From ancient Egypt, to the Mayans, to the fifth century when books started to be bound between hardcovers: bookbinding has been around FOREVER. There are an overwhelming amount of book binding techniques to explore.

Here is just a small sampling:

This black and white marbled guy above is a book I made in TAC’s coptic binding after workshop. Once you get the binding technique down, you can make a book out of almost any material. I’m looking forward to recycling a lot of scrap paper and cardboard into functional sketchbooks.

Blair, who took Book Arts 101 last winter, sent me the above two images from her class where they dyed their own covers.

There is nothing better than cracking open a freshly bound book, waiting to filled with drawings or ideas. I can’t wait to go nuts in my new little marbled sketch book!

All images from  the incredibly knowledgable and talented Natalie Stopka, who teaches the book arts classes here at TAC.

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