This book was created to record the names of donors who made it possible to rebuild a church in Juneau, Alaska.  The image on the front cover was designed by a church member and I turned it into a raised design that frames the title nicely.  The raised area is set into a square "frame" recess so that nothing sticks up above the level of the rest of the cover.  This book also has seven raised cords on the spine.  My customer decided on using pewter foil for the lettering and to outline the spine cords in order to keep the flashiness of the book to a minimum.

church patron donation book

- page size 8 and 1/2" wide by 11" tall

- 200 pages (400 page sides to write on)

- pages are acid-free lined off-white paper with light gray lines and college-ruled spacing

- dark gray satin ribbon page marker

- cover is red pigskin leather over carved binder's board

- lettering on cover added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and pewter stamping foil

- raised cords on spine

- raised cords outlined with pewter foil lines

- approximately $295

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This book was commissioned by a congregation as a gift for their retiring minister.  The members of the congregation planned to write in the book and present it to the pastor upon his retirement.  The cover features several different types of goatskin leather.  The center of the cover features a church-door-like shape created using individual pieces of thin board covered with hand-pared leather and arranged like a puzzle inside the recessed cover area to form the door design.  The church's denomination emblem appears as a raised design on the front cover and in smaller versions on the cover corners and spine.  Raised spine cords and marbled paper add to the traditional look.

church door retirement book

- page size 8 and 1/2" wide by 11" tall

- 200 pages (400 page sides to write on)

- pages are acid-free, off-white, lined paper with light gray lines and college-ruled spacing

- printed title page

- marbled endpapers in a black and tan swirl pattern

- cover consists of a variety of brown and tan goatskin leathers over carved binder's board

- inset elements on front cover are individual pieces of matte board covered with hand-pared goatskin leather

- raised cords on spine

- spine cords outlined with blind stamped lines

- cross decorations on cover added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and copper stamping foil

- lettering on back cover added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- approximately $720

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This wedding guest book was created as a gift for a couple with ties to Chicago.  I wanted to do a larger Chicago skyline as a raised design on the front cover and make it very 3-D to give it the look of a densely-packed citiscape.   I also wanted to include the shoreline of Lake Michigan; one of Chicago's most distinctive features.  A great deal of time went into the construction of the multi-dimensional skyline.  The buildings'  reflections appear as recessed ares in the "water" at the bottom of the cover.  Lettering was kept to a minimum to keep the focus on the skyline.

chicago skyline wedding guest book

- page size 11" wide by 8" tall

- 100 pages (200 page sides to write on)

- pages are archival unlined white paper

- light gray satin ribbon page marker

- marbled endpapers

- cover is navy pigskin leather over heavily carved binder's board and tag board

- lettering on cover added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- approximately $395

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This book has a nice story behind it.  The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston has a Monday Lunch Library where folks who are down on their luck can come in for a meal and check out books from the church's library.  My customer wanted a large book to record the names of those who had books checked out.  The cover features the facade of the church as a raised design.  Marbled endpapers, raised cords on the spine, and classic serif lettering for the title echo the classical look of the building's facade.

lunch library record book

- page size 10" wide by 12" tall

- 100 pages (200 page sides to write on)

- pages are archival white paper

- printed title page

- red satin ribbon page marker

- printed title page

- marbled paper endpapers

- cover is red pigskin leather over carved binder's board

- raised cords on spine

- spine cords outlined in pewter foil

- lettering on front cover and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- approximately $310

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This wedding guest book was created for a couple getting married in Columbus, Ohio.  They wanted the Columbus skyline on the cover which I was able to do, working from a photograph.  I created the raised skyline with building silhouettes reflected in a park lake in the foreground.

columbus, ohio skyline wedding guest book

- page size 11" wide by 8" tall

- 50 pages (100 page sides to write on)

- pages are archival off-white paper

- cover is burgundy pigskin leather over carved binder's board

- raised cords on spine

- lettering on cover and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- approximately $320

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This journal is a small-scale anniversary journal where the couple will write on several pages every year on their anniversary.  My customer wanted a raised Celtic cross, a dark brown leather cover, and a natural feel.  This cross was carved as a rounded relief which gave it a very "carved from stone" look.  The outside of the book was kept simple and classic, but I added some lovely marbled endpapers with a rather surprising pattern.

raised celtic cross journal

- page size 6 and 1/2" wide by 8 and 1/2" tall

- 100 pages (200 page sides to write on)

- marbled paper endpapers

- raised cords on spine

- cover is dark brown goatskin leather over carved binder's board

- lettering on cover and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- approximately $265

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This book was commissioned by a customer who wanted to mail it back and forth between himself and a friend of his so they could hand-write their adventures on its pages.  These friends met in the military and spent a fair amount of time in Las Vegas.  

The cover featuers a raised Las Vegas skyline that wraps from the front to the back cover.  The book clasp was forged by hand from copper wire and copper sheet, cut and soldered into the shape of the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign.  The sign posts pull up and out of the cover to allow the book to open.  The back cover features a raised outline of the United States with two cities important to these friends marked on the map, a dotted line linking them. About half the time necessary to make this book was taken with making the unique clasp.

las vegas, nevada journal with copper clasp

- page size 8 and 1/2" wide by 11" tall

- 250 lined pages (500 page sides to write on)

- 15 heavier unlined blank scrapbook pages spread throughout the book

- custom-printed endpapers

- raised cords on spine

- cover is burgundy goatskin leather over carved binder's board

- lettering on cover and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and satin copper foil

- clasp is hand-forged from copper wire and sheet, soldered to create the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign

- approximately $650

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