Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

Thank You Minus


These vintage maps came from Sarah in the mail today with a note describing her adventures rifling through a box of vintage maps in a new antique store down the street from her NYC apt. Wow. That was a really long sentence. I'll use the maps in one of my bookmaking classes to make a book for her.

Thank you Sarah for the cool materials!

New Calligraphy Class at Binders



You can now sign up for my new Calligraphy class at Binders here.

Calligraphy Class (CLASS 2 8/20-9/24)
Instructor: Anne Elser
Wednesdays, 6 sessions, Aug.20-Sept.24
6-8:30pm
Fee: $140

Are you fascinated with how beautiful calligraphy looks and want to try it yourself? This is an introductory look at two major calligraphic faces, Copperplate and Blackletter. They're both very different from each other, which should give the student a nice balance of styles within which to experiment. Calligraphy is less about pretty handwriting, but more about DRAWING each and every letter. It's about establishing a pacing and rhythmic motion as you write - giving you a consistency of shapes and letters, and spaces in between words and lines. It is highly relaxing and meditative. Like yoga for the hands.
Towards the end of the class, we'll be experimenting with a more colorful and modern approach to calligraphy,
using the folded pen nib and colored inks.
Students will be given handouts and guide sheets for both Copperplate and Blackletter. We will also address spacing and layout for addressing envelopes. For the modern calligraphic work, we will be working more intuitively.

Supply List
Binders
1. Pad of market layout paper: 9'' x 12'' (Canson® Pro Layout. 50 sheets per pad.)
2. Mechanical pencil.
3. Eraser.
4. Cork-backed metal ruler (any size you're comfortable with)
5. Dinky Dips® & holder. (or any other inkwell)
6. Oblique Pen Point Holder (for Copperplate.)
7. Fine Pen Point Nibs (for Copperplate.)
9. Speedball® C Pen Set (penholder and six nibs.)
10. KY Series Sumi Ink from Yasutomo®. (6 oz. black rectangular bottle.)
For Modern Calligraphy
11. Palette paint tray 6 or 9 well.
12. Bombay India Ink® 1 oz bottles. Any color(s).
13. New Horizon Folded Nib®.
Grocery Store:
14. Container of Wet Wipes (to clean your nibs and hands).
Suggested web sites:
15. www.johnnealbooks.com
16. www.paperinkarts.com
77. www.friendsofthealphabet.org (Atlanta Calligraphy Guild)

Friday, July 18, 2008

New Bookmaking Workshops at Binders



HI friends,

There are two Binders bookmaking workshops coming up this Fall that I'll be teaching:

The first is in September and you can sign up for it here:

Bookmaking Wkshp Sept (CLASS 9/19-9/21)
Instructor: Anne Elser
Fri. Sept 19 - Sun. Sept. 21
Fri. and Sat. 11am-5pm, Sun. 12pm-5pm
Fee: $140
We will make a flat back library case bound book and a clamshell box for it to fit into.

The second is in October and you can sign up for it here:

Bookmaking Wkshp Oct (CLASS 10/17-10/19)
Instructor: Anne Elser
Fri. Oct. 17 - Sun. Oct. 19
Fri. and Sat. 11am-5pm, Sun. 12pm-5pm
Fee: $140
We will make a coptic stitched book and a telescoping box for it to fit into.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Yet Another Book




Hallo friends,

Wanna know why I haven't been posting?

1. I'm on a book marathon.
2. I got an iPhone 3G.

I spent the greater part of my Friday morning standing in line with Anton and Doug at the ATT store. It was actually quite fun: Anton worked the crowd and the time went by rather fast. The phone is a dream - though iTunes was too overloaded that morning to get everyone up and running at once. Last night I stayed up until 2am syncing to the great cloud (big brother) in the sky. The best feature (at least to me) is the calendar syncing. I have said goodbye to my Kate Spade day planner and hello to iCal. Handwritten notes are now jotted down in the little books I fiendishly make.

All is well. Hand and mouse are one. (sigh)

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Cheeky Monkey Sweater


Here's a sweater I'm 75% finished with. Emma Varnam's Cheeky Monkey Jumper. It's a british pattern and I can't help thinking of Mike Meyers as Simon on SNL as I work. What you see here is the back. The front's got a cute little monkey face with button eyes. This will be Anton's 2008-9 sweater. I hope it fits him! Here's one completed by another knitter. Beautifully done.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

New Binders Calligraphy class



Its official! You'll be able to sign up for a new calligraphy class I'm teaching at Binders on Wednesday nights from 6:00 - 8:30 PM. It's a 6-week class from August 20th to Sept 24th. I'll provide a link to a sign up page as soon as it's available. Happy lettering!

~Anne