custom bookbinding - handcrafted - blank book - journal - wedding - bound email - guest book - scrapbook - photo album - diary - anniversary - clamshell box - book of shadows - fan fiction - rebinding

 

 

fineblankbooks.com

Tedra Ashley-Wannemuehler, bookbinder



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More information on the books pictured above can be found in the following galleries (clockwise from left):

Impala and motel sign (daytime) - gallery - intricate

Album with crab - gallery - intricate

Impala with motel (nighttime) - gallery - pop culture

Chevy Cheyenne - gallery - baby

3/4 binding sunflower with copper accent  - gallery - engagement

 

your idea + my craftsmanship = a one-of-a-kind heirloom

  gallery - miscellaneous  

 

This is a large guest book for the rebranding of the Ullna golf club in Sweden; a course redesigned by Jack Nicklaus.  This large book is intended to be a place where guests can write about their experiences on the course.  My customer had a very precise idea about how he wanted the book cover to look.  I was able to get very close to his original rendering. My customer supplied me with an etched brass plaque that is inset into the front cover (the plaque features the new logo of the golf course which was enlarged for the raised topographic design of the book cover).  My customer also had a specific font and font size he wanted used for the gold cover lettering.  To match his design, I had custom metal dies made for the cover stamping so that the lettering could look exactly the way he wanted (I did not have moveable metal type in my customer's preferred font).  The black goatskin leather used for the cover gives the book an understated and elegant feel, while the large size of the pages make it substantial and rather monumental.

 

custom black leather golf course topographic guest book

 

topographic golf course guest book

     

 - page size 10 and 5/8" wide by 13 and 3/8" tall

- 300 pages (600 page sides to write on)

- black satin ribbon page marker

- printed title page

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

- wrap-around raised topographic design wraps across spine to back cover

- inset brass etched logo plaque on front cover (provided by my customer)

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

- approximately $580

 

custom black leather golf course guest book original art

 

the rendering my customer sent me for how they wanted this book cover to look

 

custom black leather golf course guest book whole cover

 

the finished book cover

 

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custom black leather gold course guest book front metal plaque detail

 

custom black leather gold course guest book front cover

 

custom black leather gold course guest book back cover

 

custom black leather gold course guest book open pages

 

 

This journal was created for a customer who likes bright colors.  I can custom-order more vibrant colors in book leather though they are less common and can be more expensive (less-expensive book leathers are not available in these colors).  This book has two long strips of leather that fit into the grooves you can see at the edges of the front and back covers before wrapping securely around the leather discs on the front cover.  The disc are riveted through the cover and decorated with celtic knots to tie it all together.

 

custom purple and turquoise leather celtic knot journal


celtic-themed personal journal with leather wrap closure

     

 - page size 6" wide by 9" tall

- 225 pages (450 page sides to write on)

- cover is purple and turquoise goatskin leather over binder's board

- raised cords on spine

- lines around cords added using brass rule, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- decoration on cover and spine added using custom metal dies, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

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

- approximately $380 (partly due to the cost of the more vibrant-colored leather which would have to be ordered)

 

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custom purple and turquoise leather celtic knot valkyrie journal with tie closure front

 

custom purple and turquoise leather celtic knot valkyrie journal with tie closure front detail

 

custom purple and turquoise leather celtic knot valkyrie journal with tie closure knot detail

 

A very touching project for a family's beloved dog who passed away.  My customer wanted an album with her dog's portrait, done in leather, on the front cover.  She wanted a place to keep photos and mementos of her late friend.  Working from a photo she sent, I created the raised design of her dog which was individually-covered with medium-brown leather before being attached to the cover in a slightly recessed area.  A custom metal die was made to add the blind-stamped paw print on the back cover with a quote below it.

 

custom leather album for family dog

 

tribute album for a special dog

     

 - page size 8" square

- 50 pages (spacing in spine on this album allows for the addition of a photo on one side of every page only; so there are 50 pages for photos)

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

- inset dog portrait was created from several layers of tag board and covered with thin medium-brown goatskin leather, accented with black and white goatskin

- paw print on back cover added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- lettering on covers and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

- approximately $425

 

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custom leather dog memorial album front cover

 

custom leather dog memorial album back cover with paw print

 

custom leather dog memorial album spine

 

This book was created for a customer who started hand-crafting kilts and he wanted to have a book where he could record designs, patterns, etc.  Originally, the inset on the cover was going to be a separate piece of board covered with a tartan-patterned cloth, but I somehow convinced my customer (who likes my metalwork) to let me try to do the tartan pattern in fold-formed copper.  He sent me an example of what he wanted and I created it in a rather rustic version using fold-forming.  The varigated patina on the copper piece is a result of the oxidation that builds up over multiple heatings and selective cleaning of certain areas.

 

custom green leather kilt journal with fold formed copper

 

kilt manufacturing journal with inset fold-formed tartan patterned copper

     

 - page size 6" wide by 8" tall

- 150 pages (300 page sides to write on)

- marbled endpapers

- cover is green goatskin leather over binder's board

- inset rustic copper decoration is fold-formed in a tartan pattern

- copper sealed with Renaissance wax to help preserve the patina

- frame on front cover and thistle on back cover added using custom metal dies, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

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

- approximately $310

 

custom dark green leather kilt journal original art


the example of the tartan plaid pattern my customer sent on which to base the fold-formed copper inset 

 

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custom green leather kilt making record book with inset fold formed copper tartan pattern emblem front

 

custom green leather kilt making record book with inset fold formed copper tartan pattern emblem spine

 

custom green leather kilt making record book with inset fold formed copper tartan pattern emblem marbled endpaper

 

Made for an incredible jewelry artist whose work I admire, the raised cover of this book mimics the design of a bracelet piece I commissioned from him.  Each "stone" is carved indivdually from binder's board and attached to the cover before the leather is added.  One feature of Aaron's jewelry that I particularly liked at the time was the addition of free-swinging silver rings through his bracelets that added a great sense of movement to the piece.

 

custom black aaron brokeshoulder jewelry journal sketchbook

 

custom journal for a jewelry artist*

     

 - page size 12" wide by 4 and 3/4" tall

- 210 pages (420 page sides to write on)

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

- wrap-around raised cover design

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

- sterling silver rings through front cover

- approximately $345

 

*the leather used on the cover of this book is no longer manufactured or available, but a softer version of this technique is possible using book leathers currently available

 

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custom black leather sketchbook for native american jewelry artist aaron broke shoulder with sterling silver accents whole cover

 

custom black leather sketchbook for native american jewelry artist aaron broke shoulder with sterling silver accents ring detail

 

 

 

My customer contacted me well ahead of the due date for this book which was good because creating the very small carved/raised line of pewter "dishes" on a shelf took awhile.  Intricate work like this always takes more time.  This book is a place to record family stories, written by an individual who is passionate about collecting antique pewter.  The "shelf" is leather that I marbled using ink and Suminigashi marbling technique, then it was waxed to deepen the color and contrast.  The pewter "dishes" are accented with a suble silver metallic pigment to give them a slightly metallic sheen.

 

custom memoir book for antique pewter collector

 

family story book for an antique pewter collector

     

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

- 75 pages (150 page sides to write on)

- lined pages on off-white paper with light gray lines and college-ruled spacing

- blank unlined title page for hand-written dedication

- mottled tan parchment-look endpapers

- cover is predominantly black goatskin leather over carved binder's board

- inset line of raised pewter dishes and candlesticks on a shelf were carved from binder's board and tag board and covered with hand-pared gray goatskin leather

- pewter items accented with silver pigment for a subtle sheen

- "wooden" shelf is covered with hand-marbled brown cowhide leather

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

- approximately $425

 

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custom black leather book for pewter collector front cover

 

custom black leather book for pewter collector front cover detail

 

This book was created to be an autobiographical journal for my customer where she planned to record the story of her life.  She wanted to incorporate many symbols that were meaningful to her.  The cover features a "maid, mother, crone" design that is both raised above the surface of the cover and carved below the surface (see if you can spot the moon phases).  The back cover features three stamped butterflies in foil.  Gold Celtic knots accent the top and bottom of the spine above and below the raised cords.  Goatskin often gives you a softer look with raised designs than pigskin does, but has the lovely soft, "open" finish that my customer wanted.

 

custom leather maid mother crone journal

 

maid, mother, crone journal

     

 - page size 10" square

- 400 pages (800 page sides to write on)

- yellow satin ribbon page marker

- marbled endpapers

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

- raised cords on spine

- spine cords outlined with blind stamped lines

- decoration on spine and back cover added using custom metal dies, hot foil stamping, and gold and pewter stamping foils

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

- approximately $450

 

 

 

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custom dark brown leather maid mother crone and crescent moon journal with butterflies whole cover

 

custom dark brown leather maid mother crone and crescent moon journal with butterflies front detail

 

custom dark brown leather maid mother crone and crescent moon journal with butterflies back detail

 

custom dark brown leather maid mother crone and crescent moon journal with butterflies spine

 

custom dark brown leather maid mother crone and crescent moon journal with butterflies marbled endpapers

 

 

 I really enjoy collaborating with my customers and this book is a good example of that collaboration.  This customer of mine does leather carving and he created this beautiful, intricate, Celtic knot carving which he watned to incorporate into a book cover.  This book was created as a meditation journal and my customer wanted a book with two front covers that you could flip over and read from the opposite cover to the center of the book.  To compliment the lovely carving created by my customer (which I mounted on board before insetting it into the cover), I created a similarly-shaped panel with a raised zen symbol design covered with hand-pared goatskin leather in a color that complimented my customer's carving.  Copper foil lettering also went well with the inset designs.


custom leather meditation journal with two front covers


meditation journal with two front covers

     

 - page size 7" wide by 8 and 1/2" tall

- 250 pages (500 page sides to write on)

- black satin ribbon page marker

- marbled endpapers

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

- inset raised characters covered with hand pared tan goatskin leather over hand cut tag board and binder's board

- intricate leatherwork knot provided by my customer and mounted over thin board before being inset into the cover

- raised cords on spine

- raised cords outlined with blind stamped lines

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

- lettering on spine reads correctly no matter which side is used as the front cover

- approximately $380

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs whole cover

 

custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs front cover 1

 

custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs front cover 2

 

custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs front cover 1 detail

 

custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs front cover 2 detail

 

custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs front cover lettering detail

 

custom black leather meditation journal with two front covers and raised designs front cover spine

 

This scrapbook was created to hold photos from a 40th birthday party.  The logo on the front was created for the party.  I turned that logo into a raised design on the front cover, accented with attention-getting silver foil leaf.  The coordinates for the location of the party were stamped in black pigment.  I was surprised at my customer's color choices here, but I can't deny that the result is striking.

 

custom light blue goatskin leather coordinates birthday album


birthday scrapbook with logo and coordinates

     

 - page size 10" square

- 25 pages (50 page sides to mount photos, etc. on)

- natural, uneven deckled page edge left on the outer edge of every page

- parchment-look endpapers

- cover is light blue goatskin leather over carved binder's board and matte board

- raised logo (the recipient's initials and age) is accented with silver foil leaf and sealed with foil leaf sealer

- lettering on cover (coordinates) added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and black stamping pigment

- approximately $260

 

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custom light blue leather birthday album with silver foil leaf raised initials and coordinates front cover

 

custom light blue leather birthday album with silver foil leaf raised initials and coordinates page edges

 

custom light blue leather birthday album with silver foil leaf raised initials and coordinates open pages

 

 

 

This guest book was created for a home in Mexico.  My customer chose the dark brown and red color scheme and wanted to incorporate a "Mexican colonial pineapple".  The pineapple was built with several layers of thin board covered with hand pared red British book calf.  That piece was then attached to the cover in a slightly recessed area.  Gold lettering added the final touch.


custom brown leather huertas 22 guest book with pineapple

 

huertas 22

     

 - page size 10" wide by 7" tall

- 100 pages (200 page sides to write on)

- red satin ribbon page marker

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

- pineapple on cover carved from a separate piece of board and covered with hand pared red British book calf, accented with burgundy wax and sealed with clear wax to intensify the red color of the leather

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

- approximately $325

 

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custom dark brown and red leather huertas 22 guest book whole cover

 

custom dark brown and red leather huertas 22 guest book front detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 


e-mail contact: tedra@fineblankbooks.com

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