12 ways of papery happiness

Dear Everyone ~

’Tis the season for the making of cards, the wrapping of packages, the recharging of creativity, the stuffing of stockings...and the celebrating of paper and its infinite delights. Speaking of stocking, we have restocked several favourites and brought in a few new items. Read on, dapper wrappers and jaunty jotters!

1 – For wrapping: The beribbonment elves are assembling more ribbon bags, absolutely as sumptuous, silky, satiny & supple as ever. And our reorder of Cambridge Imprint Special Starry Papers is en route.

2 – For listing: A fresh supply of Heavenly Hahnemühle Housemade Pads are at the ready, eager to be of service and brick-solid to gift wrap.

3 – For corresponding: The season’s Dressiest Bundle of Stationery Joy is wrapped in crinkly non-Kodai Kikkō (tortoise shell) pattern, beribboned with Japanese sheer gold organza. The semi-vintage Kikkō sheet (14 x 20) is truly luxe and a paragon of wrapping virtuosity.

4 – For penning: Our array of Le Pen colours (22 beaucoup) has just been expanded to 25, with the arrival of: Light Mauve, Magenta, and Yellow Ochre.

5 – For gift-tagging: Bundlissimi include a range of paper weights, colours & textures, to complement any package. Waxed linen thread, available on handy 10-yard laundry pins in 30-plus shades, is a bookish way to tie on a tag. Washi tape can add a decorative border to the tag in addition to affixing the tag to the package.

6 – For sketching, doodling & drawing: Kunst +Papier sketchbooks are back in stock in their full complement of sizes and spine colours. I continue to use mine for all manner of media, and the pages take to them beautifully.

7 – For watercolouring: Hahnemühle and Kunst +Papier watercolour notebooks both offer heavy (200 gsm) snow-white pages. We have also brought in a new colour of Hahnemühle pages, a light kraft that we could call toast.

8 – For bobbling/baubling: Cambridge Imprint Garland of Bobbles provides a brilliant way to make placecards or party favors, or to slyly enclose a tiny gift. The patterns and colour ways are mixy-matchy, natchy.

9 – For collaging: A fresh supply of Extremely Exquisite Scraps are now in stock for collaging holiday cards, enclosing just-because, and even punching fancy confetti to grace your table.

10 – For cherishing: Several new books made by me are already in the shop, and they will be joined by a few friends in weeks to come.

11 – For noting: The Marvelous Margin Notebooks are fully stocked, including a new-to-us larger companion size (6 x 8). The spine colours (red, yellow, blue) provide a primary way to select the pattern on the pages within: plain, gridded, ruled.

12 – For affixing: Festive little Coccoina gluesticks offer a whiff of maraschino cherries while you work. And we’ve brought in a tower, a bower, a wonderland of new-to-us and old-favourite washi tapes. See Washi of the Season. Tip to the hip: Test your washi on your wrap to make sure it adheres. Some textured papers, notably Japanese, “rebuff” the tape (in which case, consider glue-sticking a postage stamp instead!).

’Tis three mailing weeks until Christmas. The Postal Service sleighs are already laden with holiday mail, so we suggest you place your order(s) at your earliest inspiration to avoid anxiety. If I can help you make decisions or plan your parcelizing, please feel encouraged to call or email. Myself or an elf will be at the ready!

Merry yet mezzo-mellow, Bari

A Binder’s Dozen of gratitude

Dear Everyone ~

For Bari Zaki Studio, 2021 was a year of memorable moments. Scheduling in-store shopping interludes certainly led to some momentous encounters, both with long-time local loyalists and with a couple of new friends. And, thanks to technology, some of my memorable moments were virtual. I am so grateful for so many people’s enthusiasm and appreciation and encouragement and sharing of the Bari Zaki Studio ethos. And, of course and always, for the real mail some of you have sent! Herewith my recounting of highlights & delights.

I will start with: Will, the most dependable & thoughtful mail carrier imaginable. He comes to my door whether he has mail for me or not, always to say hello, and to see if I have any “outgoing”. Last week, I began preparing two large envelopes to send off. One was to my dear friend & postal muse Alyson Kuhn. It contained a pane of 100 1¢ Chicago Century of Progress stamps, and a bonus of four 3¢ “modern” Chicago stamps, which I was gifting to her for some minor mailing emergency. I entrusted the envelope to Will when he came by...but then, later that afternoon, I suddenly realized that I had accidentally addressed it to the other person for whom I was assembling mail. I immediately began typing an email to that recipient, trying to explain that she would be receiving someone else’s contents, and that I needed her to send them back, and that I would double her order of Exquisite Scraps as a token of apology. I hadn’t had a chance to finish that email when I needed to head home, but planned to send it that evening. But, on my way home, just two blocks away from the studio, I spied a large postal truck. Hmmmmm, could that possibly, miraculously be Will? And it was! I pulled over and inquired, Hi, by any chance is that big brown envelope I gave you earlier still on the truck? And he says, It sure is! Phew beaucoup!

Skipping to the Southeast: I was thrilled when Frances Reed introduced the idea of a “private group workshop at home.” Back in the Spring, she had given her son David Introduction to Bookbinding as a birthday gift. Then, in September, she decided to host a family salon for Introduction to Gluing Happiness. David was there, as was his older brother William, and William’s ladyfriend Zelda, and Aunt Janice, and intrepid family friend Beth. Refreshments were artfully melded with everyone’s decanted kit of materials, and Jimmy, a very sleek black cat, invited himself to patrol the proceedings. For the frosting on the proverbial cake, Frances wrote an entertaining report of the salon, which we featured here.

Back in Chicago: Tammy Stams (such a euphonious name, almost an endearment!) is my co-so-many-things. She co-teaches behind the scenes when I’m developing group zooms, suggesting ways to describe steps as I demonstrate them. Early on, I introduced her as my co-stitcher, because when I was teaching myself a new binding stitch, she would read the directions out loud to me in real time. She would read, I would stitch. Tammy is an accomplished knitter but not a bookbinder. Between the two of us, we could understand the directions. She has also remained my studio/shop assistant these past two years, now remotely from her home, which we refer to as BZS North. She winds, she glues, she bags, she ensconces. Without Tammy, I would be in such a jammy—or basicially in a bind.

Sidney, British Columbia: Lorraine Douglas lives in the wilds of B.C. She is a Bookful five-timer, meaning that she has completed all of the four-part workshops I’ve co-taught with artist Cat Bennett. Lorraine has also taken a couple of my own group zooms including Trio of Envelope Techniques. Barely 24 hours thereafter, she sent me a fabulous photo showcasing an entire handful of envelope-cases she had made après-workshop! I did ask what she was planning to do with all the cases, and she is gifting them for the holidays, to her fellow Postcardians—which is the term Lorraine & her correspondence coterie decided upon for themselves. She added, “It is so nice to work with such beautiful materials and make things that look so smart…” Lorraine’s comment went smart to my heart!

On California’s Central Coast: Cheryl Maruyama arranged a private Introduction to Boxmaking, her first BZS workshop. Quite soonish, she asked if she could purchase six (vi) additional boxmaking kits! She sent me photos of her finished boxes...and then ordered five (v) more kits! She has made boxes for family & friends. She emailed, “All your beautiful creativity and papers make these gifts so special.” I am smiling from ear to ear, and from lid to tray.

Up in Boston: Cat Bennett first came into my life in 2016 when I took one of her online workshops from Sonheim Creative. The gentle and loving way she taught encouraged me to draw freely, uninhibited and joyfully. I found comfort in my own style of drawing and felt instantly liberated. To my delight, a year later, I discovered that Cat and I had some Boston friends in common. I sent word to her directly to see if we could meet while I was there visiting. And from there our beautiful kindred friendship bloomed. Cat has since flown to Chicago several times to teach a weekend full of in-studio painting and drawing workshops to an overflowing audience at Bari Zaki Studio. In 2020, we conceived and debuted our Bookful series of workshops, combining both of our teachings. Cat & I continue to be so energized and amazed by the creative zeal of our students who have taken four or five of our Bookful series. We could not, would not, do them without you. And we cherish your emails of appreciation!

In the Other Cambridge: Cambridge Imprint has been a star, a stellar seller, of 2021. The patterns! The colours! The mix-and-matchiness! The charmola keepsake boxes! The splendid videos for those wishing (on an origami star) for a few folding tips! Our Cambridge Imprint love will carry into 2022, with the Origami Heart Bunting Kit. O my stars, we almost forgot to mention the Cambridge Imprint envelopes...and labels!

Right on Lincoln Avenue: It has been a thrill to welcome out-of-town customers to Bari Zaki Studio for visits & shopping. My toastiest warmth to those who drove or detoured in my direction: Michiganders Lynn Williams and Jossette Lory, Atlantan David Goldwasser Reed, Virginian Carla Jacobs, Missourian Joyce Briscoe, and Jennifer James from Northampton, Mass. It’s also been exciting to have people who follow me on Instagram get in touch and ask if they can come visit.

Closest to home: My lovely husband Zak remains my biggest & longest running enthusiast, dating all the way back to the last millennium, when I took my first eight-week bookbinding workshop at Artist Bookworks. Zak’s encouragement kept me on my then-new path. That was half my lifetime ago! Today, Zak is at the ready for all manner of studio tasks, from helping me construct twenty drop-spine boxes, to sweeping leaves from the entrance and decorating the windows with holiday lights. Not to mention continuous trips to the Post Office bearing international parcels.

From the Continent: Gabriele Buemberger from Innsbruck, Austria, has now completed seven workshops, including two Bookfuls. All but one of her kits of materials arrived within two weeks, which is a mailing marvel. It is sunset or dusk for her when she joins our zooms on Saturday morning in the Midwest! She has sent me a vignette of her collected workshop oeuvres with a lovely message: “You are inspiring and supportive and always willing to answer questions. And your choice of materials is simply beyond words. There is also the love with which you package all those goodies.” Gabriele is retiring from her day job at the end of this year, and is already gearing up to take Mighty Fine Nine Signature Spine in 2022!

From the Pacific Northwest: In 2017, Carla & Steve Sonheim, the incredible innovators of Sonheim Creative, invited me to Seattle to film an online bookbinding workshop. The experience was exhilarating, to say the least, and I was thrilled with how the recorded workshop came to life. Four years later, Buttonhole-stitch Journal remains prominently listed alongside workshops led by many talented artist-teachers. It continues to connect me with bookbinding enthusiasts all over the globe, from Norway to Australia. And in 2020, I had the great pleasure of welcoming Carla & Steve to Bari Zaki Studio. They were on a whirlwind tour, making micro-videos for Carla’s year-long class, Words & Pictures. Carla paired Cat Bennett and me for a Loopy Link-stitch/drawing exercise combo. I felt honoured to be in such accomplished artistic company!

On the Left Coast, but close to my heart: Alyson Kuhn, my postal muse. Who I now refer to as my everything muse. We met 26 years ago when she lived in Chicago for a year. From the moment we met, my paper world and everything connected has improved immensely. She is an intrinsic part of the BZS experience. At the beginning of this year, Alyson and her co-author completed their book “I hear you: Talking and listening to people with Alzheimer’s”, and I interviewed her here.

Last, but not at all least: My heart overflows at the abundance of email, calls, postcards and missives I have received with descriptions of bookbinding joy, accomplishment, happiness, and wrapping (and unwrapping!) rapture.

My thanks to Everyone!

Wishing you all a peaceful, delicious, and safe Thanksgiving. May you bask (or baste!) in the connections that matter most to you.

~ Bari ~

At the starting gate for Studio Sale 2021

Dear Everyone ~

Studio Sale 2021 is virtually upon us. The overflowing Studio Sale page will go live this evening at 8 pm Chicago time. The opening two hours of last year’s sale saw a stellar & steady cavalcade of orders, and when I awoke on Saturday morning, much shopping had continued overnight. I’m not trying to start a paper panic, but want to remind everyone that: Quantities are limited on basically everything—except our good humour. We anticipate that the early bird will catch the slinky ribbons and the fancy French scraps.

Books abound: Blank books by BZ, of course. Also a lovely selection of commercially bound books, most of which open flat and have smooth paper pages, some lined, some plain. And a single (Yes, you could say unique!) long-stitch-link-stitch book in a complementary envelope case, both made by BZ.

The Scrumptious Scrap Department has been working zealously. See freshly beribboned bundles of luscious Saint-Armand off-cuts in a range of colours. Each bundle will present at least twenty pieces, ranging in size from 2 x 3 to 5 x 7. Hand-torn edges or original deckles everywhere! And, of course, a profusion of ribbon bags, most chromatically curated. If you need a particular palette, let us know and we will do our very best. Nota deliriosa: Every ribbon bag contains a little prize, a Cambridge Imprint origami bobble/bauble with a useful bonbon inside.

If you’re thinking about ink, you’ll be in the pink: J.Herbin fountain pen inks, lovely to use for calligraphy, and drawing. Cakes of sumi-e ink in their white “ceramic pans.”

For correspondents: You’ll find some notecards on sale, and some hand-bordered 100% cotton correspondence cards & a few deluxe desk xoxcessories.

The Studio Sale will continue through Saturday, December 4. Orders will ship promptly, and afternoon curbside pick-up will be available Tuesday–Saturday (noon to 5pm). We wish you comfy shopping & creative inspiration!

2021 Studio Sale

At the ready, Bari

Pleasures & fun for Studio Sale 2021

Dear Everyone ~

Our second annual virtual Studio Sale is virtually upon us. The Studio Sale page will go live next Friday evening (November 19) at 8pm Chicago time. A fresh preview page is already available as an appetizer, only for window-dressing and obsessing.

As inevitably, beautiful blank books will be bountiful, mostly made by me in a wide range of binding styles and paper coverings. Notably: a unique case-bound book covered in a March Serizawa calendar page, a triple-row loopy-link stitch with a Saint-Armand paper cover, two travel journals with airy kraft envelopes stitched inbetween every page, Japanese-style bindings, and a small handful of petite books with a shimmery soft-cover and parchment paper pages. Looky at every booky—but don’t drowse while you browse, or someone is likely to scoop you.

Japanese ceramic dishes holding a cake of Sumi-e watercolour. Some colours are more opaque than others, all are lovely for calligraphy, watercolour & drawing with a brush. The gold is very luxe; the silver is shimmery.

A lone long-stitch-link-stitch blank book with Saint-Armand cover & Stonehenge pages. Stitched with waxed-linen thread and enveloped in a handmade case of Saint-Armand, with string & button closure. Even better than a sweater set.

Desk xoxcessories include four sizes of caddy, all covered in Japanese papers. Provide your jotting sheets and elegant pencils with proper homes, and you’ll always be able to find them.

This year’s ribbon bags each include a little prize: A Cambridge Imprint origami ornament (You say bobble. We say bauble!) folded with a surprise inside! We will go to great lengths to make sure that everyone who wants a bag, gets one.

Quantities are limited on basically everything, including fresh Saint-Armand bundles of luscious useable-sized cut-offs beribboned in Italian cotton. And selected books on calligraphy, drawing and bookbinding. And a pair of handmade pencil case roll-ups. And we rest our case!

The Studio Sale will continue through December 4. Orders will ship promptly, and curbside pick-up will be available Tuesday–Saturday afternoon.

2021 Annual Studio Sale

At the ready, Bari

Everything’s coming up… Cambridge

Dear Everyone ~

Special Starry Papers by Cambridge Imprint are the newest stellar addition to the Bari Zaki Studio repertoire of fine papers. A veritable constellation of creative paper potential: 2 sheets each of 12 starry patterns in a keepsake box. The sheets measure 12 x 16, large enough to cover a book, make an origami box, hand fold envelopes & wrap holiday gifts to your heart’s content! The paper’s finish is vellumy smooth and feels lovely in your hands while you are folding, wrapping, binding, or merely musing. You can even line a drawer, deck a hall, and entertain all manner of embellishments to your manor.

One of the first things I wanted to make with a starry pattern was a buttonhole-stitch book. It took me a few moments to settle on a pattern for the cover, and then I spent awhile humming & hawing about my favourite colour of waxed-linen thread with which to stitch. It was a toss up between Country Red & Victorian Rose—they both looked splendid! This is an aspect of the process of making a book that I find endlessly satisfying.

Then, I became enveloped in hand folding YKWs. The first size I folded was an A7 (which can hold an oversized postcard) with the pattern on the outside. Then I decided to fold an A6 (which can hold a standard size postcard) with the pattern on the inside, to nest inside the larger envelope. Envelope happiness ensued as I continued to fold three increasingly diminutive envelopes, all the while alternating the pattern from the outside to the inside. A full starry sheet can also make a grand presentation envelope of dazzling dimensions.

It’s heavenly that the box includes two of each pattern so you can mix & match & share! BWTMD (But wait, there’s more delight): The patterns pair perfectly with the Cambridge petite labels, on an envelope, a gift-tag, or a placecard. In the photo below I attached the petite label to a piece of Stonehenge drawing paper, cut a tiny hole, scalloped the corners, wove a piece of embroidery thread, and tied it onto the beribbonment. Charmolà!

In related good news, Cambridge Imprint’s box of Garland of Bobbles has arrived. These origami baubles, gems of ornamentation, fold like a charm. And replenished, in plenty o’ time for the holidays, are both Cloud of Butterflies and Garland of 36 Stars. Speaking of seasonal bounty, Alain Glee’s wondrous washi tape with 22 delicious motifs is too juicy to pass up. This long-standing shop favourite is newly in my online shop.

Special Starry Papers
Garland of Bobbles
Alain Glee washi tape

Happy-go-folding, Bari

Bountiful Bookful of Personal Patterns

Dear Everyone ~

Creating patterns & making marks is a lovely way to sit and draw without the pressure of What do I draw? It’s calming, it’s meditative, it’s a gradual warm-up to watercolour and paper. I continue to find drawing with a brush both liberating and soothing. The brush is a very versatile tool, allowing for playfulness and endless exploration with colour and medium. Often, such pieces and patterns become integrated into—and even the centerpiece of—the composition itself. Despite not being 3-D, they are decorative, doodly, and bearers of delight.

Bountiful Bookful of Personal Patterns is my fifth Bookful collaboration with artist, author & dear friend Cat Bennett, and it will debut in less than two weeks on Saturday, October 30! (And wrap up the weekend before Thanksgiving.)

The Bookful workshops began a little over a year ago, and some students have attended two or three series, and 10-ish students have taken all four series! This calls for a bountiful bit of appreciation! We will be offering our “all-Bookish all-stars” (meaning the students who’ve taken all four series with us) a 15% discount on the upcoming series.

The book structure you will make is a classic accordion book with two separate hard covers. The papers I’ve chosen for the covers are by Cambridge Imprint, and the kit of materials is doubly-deluxe, because it includes the materials to make two books, one in Workshop #1 and one later on your own. So, you will receive two pairs of patterned papers, two sets of book boards for your covers, two rolls (3 pieces 6 x 43") of Stonehenge drawing papers, and 10 hinging strips (extra 6 for good measure). Recently, so many students have requested extra kits that I have decided to expand the workshop kit.

The Bookful workshops have become a haven of calm and creativity for students in many time zones. If you are outside the US, I will ship your materials this Wednesday, October 20, but cannot guarantee their timely arrival—in which case, you will have the pleasure of everyone’s company during Workshop #1, and the video to guide you in making your book in time for Workshop #2.

As always, Cat & I like to emphasize, especially if you are a newcomer, absolutely no drawing or bookbinding experience is necessary. The pace and camaraderie is quiet and comfortable. We look forward to seeing you via Zoom very soon!

Bountiful Bookful of Personal Patterns

Bookfully, Bari

Scrap Happens

Dear Everyone ~

Last week I was deep in assembling 30-plus extra-extensive kits for my two upcoming workshops via Zoom: Trio of Enveloping Techniques is happening this very Saturday (October 16), and Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder follows next Saturday (October 23).

This is the first time I’ve assembled two workshops’ kits simultaneously! It’s also the first time the kits have included so many moving parts: several sets of patterned papers, three sets of pre-cut bookboard, and a sixsome of tiny accessories.

The first parcels to leave my premises were actually leaving the country: four to Canada, one to Austria, and one to Australia. Gabriele in Innsbruck is one of my most ardent students—she has taken two Bookful workshops and will be taking both of the upcoming workshops, for which her parcel, containing both kits, weighed 3 lbs 11 oz, including their shipping box (a paragon of paper packaging, I must say). It thrills me endlessly that students from many time zones can participate in these workshops simultaneously.

As it happens, Kim in Southern California emailed this morning, having signed up last Sunday for both Trio and Desk Beautification. She won’t receive her kit in time for this Saturday, so I suggested that she still join in for the fun of it, and I offered to send her the measurements for the papers she needs. She enthusiastically accepted, adding that she is hopping on a flight on Friday. She plans to cut all her papers before takeoff, and will have her supplies with her, and will absolutely join us live on Saturday!

Meanwhile, back in the studio, beautiful scraps of paper were fluttering to the floor by my center table practically every minute. All horizontal surfaces were covered with rolls of paper, scraps of paper, bookbinding fabrics, and stacks of bookboard in a range of pre-cut sizes. My handy guillotine was at the ready to trim the sheaflets of paper that students will place in the memo holders they make in the Desk Beautification workshop.

The mini-accessories mid-assembly offered disproportionate packaging delight: from colourful buttons, to waxed-linen thread wrapped around a tiny piece of bookboard, to the teeniest butterfly-clips with teeny pre-cut papers to cover them. Cutting several patterns in a stack yields umpteeny little pieces, that only reveal their patterns once I start putting them in their glassines. For me, it’s a scrumptious visual moment: like single pieces in a jigsaw puzzle or a scrap-o-matic.

If you’d like to register for Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder you still can. If you’re in the continental U.S. and register by this Friday, October 15, there’s time for you to receive your parcel via priority mail before for next Saturday. And as always, if you have any questions about the workshop, please feel free to call or e me. I look forward to hearing from you and glueing with you soon!

Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder

Post Haste, Bari

The versatile case of the envelope-case

Dear Everyone ~

Last week’s big blog post was about two new workshops, one of which—Trio of Envelope Techniques—features what I’m calling an envelope-case as its centerpièce de résistance. It took me some time to engineer the case, as it was a new structure for me. My idea was to make an envelope with depth but without gussets. So, it’s a soft box to encase its contents. For the workshop, the contents will be a set of 8 Carta Pura notecards & envelopes.

As it happened, a longtime local customer, Susan E., had recently asked me if I could help her make something to protect the long-stitch-link-stitch book she had made in a workshop at Bari Zaki Studio a couple of years ago. She has made additional books, which she’s given away, and had decided that a “permanent wrapping” of some sort would be the case on the cake.

So, last Wednesday, Susan had a private workshop via Zoom to make her custom envelope-case. Her book is 7½ x 5¼ x 1¼, so her case needed to be a bit larger—taller, wider, and thicker—than the version we’ll be making in the upcoming workshop. I computed the dimensions for Susan's case, and offered her two different colours of St. Armand. Either will look lovely with her book, especially with the cheery polka-dot buttons from Soutache for her string-and-button closure.

I was so delighted that Susan provided such a perfect opportunity to test the versatility of the envelope-case. And then I got to thinking that you could also make a case out of Japanese decorative paper (using my paper sandwich technique). Before it's folded, it would look, just for a second, like a kimono. Naturally, I had to construct one immediately to feast my eyes.

For the contents I chose a small stack of Cambridge Imprint postcards. I wanted this case to be smaller and thinner than my previous two cases to test a petite model. I used Hahnemuhle Bugra to back the paper sandwich, and trimmed a small off-cut with a pinking shears and attached it to hide the string tails that secure the button on the inside of the top flap. I did the same thing on the inside of the bottom flap, although the envelope-case is so slim, you’ll rarely encounter it when it's open.

The kit for Trio of Envelope Techniques was already extremely extensive, and now I'm upping my own ante.
Paper-wise, you will have extra Japanese decorative papers to fold more envelopes sans top flap, additional Saint-Armand to fold a second origami box & and a second envelope-case with string & button closure, after the workshop. And now I'm also delighted to include one piece of Hahnemuhle Bugra and one piece of adhesive for making your paper sandwich, so that you can make an envelope-case of decorative paper on your own after the workshop. For dessert, at the end of the lesson, I will demo how to easily execute a paper sandwich. Bon appétit!

This week I'm beginning to assemble the kits for Trio of Envelope Techniques. If you register by this Saturday, October 9, there is time for you to receive your paper-packed-parcel via priority mail before the following Saturday, October 16. Please feel free to call or e me if you have any questions, or if you'd prefer to register by phone.

Trio of Envelope Techniques

Encased, Bari

Announcing a double debut of workshops

Dear Everyone ~

I’m excited to announce my two new group workshops via Zoom: A Trio of Enveloping Techniques and Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder. A Trio of Enveloping Techniques will envelop enthusiasts on Saturday, October 16, and Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder will debut on Saturday, October 23. Yes, they are happening soon, with or without a harvest moon! And, yes, both workshops will be recorded and available to you that very afternoon, to watch and rewatch at your leisure.

The lovely & heartwarming emails and calls I’ve received after the debut of Introduction to Glueing Happiness continue to fill me with enthusiasm and even inspiration. So, I’ve decided to raise the bookbinding bar, and by extension the kit assembly bar. As I like to say, the more materials the merrier. When I received (and was able to fulfill) several post-workshop requests for additional kits... this got me to thinking about including extra materials in the “official workshop kit”. If you are torn (not a paper pun) between keeping what you make for yourself, and giving it to someone else who will be thrilled...you will have the wherewithal (not to mention the materials) to have your paper cake and eat it too!

The kit for Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder contains a combined total of 43 pieces of pre-cut binders board, Japanese papers & fabrics, plus six (a binders handful) standard pencils. In the workshop, you will make one pencil caddy (2¾ x 2¾ x 4½) and one memo holder (4¾ x 6½ x 1½); and cover six standard size pencils with Japanese papers. I will share with you my techniques for trimming and wrapping the pencils seemingly seamlessly. You will be able to make a second memo holder—measuring 4½ x 7¾ x 1½, tall and narrow, perfect for list-making— on your own after the workshop, using board and papers provided in your kit. You can stock both your memo holders with its own trimmed-to-size sheaflet (1 inch thick) of Cat Bennett’s favourite drawing paper.

In A Trio of Enveloping Techniques, you will learn to (1) hand-fold an envelope sans top flap (a flat bag), (2) fold a petite origami box from luscious 100% cotton Saint-Armand handmade paper and cover the teeniest butterfly-clips (½) with Japanese paper. I will share my tips for trimming the clip-covering papers perfectly! (3) For the finale, as your fingers are feeling nimble, you will make one incredibly deluxe envelope-case with string & button closure. The envelope-case can hold three dimensional objects such as a book, a stack of papers, or a set of postcards. In the workshop you will make it to hold a set of 8 Carta Pura notecards & envelopes.

The kit of materials for A Trio of Enveloping Techniques is extremely extensive, with enough papers for you to make five more envelopes sans top flap, a second origami box, and a second envelope-case with string & button closure. All of the materials—except for the buttons from Soutache, our buttonerie neighbor—are from my paper reserves collected over years and years. I will be mixing & matching for you! Certainly, if a particular paper or pattern catches your attention, please feel free to e me (or call me) and I will do my best to grant your wishes.

I hope you will join me for the love of paper folding, enveloping, glueing & creative camaraderie for one or both of these workshops. No previous bookbinding or paper folding experience is necessary; a bit of glueing experience is a plus. And may I offer this enticement: If you register for both workshops, you will receive a $50. discount on the pair.

A Trio of Enveloping Techniques
Desk Beautification: Pencil caddy & Memo holder

Nimbly, Bari

A Morning Glue-torial at the Roundtable

Dear Everyone ~

I wrote about David Reed several months ago, when he took my Introduction to Bookbinding workshop, a 21st birthday gift from his mother, Frances. (He was one of the three youngest participants in that workshop, the other two being Rachel, aged 14, and Martin, aged 12.) Midsummer, David was visiting family in Michigan and detoured to Chicago specifically to experience Bari Zaki Studio in person. He subsequently sent me an incredibly lovely thank-you ensemble that included a nesting pair of handfolded envelopes accompanied by his calling card encased in a petite glassine. Here are just a few of my favourite bits:

“ It was fantastic to see the magic behind the scenes when I visited you in Chicago this summer. Your studio is one of those places where you see so many things that you like in great quantities and have the desire to take the whole shop home with you. It is the opposite of Costco. ”

Last month, Frances signed up for Introduction to Glueing Happiness...with David, and David’s brother William, and William’s ladyfriend Zelda, and David & William’s Aunt Janice, and intrepid family friend Beth. In the living room, Frances set a table for six people, their workshop materials, their refreshments, two laptops, and one black cat. She has supplemented her wonderful report below with these photos!

Dear Bari,

WE had a BLAST. Our little group of six (four women, aged 22 to 70-something; and two young men, 21 and 23) was somewhat rowdier than I’d anticipated, but we managed to hear enough of what you were saying to keep us on track, and all were pleased with our handiwork.

It was a wonderful way for folks to spend time together, to create common experience, without having to conjure conversational fodder. I wish these photographs better captured the sparkle and spirit of the assembly, but I think you’ll get a feel for the space and its energies.

We did have refreshments, because we don’t gather here without food and drink: some had coffee, some had Champagne; there were tiny smoked-salmon quiches, various cookies, a salad of berries and melon, and a loaf of banana-date-nut bread. Some of us wore fascinators, because they happened to be on hand.

We put two laptop computers back-to-back on the stand in the center of the 60"-diameter table, which worked pretty well for the six of us. (We muted one of the laptops.) Everyone had a chair, of course, but some of us work better standing up, so there was that.

All, too, are excited by the prospect of our doing another workshop in the same format. We could have used a little more work space… I may set us up in the dining room next time, if I can figure out the lighting. (The Venetian chandelier with 12 candles is lovely for dining but not for positioning an Xacto blade.) We’ve also ordered a folding table that is 72" in diameter.

For now, please accept my thanks and my most cordial regards.

Yes, you can do this at home! – Frances

Since the zoomcast of Introduction to Glueing Happiness, I have received a large handful of emails and phone calls from other students conveying their sheer joy, sense of accomplishment, and desire to make more noteholders at home on their own, and to give as gifts. Every email & call I receive thrills me end-to-end.

Brimming beyond measure, Bari