Building Books Alfresco

I’ve been known to bind books wherever I find myself. Last summer I took a big batch of journals-in-progress on a camping trip to the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. I needed to time the pounding of metal rivets so that I didn’t bother any other campers, but otherwise a Forest Service picnic table by a bubbling stream is a wonderful place to work. 

Here, I am stringing the elastic into my Leather Reporter books and preparing to attach the original spines as pockets inside the back covers. Of course not all phases of my journal making are conducive to work on the road, but whenever I can, I bring along some books to keep my hands busy and free up creative juices outside the studio ‘box.’ My family has gotten used to it!