Leather Longstitch Journal & Sketchbook Diaries

During this two day class you will learn  how to make your own A5 soft leather long stitch sketchbook, lined with a  beautiful Japanese paper.  These gorgeous books will be filled with a  heavy weight  paper and  finished with either a leather tie closure  or a  metal stud. You will have  the opportunity to design your own stitching patterns to make your book more individual but don't worry there will be examples to help you.

After creating your own beautiful large leather long stitch journal, you will start you fill it under the guidance of Chrissie Nicholls of Ink Pot and Pen, the author of ‘The Diary of an Artist in Lockdown’.

Learn ways and tricks to document your life visually, using collage, hand lettering, illustration, maps and so much more.This packed workshop will give you the confidence to start recording not just the wonderful things that happen in life, but also the small details and the tricky moments. 

We all know journalling is good for our souls and peace of mind but not everyone can sit and write, some of us want to include drawings and some of us speak in images rather than with words. We’ll also cover sketchbook nerves and how to overcome that first mark on the page.

If you can draw, think you can’t draw, haven’t drawn for a while, then this workshop is for you. All levels welcome, everyone will learn something and take away a sketchbook and head full of ideas! 

Some prompts and suggestions will be sent out beforehand to help you gather ideas, observations and reference materials so you can arrive with something personal to work with and not have to come up with ideas on the day....although often these ideas may well develop or change as the day progresses! 

More information about Chrissie can be found here:  www.inkpotandpen.com Instagram @inkpotandpen 

Join me and make this new very special box with a drawer and lid that closes with a satisfying click due to the incorporation of magnets. Ideal for keeping stationery in or indeed any treasured possessions.

Your box will be covered in  buckram and the inside lined with a Japanese paper of your choosing . 

You  will learn, through demonstration and  practice, the all important skills of measuring, cutting and covering.  Participants will leave with one  completed box along with the skills to reproduce another at home.

All equipment and materials will be provided along with step-by-step demonstration and practice.  

This is best suited to those of you with previous box making experience.

Bennell Court has easy car parking.

Would you like the opportunity to work on your own project but struggle with motivation or space at home? Or just want some company of like minded bookbinders?

If so, this is an ideal chance to spend time in my studio where you can use  my tools and equipment to work on a project of your choice using your own materials. However if you would like me to prepare any boards for you do let me know in advance and I can advise you of the cost.

There are a range of presses and sewing frames available to use as well as my usual tools kits and cutting mats.

I will be on hand to offer some guidance but this is not a teaching session - as I am likely to be working on my own project, or preparing for forthcoming classes alongside you. 

Over this full  weekend of bookbinding you will learn the  techniques to complete four beautiful book structures along with a lined slipcase to hold your treasured prototype collection. All of the skills you will learn can be 'mixed and matched' so that you have a myriad of design possibilities after the course. You will make a Quarter Bound Single Section, a Hard Bound Journal, along with a Japanese Stab stitch book and a Concertina binding, finishing the weekend with a lined slipcase. 

All materials and equipment are included in the fee and you will also be provided with most of the the materials to reproduce these books at home.

Bennell Court  is a lovely venue with  car parking 

Walk (or skip) beside me into the world of lettering 

Playful Lettering 

We will journey into the magical world of lettering together, let’s play, draw and doodle the shapes the proper grown ups call letters! In this workshop you’ll be introduced to some modern day handwriting and calligraphy styles, as well as visiting a couple of traditional styles with a modern twist.

We’ll explore and learn how your sitting position and holding the pen can make a difference, which pens work with which styles and how to ground ourselves so that we are in control of our writing, not the other way around.

We’ll look at ways to embellish a style, make subtle alterations and how we can manipulate the letter shapes for sketchbooks, letters, envelopes even shopping lists, so you build up a personal calligraphic alphabet that you’re confident scribing.

I’m going to treat you to my secrets and show you the styles of lettering I’ve been developing over years.We will cover a lot, so you’ll be tired at the end of the day! You won’t leave being calligraphers or lettering experts, you’ll leave with your rich style to work on and develop in many different situations.

The workshop is designed for people who wish to explore, play and improve their/a hand lettering style. It is not a calligraphy class with hours of drills, it’s very much a taster class of what you can achieve with play.There will be pens for you to try, I will also send you a list of tools and pens you can bring with you so that you get to know and test your own pens’ capabilities.

You will leave with a beautiful filled book, bound on the final day - a leather quarter binding with an elastic closure.

More information about Chrissie can be found here:  www.inkpotandpen.com Instagram @inkpotandpen 

Bennell Court is a lovely venue with car parking.

Would you like the opportunity to work on your own project but struggle with motivation or space at home? Or just want some company of like minded bookbinders?

If so, this is an ideal chance to spend time in my studio where you can use  my tools and equipment to work on a project of your choice using your own materials. However if you would like me to prepare any boards for you do let me know in advance and I can advise you of the cost.

There are a range of presses and sewing frames available to use as well as my usual tools kits and cutting mats.

I will be on hand to offer some guidance but this is not a teaching session - as I am likely to be working on my own project, or preparing for forthcoming classes alongside you. 

Miniature books are always admired and loved.

In this class you will learn how to  scale things down and produce a  selection of beautiful miniature books  that will be fully functioning and useable.  You will make a  leather  long stitch book as well as some different  hardbound and folded book structures.  These will make ideal gifts, keepsakes,  necklaces or even dare I mention this so soon - Christmas tree  decorations.

All materials will be provided, suitable for beginners.

Bennell Court is a lovely venue with car parking.

Doug Mitchell, a highly experienced book conservator, will lead the day, under his guidance and tuition you will learn the basics of book repairs using a variety of cloths, papers, tissues and adhesives. Through a mix of demonstration and practice you will learn how to: Deconstruct a book in a safe and systematic fashion, repair both individual pages and sections, prepare your book should it require resewing, replace the end papers, undertake any repairs to the cover in order to allow new material to be added.

*Please note - To get the most out of this one day class I would recommend that you have some bookbinding experience and that you have made a 'cased in' book, to enable you to understand how to deconstruct your book for repair. 

All materials and equipment will be provided, but you will  need to bring with you one or two hard cover cloth bound books, no bigger than A5 and with a stable book block,  (as time is limited), that you are happy to replace the end papers on. 

Learn how to make this wonderful Pop up Book in a slipcase, it is an adaptation of the pop- up book in a box by Hugo Peller, this one was designed by Christine Hammond. It is an intriguing structure.

You will make a quarter bound hardback book and a co-ordinating slipcase before making an outer cover with integrated ribbons. It is this outer case which allows the book to pop-up on opening and when it is put back into the slipcase it will automatically close the lid. The lid will have magnetic fastenings so there will be lots of new learning opportunities over the course of these two days. 

A selection of decorative papers and buckrams will be available for you to choose from.  All equipment and materials will be provided along with step-by-step demonstration and practice.  

This course is not  suitable for complete beginners.

 In February 2021 I was asked by the  David Parr House to design some limited  edition books for their crowdfunding  campaign. The finished books were  created with an inlaid design, based on  one of the painted wall patterns in the  house. This 2 day workshop will give you  the opportunity to learn to create your  own individually designed inlaid book  cover, using a range of coloured buckrams, which you will then make into a hardbound book. There will be some patterns available to help you with your design ideas.

This workshop is more suitable for those with some previous experience of bookbinding as it requires quite advanced cutting skills.

All tools and materials will be provided.

The Sewn Boards Binding, brought to prominence by American binder Gary Frost,  is the subject of many conversations and variations and with good reason. As well as being an adaptation of ancient Ethiopian binding techniques it also looks 'bang up-to-date' with its crisp edges and streamlined opening ability. It is a great extension to existing binding skills and is also a very helpful starting point for new binders as it does not require the traditional casing-in process! As with other classes, this workshop is taught so that you can repeat at home.

All equipment and materials required will be provided along with step by step demonstration and practice.

Bennell Court is a lovely quiet venue with car parking

Would you like the opportunity to work on your own project but struggle with motivation or space at home? Or just want some company of like minded bookbinders?

If so, this is an ideal chance to spend time in my studio where you can use  my tools and equipment to work on a project of your choice using your own materials. However if you would like me to prepare any boards for you do let me know in advance and I can advise you of the cost.

There are a range of presses and sewing frames available to use as well as my usual tools kits and cutting mats.

I will be on hand to offer some guidance but this is not a teaching session - as I am likely to be working on my own project, or preparing for forthcoming classes alongside you. 

Miniature books are always admired and loved.

In this class you will learn how to  scale things down and produce a  selection of beautiful miniature books  that will be fully functioning and useable.  You will make a  leather  long stitch book as well as some different  hardbound and folded book structures.  These will make ideal gifts, keepsakes,  necklaces or even dare I mention this so soon - Christmas tree  decorations.

All materials will be provided, suitable for beginners.

Bennell Court is a lovely venue with car parking.