A Medieval Paperback, A Downloadable Instruction, and an Outlook onto 2018

Hello and a Happy New Year!

I look into my list of blogpost has shown that this indeed is my first blogpost in this year. Although I am not planning at all to give up this blog here anytime soon, I have to admit to myself that the times in which I posted three times a week are over. But that’s going with the times, I suppose. I opened an Instagram Account and I do plan to post there more often. There I am buchertiger (I dropped the “e” which hurts my German heart but maybe makes it easier for non-Germans to remember and find me; I hope it won’t confuse those who did learn to insert it to indicate the ü).

I also still post on my Buechertiger Facebook Page regularly. (Geesh, here “e” is in; I DO hope this isn’t confusing!)

Alright, that said and done, the reason why I am late with my look-back onto 2017 and outlook on 2018 is that I have been super busy with various projects. So let me give you at least the most important updates on the different branches of the book tiger business:

Büchertiger Studio & Press

Of course I have been progressing ever so slightly with my long term 346 project. But I started this year with – drumroll – making books. It saddens me that I don’t seem to find as much time for making books as I used to. I hope to change that this year! I have a huge amount of pages ready in signatures that rest under weights to start binding this year.

And because I have been making tutorials and have been teaching a lot recently, it seemed logical to make a class out of it. This then took me longer than expected. I planned the class for one week, and then filmed myself making the book, and then re-shot everything because somehow I managed to not show important parts. – And also lost a couple of videos due to a computer crash.

But now my class on Indirect Tacketing is life! I am very happy with the result, and proud to put a complex binding into a 1h total runtime class that includes all the important parts (including how to determine paper grain) in bite-sized lessons. I include the introductory lesson below. If you want to see the whole class, you will have to sign up to skillshare. They currently are running a promotion that gives you three months for 0.99$ (less than 70p). If you sign up you can then watch all the videos on the plattform, including my two classes, but there are of course many, many more.

If you do decide to sign up to skillshare, please do so through this link: http://skl.sh/2rIh6cK. I earn some money as a teacher if you do.

Büchertiger Supplies

Since January this year I have a section for twine in my Supplies Etsy-Shop. The new listings are the Jute thread you can see above and a baker’s twine. Both can be used, of course, for all kind of things, including bookbindings: I already used the jute thread for cords for bookbinding, and it gives a pleasant rustic feel – and the possibility of add more colour to exposed spine bindings. I am going to use the baker’s twine some time soon, but it should work for this well, too.

I also like to use the jute thread for crochet of sturdy containers. This here is one I made for the pebbles that are waiting to be dressed in finer crochet:

For the little baskets below I also wrote crochet instructions which you can download for free if you wish, just click here: Nesting Organizers.

Outlook onto 2018

I do have some plans for 2018 but they sound eeriely like what I write almost every January. Once more I hope to make more books, and I would like to teach more skillshare classes. – I have so many ideas of where this could go from here. It’s just unfortunate that it takes almost a full month to make one of these. So I might not manage to upload a new video every month. But I do hope to make another on in the next 3 months.

I seriously hope to finish 346 some time soon. I know I said so last year. I hope I won’t be writing this again next year.

With three sisters and by now 10 nieces and nephews I am part of a large family, and of course we have a couple of family events planned that I am very much looking forward to. Among them the baptism of the littlest one. My sister Nele, btw., is making trousers and other equipment to bring up your child without nappies/diapers under the label Pippifax. Check out her new website and blog and instagram, and catch a glimpse of him!

But, I must admit that I dread some of what is to come in this year: For our daughter we have scheduled an orthopaedic surgery in June. And as you can see in that it is scheduled, it is not an emergency. But it is necessary to maintain her mobility. And like probably any orthopaedic surgery, the surgeon’s description of what he is going to do sounds more like butchery to me.

Although we are telling her that she will be in hospital after her birthday, she doesn’t really know and comprehend what is to come. And if she did, she’d probably just carry on as light hearted as is her way. But I ache a little every time I see her ever since we set the date. I dread the operation as such, but also the months afterwards when she will painfully have to learn to walk again.

So I don’t really know yet, how much I will get done in the second half of this year, and honestly, that’s currently not my main concern.

To end on a positive note, this is Winnie, trying to keep me from planning my skillshare class. I wish you all a wonderful next year, with magic and sunshine after the rain and creativity to lighten your path wherever it leads you. Cheers!