At Home with Handmade Books: 28 Extraordinary Bookbinding Projects Made from Ordinary and Repurposed Materials (Make Good: Crafts + Life) [Paperback]

Erin Zamrzla (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 12, 2011 | Series: Make Good: Crafts + Life

The handmade books presented here offer creative ways for you to explore your personal styles and interests: Create a record of this year's garden with a book made out of seed packets. Collect your favorite recipes under the protective cover of a plastic cutting mat. Make simple memo pads out of recycle bin scraps. In this collection of twenty-eight Japanese bookbinding projects, traditional techniques meet contemporary style, from easy-to-fold accordion books to the intricate and interesting Japanese stab-stitch bindings.

Book artist Erin Zamrzla makes Japanese stab binding easy and unintimidating. Her clear step-by-step instructions make even the more complicated stitches easy to re-create. Information on the basics of bookbinding, including terminology, tools, and techniques are included and many projects encourage the creative use of ordinary and recycled materials.

Make the projects in this book and discover creative ways to chronicle your life's adventures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an elegant, beautiful book that made me want to drop everything and dive into creating one of the 28 lovely projects. The author's clear, step-by-step instructions make even the most complicated stitches easy to re-create."—Decorating Digest Craft & Home Projects

About the Author

Erin Zamrzla earned BFA and MFA degrees in graphic design from Fort Hays State University. Her creations have been featured in Ready Made magazine, and on Design*Sponge, www.coudal.com, www.boingboing.net, www.craftzine.com, www.makezine.com, and www.NOTCOT.org. She is currently designing, painting, and binding books from her home in Santa Monica, California. See more of her work at www.erinzam.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Roost Books (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590308220
• ISBN-13: 978-1590308226
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Papercrafts, Stamping & Stenciling > Book Making & Binding
  • #33 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Commercial > Book Design

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and Unusual April 17, 2011

By Astrid

Format:Paperback

This is a beautiful book, full of clear instructions, gorgeous photos, and an enormous variety of clever projects.

As a complete beginner to handmaking books, I appreciated the author giving not only a complete photographic list of all the tools needed, but also her hints as to which tools you REALLY need to get started and which are optional extras. The book offers such a range of projects, but all of them --even the simple ones for us beginners -- are unusual and interesting, which I appreciated. The author never seemed to take the easy way out of throwing in a handful of too-simple ideas, as many craft books do, but seemed to have put a lot of effort into making each handmade book something special.

Another nice touch was the way several projects are grouped together. For example, the travel books. The author gives instructions for making a travel journal, to keep your notes and sketches in, a travel album for your photos, and a third book to keep all the memorabilia, like tickets and coins. TThe author never duplicates her ideas by having many similar-functioning books, but the idea of making a set that complement each other really appeals to me.

Other favourite projects from the book include a bookmark that doubles as a notebook, a children's book with peek-a-boo flaps, a journal with tea-bag pages, and, for when I feel a bit more confident, several books bound in the Japanese style.

So, though I can't say how challenging a more experienced bookbinder might find these projects, the creative materials used and beautiful results are sure to inspire anyone with an interest in making books for themselves or as gifts.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Recipes For a More Beautiful World June 1, 2011

By Brian Simpson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If Wes Anderson published a manual on handmade books, this is what it would look like. Amazing design, wonderful photography, and incredibly simplistic instructions fill every page, and you easily get the feeling that Erin Zamrzla has a love of the craft of bookmaking. It's evident in every square inch.

If you're looking for an instructional handbook to be used in the classroom, or if you're simply intrigued and looking to begin a love affair with book binding, then look no further.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great projects that are very clearly explained and illustrated September 3, 2011

By Shala Kerrigan TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I love making books. Mostly blank books that I use for keeping notes, but sometimes little volumes for friends.
Having lots of books on bookbinding, they are separated by type, old-fashioned bookbinding that uses signatures bound together to create handmade hard cover volumes, and art and craft books that use a variety of binding methods like stab binding and accordion books.
Erin Zamrzla's At Home with Handmade Books : 28 Extraordinary Bookbinding Projects Made from Ordinary and Repurposed Materials is an arts and crafts volume, and fits all my personal criteria for a good one. If you're a scrapbooker looking for ways to make your own small books for personal use or gifts, this will have ideas in it. If you're a crafter or artist who is just developing an interest in bookbinding, this has fantastic instructions. If you're someone who loves recycled craft ideas for gifts or personal use, this is full of them.

My favorite project in the book is the booklet bookmark. To be honest, that's one that I wish very much that I'd thought of. More than just a corner note, it's a great way to keep notes while reading. I also love the 2 or 3 view picture, it is a folded book that stands on the folds. Depending on where you are in relation to the design, you see a different image. Sort of like a paper version of the ribbed plastic moving pictures. I know a friend who will love one for her birthday. The idea file made of small books is just perfect for my note taking habits. It also seems like a great way to journal things with your family. A few thoughts in each small book, marked with the day and who wrote them saved in a file would be a good way to remember for later if you enjoy making scrapbooks.

A lot of the projects can be made fairly quickly to use in place of cards to show a sentiment, or as gifts themselves.

The first part of the book is images of the projects, very nicely photographed. Each project has the page number you can find the instructions on. The instructions are very clear and well illustrated.