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 - pop culture

 

This project was several months in the making. Two custom bindings of There'll Be Peace When You are Done. A book about the legacy of the TV show Supernatural with chapters written by actors and chapters written by fans.  This cover had so many parts and pieces, each individually-built from layers of tag board and individually-covered with various colors of hand-pared goatskin leather. The design features a night scene with silhouettes of main characters Sam and Dean Winchester looking up at the Milky Way a short distance away from Harvelle's Roadhouse with their '67 Impala parked out front. Harvelle's played a role in the early seasons of the show as well as in the very last episode. This was a novel-sized book (page size roughly 6" wide by 9" tall) and therefore the elements on this cover are TINY. The Harvelle's sign alone...made with raised string and tiny hand-cut tag board letters under the leather and then accented with metallic gold and red pigment to imitate lights...look hours. (Nothing like buying a quart of metallic additive for half a teaspoon worth of red paint on the Harvelle's sign, just to make sure it had that metallic "glowing" shine.) The raised design is continuous across the spine of the book with tiny raised siding on the building and a little ice machine out behind the bar (just as there was on the show). The custom clamshell box is stamped with several symbols from the show and has a secret message along the very front edge that can only be seen when the box is open. This one was...special. probably the most time I've spent on a binding to date.

pop culture peace front 1 large

 

pop culture peace front 2 large

 

 

rebinding of There'll Be Peace When You Are Done

  

- rebinding of published book celebrating the legacy of the show Supernatural

- intricate cover with many raised elements individually-covered with hand-pared goatskin book leather

- lettering added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and black stamping pigment

- stars added one at a time using various sizes of periods from moveable metal type sets, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- rubbed silver pigment accents for miky way and clouds around moon as well as accents on raised trim areas of the '67 Impala

- rubbed gold pigment accents the shed roof of Harvelle's, reflecting the light from the illuminated sign

- too many processes and details to name - the most complex cover I've done on this small a scale with a completely wrap-around cover design

- done as a very limited edition of two with custom clamshell boxes made for each book

- roughly 60 hours went into each of these sets

- custom clamshell boxes covered in charcoal linen book cloth

- cut-away inside box to accommodate raised designs on back cover

- stamped details in boxes like the white-on-white devil's trap design seen below stamped on the inside of the box lid using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and white stamping pigment

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

- custom aquarian star on back cover of box added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

 

- approximately $925 (book)

- approximately $225 (box)

 

 

pop culture peace both fronts large

 

pop culture peace box detail large

 

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pop culture peace front sm

 

pop culture peace book and box sm

 

pop culture peace backs sm

 

pop culture peace box front sm

 

pop culture peace box spine sm

 

pop culture peace whole box cover sm

 

pop culture peace box open 1 sm

 

pop culture peace box open 2 sm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved being able to create this large design on the cover of a coffee table book. This custom binding was created as a gift for Supernatural's set designer Jerry Wanek, someone who is not only endlessly creative and one of my own artistic heroes, but a tireless supporter of the arts. The cover image is based on one of the images in the book which features photos of almost every set ever built for Supernatural over its fifteen year run. When covid made the final planned, extravagant wrap party for the show impossible, the network decided to allow the money meant for the party to be used on the publication of this book. Books of photos of Supernatural's sets had previously been created in-house every season for the cast and crew, but this was the first time all photos were all gathered in one place and made available to the public. I felt that merited a custom leather binding that required hours of work; enough to properly honor fifteen years of work done by Mr. Wanek and his amazing art departmet team on my favorite show.

 

 

pop culture wanek front large

 

 

rebinding of Supernatural - Fifteen Years

  

- rebinding of a coffee table book showcasing fifteen years of photos of the sets used on Supernatural

- page size roughly 11" tall by 13" wide

- navy goatskin leather cover

- raised elements including '67 impala with intricate front grille

- motel with purple neon "lights" and purple glow on the front of the building rendered in raised pieces covered with hand-pared purple goatskin leather

- large raised motel sign with cut-away lettering in the "motel" portion and yellow neon "tubes", all made from hand-cut piece covered in pared goatskin leathers

- "neon" created from string covered entirely in leather

- rubbed silver pigment highlighting chrome portions of the Impala

- rubbed silver pigment clouds

- moon added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- amulet "hanging" on back cover with raised cord and gold hot foil stamped pendant

- custom printed "motel wallpaper" paper endpapers in a retro pattern

- custom clamshell box in charcoal linen book cloth

- hot stamped decorations on box added using custom metal dies, black stamping pigment, and gold stamping foil

- lettering on box added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, pewter stamping foil, and black stamping pigment

 

- approximately $850 (book)

- approximately $255 (box)

 

pop culture wanek scale large

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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pop culture wanek front sm

 

pop culture wanek spine sm

 

pop culture wanek book detail sm

 

pop culture wanek book back sm

 

pop culture wanek book back detail sm

 

pop culture wanek endpaper sm

 

pop culture wanek box front sm

 

pop culture wanek box back sm

 

pop culture wanek box back detail sm

 

pop culture wanek box spine sm

 

pop culture wanek box open 1 sm

 

pop culture wanek box open 2 sm

 

 

Created for a Dr. Who fan, this box features the TARDIS (time and relative dimension in space), floating in space, as a raised design on the front cover.  This is modified clamshell box where all four sides of the box are fixed with a hinged lid.  White leather is inset into the windows of the call box to make it look as if it is emanating light from within.

 

custom leather TARDIS box

 

TARDIS box

   

- inner dimensions 8 and 1/2" wide by 11" tall

- edges of box are covered with black vellum book cloth

- front, spine, and back of box covered with black pigskin leather

- raised panel on box lid

- TARDIS was created with many layers of individually-cut tag board, stacked to create the design, then covered with hand-pared electric blue goatskin leather

- other parts of the design are covered with black goatskin leather

- TARDIS windows are inset with white goatskin leather

- posted notice on door printed on water and fade-resistant Epson professional photo paper

- tiny brass tack door knob

- box is lined with black Arches cover

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

- lettering on TARDIS added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and white stamping pigment

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

 - approximately $680

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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custom leather TARDIS box front

 

custom leather TARDIS box sign detail

 

custom leather TARDIS box whole cover

 

custom leather TARDIS box back cover with stars

 

custom leather TARDIS box spine

 

custom leather TARDIS box open

My pop culture orders are some of my absolute favorites.  That includes this rebinding of the book Supernatural; Fan Phenomena that explores various aspects of the fandom surrounding the show Supernatural.  Since this was a rebinding, I started with the printed page of the published book and built a new cover to fit the pages.  The cover is made of many, many, many tiny pieces of thin board individually-covered in various colors of hand-pared goatskin leathers.  These pieces were then assembled puzzle-style in recessed areas of the cover to create the image...a highway stretching forward into the night from the view of a '67 Impala's front windshield with a sunset in the rearview mirror and a tiny, backwards-printed "Lawrence city limits" sign.  The lead characters on Supernatural, brothers, were raised in Lawrence, Kansas.  A gold amulet hangs from the rearview mirror.  There is very long quote  from the show printed in pewter foil on the back cover.  Printed endpapers were created, one with a road map of the state of Kansas on it.  A custom clamshell box covered in linen book cloth was made to protect the book.  This is what happens when I'm left to my own devices.  One of my most complex covers I've done and also one of my favorite.

 

supernatural the road so far 67 impala rear view mirror custom binding with amulet

 

supernatural rebinding

   

- page size roughly 6" wide by 9" tall

 - printed endpapers

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

- intricate leather decoration on cover is made up of many very small pieces of thin board covered with hand-pared paper-thin goatskin leathers in various colors

- individually-covered pieces are assembled in slightly recessed areas of the cover to create the night road scene

- "Lawrence city limits" sign, backwards, as it would appear in a rear view mirror, was added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- gold amulet added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

- lettering on back cover added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and pewter stamping foil (set up letter-by-letter, this is a very large amount of type for a cover)

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

- custom clamshell box covered in gray and charcoal linen book cloth

- lettering on spine of box in silver foil

- amulet on front of box in pewter foil

- approximately $790 (book)

- approximately $175 (clamshell box)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather whole cover

 

custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather road and rear view mirror detail

 

custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather road and dean winchester amulet detail

 

custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather spine

 

custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather with custom clamshell box

 

custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather with custom clamshell box flat

 

custom rebinding of fan phenomenal supernatural in leather with custom clamshell box and book

 

 

This blank book was created to have fan fiction stories based on the show Supernatural hand-written inside it.   I wanted this book to have a rustic look and the cover is predominantly a lovely dark brown goatskin leather that blind stamped particularly well.  The center devil's trap medallion was hand-carved from a separate piece of binder's board and covered with hand-pared mottled cowhide that has a bit of a smoky-burned look to it.  The tiny symbols inside the devills trap were created on separate piece of thin board using string before hand-pared leather was worked over the desgin.  Each symbol piece was then set into the appropriate recess in the devil's trap and the whole emblem was set into a recessed area on the cover.  I loved the rustic result; very in-keeping with the style of some of the old books used on the show.

custom leather supernatural fan fiction binding with devil trap

 

supernatural fan fiction binding

     

- page size 6" wide by 9" tall

- 125 pages (250 page sides to write on)

- mottled brown batik endpapers

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

- devil's trap on cover was carved from a separate piece of binder's board covered with hand-pared goatskin leather and hand-pared mottled cowhide

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

- approximately $365

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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custom leather supernatural fan fiction binding with devils trap whole cover

 

custom leather supernatural fan fiction binding with devils trap detail 1

 

custom leather supernatural fan fiction binding with devils trap detail 2

 

custom leather supernatural fan fiction binding with devils trap spine

 

custom leather supernatural fan fiction binding with devils trap batik endpapers

 

This guest book was commissioned by the folks at the online web channel BReal TV.  The show is Smokebox where guests are interviewed while sitting in a car smoking pot.  This was created as place for guests to leave a message after being interviewed on the show.  I took an image of the show's logo (see right) and recreated it as a raised design on the cover, complete with swirling smoke added with silver pigment.  I love that I never know what my customers will ask me to make.  I was happy with the results on this one; using a technique (for "smoke") that I had never tried before.

smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted marajuana pot

 

smokebox guest book

    

- page size 8.5" wide by 11" tall

- 150 blank pages (300 page sides to write on)

- archival white endpapers

- printed title page

- gray ribbon page marker

- cover is black goatskin leather over binder's board and tag board

- "smoke" effect on cover added using permanent silver pigment

- approximately $240

 

 

 

 

 

 

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smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted

 

smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted

 

smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted

 

smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted

 

smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted

 

smokebox, guest book, BReal TV, leather binding, handcrafted

 

 

 

 


 



 

 

 

 

     
     
     
     
     
     
e-mail contact: tedra@fineblankbooks.com

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