has long been very near & dear to my heart. Most days hold the possibility, the anticipation, of receiving one or more bits of tangible connection from someone somewhere. And, especially during the shelter season, the idea that I can send a postcard or an envelope to deliver delight, and perhaps surprise, and even a moment of uplift …  makes mail even more meaningful to me.

Before leaving the studio on Friday, I prepared the Bountiful Booster Buffet, so that I can start assembling outgoing Boosters tomorrow morning.

Immeasurably boosted, Bari

The Story of “The Story of This Guy”

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve recently delivered (a delightful garden-drop visit) Bradford Matson’s second storybook for his grandson Charlie, who will turn two in July. Bradford’s first book for Charlie, It’s Cold, was a Christmas gift last December. You may have read my blog post about it at the time. You can see and read about Bradford’s and my collaboration at the top of the Project Gallery in Storybook: by Bradford for grandson Charlie.

In March, at the beginning of the shelter season, Bradford called to say he had finished his second storybook for Charlie. He added that it seemed a good time to do what he could to help support the businesses he values. I was so grateful, and also thrilled to have his second book to work on!

Bradford arranged a contactless drop-off of the pages, I assembled some bookcloth swatches that I thought would complement his wonderful watercolours, and we scheduled a contactless pick-up, including waxed-linen thread options for the stitching. Bradford made his selections, and voilà, I knew everything I needed to know to begin binding The Story of This Guy.

Bradford likes to illustrate on a 9 x 12 watercolour sheet, so I had made the first book that size. The second book is the same size—the beginning of Charlie’s set of books from Bradford. The book structure is also the same: Japanese style binding and a pocket in the back for Bradford’s note to Charlie.

The palette of Bradford’s drawings was a mix of pale greens & blues (how apropos for the beginning of spring). I thoroughly enjoyed selecting some pastel linen bookcloth options to coincide with the season and complement Bradford’s charming illustrations. 

I of course asked Bradford about Charlie’s response to It’s Cold, and Bradford provided such endearing details that I asked his permission to share them.

“ We were on a video call the other day, and Charlie asked Nora, his mom, to get ‘Da’s book.’ He knows the story and acts out certain parts. For the first title, ‘It’s cold,’ he wraps his arms around himself and says Brrr. When the people say ‘No more,’ he wags his finger and says No more, and mimics the faces in the crowd. When he sees the captain with the spyglass, he points to his own eye, remembering that I have a spyglass that he played with while he was here. On our call, he instructed me to Get it. He was disappointed that I couldn’t pass it through the screen. ” 

“ Needless to say, he’ll get the spyglass for his birthday. You can imagine how much my heart swells watching him enjoy our book. ” 

Bradford’s plan is to give The Story of This Guy as a birthday gift for Charlie. He plans to do a new book for Christmas. I asked him about his inspirations for this book.

“ The genesis for This Guy is pretty simple. I got tired of all the anti-intellectual, anti-science thinking that somehow gets a voice in today’s discourse, and want Charlie to read about evolution early on. Like most of my stuff, the illustrations started with a random doodle I did when I was still working. It’s the image at the beginning of the book, with our hero looking back over his shoulder at fish walking. ”

Bradford shared one more Charlie story that is irresistible.

“ Charlie has been looking through a photo album and  asking his mom who works. When he asked if Da works, his mother, Nora, said Not any more. Charlie asked, What does he do? Her answer was Paint, cook, and garden. I am sitting in the back garden on this beautiful afternoon feeling a deep sense of well being. I am a lucky man. ”

And I am a lucky bookbinder, to have gotten to work on Bradford’s new book for Charlie!

In anticipation, Bari

B is for Being a Booster

Dear Everyone ~

B is also for bumper sticker! When I received my envelope from MoveOn, I was so excited that I held it up to the light, to see exactly where inside my thank-you-for-donating bumper sticker sat, and then I tore the envelope right open. The backside of the bumper sticker carries a serious encouragement: Display your sticker proudly on your mailbox or somewhere where your mail carrier will see it to let postal workers know that you support them & the essential work they do during this pandemic.

Well, I’ve never put a sticker on my bumper before … and this one is an almost magical match to my car. But then I had my “papered over windows moment,” and realized that my sticker belongs right in my front window.

Three months ago (on March 17, to be exact), I closed the shop and cancelled workshops because of the pandemic. But, to me, Bari Zaki Studio still felt like an oasis of calm and beauty. And then the virus crisis was overshadowed by civic unrest in response to the killing of George Floyd. I joined my shopkeeper neighbors in papering over my windows (and dismantling my displays). Bari Zaki Studio doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Through it all, Will, my mail carrier, has continued to be a bright spot in my days. He’s now working most Sundays, as well as during the week, so that parcels get delivered even sooner. Last week Will had a very special delivery for me: beautiful thank-you drawings from his daughters, for whom I’d prepared a care package of art supplies. I was surprised and touched … and resolved to do a bit more to support the USPS. 

In honor of Will in particular and the USPS in general … I’m announcing my goal of raising at least $500 for MoveOn’s advocacy campaign. To do this, I will donate $12 from every sale of my new Booster of Stationery Joy. The Booster will sell for $36 (the same as a Deluxe Bundle), so $12 is 33%. I hope to sell 41 (a prime number!) Boosters to reach my goal. The Booster includes a set of Letters Mingle Souls stamps from 1974. They are among my all-time favourites.

The Letters Mingle Souls stamps were issued in honor of the centennial of the Universal Postal Union, the international body that collaborates and cooperates in getting mail from one country to the next. Each of the eight stamps features a correspondent (or indication of correspondence!) by an artist from a different country. By the way, Letters mingle souls is a quote from poet John Donne.

These stamps lend themselves to all manner of creative communiques. I’m also tucking in a vintage Special Delivery sticker to grace an envelope or parcel.

The Booster comes in four different wraps. Choose from two British sheets of incredibly delightful illustrations by Harold Jones, who drew them for a set of endpapers in 1937, or two Japanese sheets of rich tiny checks, one in watered blue and gold, and the other in sunshine yellow and white.

Give your spirits, and your correspondents, a boost with a Booster. I hope you will share my feelings of gratitude to the USPS for the ease & speed (& economy!) with which we are all able to stay connected via post.

Boosters of Stationery Joy

Heartfelt, Bari

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