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For those of you who don't know, the school I go to has an MFA program in Book Arts.  Even though I'm getting my MFA in writing, I'm still allowed to take these fabulous Book Arts classes, which I have to say is probably the biggest perk to my program.

This semester in my bookbinding class, we focused on traditional structures, as opposed to the contemporary structures that I made last year.  This is a coptic binding, which is one of the oldest ways to bind books in the world!  It originates from Egypt, and there are many variations of it.  This is probably the simplest one, but if you look closely, you can see the braids in the binding. 

I also made a clamshell box to house the book, mostly just for fun because I love making boxes.  It's all about the precision, and my closet perfectionist just adores being let out of the house from time to time.

Next Up: Long Stitch Binding

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Guess what I was doing today?  Breaking down wooden type.  On that note, next week I'll be posting some of the book projects that I made this fall.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

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pretty.

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Last night I had a good time setting up my Christmas Wish List and sent it around to my family.  It's always fun to troll through the things that have caught my eye through the year, and to point people in the right direction.  Heath Ceramics teapot, Donna Wilson's Nos Da pillow, Rifle stationary, a subscription to the Australian magazine Inside Out, and Lauren Manoogian's gorgeous necklace are amongst this year's faves.

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Sadly, when you are in graduate school, enjoying the winter holidays usually gets chucked out because there's about a million and one loose ends to finish up before the semester is over.  This year is much better for me than past years, but still I'm racing to finish.  In the meantime, we did manage to get a mini tree up (with lights), plus a poinsetta, wreath, and paperwhites. I'm listening to my favorite holiday music, and I'm sticking to my vow to try and decorate the inside Scandi-style, using lots of greens and bright candles to soak up the darkness that has fallen across the northern hemisphere.

I'm the kind of body that really gets affected by the darkness these days.  What do you guys do to brighten your days as the solstice approaches?  top: Maria JC; middle: (my fav) Abby Powell; bottom: Sarah Ryhanen.