Handmade Books And Cards [Hardcover]

Jean Kropper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1997

What store-bought card can compare to one you've made yourself? Or create your own book. From the paper you use, to the binding holding it all together, everything will be your own handiwork. Select from a variety of book and card types, and continue to make the creative choices as you develop your medium. Full-color illustrations take you through each step. 160 pages (all in color), 8 1/2 x 11.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jean Kropper's Handmade Books and Cards is one of the best resources available to the would-be book and card artist, offering a truly creative point of view in a well-illustrated volume that includes overviews of typography, printing, binding, book formatting, and decoration. The section on techniques, tools, and materials is nicely detailed, giving valuable tips on sizing handmade paper to eliminate its tendency to bleed, mixing your own glue and paste, and anchoring the bookbinding thread to the needle; Kropper's ideas for using a concertina fold are particularly inventive and well executed. Book and paper artists will turn to this book often for happy inspiration as well as detailed guidance.

From Library Journal

Books with creative formats and artistic bindings have always been a specialty of small presses, but now the computer printer enables anyone to make distinctive-looking books. These three volumes are full of ideas and techniques for compiling and binding handmade books in many formats, including "memory books" and personalized scrapbooks. Blake (Making and Decorating Your Own Paper, Sterling, 1995) deals mainly with the mechanics of making covers and bindings. Graphic designer Kropper goes beyond this into hand-decorated pages, unusual formats, and traditional methods such as fore-edge painting. The Vanessa-Ann book is for makers of memory books and includes projects combining photographs and keepsakes with cutout mountings and simple bindings. All three books are good additions to public library collections, complementing one another rather than overlapping.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (December 31, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871923343
• ISBN-13: 978-0871923349
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unique projects, step-by-step instructions, for everyone, August 31, 1999

By 

Angel Lee "Liocorno Amethyst Moonstone" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Handmade Books And Cards (Hardcover)

This book starts out with a brief history and then goes on discusses materials, tools, typography, & printing methods. Instructions for making patterned papers & adding extra decorative touches are also included.

Beginners will love the easier projects with clear step-by-step instructions accompanied by detailed illustrations, while advanced bookbinders will find plenty of unique and challenging book designs & techniques.

You learn to make 6 different cards, hardcover albums, scrolls, fans, blinds, French doors & much more. Many bindings are also covered including the pamphlet, Japanese stab, crossed ribbon, concertina, & coptic.

The many color & b/w examples are beautiful & imaginative. They really helped inspire me. A resource list of suppliers, groups & workshops is a nice bonus. If you can only buy one bookbinding book, this is the one to get.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Artistic, Not Functional, February 11, 2001

By 

P. Bigelow (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handmade Books And Cards (Hardcover)

Kropper offers an interesting take on books and cards. Her Freida paperdoll is beautiful and interesting, and would make a beautiful gift. Kropper offers lots of techniques including sewn bindings, scrolls and concertinas with a good preface on the history of the book. However, I found that most of the books used for illustration were not functional but simply artistic. Some of the photoraphs show large books permanently open with curling pages, bark covers, etc. I prefer books I can actually write it after completion.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a beautifully organized and illustrated book., December 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Handmade Books And Cards (Hardcover)

The logical layout and organization of the "how-to" information make this a well rounded book. The excellent photographs of many one-of-a-kind books make this a stunning resource.