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We’re so incredibly excited to be on Oprah’s “The O List” appearing in the latest April, 2011 issue of O Magazine! We’re honored to be chosen for an O List pick, Jan in the sales office even ’stopped the presses’ to let the Rag & Bone crew know the good news. Thanks Oprah Magazine!

Save $4.00 on any Accordion Book order online, simply enter OPRAH at checkout to save!
Click here to start shopping

Faye & I met Jessica Straus at the last Brickbottom Open Studio event (Boston). Faye was immediately taken by her art filled studio and meticulously carved wooded artworks, especially her kitchen widgets series.

Jessica Straus is a sculptor from the Boston area. Working primarily in wood and mixed media, Straus explores the poetry of unexpected juxtapositions between recognizable and invented forms. Her studio is in the Brickbottom Artists Building in Somerville, MA. Her artwork is represented by the Boston Sculptors Gallery in the SOWA district of Boston. She has shown her work at numerous galleries and museums including the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Fuller Craft Museum, the Danforth Art Museum, the Duxbury Art Complex Museum, the DeCordova Museum, and the Berkshire Art Museum. A recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant and a Berkshire Taconic Foundation grant, Straus was also a nominee for the recently established Brother Thomas awards.

Visit Jessica Straus

I’m inspired by Swedish artist Cecilia Levy’s beautiful, bookish work. Old papers and book pages, give the bowls and vessels a feeling of history. Are they old pages from books? Tea stained paper? There are little bits of text which appear to give the viewer a hint. Vessels which hold history.

Old, new, stained, crumpled, torn… Paper - especially old book pages - I love the feel, the smell, the texture. I like to re-use materials in a different context, fond of recycling, using what I have at hand. I create art objects using paper pulp or papier maché technique. I’m also a graphic designer and bookbinder, living and working in Sigtuna, Sweden. Contact me for workshops, commission work or just leave a small comment - much appreciated!

Cecilia Levy (blog)
Cecilia Levy (portfolio)
Cecilia Levy (flickr)

Lori Nix is both a photographer and miniature model maker. Take a close look at these images, they’re table top creations, meticulously created for the photograph.

Is the art the photograph or the diorama? Same with Laurie Simmons (Tiny Furniture), James Casebere and Andy Goldsworthy. Mr. Goldsworthy’s art is creating ephemeral and temporary natural creations, however the ‘business’ is photography, and by extension, books. I feel the art isn’t the documentation, but the creation. Documentation is secondary. Ms. Nix creation of realistic miniatures falls into this middle ground as well. Without the photographs, there wouldn’t be documentation. That’s an interesting question, don’t you think? Does the work gain from the documentation? The photographer does. Just a thought. Ms. Nix says:

I am often asked questions about the inspiration for my work as well as my working process. As a ‘non-traditional’ photographer (I construct my subject matter rather than go find it) people find it hard to grasp what exactly it is that I do. And the fact that it is all done in front of the camera, with no digital manipulation, adds its own set of challenges. Building materials, lighting, issues of scale and space all become significant when you are recreating the world on a table top.

Visit Lori Nix

Button Book, by Stephanie Davidson (RISD). Only one inch in diameter. Adorable.

Visit Stephanie Davidson
Via Art Room Plant

We met with our Fabric rep on Thursday. It’s one of the few appointments I actually look forward to. We brew a pot of tea, head upstairs and spread out the fabric samples. There’s always a lot to look at and take in. Some of the samples are printed on paper, we have to imagine what they’re going to look like on fabric. Rag & Bone has a new project in the works and we’re searching for fabrics as cover options for our books.

Chronicle is releasing “Dan Eldon: Safari as a Way of Life”, due out April, 2011. If you’re not familiar with “The Journey is the Destination”, a collection of Dan’s illustrated journals, Chronicle is also releasing a paperback version of this classic book. “Journey..” was the first art book to introduce me to journaling and it still holds a special place on my bookshelf. Dan Eldon, a photojournalist and journaler, was killed in Mogadishu in 1993. His journals leave behind a portrait of an adventurous and creative young man. From Chronicle books:

DAN ELDON: SAFARI AS A WAY OF LIFE
Photojournalist Dan Eldon left behind much more than the astonishing illustrated journals that would form The Journey is the Destination when he lost his life at age twenty-two while on assignment in Somalia. He also bequeathed a life story that has inspired students, teachers, artists, and creative activists—as well as a forthcoming film, an apparel line, and the Spring 2011 collection from Tom’s Shoes. Raised in Kenya, Dan grew up with a unique outlook on life. Through adventurous safaris and benevolent crusades around the world, he crafted a philosophy of curiosity, creativity, and charity. This unique visual biography showcases previously unpublished artwork from Dan’s acclaimed journals, letters, and snapshots that takes readers on a journey through Dan’s life and beyond, exploring the impact made by this remarkable artist on everyone who has encountered his story.

visit chronicle books
visit the Dan Eldon organization

Do you love book arts? Live in California? Why not take a book arts class with the talented & lovely Lisa Kokin? She’ll provide a hefty Dictionary and the inspiration to make your very own bookish art. It’s a one day class, Sunday, March 20th at Lisa’s beautiful studio in El Sobrante, California. Visit www.lisakokin.com/classes for details.

dic•tion•ar•y
An altered book workshop with Lisa Kokin
Sunday, March 20th
El Sobrante, California
www.lisakokin.com/classes

Look at the tiny paper crane Alison made? Alison is a bookbinder here at Rag & Bone. I watched her make this during lunch and had to grab a camera. The paper she used was so small I couldn’t see anything in her hands. It was like magic.

Rag & Bone is back from attending the winter New York International Gift Fair, also known as #NYGF if you’re on Twitter. We guess this might be our 50th trade show. Yeah, I know, crazy huh?

We introduced the new Recipe Journal at the show, as well as five new cover options and a new photo frame album. Look for them at the Rag & Bone site soon! We spent our evenings with our friends Carolyn Gavin & Mark Gavin from Ecojot. It’s nice to talk to friends who are in the same business as we are, we don’t often get to talk ’shop’ with colleagues over dinner. You’d think there wouldn’t be any surprises after 50 odd trade shows, but you’d be wrong. This will forever be known as the year of the trade show booth fire. It was only a few aisles down from the Rag & Bone booth, and no one was hurt, thank goodness. I can’t imagine having to clean up a trade show booth after a fire just hours before opening day, but our crafty neighbors were able to do just that. Crazy.

Anyway, the shows are hard work, but it’s always great to see our friends at Snow & Graham, Ecojot, Papapa, Marc Tetro, Orange Art, Beehive, Graphic Image. Here are a few photos from the Gift Show.

The first Twelve Ways to Say I Love You Book was one I designed as a one-of-a-kind artist book and Valentine’s Day present for Ilira. The salesperson in her convinced me to turn it into a product for our growing family business. Fifteen years later, I’m so glad we did. We continue to hear stories from our customers and fans who’ve used this book to let their feelings be known.

Twelve Ways To Say I Love You is a sweet, lighthearted book with 12 pages of prompts, questions and fill-in the blank paragraphs to help draw out your feelings for that special person in your life.

INCLUDES

My favorite way to spend the day with you is…
I’ve always admired the way you…
When you’re away this is what I miss most about you…
Top five songs that make me think of you
A glassine envelope for a love letter or photograph
And more…

The book begins with a dedication page and place for a photo and also features a glassine envelope for a love letter, keepsake or memento. Your Valentine will always remember this one-of-a-kind gift. The special person in your life will always remember this one-of-a-kind gift.

Twelve Ways To Say I Love You
Available at Rag & Bone Bindery
www.ragandbone.com

If you love paper and cardboard art, you’re going to love this book from Black Dog Publishing. Outside The Box features eye candy for paper lovers featuring over 200 pages of cardboard used in furniture design, packaging, art and architecture. Cardboard is a flexible medium, it can be folded, scored, laser cut, and built into just about any shape, avoiding soft corners and organic shapes - though creative designers have even overcome this liability. Given its ubiquity and low cost, cardboard is a flexible medium for both students and professional designers alike.

The book is organized into four sections: Packaging Design, Product Design, Furniture and Art & Architecture. The architecture section is particularly inspiring. An office made entirely from cardboard? Got it. A storefront? Yes. Museum exhibition spaces? Yes, and more. I can’t think of anything missing from “Outside The Box”. If you’re a fan of paper and cardboard, it’s a must for your library.

Outside The Box
Michael Czerwinski, Santiago Perez
Available at Amazon
About $20.00

Flip Books! These were pretty fun to make. I used an industrial stapler (thanks Barrington Printing!) but other than careful alignment of the pages they were a snap to put together. A christmas gift for Faye.

It’s great working at Rag & Bone but sometimes I wish I was making books in the studio. I work in the office, which means hands on the computer, not bone folders and glue brushes. I miss the bindery sometimes. So I made handmade books & albums as gifts this year. This is the Family Photo Album I put together. It has forty pages. I printed 123 photos at CVS and used about 2/3 of them. The photo developer prints 4×6 photos, so in order to get smaller photos, I used photoshop to layout multiple photos into a 4×6 document and simply cut up the printed photo from the developer. This worked well for mixing up the layout of the album while still only paying .19¢ each for the prints. The Album took about two hours to put together. Once the photos are on the pages, they look important, something about a photo in an album which gives it a larger memory than simply a file on a computer or iphone. Ilira says I have to make a family album every year now. Sounds good to me!

Visit us at our Open Studio event on Saturday, December 11th and take a bookbinding workshop with the Rag & Bone folks. We will demonstrate how to turn old books into blank page journals. Workshops are at 11 & 1, materials fee is $15.00 which includes everything you’ll need to take home a one-of-a-kind journal. We will have plenty of old books to choose from. Contact Jan to sign up, spaces go fast!

Register for the workshop
jan@ragandbone.com

Pick up a copy of Playing With Books while you’re here and I’ll autograph it for you.

Click here for additional Open Studio Details

RAG & BONE HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIO SALE
1088 Main Street Pawtucket, RI 02860
Saturday, December 11, 10:00 AM - 4:00PM

OPEN STUDIO
Stop by and see what goes into creating our beautiful, handcrafted albums, journals and keepsake books. Look for open studio deals on all items with as much as 25% off regular prices, and 50%-75% off one-of-a-kind items, samples and seconds.

BOOKBINDING WORKSHOP
Register to participate in a workshop that will go through the step-by-step process of re-purposing an old hardcover book into a journal. Two workshops will be held at 11 a.m. And 1 p.m. The $15 fee includes all materials. Registration in advance is suggested. Call 401 728 0762 or email jan@ragandbone.com to book your spot.

Win a free 2011 Day Planner from Rag & Bone!

We launched our new website this week {more about the site when we make the big announcement} and we have a request our blog readers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and friends: Take a look at the site. Poke around. Look at the new photos, at the new “about us” pages. Read the new content. Then tell us what you think: Kudos, questions or concerns. We want to know what our longtime fans think of the new site.

Enter To Win
Leave a comment about our new website to this post and you’ll automatically be entered to win a 2011 Rag & Bone Day Planner. Simple as pie! [please leave an email address so we can contact you if you win. Contest ends Wednesday, November 24th. Pick any cover option for winning Day Planner]

Thank you in advance!

The ABECEDARY I wrote for Uppercase Magazine is in the current issue #7. Bookbinding and bookmaking terms from A-Z. My favorite is K:

KISSING THE BOOKBINDER’S DAUGHTER
A trick played on a young bookbinder just finishing his apprenticeship, in which, as part of the ceremony, he must kiss the daughter of the owner of the bookbinding establishment. The prettiest girl in the shop is actually chosen for the part, and as the new journeyman steps forward to perform his part of the ceremony, which he is required to do with his eyes closed, a well-filled paste brush is substituted for the girl and the young binder gets a mouthful of paste.

If you love books, bookbinding and book arts, you’ll love this issue which is very bookish - books, libraries, book reviews, etc. Many thanks to editor Janine Vangool.

Uppercase Magazine

French artist Benjamin Lacombe illustrates books, book covers, magazines, stationery, posters, CD art and shows his work in galleries in France. You can find many examples of Benjamin’s work on his blog, including samples from his upcoming release “Il était une fois” [Once Upon A Time]. The pop-up book looks amazing, there’s even a beautiful animated trailer. Check out his blog & website for more examples.

Visit Benjamin Lacombe Online
Via A Criacao