Depth of Gratitude & Fullness of Heart

Dear Everyone ~

Studio Sale 2020 is virtually over, almost in the blink of an eye! Certainly, I’ve never experienced anything quite like this, because we’ve never had an online sale before. I can’t really even compare it to an in-person, in-studio sale. Today, as I am wrapping & packing parcels for curbside pick up and shipping, I am surrounded by utter stillness, reflecting on the connections, albeit electronic, of last weekend. Here are some highlights.

After the sale went live at 8:00 pm (CST) on Friday evening, order notifications flowed (flew?) in with a whoosh. Dozens of emails in a matter of minutes! Several customers placed more than one order! The “star” of this year’s sale was definitely Melanie O., which is poetic justice. Melanie lives in Florida, and for my sale in 2019, she gave me a $100 allowance, asking that I simply select something(s) for her. This year, the shopping field was level, she was at the ready, and she placed three orders! Alas, she experienced a cart-astrophe, about which she was incredibly good natured. She e’d me on Saturday to report:

“ As you can see, I have purchased three different times! Let me explain. I lingered too long on my first shopping spree and by the time I checked out. . . well, most of what was in my cart had sold. (More happiness for more customers, which brings me great joy!)  Anyway, that led me to a second purchase . . . and, well, today I decided my blissful blank book needed a friend. ”

Melanie’s description of what the sale represented for her, really was the frosting on the Studio Sale cake:

“ Words will never express adequately just how much fun it was to shop at your studio sale! I know it wasn't the personal and nostalgic experience that you are used to hosting, but thank you for making it available to everyone, both near and far. What a feast you laid before us! And I can honestly say, that’s what the virtual sale felt like: a beautiful banquet table in which to indulge. ”

*  *  *  *  *

A handful of other customers placed two orders, including Sue in Canada, who to her chagrin wasn’t quick enough to get her hands on a Bag of Beribbonments. It was indeed a banner evening for ribbon sales! The other double-orderers, from A-B-C to Z, are: Annie, Barbara, Becky, Cie, Cindy, and Zoe. To you I say: Thanks for coming back for seconds!

It’s one thing to create a beautiful spread, so to speak, on a table for people to peruse and to touch. But needing to photograph and describe all the items somehow caused me to think back on why I had chosen, or made, these things to start with. And that was an unexpected pleasure. Perhaps it’s not so far fetched, that my fond feelings for stationery pleasures and handmade books & boxes somehow infused the photos and listings with extra energy.

In all, 55 orders have been received as of this morning, almost half of them from out of state, and two from Canada. I deem Studio Sale 2020 a glorious success. I send gratitude to Everyone who participated, for your appreciation of what Bari Zaki Studio, I ardently hope, embodies.

I wish (or wishbone!) Everyone a peaceful Thanksgiving, heavy on the gratitude and the gravy.

In deep bow, Bari 

Pleasures aplenty for Studio Sale 2020

Dear Everyone ~

Our 2020 virtual Studio Sale is virtually upon us. The Studio Sale page will go live this evening (Friday, November 20) at 8 pm Chicago time. (This is four hours earlier than previously announced. We want to be awake when it happens!) May we book you to join us?

Speaking of books and their frequent companions, boxes: Many made by me will be on offer. The books towering above are but one of several binding styles. There is a lone, luxurious leather pamphlet-style book, a dainty dos-à-dos, and an accordion. You'll also see a stylish selection of four-sided-drop-spine boxes, perfect for postcards, photos, and three-dimensional keepsakes.

Origami boxes will be available in three sizes (wabi, obi & sabi), made of 100% cotton St-Armand, in soft shades. There will be a limited migration of boxes & books from the Studio Shop to the Studio Sale, at reduced prices.

Writing implements will abound: vintage pencils, vintage pencil packaging, graphite galore, and a clutch of clutches. And an assortment of inks we will no longer be stocking.

In the notebook department, there will be no margin for disappointment: spiral-bound notebooks, perfect-bound notebooks, jotters, watercolour notebooks, pamphlet styles, sketchbooks. Want to write that down?

We’ve gone to considerable lengths to assemble the most sumptuous ribbon bags we can remember. They are packaged by palette, with at least a dozen beribbonments per bag (all at least 2 yards).

Washi Wonderland will be in high spirits. We’ve assorted tapes into stacks of five or six: at least one wide or super-wide, a couple of medium-wide, and a couple of narrow.

Quantities are limited on basically everything—except our good humour. As we’ve said recently, the early bird will catch the slinky ribbons and the elusive marbled warblers. The Studio Sale will continue through December 5. Orders will ship promptly, and curbside pick-up will be available Tuesday–Saturday afternoon.

At the ready, Bari

Studio Sale 2020: You are cordially e-vited

Dear Everyone ~

This year’s Studio Sale opening weekend will be Saturday, November 21, and Sunday, November 22. Because it will be virtual, you can shop at virtually any hour, starting at midnight (CST) on Friday, November 20. The sale will continue through December 5. The savvy shopper will realize that quantities of most items are limited. The early bird will catch the slinky ribbons and elusive marbled warblers.

In years past, one of my favourite aspects of the studio sale weekend has been surprise visits from customer-friends I hadn’t seen in eons. This year, alas, there will be no friends popping up or dropping in. Happily however, because Studio Sale 2020 is online, everyone everywhere in the States and Canada will be able to “shop by.” I will be excited to see (and report on) the distribution of shoppers across various states and provinces.

A temporary Studio Sale page at barizaki.com will present all items on offer. Herewith a preview.

St-Armand scrap bundles: a stack (over an inch high!) of 100% cotton paper in assorted colours, beribboned with hand-dyed Italian linen. Scraps in the Narrow bundle (shown here) are handy for chic little shopping lists, bookmarks, doodles...and even ultra-mini-sketchbook covers. Scraps in the Notesheet bundle are dandy for printmaking, drawing, leaf pressing, and backing sheets.

Global assortment of fountain pen inks: lovely colours I may not re-stock, from Europe and Japan. Your fountain pen(s) will thank you; ditto the brush pens you can dip right in.

Hardcover books made by me in seasons past: covered in hand-marbled papers from the U.K., including some now-extinct patterns. Some medium, some large, all with elegant linen spines. Interior pages are snowy or creamy or dreamy, usually cotton, all undeckled.

Origami boxes: made from St-Armand cover paper in assorted colours. Available in three sizes, which I cannot resist naming Wabi, Obi, and Sabi. Fabulous for presenting (or storing) desk accessories, bonbons, or a lovely little card. And of course they nest.

Ribbon bags: clearly exposing my passion for satin, my constancy for cotton, etc. Assorted into a handsome handful of palettes, in lengths of at least 2 yards. Each bag also contains one ribbon bonbon, secured with a dressmaker’s pin.

The Studio Sale will also include a set of seven one-of-a-kind giclé prints of botanicals, originally drawn by me in coloured pencil. They are framed in antique-finish silvered wood, and will be on offer individually.

Miscellaneous delights will be revealed at midnight on November 20!

In anticipation, Bari

A post all about postcards

Dear Everyone ~

I last posted an update about my postcard wall last summer (The thrall of wall-to-wall postcards, June 29, 2019). Since then, I have received slightly over 100 postcards...and finally installed all of them yesterday. One of my favourite steps is deciding whether to show the front (the image side) or the back (the message and stamp side). I juxtapose and re-pose to make sure the feng shui is good. The postcard stream is flowing over into my tea-making zone.

I continue to use washi tapes—just a little piece, between half and three-quarters of an inch—to affix each card to the wall. Yesterday, I favoured a red graph-grid pattern on a grey background and gold-and-frost diagonal stripes. I don’t want the tapes to distract from the cards.

he postcard wall gives me such joy when I focus my gaze there. You might think that the cards would blend or blur together, but they do not. I still see them as individual communiqués...that have become memory bearers. I recognize people’s handwriting, I remember various messages, and I revel in reflecting on the intention, or the serendipity, of a sender having selected a particular image.

If your postcard larder needs some spicing up, may I suggest these delicious new cards published by Veera Kehvola in Helsinki? Each of the three assortments—Kitchen, Daydreaming, and The Wild North—showcases the work of a different illustrator. I’ve packaged each assortment of 8 designs in a Carta Pura envelope, embellished with a lovely large companion sticker on the front, sealed with a charmola little Kehvola label on the back. I am delighted to be the exclusive purveyor in the U.S.

If you fancy sending your Kehvola postcards enveloped, you have two tasteful options: Carta Pura (vanilla, with an eggshell finish; the overall effect suggests a meringue) or Rivoli Rose, both in the splendid European note size, 4½ x 6¼.

I’m relieved to announce that the British seaweed postcards (and their related notecards) have arrived and my stock is now officially replenished. You might want to place your order while the tide is high, as I will not be re-stocking until the new year.

Kehvo-là-là postcards from Helsinki

Finnishing up, Bari

Bookbinding and Gift-giving go hand in hand

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve recently written about my “Zoom conversion,” and I’m booked to teach at least two private Zoom workshops every week until early December. And then I will take a break until January! My teaching schedule includes eight Serizawa Soft-cover Coptic-stitch workshops. I cannot resist making the same month as my student, so I will have quite a stack to show you in mid-December. My fondness for Serizawa calendar pages is not only undiminished, but overflowing.

Making a book, whether it’s for yourself or for someone else, is remarkably satisfying. Students frequently send emails, or the occasional piece of Real Mail, describing their sense of fulfillment, accomplishment, and joy—and, sometimes, surprise—that making a book by hand has inspired. I love it when students share with me their joie and their plans for independent bookbinding projects. Here are three of my recent heartwarming e-communiqués.

Zoe just completed the four-part Bookful of Art workshop I co-taught with Cat Bennett. She’s an envelope-folding enthusiast (armed with my Art of the Hand-folded Envelope kit), and has a plan to combine her new bookbinding expertise with her envelope zeal. Go, Zoe! She emailed me last week:

“ I'm very excited about the Cambridge Imprint papers and the companion notecards. I was already planning to make a book for a friend who is having a baby boy, and I want to make it a bookful of ‘envelope pages’ with fold-over flaps. I will tuck into each envelope a card for her to write a note for the baby. These will stay in their envelopes in the book and become a record of my friend’s thoughts and the baby’s milestones.  I was hmmming over what paper to use for the envelopes, and these will be just perfect. The notecards that coordinate so neatly are like the cherry on top. ”

Beth is a designer and printmaker who appreciates paper products and bookish pursuits. She has been exercising her creative inclinations during the Shelter Season, and she has been holding onto a workshop gift certificate from her husband. When she read about the Serizawa (calendar page) bookbinding workshop, her resistance to the idea of a Zoom workshop just vanished. She emailed me:

“ I have always wanted to learn the Coptic stitch and was a big fan of Aiko’s. When I heard that these papers came from that wonderful Chicago store, now closed, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to use my gift certificate. ”  

Beth has chosen the month of February for her pair of calendar pages. She’ll be making her book just before Thanksgiving, and will have plenty of time to enjoy it before passing it on as a gift for the holidays, if she decides to part with it!

Nancy is on a journal-making jag! She took my  triple-hyphenated Long-Stitch-Link-Stitch bookbinding workshop via Zoom at the end of August, and she’s now in high gear. She emailed me:

“ Thank you for your help and kind responses. I have made one more journal, and prepared two more! I also made a cute little journal for a niece’s birthday. The process is getting easier with each journal. I am doing a variety of stitch patterns now, and adding or subtracting signatures depending on how many rows of stitches I have. ”

I may take my eight Serizawa books home with me to admire over the holidays. If I can bring myself to part with them, I will put them in my online shop in January! I’ll post them on Instagram as I make them.

2021 Workshops via Zoom

Heartful of bookful, Bari

Brilliant Paper Goods From Great Britain

Dear Everyone ~

For many moons I’ve had my eye, both eyes really, on Cambridge Imprint paper goods. They fill my thrill on all levels: their wonderful palettes, charming patterns, and the lovely feel of the papers themselves. Mixing & matching the colours & patterns is endlessly satisfying—especially the envelopes and address labels.

I’ve assorted the envelopes into a set of six different patterns, and included six hand-cut ivory Stonehenge notes. The address labels—in grand and petite formats— boast borders that border on quandary-provoking. The pairings are almost infinite!

The companion postcards come in a set of six, 2 each of 3 colourways: Deep Twilight, Golden Yellow, and Slate. You can mail them as a postcard or tuck them into a Cambridge envelope.

Of course there are notebooks as well, for musing, jotting, doodling, etc. The 40 ivory pages take all manner of writing and drawing implements smoothly. And the labels, in either format, look fabulous on the patterned covers.

And the Cambridgers have won my heart by offering boxes of patterned papers, both in origami squares and in wrapping sheets large enough to cover...a book! The wrapping sheets are also heavenly for making a large envelope (or nesting set thereof).

The origami papers (36 different patterns of 6 x 6 sheets) come with a set of instructions for folding butterflies. It seems that the collective noun for these is “cloud,” which sets my heart aflutter.

The wrapping sheets, which measure 12 x 16, are truly rapturous: two assortments (blue and red), each presenting 2 sheets of 12 different patterns, in a lined keepsake box. The patterns in each assortment are the same, so you can wrap (or cover, or line) a duet of books or other objets as a pair.

See all six NEW Cambridge Imprint shop listings

Like a Cambridge over troubled waters, Bari

A charmful of student reflections on Bookful of Art

Dear Everyone ~

Bookful of Art, the four-Saturday workshop Cat Bennett and I co-taught via Zoom, has just concluded. We admit to basking in our students’ accomplishments, and in the creative afterglow of teaching several dozen enthusiasts simultaneously.

The first week, I led the class in making an exposed case-binding book. It was a joy to teach, and to realize that I could indeed keep everyone on the same page. For the following three sessions, Cat led the class through exercises to fill their freshly made books with artwork: drawings, paintings, and collage. All of the books and pages shown in this post are the work of our students.

I have received such lovely emails about the workshop sessions, and students have graciously agreed to let me share their thoughts with everyone. I’ve excerpted their reflections into three sections: materials, process, and camaraderie.

ABOUT THE MATERIALS:

Assembling the kits of materials took me several incredibly satisfying days, getting the papers & threads & ribbons in order and packaged beautifully. Lining them all up on my center table (as seen in my August 26 blog post) made my heart sing. And then I experienced the pure delight of seeing all the participants’ books in the first week come alive, so to speak. A gallery of Bookful books!

“ It was a plus to receive the materials prior to the workshop to make such beautiful books with your choices of St. Armand paper and ribbon—perfectly curated. ” — Peggy O. in Eden Prairie

“ And then there’s the visceral pleasure of working with the beautiful materials Bari assembled and my own too-often-neglected art supplies! ” — Barbara D. in Chicago

ABOUT THE PROCESS:

Cat and I both used overhead cameras, allowing students to clearly see what we were demonstrating, at a perfect angle. We also recorded the sessions, and have made these available to participants via YouTube. 

 “ Having a first-hand account and view of the book’s creation and seeing up close the demonstrations from Cat—being really short, I tend not to get a good shot at the demonstrations—and the recordings of the sessions have been awesome. I’ve really gotten a lot out of this. ” — Sue L. in Vancouver, Canada, who provided the stellar photo (at top) of her trio of books

 “ Creativity falls into a category all its own, one of fun, happiness, freedom and acceptance . . . don’t you think? That’s why I love this class so much! It’s welcoming and encouraging, full of instruction, suggestions, and tips, while embracing the individuality that comes with hand-made journals and drawing and painting. You and Cat are the perfect pair :) ” — Melanie O. in Ormond Beach

“ Between the pandemic and the coming winter months, I am imagining this journaling practice as a light space for my heart, some place to find comfort, reflection and expression. The class has been all that I hoped and more…and the Zoom format has worked beautifully. I’m so glad I joined in! ” — Linda S. in Chicago

“ The use of the overhead camera by both Bari and Cat allowed an even closer look at binding and sketching than might have been possible in an in-person class. I missed one class and found that watching the YouTube later just wasn't quite the same as having the camaraderie of my Zoom classmates; I felt a little lonely that day! ” — Linda S. in San Francisco

ABOUT THE CAMARADERIE:

During the workshop sessions, students were able to ask their questions via the chat feature. Whilst I was teaching, Cat would relay the questions to me. This enabled me to repeat a step, or clarify the stitch in progress. When Cat was teaching, I relayed the questions to her. After each exercise, Cat invited anyone with a question to please “unmute themselves”, so that we could all hear and discuss. Cat welcomes dialogue and conversation and community. And everyone indeed felt connected.

“ A private Facebook group was also set up so we could share our work with each other, and it's been so rewarding and inspirational to see what others are doing. ” — Jen S. in Asheville

“ Bari and Cat created a beautiful virtual artistic community. The Zoom classroom was a soothing cocoon of creativity. ”  — Barbara L. in Chicago

“ I loved having this connection to other artists —Bari, Cat, and classmates. Access to the energy of other people creating was a gift. ” — Barbara D. in Chicago

Cat and I have been individually and collectively energized by teaching Bookful of Art. We have already come up with a new multi-session workshop to co-teach in January!

Heartfully, Bari

Susan embundles stationery joy

Dear Everyone ~

My friend Susan is a literal and figurative bundle of stationery joy. She set herself a mission on Day #1 of the Shelter Season, when I announced my Stationery for the Socially Stationary. Susan promptly ordered a bundle and resolved to send each & every sheet & card into the world to brighten the mailbox of someone she loves. Which she did...and continues to do. Susan and her husband also have a mostly-stationary bundle of joy named Zev, who is now seven months old. Susan is rarely snoozin’.

At the end of March, Susan emailed me to confirm the decanting and disposition of her bundle:

“ Yesterday I had a little time while Zev napped, so I wrote the first batch of notes from what I received in my pack: I thanked a family friend for a baby gift, congratulated friends on the adoption of a new dog, and let my nurse cousin know that I’m thinking of her as she does important work. It was such an enjoyable experience! I can’t wait to finish the rest of my correspondence challenge. ”

Susan sequentially selected a Deluxe Bundle, and then a Booster, and, last week, an autumnal bundle. She has stuck to her epistolary mission and continues to update me on her progress.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an actual letter from Susan, written on a simple notesheet with a possibly special provenance:

“ The box is decorated in embossed gold foil with black lattice design—circa 1960? My second cousin’s parents ran a greeting card store on Irving Park, “Buss Brothers” + I like to imagine that this stationery came from the shop, and now, many years later after it closed, a little part of the shop lives on. ”

Susan “headlined” her letter with “Several unrelated items,” and proceeded to enumerate three charming points, including the one about the stationery on which she was writing. When she came by to pick up her autumnal bundle, Susan told me that the actual name of the shop had been “Buss Brothers Greeting Cards.” I know I would have been a regular!

Susan described finding the box recently in her basement as a silver lining of quarantining days. As you can see, the envelope lining isn’t really silver, it’s lightweight paper, not tissue, with a botanical motif sprouting out of the envelope.

I am an ardent fan of sending & receiving postcards. And full-blown letters in envelopes are of an even higher order. Delightfully, a letter seems so personal. Even if it is short-ish, I feel like it deserves my full attention, worthy of my sitting down and savoring it with a cup of tea.

I also find writing letters to be soothing, calming, and gratifying. I love selecting multiple stamps to adorn the envelope. My current favourites are the fruits & vegetables painted as classic still lifes. (Susan used the figs on her envelope. She too is a big fan of these stamps.) The happy fact that they are the exact same size as the low-denomination fruits with white backgrounds...adds to their creative deliciousness.

I am particularly fond of this bit from Susan’s letter:

“ One good thing to come out of quarantining-time is that I’ve written so many letters + postcards + received many wonderful notes in return. I’m so grateful to have your shop nearby to supply me with all my epistolary needs. ”

I love the idea of being the proprietress of a currently online-only establishment purveying handbound books and boxes...and epistolary needs!

Summer Fruit Sampler
Autumnal Bundle of Stationery Joy
Deluxe Array of Assorted Denominations

Yours in epistolary ecstasy, Bari

Fall for an Autumnal Bundle of Stationery Joy

Dear Everyone ~

Every so often, my paper cabinet descends into such disarray that I can’t think straight. Taking the time—several hours—to reorganize each drawer is such a pleasure. This past week, my sorting and refiling was a series of field trips down memory lane, coming upon papers I hadn’t seen in some time, and remembering where and when-ish I’d acquired them. A tactile sentimental journey indeed.

In a drawer labelled “Japanese Tie-dye,” I came upon a trove of full sheets in deep, rich colours that have inspired me to assemble & wrap Autumnal Bundles of Stationery Joy. I had bought the papers 25-or-so years ago, and they are particularly lovely examples of shibori tie-dyeing technique, with their geometric folds and patterns. And I've beribboned the bundles in cozy Japanese chenille with contrasty edges. By the way, the drawer labels on my awesome paper cabinet are the handiwork of calligrapher Julie Wildman, on Hahnemuhle Bugra from the Czech Republic. The paper colour, Melon, is such a lovely match to the cabinet. My neighbour Robert of Hawthorne (just two doors down) found the cabinet for me, Julie scooped it up in her pick-up, and my landlords referred me to their dandy handyman for painting.

This new series of bundles contains an assortment of paper delicacies, including a pair of postcards from Helen Hancocks, a British artist I recently discovered. She specializes in delightful depictions of desserts, in a saturated palette that will make your palate pitter-patter. So that the cards you send will arrive without being nibbled in transit, I’ve included a Carta Pura vanilla envelope for each. These cards would make a tasty treat for Hallowe’en—the trick might be parting with them.

Autumnal Bundle of Stationery Joy

Autumnally, Bari

Heralding: Serizawa Soft-cover Coptic stitch Workshop

Dear Everyone ~

In the final fortnight of 2018, I offered four-and-twenty blank books I had made and covered with Serizawa calendar pages from the 1960s and 70s. The buttonhole-stitch books measured 5.75 x 7.75, the largest size I could cover with a single calendar page. The pages, which measure 11-ish x 14.5-ish, were luxe leftovers from the years when I purchased my annual calendar at Aiko’s, my paper home away from home. My two Year of Serizawa series sold out before New Year’s. I had become somewhat mesmerized by the tiny triangular scraps, all of which I’d saved without knowing exactly why. I made a mosaic collage in one of my sketchbooks, and a very limited-edition series of “blooming Serizawa” cards.

Recently a very dear friend decanted in my direction part of his treasure trove of Serizawa calendars from 1962, a particularly lovely vintage. The mulberry paper that the calendars were printed on, one saturated colour at a time, has a cockled texture, yet is incredibly strong as well as tactile.

I’ve been musing on what this incarnation of Serizawa’s could become...and thought how great it would be for students to get to make their own Serizawa-covered book. Then, when I was selecting materials for a private Zoom soft-cover Coptic stitch workshop, I wondered how the calendar pages would look with this style of binding.

It occurred to me that because I had duplicates, I could use two pages to make one book and have the covers mirror each other. I was so smitten with the way it turned out that I've decided to offer twelve private soft-cover Coptic-stitch workshops via Zoom. Now, students can choose their workshop by the month of book they want to make, either for themselves, or for a very nearest or dearest.

Delirium-inspiring bonus: I’ve discovered that making the covers this way, versus with the buttonhole-stitch, yields scraps that are a very different shape! A couple of them can be actual bookmarks (and, yes, the mulberry paper takes ink beautifully, for personalizing).

NEW Workshop: Serizawa soft-cover Coptic stitch via Zoom

All around the mulberry bush, Bari