Bound for a friendās holiday gift, the transcript for episode one and two (the updated versions) of @thepenumbrapodcast !
{Material and thoughts under cut}
I had actually started the typeset for this almost a year ago and then life happenedā¦ Itās by no means perfect, but it was fun!
First time typesetting any style of script, so that was neat challengeāalthough I didnāt actually go all that different from the typical look of a script lol. But as TPP was one of the first audio dramas that actually got me properly hooked on the format years ago, this bind meant a lot to me (even if my time constraints didnāt let me go as far with this bind as I would have personally liked).
The cover was inspired by season oneās theme of the storyās āoverworldā being a hotel. So I crafted a 3D faux hotel door with Junoās Episode 1 & 2 room number of J12. The door itself is covered with bookcloth (from a sample pack so I do not have the brand and color number sadly). The doorās nameplate and handle are colored cardstock detailed with a Sakura Pentouch Calligrapher gold pen and waxed with beeswax for protection. The door trim is similarly waxed and embossed cardstock.
Materials:
Cialux bookcloth in 1259 Violet (such a lovely and perfect color), purple and black cardstock.
The endpapers are "Gold Wavy Marble on Blue Fine Paper" from Paper Source.
Bound using linen thread and archival pva glue. The endbands are the same paper as the endpaper and cardstock wrapped around a leather core. Printed on Hammermill 20lb cream paper.
The cover page collage was created using free and public domain images from rawpixel.
From @renegadeguild ās 2025 6th Renegade Bindery Exchange made for @bluejayblueskies of their delightful fic True Loveās Something!
This book was a ton of fun and had a number of new challenges for me!
The fic is a Shrek AU, so I went for a sort of fairytale vibe on the interior to match the storybook opening of the Shrek movies. Only, while I was redrawing the storybook page openings (so that I had them in a higher resolution) I tweaked some details to better match the story/characters ;)
The challenge I faced with these lovely storybook pages however, was that the paper weight that I use was a touch too light and the illustrations showed through slightly on the reverse page. Which wouldnāt have been as much of a problem if the gold gilding pen that I purchased wasnāt oil based and didnāt bleed through to the back side of the pageā¦
Sadly I didnāt have any higher weight paper on hand so change of plan involved tweaking my typeset so that each illustrated page had a blank backside to it. Then I tipped the edges of the pages together. And then I tore the faux deckled edges into the book. All of which had to be completed only after the text block was sewn, because some of the signature middles landed on those blank middle pages. š
Suffice to say the construction order of this book was one big puzzle that had me doing this the entire time
However! I am so, so pleased with the results! This was my first time attempting faux deckling like this, as well as my first time doing interior gilding! Also my first time doing a proper laminated dust jacket! (Which also had gilding woo!)
Speaking of, the design of the dust jacket is one I especially love! Thereās a gorgon character within the story and another character that often mentions their beloved strawberry patch back home so it was only befitting that I combine the two for the cover! (Slightly stylized of course, and yes I know you wouldnāt be able to see the snake tails if theyāre relating to a gorgon but hush.)
My one regret with this book that I didnāt catch in time (before I had already sent the dustjacket for printing), is that the spine text is the wrong direction š Every book I almost make this mistake but catch it in time, and this was the one time I failed that. š Alas.
But can we talk about how well those endband colors match the endpapers and cover???? š
Materials:
Cover bookcloth is Cialux in 1521 Maroon with a small amount of Siser Metal Gold HTV on the front.
Dustjacket is made using Staplesā poster print service on 6.8 mil thick paper type then hand gilded with Sakura Pen-touch Calligrapher gold pen (very pretty results, somewhat finicky to work with) and laminated (with a large lamination roll as opposed to the individual sheets you usually find - so as to avoid seams).
Endpapers are Black Ink Florentine Print Decorative Paper - Portofino.
Bound using linen thread and archival pva glue, endbands sewn using single strand embroidery thread in a faux-double core style. Printed on Hammermill 20lb cream paper.
I think my favorite thing of getting into bookbinding is going to second hand book sales and checking the endband situation of all the older books I see. Every time itās been either a machine made endband or none at all, but one day, ONE DAY, I will find one done by handā¦
With a final push I managed to finish all the book dustjackets + instructions for the 17th Anniversary of BBC Merlin first airing!!
You can find all the digital files and instructions for free download on my Ko-fi!
If you take the time to make either the bookcloth or paper version and post about it, please do tag me! I'd love to see it š
(left - paper dustjacket, right - bookcloth + HTV) - More info & pics below cut!
I have each book as its own listing as there is a good amount of files (I did not zip the files because I feel weird offering them as .zips since you can't see all of the files contained in it. But if people prefer then I can certainly go through and add the zips for easier download š)
Each book listing includes:
āŗ Base PSD file
āŗ Three faux bookcloth PNG files, each with a different spine design
āŗ One SVG file, that contains all three different spine designs
āŗ PDF instruction / information file
Here's the PDF for easy access:
I technically already have a post with the first four books, but I'll put them here as a sort of masterpost.
Book 1 and 2!
The Dragon's Call - features the Pendragon crest, the symbols at the top and bottom of Excalibur's runes, and unbroken chains.
Valiant - features Valiant's shield, crossed swords, and the dog statue Merlin brought to life.
Book 3 and 4!
The Mark of Nimueh - features the Afanc's egg, the poultice used to save Tom, flowing water, and air and fire.
The Poisoned Chalice - features the Mortaeus flower, the Kings' two chalices, and the magic sphere that guided Arthur.
Book 5 and 6!
The Labyrinth of Gedref - features the unicorn, the arrow that killed the unicorn, water turning into sand with dying crops, and Anhora's "poisoned" goblet.
The Death of Arthur - features the Questing Beast, the cup of life, Merlin's lightning, and Nimueh's fireball.
Book 7 and 8!
The Nightmare Begins - features the Druids' symbol, magic freely flowing, the candle Morgana lit, and the vase she broke.
Lancelot and Guinevere - features the griffin, the ransom note for Gwen, and the wilddeoren.
And finally, Book 9 and 10!
The Last Dragonlord - features Kilgharrah and his flames, Balinor's wooden dragon, Balinor's cave, and broken chains.
The Traitor Within - features Cenred's crest, the dripping mandrake root, the sekret's sting, and the Rowan Staff.
And as a thanks for scrolling all the way down here, enjoy a backing peel video as well.
A bind for @renegadeguild 's 2025 Tiny Book Exchange!
[An exchange where you typeset a smaller fic and then someone binds it for you! [or you only typeset a fic or just bind someone else's submitted typeset, ya got options]]
typeset made | bind made (you're here)
I got to bind @bossbot97 's lovely typeset of @croik 's Kane & Feels / Ghost Wax crossover: The Title of this Fic has been Redacted for your Safety! (which i'm realizing now I didn't get any other interior pictures ahhhh)
The finished book measures approx. 2"x 3"
This fic features the characters from both audio dramas hunting/being hunted down by a creature with a bird-like skull covered in feather-like shapes, so I took that aspect and ran with it.
I initially wanted to have more to the cover of this bind but life got a bit in the way and I was honestly quite liking the more simple look for this. Makes it feel more like a mysterious and ominous book you'd just... find somewhere, yaknow?
Overall, the chisel trimming turned out alright. Surprisingly harder to do on a smaller book than a full sized one! (At least for me lol). First time sanding/edge-coloring and that turned out not bad!
Materials:
I actually got this bookcloth from a Talas sampler pack (and they don't label their samples) but I believe it's Asahi Bookcloth in #2379 Black. (And it adds such a neat texture for this bind.)
The endpapers are black cardstock with overlapping feather textures printed on it, so the pattern is subtle until it catches the light.
Bound using linen thread and archival pva glue, endbands sewn using single strand embroidery thread in a faux-double core style. Printed on Hammermill 20lb cream paper.
Cover:
An inset window that holds a paper cut bird-like skull. Made with cardstock cut into different layer silhouettes, painted details, glued together, waxed, and then glued into the window (which took so many little tabs to get that shape lol)
My typeset for @renegadeguild 's 2025 Tiny Book Exchange!
[An exchange where you typeset a smaller fic and then someone binds it for you! [or you only typeset a fic or just bind someone else's submitted typeset, ya got options]]
typeset made (you're here) | bind made
This fic is such a treat to read and felt perfect for making a small, hand-sized book of! @ironfamjam 's Give Me Your Fear, I'll Give You My Faith
Summary: "Hit with a spell meant for Arthur, Merlin loses his senses one by one and all Arthur can do is watch."
I made 9 small, woodcut-style drawings for the different hand signs in this fic
and I finally got to use some of the medieval-esk fonts I've been stashing, hehe (and here's the book notes pages for credits:)
foredge painting still remains some wild magic stuff to me, what do you /mean/ you take a wet medium and apply it to paper and it doesn't bleed into the textblock itself simply because my press is giving it a good hug???
Someone had put up their embroidery thread collection at a local auction house and I managed to win it. Then I got to spend an evening reorganizing it.
I'm sure having it numerical order is handy for cross stitching but it's not necessary for my purposes (embroidery and sewing endbands) so rainbow order it must be!!!!
Before, After, And the messy workspace during the re-organization process
Hadn't gotten around to posting these until now, but I had the joy of participated in @renegadeguild 's 2024 5th Annual Renegade Bindery Exchange! (basically fanbinding secret santa)
I got to make three smaller books this time which was a neat challenge
{Breakdown under cut!}
Oh gosh I should have written this description back when I finished the books, let's hope I can remember/find everything! š
The two fics I bound were:
The Little Mermaid (starring Stiles Stlinski)
By whentheywrite
Blinded by You
By DaughterofDarkness
My recipient for this exchange was @when-he-writes-stuff !
(I am frequently bad at discord, I hope you enjoyed your books!!)
I finally got a shiny gold HTV I like, woohoo! And I had a much higher success rate with chisel trimming on these books! (Which, having to trim 9 different textblock sides was great practice š)
Materials:
TLM: Made with Cialux bookcloth in 1259 Violet, and French P Marbled Paper #2202 for the endpapers. Cover graphics are Siser Metal Gold HTV.
BbY: Made with Cialux bookcloth in 1521 Maroon (listen Cialux bookcloth has such a lovely texture to it, I'm hooked), and a locally made handmarbled paper. Cover graphics are Siser Metal Gold HTV with a window insert of a printed graphic.
Both are bound using linen thread and archival pva glue, endbands sewn using single strand embroidery thread in a double core style. Printed on Hammermill 20lb cream paper.
Cover:
TLM: This fic starts off with an inconspicuous-totally-not-cursed take out coffee cup that felt the most fitting for a cover object. Of course, replacing the Starbucks mermaid with a howling wolf to befit the Teen Wolf theme. I tried for an overall more fantastical storybook style with fancy framing and little wolves inside said framing.
BbY: Food (or lack there of, as this partially takes place on Tarsus IV) is a bit of a reocurring "theme" in this fic, with almost all the chapters having a specifically mentioned dish/snack. So pulling from that I tried to give the cover a sort of family cookbook vibe. With the family trio inside a cutout window (my first attempt at something like this woo!) Then each chapter page has a small colored pencil drawing of a referenced food.
Overall I'm quite happy with how these three turned out! I had fun, thought I'm not sure I would choose to work on this many books at once again, haha!
Update: I only needed one additional re-alignment then managed to print 10 signatures without issue.... I'm taking that to mean she was appeased with her violence sticker
The next two book dustjackets for the BBC Merlin book series are now (still partially) done!
I still plan to make a how-to for these, as well as upload all the files for them, buuut not right now.
First two books
Symbols:
For Mark of Nimueh: Centerpiece is the Afanc egg with Nimueh's mark front and center on it, the top symbols are the pouch that Merlin used to heal Tom. Then the bottom marks are the water the birthed the Afanc, and the fire and wind that defeated it.
Poisoined Chalice: Morteaus Flower, of course. (The symbol of which I did reuse from my DVD book because I love how it turned out). The top two symbols are the two different cups that Uther and Bayard use, and the bottom marks are the ball of light that Merlin sends to help Arthur in the cave.
I (partially) finished my bookcloth dustjacket designs for the first two BBC Merlin books!
(if folks want, once I finish all the designs, I can make a how-to post for making these for your own merlin books)
Symbols:
For The Dragon's Call, the top two are supposed to look like two sides of an old style coin that was stamped with the symbols that appear on Excalibur in the show. The bottom two are chains in reference to Kilgharrah (and something something the chains of destiny and knowing how it "should be" or smthing...)
Valiant was a little harder, not as much to pull from. So it gets crossed swords for the tournament that's taking place, with the dog statue's head as the bottom symbols.
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