A primer post

to get you ready for the one I hope to put up later today...


With luck and focus I'll be posting the second part of my book binding tutorial this morning.

Also on the agenda: laundry (of course) and perhaps a painting festival on the kitchen table.

An exact time

or as close to it is what I'm hoping to get today at our last maternity appointment.

Afterwards I'm hoping to spend some extra quality time with the Peanut. With time ticking down I'm doing my best to take time and be in the moment. This will be the last time I will be pregnant so all the bladder bumping ovary smashing I've been experiencing over the last two weeks will one day be looked upon with fondness (or perhaps not). This will also be the last time that I am the Mamma of a single child. My main goal over the next 8 days, other than to take it as easy as I can; is to make some special time for the Peanut during these last days she has us all to herself.

There is a part of me that is almost dreading the moment when the Peanut realizes that she's going to have to share us with the Bean. It's almost as big as the anticipation of being able to finally take a look at the bean in the flesh.

In case I haven't been blatant enough about it; the count down is on. Today marks 9 days until the Bean joins us on the outside. This weekend we made some special time for the Peanut, Her Daddy took her to the science center and out for lunch with a side trip to the toy store. Then she got to have a night in with her cousin; my niece while the husband and I went out for dinner.

On Sunday we rearranged our bedroom so that the co-sleeper the Bean will call bed would fit better. Other than that flurry of activity it was a lazy lazy day. Both the Peanut and I spent the day in our 'jamma's and read books (I'm in the midst of China Miéville's Iron Council) played computer games and drew pictures of panda bears.

Today I hope to finish up the second part of my book making tutorial for posting tomorrow. With a little more than a week to go before the Bean and Doctors appointments, family on the way and all the other stuff that comes along with bringing a new person into a family I'm hoping to keep up with the posts but I'm going to apologize now in case I just can't keep up. I'll be setting up notices over at PeanutButterPie and TMCphoto to let people know that I'll be away for the Bean as well over the course of the week with the hope that I'll be able to get things up and running again as soon as we're all settled.

How was your weekend?

There is a wall of water

cascading down into the street outside.

Any small piles of snow left over from Tuesday nights blanket will be gone by this afternoon or gone enough that they won't count as snow piles any longer. If it's possible the rain has just started in even harder and there are abut 50 tiny birds in the lilac tree outside my window and perching on the wires beneath the eves of the house next door that I can't seem to stop watching them for longer than it
takes to type one or two words.

I'm antsy but I'm wanting to hibernate; it's the rain. My moods are swinging back and forth a little violently and I'm working on keeping my patience for the Peanut. I have some photographs to take for a post next week today or tomorrow. I have last minute shopping to do to get ready for the Beans arrival in 12 days. I need nursing friendly jammas, another nursing bra and probably a few other items that I can't even remember right now.

I started packing for the hospital this morning, the only things for me in the suitcase are a not quite full enough of the stuff I'll probably need toiletry bag, socks and underwear. The rest is sleepers for the Bean, and blankets receiving and the fuzzy pink and white I was given last weekend, a hat and the Bean's "Hello Big Sister" gift for the Peanut. Everything else will have to wait because my housecoat and slippers are in daily rotation right now and as I mentioned above there are some new things I need to pick up before we let loose with the Bean.

Did I mention that we're on day twelve of the Bean Count Down?
I did? Oops, must be pregnancy brain

A Thousand Words

yesterday morning; this is all gone now

How To: getting paper ready to make signatures for a handbound book

I may have mentioned that I'm getting ready to make a bedtime book for the Peanut last week. I've decided that while I'm doing that, I may as well create a tutorial (or more) during the process; mainly because It's been a while since I last made a hand bound book and talking through it is a fantastic way to learn yourself; or in my case refresh my knowledge.

With the Bean's debut just around the corner I'm not up to major projects at the moment so I may get a few tutorials done before she comes along and I may just get this one done and follow up once we're all sorted as a family of four instead of a family of three. We'll see how things go and I'll just ask for your patience now and get it out of the way.

The first step in making a hand bound book (outside of getting text together and breaking it up into page sized bits) is getting your signatures (or in my case; a signature) ready. A signature is a group of folded pages that make up a booklet which is then sewn together and attached to the hard cover of your book.

Today I'll show you how to find the grain in your sheet of paper so that you can cut your paper to make a signature for a hand bound book.

What you will need:
Paper
Ruler
Pencil
X-acto Knife
Soft Bristle Brush
Water

Paper Grain
When working with artist grade paper especially when you are going to be using artist grade paper for book making you should be aware of which way the paper grain is before you measure and cut your paper for signatures and for accordion folds. Paper grain refers to the direction that most of the fibers that make up the paper lie. During paper making the fibers that make up the paper tend to align themselves in one direction. Most artist grade papers are made using cotton fibers.

The best way to figure out which way the papers grain runs is to bend your sheet of paper. One side will roll easier than the other; the smaller the sheet of paper you are working with the more dramatic the difference will be. The side that bends the easiest is where the grain runs. You will be folding your signature parallel to the grain.

Measuring and Cutting
Now that you know which edge is parallel to your paper grain measure your paper for cutting. For my book I am making a 5.5"x7" book. I will be cutting sheets for my signature that are 11" x 7" with a fold made 5.5" in on the 11" length that runs running parallel to the grain of my paper.

I will be using two methods of cutting my paper for this book. the tops and bottoms of my pages will be cut using a blade for a straight edge and for the outside edges of my signatures I'll be making a deckle edge using water and a brush.

Straight Cut:
Using your ruler and a sharp pencil measure out where your cuts are going to be made. I measured down the length of my paper in 7" increments in three separate places along the page. This way I can line up my ruler along each mark and double check that my measurements are exact before I cut.

Laying your straight edged ruler along your measure line you can then take your x-acto blade and run it along the straight edge. It is best to use light even cuts and go over the cut more than once than to put a lot of pressure on a single cut. Keep your hand on the ruler to hold it down along where you are making your cut. This means that you will be moving your ruler hand along with your cutting hand as you make your cut. This gives your ruler edge support during the cut and also ensures that you are paying attention to what your blade is doing.














Deckle Edge:
Now that I've cut the straight edges on my sheets I have a tidy stack of four 7" x 22.5" sheets.

I want to make these into smaller 7" x 11" sheets with a deckle edge along the 7" edge of the sheet. I'm using Opus European Watercolour paper which has deckle edges already so I will be creating a deckle edge to match when I make the sheet smaller.

To illustrate paper grain a little more I've included two more images with these smaller sized sheets, you'll notice that the paper bends much more easily along the longer edge of the sheet. The paper grain then runs parallel to the 7" length of my sheet. This is the length that I will eventually score along for folding

To do this you need to measure where your tear is going to be made just as if you were going to cut the edge as before. Lay your ruler along the marks for your edge and run a wet paintbrush along the edge. I use a soft bristle brush so that I don't scuff my paper surface. Let the water soak into the paper. The paper I am using is 200lb paper which means that it is quite a heavy paper and needs a few moments for the water to soak in before I can start to tear. As with cutting with a blade keep your hand on the ruler along where you are tearing. Lift the edge of the paper where you want your tear to start and pull. Move your hand farther down the straight edge and tear further along your edge until you have reached the edge of your sheet.

Next time: scoring and folding to make your signature

count down

We're headed into the final weeks, before we know it the Bean will be out and about and known by an actual name and I can't wait to meet her.

Today we're headed out to the hospital for our weekly appointment and then we'll be having lunch with the husband.

I'm hoping to get started on a multi-part tutorial at some point before the Bean comes along. I am however making no promises.