Your local craftswoman, [Linderel] is the owner of this page. Here she talks of one of her hobby - bookbinding. It's a wiki that is indefinitely under construction...



[Linderel]: As someone considering herself to be an artisan, also showing off my work holds a bit of importance to me. Having people know of a skill I have learned and, if not completely mastered, then at least become quite adept at creates a pleasant feeling in me.

I first learned how to bind books during the autumn semester of my first year in senior secondary school. That would be year 2002. Our school had to offer eleven courses in arts, and one of those courses was bookbinding and calligraphy. I did the course in question a second time over during the spring semester of my second year, that was how much I had enjoyed it. Though I admit that on the second time around, I did much of the work outside actual classes, on my free periods...

After that, I have been binding books independently from time to time. Even though the process has some extremely aggravating parts, the satisfaction and pride after succesfully finishing the piece is worth every single uttered oath and twitch of an eyebrow.

To every book I craft, there goes a part of myself. While all of them are custom made to suit the preferences of whoever is at the receiving end, it doesn't change the fact that I have put real effort into making them. I love binding books, and that love goes into my work.

The grand total of books made will be increasing, perhaps not regularly or steadily, but definitely nonetheless, for as long as either my interest or ability to keep at the hobby runs out. I suspect it will be the latter, in the form of old age or some unfortunate accident.

So, the point of this wiki? Mainly to show off the finished pieces. I will be posting a photograph or two of every book I can get one to my hands of - when I started making them, I did not think I would be putting up a wiki, or in any other way promoting my work.

I'm also officially taking commissions and requests, so if you are interested, give me a nudge and we will discuss the matter. An art trade is possible as well.



Without further ado...

[Linderel]'s books

The first book I ever made. It was a baptising gift for one of my cousin's children, and I had to take it home before the end of the course. I remember the arts teacher went to show it off in the teachers' lounge...


My second book, and it shows, too. This is the one that remained in my own use as a place to stick my poetry in.




One of the books I made during the second time around on the course. The cover reads "Arekushi" in katakana, meaning "Aleksi".


The book I made for my sister, [nekorin], who uses it for drawing stuff. On the cover is a picture of a j-rock star called Mana.


The last book I made on the course, and to tell the truth, this was for the most part made on my own time after the actual course was over, during the test week. This one remained in my own use, again as a poetry book.




Made for a good friend, a former crush and current sort-of-brother, as a Christmas present. He attempted to use it as a travel journal on his trip to China, but never finished it...


Made for my then-not-yet-boyfriend [NiTessine] for Christmas of 2005. Though at that time, I just made it simply because I'm always looking for excuses to bind more, and he didn't mind getting a new notebook. Had very much fun with this one, considering the fact that the drawing on the first leaf is somewhat of an inside joke (a cookie to anyone who recognises it!) and that I used this one as a model piece, taking pictures of the process from the beginning to the end.




A book I made for an old friend as a commission. She wanted a diary, so I made a 'lock'.




One made for [BlackDragon] in return for a pearlcrocodile (BlackDragon's self-made stuff).




This was made for [Nita] as commission. I wasn't that satisfied with the book, but the recipient seemed to like it.




Birthday present. They like cute, fluffy creatures, and that is what they got...


Another from the mega birthday party. This one I stayed up making all night and went to bed at seven thirty in the morning. But it was worth it. I absolutely and utterly fell in love with the fabric I used for the covers. So delightful!


Everything on this page is © Saara Aitakangas, around here better known as [Linderel].