Welcome to the Summer issue of byhand!

You'll not only notice some
new byhand products,
you'll also notice changes to the pages. For faster loading there are now 5 pages divided into the following sections:

Paper Joys
Metalworks
Waxed Linen Thread
Rubber
Calligraphy

I am over the moon to be able to offer Mitchell Roundhand Nibs. Presently there are two sizes, but I hope to have more soon.

The mini washers and long neck eyelets are back in stock!

I hope you enjoy the new selection of "toys" brought in with creativity in mind! I'm working on getting in some other wonderful products. Keep checking back to the byhand products pages!

Recently I had the pleasure of teaching bookbinding to members of the
North Shore Needle Arts Guild
in Vancouver. It was a real treat to see the needle artwork they brought to place inside the recessed panel on the front of their books. To see some of the completed book, go to the Class Photos.

Don't forget if you're proud of artwork that you have stamped with a Quietfire Rubber Stamp, please send me a copy and I'll be delighted to put in the Stamping Gallery.

Important links at your fingertips!

Back Issues of byhand

byhand Products shopping cart

Quietfire Rubber Stamps

Acrylic Blocks for Rubber Stamps

Stamping Gallery

Subscriber's Gallery Page

Class Photos page

Links Page

Quietfire Design

How to subscribe to the byhand newsletter and other stuff!

If you wish to contact me, my email address is: suzanne@quietfiredesign.com

To subscribe: send me an email saying 'subscribe'!
To unsubscribe: send me an email saying 'unsubscribe'. I'll live....
To change your email address: send me an email with both your new and old address. Thanks!

Come join us in our Yahoo discussion group, where we talk about artistic inspirations, make inquiries about techniques, and share quotes and resources.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/byhandartists/ 

Books to Inspire

The Decorated Page
by Gwen Diehn

The Decorated Page is a potpourri of methods for filling your journal pages. The author discusses the types of paper found in journal and they many types of journals available, as well as art supplies and how to use them. There is a whole section on background techniques as well as lots of ideas for layouts. Interspersed throughout the book are spreads about historical decorated book and a section on altered books. Check it out!

Summer Challenge!

Many of you are familiar with the fabulously inspiring book True Colors (reviewed in the last issue of byhand). I thought we could have a True Colors mail in featuring - you guessed it - those small un-intimidating canvases - the shipping tag!

Here's what we'll do: Choose your colour from the list below, create a tag using that colour scheme and mail in it. The tag may be any size. (You don't need to have any knowledge of the book, it was just an springboard for this idea) There will be a random draw from *each* of the colour categories - so your chances of winning are excellent! If you've never tried this before - give it a shot.
(Your tag will not be returned so if you want one for yourself, make sure you make two.)

Your submission must be received on or before August 25, 2003. Send to
Suzanne Cannon, Quietfire Design, Box 1231, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 7M1 Canada
Don't forget to include your name, email address and snail mail address!

Here are the list of colours! Have fun!

Suzanne's Schedule 2003

Some of these dates are tentative - *Please do not try to register for fall classes until they are announced by the host!     tba = to be announced

A closer look...

Mitchell Roundhand Nibs

Mitchell Roundhand nibs are one of a variety of nibs made by the Mitchell company in England. These particular nibs are cut square at the tip, unlike many other nibs from other manufacturers, making it equally useful to right and left handers. (Mitchell also makes a left-handed roundhand nib, which some lefties prefer.)

The reservoir for this nib is easily removable and adjustable which makes the nib easy to clean and fine tune for use with the writing medium. This reservoir is purchased separately and really isn't necessary for use with the smaller nib sizes.

The reservoir slides onto the underside of the nib. The little wings on the side of the reservoir which hold it to the nib are easily bent for better adjustment. It is extremely important that the reservoir is not too tight or it will "choke" the nib and allow the tines to spread, allowing the ink to flood out. On the other hand, you don't want the reservoir too loose or it will slide down into your work and the most inopportune time!

If you can see light between the tines at any time, your nib is probably not going to work! Sometimes beginners will neglect to clean their nibs frequently and there will be a build up of ink between the tines. This will force the tines apart and the ink will flood. I've had pearlescent inks build up very quickly and ruin a nib. (That nib is now part of a book cover!)

Another thing that can cause flooding is neglecting to remove the coating from the new nib. Nibs come with a factory coating and must be removed before you write. In classroom situations I just have students pop the nib into their mouths and their saliva will remove the coating - a good way to bond with your nib.... Other methods for removing the coating are to dip the nib briefly in boiling water or move the nib in and out of a flame several time. (Wipe off any soot.)

Push the nib into the holder before you put the reservoir on. This prevents bending the reservoir. The nib must be securely held in the holder, you really don't want it to wobble while you letter...

Slide the reservoir into place on the underside of the nib until the tip of the "tongue" is about 2-3 mm from the tip of the nib. Again, if it is too tight, you can see the tines have spread.

The last thing to check is that the tongue is touching the underside of the nib. If not, it will not hold the ink in place! But again, make sure the tongue is not pressing too much on the tines or they will separate.

Next? Fill and write!

The Players in this swap were:

Mieke Mulder
The Netherlands

For the copper bead I used a stylus tool to carve the copper then I wrapped the copper around a skewer and the bead is ready. For the leather cover I used a piece of scrap leather cut to size and punched holes into the middle. The holes of the added paper should be at the same distance. Now you can start sewing the paper into the leather. I always stamp the leather with brilliance and I think I stamped this one also with brilliance, I don't have my extra book anymore, I wanted to make a friend happy, LOL, so I think I used copper color. And the stamps I used are from Stampinavia a Norwegian vendor.

Shirl Van Eaton
Olds, AB

Mine are made from an industrial strength kraft paper I crushed before soaking with Procion Fabric Dyes. The cover features a copper corner punched from garden Slug Tape and a penny trapped under a piece of recycled car radiator copper. I burnished the penny through the copper to bring out the maple leaf.

Lynese Nowak
Glendale, WI

I dry embossed the leaf and border on the copper and added some "dents" to the background with the end of a paint brush handle. Then I spread liver of sulfur (directly from the bottle) on the copper using a cotton ball. It turns black immediately. I let it dry and then used steel wool to polish it. Some of the indented areas retain the shiny look but most of the surface becomes "aged". The inside is just rubber stamped and watercolored.

A Passion for Copper - Part VIII

Parts I through VII are available in previous issues of byhand

Recently, here in Port Alberni, I've gotten to know fibre artist Heather Trepanier. She was showing me some of her sample experiments and I jumped up and down with excitement at seeing these. It is machine embroidery on copper! Too cool!

Copper embroidery is a wonderful effect on textiles and simple to do. I set my sewing machine for free motion embroidery ( lower feed dogs) and use a size 80 or 100 embroidery needle and machine embroidery thread. I stitch slowly until the copper is attached, then nibble away until I reach the desired look that I want. I use a wide assortment of materials in my work such as cellophane,natural and man made fibres. Have fun..and remember there is no mistakes in art just creative solutions!!

heather trepanier, port alberni bc

this sample incorporates cellophane and copper

If you have more questions, Heather would be happy to help you. She may be contacted at:
fabricationarts@shaw.ca

Stolen Moments

byhand Altered Book Project

Here is a continuation of the Altered Book Project. If you want to see more images, go to the June 2003 issue of byhand.

This month we present to you our fibre spreads. Each person used fibres to decorate their pages.

We hope you enjoy them!

Please click here or on any of the images below to take you to the complete page of Fibre Spreads!

Below are just some of the byhand products! To check out the complete selection, click here!

For your convenience, you may visit the
PayPal shopping cart
( http://www.quietfiredesign.com/byhandproducts.html)
or the printable byhand Products Order Form .

Waxed Linen Thread

Samples from Left to Right: Black, Rust, Slate Grey (looks pink to me!), Sage, Royal Blue, Denim
Sorry but it's almost impossible for me to get true colour on the web!

4-ply Waxed Linen Thread

Please see the byhand Products page for the complete list of colours!

The eyelets!

These are weeny cute little guys. They are 1/8" eyelets. There are regular and long neck eyelets. The long neck eyelets will go through a regular thickness of bookboard.
100 eyelets per package.

(the long and short Copper are real copper and the long neck brass are real brass)

)

The Envelopes
These cool fellas are perfect for altered books, journals and cards! They come in 4x4" and 2x2" in packages of 10.

This is just the best little eyelet setter! It's hard to mess up, in fact, since I began using this setter, I haven't messed up!

Subtle, but they make a statement!

These are washers for your 1/8" eyelets. What will they think of next???100/package

specify:

brass
silver
copper

Anywhere punch with 6 bits This wonderful punch has 6 different bits allowing you to punch holes in the following sizes: 5/64, 3/32, 1/8, 9/64, 5/32 and 11/64 (or 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 and 5 mm)

I have put together some Book Cradles for sale as some of you have been asking for them. They are not things of great beauty, but really, really handy for when you have a lot of holes to pierce. The legs come off so they're perfect for going to classes. They are large enough for an 8.5" spine length and are $18Cdn (or $12US - to the States). I will try to bring these to classes so you can see them in person!
There is an additional $2.00 shipping charge for this item

Book Corners
Jazz up your book covers with metal corners!
I use them on the foredges of books, by applying a little glue and then crimping them, ever so lightly with a pair of pliers.They are all brass except the 3rd one down is Nickel or silver coloured.

They fit nicely on a bookboard of about 2.2mm thickness covered with decorative paper.

Bone Folders	Chicago Screws, brass, post and screw,
Collage Packs - 40 different collage paper treasures - colour-coordinated Japanese papers. There is one colour scheme on the front and a different one on the back. For invitations, name tags, collage, card-making, bookmarks, drawing, painting, poetry, rubber-stamping, photo mats, calligraphy, place cards, book covers, gift wrapping. . .    Assorted colours	Book Boards - precut 9" x 6", perfect for Coptic Bound, Criss-Cross Coptic and Pipe Organ Bindings. Give yourself a break! (there is an additional $0.50/pair charge for shipping this item)

To order any of the above items and the rubber stamps go to:
Printable byhand Products Order Form OR the PayPal shopping cart.

If there is any information you would like to see in this newsletter, let me know. Each month I will email you to let you know the new issue is published. If you know someone who would like to receive notice of byhand, just have them email me and I will put them on the list. Bye for now and thanks for visiting!

suzanne@quietfiredesign.com
(250) 723-0321 Quietfire Design

The original title lettering of byhand was done with a Mitchell's Roundhand Nib, size 0, and Higgins Eternal Ink. Quietfire Design Rubber stamps were used to create the other designs.