Exhibition / Sale at Loveleaf Press

JonHook, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Dec. 5th - 6th | 10 am to 6 pm each day

Artists Reception:
Fri., Dec. 4th | 6 pm to 9 pm

Please join Loveleaf Press in celebrating new creative output from the artists of Hook Pottery Paper, the rural studio of husband and wife team Jon Hook and Andrea Peterson. Both artists moved to the country to realize a shared dream of capturing natural textures and shapes in their art while utilizing local and renewable resources in its creation. All of the pottery is wood fired, ranging in style from the traditional to highly conceptual. The paper and printed art is made from indigenous plants and fibers. Both artists combine a refined vision with unique processes in creating one of a kind pieces. As a result each artists’ work is esteemed locally and internationally.

Hook and Peterson will visit Chicago from December 4th through 6th to display and demonstrate their wares and processes at Loveleaf Press. The exhibition/sale will include many fine pieces including a wide range of wood fired ceramic work by Jon Hook along with the handmade papers, and paper / print art works by Andrea Peterson. Both artists will be present to discuss their techniques throughout the weekend. A demonstration will take place on Saturday, 5 Dec. from 1-4pm.

For more info about sale and artists. Click here.

Upcoming Show in Evanston

Postcard, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Before you embark on the turkey coma goodness next week, don't forget to go see this show, featuring work from our very own bookbinder, Loni.

Somatic
Opening: Sunday, Nov. 22, 3-5pm
show runs: Nov. 18 - Jan. 10
where: Noyes Cultural Art Center • 927 Noyes St., Evanston

Loni will be showing numerous 9ft. by 4ft. paper kimonos from her thesis installation "The Way of Beauty."
For more info and pics click here.

The individual kimonos are for sale. On a budget? A few miniature versions of the larger kimonos are also available. Please send purchase and display inquiries to Loni at paperfragment@gmail.com


I hope to see you there.

Chris Cassidy

Chris Cassidy, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

We recently completed a project for photographer Chris Cassidy. These images detail the steps Loni took to hand-stitch the cover leather. The first image shows her pre-punching the sewing holes into the leather with an awl, for precision, while the subsequent images show the needle passing through the leather.

~posted by Erin

Estonia

Estonia, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Amazingly, I will be going to the beautiful country of Estonia, for 18 days! My roommate Terttu is from there, and some of my friends and I have the amazing opportunity to travel with her there.
I cannot wait to see this country that is so idyllic in my mind, and to photograph, photograph, photograph!

~posted by Erin

Erin Paulson

Erin Paulson, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These are images of the book I made while at the American Academy of Bookbinding. The cover depicting air waves and arms is the beginning of Alice in Wonderland; flipping the book over reveals a chessboard cover, which is the beginning of Through the Looking Glass.
The Alice in Wonderland side is done through inlays and onlays, both in suede, while the chessboard was one inlay with a frame of brown paint.
The inside covers were done with sunken suede and suede fly leaves.

~posted by Erin

Loni Diep

Loni Diep, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These are images of the book that Loni made at the American Academy of Bookbinding in Telluride. It is a Chinese/English Dictionary that she rebound and covered in red goat leather. The front cover has a leather onlay of a crane made out of dark grey goat leather that was pared very thinly and feathered.
Her endbands were beautiful and completely epic considering the book's size!
She used marbled paper that she had made herself for the inside covers.

Loni's first foray into French fine binding was a complete success!

~posted by Erin

American Academy of Bookbinding

American Academy of Bookbinding, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Monique Lallier demonstrated how to do an edge to edge doublure on her beautiful book.
Loni rebound a Chinese-English dictionary of her father's, which was quite the impressive feat. It took almost an entire day just to sew the headbands!

I will also post photos of our finished books, so check back soon!

~posted by Erin

Sunset in Telluride

Sunset in Telluride, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Amanda sent Loni and I to Telluride, Colorado for a wonderful French fine binding class at the American Academy of Bookbinding! We were there for a week learning from binding master Monique Lallier, and what a wonderful experience it was.
Telluride is not only the place to learn about French fine binding, it's also one of the most beautiful places in the country. I took this photo from atop one of the mountains our last day there.

~posted by Erin

Ezra Gregg

Ezra Gregg, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

We just finished building a portfolio for Austin-based photographer Ezra Gregg. We are very excited about this one! The cover consists of white leather with cut outs, adhered to plexi etched with a topographical map design. The interior covers are lined with hand-watercolored paper also with cut outs. The windows reveal not only the color of the title page underneath, but also the letterpressed logo.
There are additional images on the portfolio area of our website.

~posted by Erin

Time Out Chicago

Time Out Chicago, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

We are pleased to be featured in the current issue of Time Out Chicago! Jessica Herman came to interview Amanda last week, and photographer Nicole Radja came out to document the studio.

You can view the online version of the article here.
Thanks, Time Out!

~posted by Erin

Bird Houses

Bird Houses, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Amanda recently completed a volunteer art project with the help of Mode Carpenter Jonathan Martin - beautiful bird houses that reveal ethereal light shadows.

See them in person!

Saturday, June 6th
6-10 PM
Wesley Kimler's Studio
2046 W. Carroll Ave, 60612

Buy Tickets.

~posted by Erin

Twinrocker Handmade Paper

Twinrocker Handmade Paper, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

This past Friday, all of us at the studio took a field trip to Brookston, Indiana to visit and take a tour of Twinrocker Handmade Paper!
Twinrocker has long been our main supplier of handmade papers for our books, designs, and letterpress. They make some of the most beautiful papers imaginable, and often in such large quantities that I feel for the backs of the two paper-makers on staff.

We learned so much about the process, and were duly impressed by their facilities. Their pulp beaters alone (see top image) are worthy of awe for their size and efficiency, but it is truly the kindness, generosity, overwhelming precision, and talent of everyone involved that make Twinrocker such a worthy resource.

We were so thankful for our afternoon spent there, and to Travis, Gerald, and Fran for giving us so much of their time!

~posted by Erin

Terry Vine Boxes

Terry Vine Boxes, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Loni just finished making four amazing boxes to house the leather books we made for photographer Terry Vine. Each box has a dark brown interior and a natural book cloth exterior, with thumb holes to easily remove the books, and a small window which houses a piece of parchment gold heat-stamped with Terry's logo. They display his books beautifully!

~posted by Erin

Scott Peterson

Scott Peterson, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

We are building 8 portfolios for photographer Scott Peterson. The books are extremely large - 17 1/2" x 11 1/2" tall!
They are soft-bound, with the outside cover being cased in anti-static material. I love the modern quality of these books. The inside title pages are parchment printed in silver.
The front cover will have Scott's logo in white vinyl, as will the anti-static pouch that houses each of the books.

~posted by Erin

Cade Martin

Cade Martin, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

The past couple of weeks we have been working on six portfolios for photographer Cade Martin. The books are entirely lined in parchment (refined animal skin); the covers are letterpressed with Cade's name, the inner boards with a beautiful marbled paper pattern, and the title and end pages with Cade's contact information.
Parchment is a beautiful material to print on!

These images show the steps Loni took to wrap each of the cover boards with the printed parchment.

~posted by Erin

AIGA Small Talk

AIGA Small Talk, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

This past Tuesday, the 24th, LoveLeaf opened our studio for another event, this time with the AIGA. We were so thrilled with the large attendance; thank you to everyone who came and spent the evening with us! There was much conversation, show and tell, and two demonstrations.
It was such a delight to share and talk with everyone!

~posted by Erin

STA visit

STA visit, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Last night the STA came to visit the studio, for a talk and demonstration. A lot of our clients lent us the portfolios we had built for them (thank you everyone, for your generosity!) so that the guests would have a chance to study them in person.
We had such a wonderful time sharing our work with everyone.
Amanda gave a small talk, there were questions asked, and we gave small letterpress and pamphlet stitch demonstrations.
Thanks again to everyone who came, and to Bob Zeni for organizing the event!

~posted by Erin

Origami

Origami boxes, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

This past week we have been preparing the studio for two talks - one with the Society of Typographic Arts (STA), which occurred last night, and one with the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) which will occur next Tuesday, the 24th.

These images illustrate the origami boxes that were built by Lung-Chen for the guests of both talks. Each one houses a small pamphlet for a pamphlet stitch demo, a book plate for a letterpress demo, and a small brochure detailing how-tos and information.

~posted by Erin

Taylor Castle Portfolios

Taylor Castle Portfolios, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

For the portfolios we built for photographer Taylor Castle, we used wood veneer on the covers and insides of the books. The inside wood was screenprinted by Kiyomi Kimble with a cube design that was then die-cut to remove the 3rd side of the cube. The remaining shapes were adhered to the inside boards which were covered with a lighter colored wood, completing the 3-D effect.

These images show the die-cut with the shapes being removed, and Loni working to align the die-cut with the inner boards.

~posted by Erin

BBC interview

BBC interview, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Today we had a lovely surprise in the studio - the BBC came by to interview us for their story "A Square Mile". The story focused on small businesses in a square mile of Chicago, and how they are surviving during these troubled economic times.
As we find out more about the story we will share any information with you!

~posted by Erin

Spring Into Action!

Spring promo, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Contact us at LoveLeaf Press.

Check out our site!
1211 North Wood Street | Chicago Illinois 60622
773.697.4205 | Fax 773.697.4206

STA Announcement

STA Announcement, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

LoveLeaf will be giving a talk for the STA on Wednesday, March 18th, at 6:30. Attendance is strictly limited to 30 people; please see the STA website for full information.
Hope to see you there!

~posted by Erin

AIGA Announcement

AIGA Announcement, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

LoveLeaf will be giving a reception and talk to the AIGA on Tuesday, March 24th. The reception will start at 6 pm and the talk will begin at 6:30.
This is the official announcement found on the AIGA website.
We hope you can make it!

~posted by Erin

Andy Barnes - portfolio

Andy Barnes - portfolio, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These details are of the portfolios we built for photographer Andy Barnes. Each portfolio has a screw-post binding, with hand-dyed wood veneer on the outer and inner covers. The screw-posts are hidden under a strip of dark orange leather. His name plate was letterpressed onto the hand-dyed wood and then built up to create layering and dimension on the cover. The interior of the covers was lined in matching wood veneer with a detail of the dark orange veneer.
The cover image was covered in resin by resin artist Momoko Sudoand set into the cover.

~posted by Erin

Kami Bremyer - portfolio

Kami Bremyer - portfolio, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These are images of the finished portfolio we built for Kami Bremyer. The first details the front cover, with a window of plexi-glass cut into the porcelain-esque plaster (the plaster was formed by artist Aaron Kohl). The plexi has been carved with Kami's logo.
The second image details the exposed spine of the wire edge binding, and the hand-watercolored hinges. The third shows the interior covers, with the screen-printed design.

~posted by Erin

Kami Bremyer - production

Kami Bremyer - production, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

We worked collaboratively with photography stylist Kami Bremyer (whose business cards we also made, see below) to design and build her portfolio. The covers were plaster cast to resemble and feel like porcelain; the inside covers were screen-printed and lined with acetate. Each page was attached to a hinge that was hand-watercolored, and the title page was watercolored and letterpressed. The book was bound with a wire edge binding, one of my favorites!

These images detail a few steps of the production - laying down the screen-printed design on the interior covers, and Lung-Chen and I sewing the binding.

~posted by Erin

Suede Bags

Brobson bags, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These suede bags were made as jewelry pouches for a Valentine's gift from one of our clients to a loved one. Each pouch increased in size, to contain different jewelry.
The small blue one was only about 2" tall. I loved this project!

~posted by Erin

F-Stop Magazine

Hello all, 

Just wanted to share something exciting, which is that I have written my first ever book review, for F-Stop Magazine. The review is of a new photography book entitled Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America, by Michael Williams, Richard Cahan, and Nicholas Osborn. 

Have a look! 

~posted by Erin

Bob Brobson Boxes

Bob Brobson Boxes, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Lung-Chen and Loni spent the day working on the ribbons for the aforementioned handmade suede boxes for Bob Brobson. Each box is made out of brown suede mounted to white book cloth (which makes the interior), and encircled with hand-dyed silk ribbons stitched with a closure.

~posted by Erin

Terry Vine Pouches

Terry Vine Pouches, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

This is a larger image of the four completed bags. Each strip of leather is different, matching the colors of the hand-dyed books.

Terry Vine Pouches

Terry Vine Pouches, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Today the pouches we made for photographer Terry Vine were completed! We designed and built four pouches; each was built out of a dark brown leather lined with a thick cream felt, with a hidden magnetic closure and a strip of leather stitched into the flap that matches that of the leather used on his books within. Each strip of hand-dyed leather was heat-stamped with the photographer's name in gold, to match the covers of the three books contained in the pouches.

~posted by Erin

Bob Brobson

bobbrobson, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These are prints that I worked on today for a letterpress project we're doing for Bob Brobson, architect. They're a series of illustrations based on his company's projects, with a new year blessing. Similar cards will be assembled in handmade suede boxes made by Loni and our wonderful intern, Lung-Chen!
Pictures of those boxes will come later.

~posted by Erin

Kami Bremyer

kami bremyer, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

This is my favorite of the business cards!

Kami Bremyer

kami bremyer, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

These are letterpressed business cards that we created for stylist Kami Bremyer. They were dual sided - one side was white Crane's paper that we hand watercolored in two different color palettes. Her information was then printed in electric yellow for the grey color scheme, and gold for the saturated. On the reverse side of the cards is cream Japanese paper, with Kami's logo blind printed.

Missed Connections - Saturn Lounge

saturn lounge, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Working away on the 250 books, with the holiday LoveLeaf helpers!

Saturn Lounge - Missed Connections

saturn lounge, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

Stacks of pages waiting to be correlated.

Missed Connections - Saturn Lounge

saturn lounge, originally uploaded by LoveLeaf Press.

This is a project that we did for photography representatives Saturn Lounge. We made 250 screwpost books featuring the photography of Tim Evans as holiday gifts to give out. Each book had a letterpressed cover, and several pages of the interior design were letterpressed as well. The text next to the images were short "Missed Connections" entries relating to the person in the portrait.

an introduction

Hello!

We at LoveLeaf (Amanda Love, Erin Paulson, and Loni Diep) have wanted to get this blog started for quite some time, and today I'm finally taking the opportunity to do that. Our website will continue to house our portfolio pictures of each finished book project, but this blog will show work in progress as well as smaller projects that won't get posted on the website. We will post snapshots of our work as it progresses, with a short description of the project. Enjoy! 

We've been taking photos for as long time with the intention of posting them on the blog, so you will have many projects to look at these first few entries!