a darker blue by @skiitter

I chose A Darker Blue by @skiitter as my contribution for a white elephant exchange we did at a meetup with binder friends in Berlin this weekend- because simply more people need to read this masterpiece!

It is one of my absolute favourite Dramione fanfics and I was thinking for a long time how I could best transport the very poetic, moody and cabin-by-the-sea vibe of this story into a bind. In the end I decided to try something completely new and opted for a handpainted cover.

Did I have any idea what I was getting myself into? No. Did I curse myself in-between? Oh yes. But in the end I really love how it came out, especially the back cover. And acrylic paint is such a great flexible medium for a cover, so I will certainly do it again 👌🏻The incredibly beautiful typeset is by my dear friend @curies_curiosities who kindly let me use it for this bind.

A darker blue by skitter can be read on Ao3.

Bound for personal use only. Keep fanfiction free!

laoha

My first leather bound book!

It was so much fun learning how to do a real leather bind. I went back to the workshop where I did my bookbinding course last year and my lovely teacher Karen very patiently walked me through all the steps.

There were so many new things I got to learn, including bevelling the case edges and thinning the leather with this funky looking tool, that is actually not as scary as it looks. Also, I realised that glue stains like crazy on suede and folding in leather corners is an art in itself. It was quite tricky and a lot of work, but also a lot of fun!

I chose to bind Love and Other Historical Accidents by @pacific-rimbaud for this project as I felt the leather would make it look like a book that Draco and Hermione might come across 200 years in the past. I have read almost everything there is by @pacific-rimbaud and absolutely loved every single story, they are written so gentle and poetical, so witty and creative, so one-of-a-kind. But I have held myself back from reading LAOHA until I could do so as a hard copy. The incredibly beautiful and classy typeset I used is by @hawthorneandvinebindery.

This is also my first bind for which I made a dustjacket. I really do like how it came out but admittedly I am even more fond of the velvety soft and simple leather cover.

Bound for personal use only.

LAOHA is free to read on AO3. Do not buy or sell bound fanfiction online - it is both illegal and incredibly disrespectful towards the author. Thanks for keeping the fandom ethical 🫶

between us flows the nile

I was going for crocodile in the Nile meets Pharao treasure meets temple inscription vibes.

My first time binding with faux leather, first time creating my own end papers and first blind bind - can't wait to read it and mentally float down the Nile (like I did during my ancient Egypt obsessed teenage years).

Between us Flows the Nile by thebrightcity. Absolutely stunning typeset by LMbookbinding.

Bound for personal use only. This story is free to read on AO3.

dmatmoobil

The one that gave me incessant amounts of laughter and taught me about ancient celtic holidays...

I felt that the long title lends itself wonderfully to a typography heavy cover - but I decided to jumble it all up a bit to mirror Draco's slightly confused state of heart and mind in this story.

Gorgeous typeset by @mrsyoflam

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of being in Love by the incredibly witty and creative @isthisselfcare

Bound for personally use only.

seek and find

My first fanfic bind. The wonderful story Seek and Find by @serpent_and_sage which is full of soul searching, warmth and meditative gardening...

Beautiful typeset by @hana_bob

Bound for personally use only.

something new

This little notebook is the result of a bookbinding course I took earlier this year. And only afterwards did it occur to me how strange it is that I have loved books all my life but never really thought about how they are made.

Safe to say that I now very much adore this craft. And somehow I still cannot believe I was able to create something so precious with my own two hands.