Letterpress printing with Legos
Taught by Brenda Gallagher and Julia Seko

This is a one month drop in course, held 4x, on four consecutive Wednesdays. Students can attend all 4 classes or just which ones work with the summer family calendar. This class is open to students ages 9 and older.

WEDNESDAYS July 16, 23, 30, and Aug 6
10am-12:00pm
$100

Combine the beauty of letterpress printing with the fun of setting legos! Students will be given a type high lego baseplate on which to design their lego printing with lego tiles. Plates will then be locked up in the Vandercook letterpress to print. Students will learn printing with two different colors in two passes on the press. Multiple prints are encouraged for a print swap on the last day of class. If time allows, students can make a soft case to hold the collection.

Leather spine hard covers binding*
Taught by Brenda Gallagher

FRIDAY Aug 1st
10am-4:30pm
$120

This book combines the soft opening of a leather spine with the sturdy firmness of board covers. The completed book opens nearly perfectly flat making it an ideal book for your journal writing or drawing. Creating your book involves sewing folded signatures through a leather spine with the long stitch. We will begin by getting acquainted with paper grain and its importance for the finished book. We will cover the boards of the book with decorative paper and once dry we'll drill holes in the covers to prepare for sewing. The leather spine will also need holes for sewing which we will pierce with an awl or drill. Paper signatures will be folded and pierced and then we'll take a short break for lunch. After lunch we will learn to sew the long stitch to bind the book. Covers will then be sewn onto the leather spine piece. By the end of the workshop, you will have completed your book, and have the skill to make more on your own. Class fee includes all materials we use to make a book: leather for the spine, a sheet of decorative paper to cover boards, paper for your signatures, a pair of pre-cut cover boards, glue, and waxed-linen thread. Students can borrow tools from the BAL or you can bring your own bookbinder's toolkit. Students will need: bonefolder, medium-weight awl, Xacto knife, scissors, ruler, and a bookbinder's needle. Optional: Students may elect to bring their own sheet of decorative paper for covering the boards. *

*Optional bookplate printing for Leather spine book

Thursday July 31st
5pm-7pm
$10

The evening before the longstitch journal class, students registered for the bookbinding class are invited to the letterpress shop to print a custom bookplate. This page will serve as the first page of the book that we'll bind on Friday. The book plate page will read, "This book belongs to ______" with the student's name. Students will choose a small cut from the Book Arts League collection and learn to set letterpress letters to print their names.

Making Momigami Paper

taught by Julia Seko and Greg Robl

Momigami is a Japanese craft used to strengthen paper-- it has traditionally been used for making clothing and other sturdy items. Konnyaku, a starch from an edible tuber, is applied to the long-fibered paper, which is then crumpled into a ball and worked until the paper is flexible, then is smoothed out to dry. In addition to durability, the paper acquires a lovely, faceted surface from which the colors of the paper shine through. When dry, students can create a simple business card wallet with finished momigami paper.

Join us for a day of playing with paper fiber and creative folding.

August 7th
10am-4pm
$100

Thank-you Cards with Wood Type

taught by Julia Seko and Greg Robl

It's that time of year to send your thoughts of gratitude in a beautiful hand printed card! Students will use the Book Arts League's collection of wood type in multiple faces and sizes to set the words"thank you!" Words will then be locked up and printed on the Vandercook letterpress. Color choices or perhaps variegated colors will be decided on by the collected class. Each student will leave with a set of 8 cards with matching envelopes.

August 14th
10am-4pm
price $100

Open Studio times:

Wednesdays: Aug 13th