simply-sithel

[simply-sithel]

Got to paw at this book during a @renegadeguild meetup! Behold the work of @blueberrybindery! There's a story of some assembly mishaps to go along with it and I'm fascinated and awed by blueb's solution to the problem. Big fan of this textblock

[simply-sithel]

I got to ogle the Binder's copy at some point - gorgeous work!

psalm 40:2 by unicornpoe

Dean meets an angel who says he's from the future. It all gets a lot more complicated from there. Supernatural, Castiel

Here is my bind for @no-name-publishing in a Renegade Mini-Exchange! This is such a wistful and tender story about learning to accept and love yourself, even when you feel unlovable, and I was absolutely ecstatic when I peeped it on his wishlist.

Lots of firsts for me this bind: first time working with leather, first time CHISEL-TRIMMING (:elmo fire emoji: insert here please), only second time power sanding (which I love tbh), first time BEADING a cover. I absolutely loved working with leather and the effect of beading, and wish I could take a video to show how sparkly the beads are in the sunlight! I also used ~ * f a n c y * ~ endpapers by Claire Guillot that I just knew I had to have for this bind the second I saw them, and will absolutely be returning to her for future binds.

All the typesetting choices are inspired by the 1611 King James Bible, as well as the beading which forms a cross when the book is fully opened. It's my first Supernatural bind—what's a girl to do besides make Biblical references? (jk, @clovenhoofbindery made a totally non-Biblical bind of the same fic and I have been LOSING MY MIND at how perfect and gorgeous it is)

Materials:

Leather: Siegel leather pre-pared leather in espresso

Title font: KJV1611

Body font: Adobe Jenson Pro

Dropcap: Goudy Initialen

Decorative images: King James Bible 1611 (Wikimedia Commons)

Some more details, just for fun :)

[simply-sithel]

Form Function Friendship

I was out walking and saw in a shop window a gorgeous old book that had matching marbled edges and marbled cover paper. I wanted to try that!

A has a friend who's writing a book- a technical one not really of my interest, but still a book and I like to bind those. Respect to all authors! I do enjoy working small though, so I only bound the intro/content before it got too technical ;)

Am very pleased at the results. I enjoy looking back at them (as this was done in ??? I'm writing this mid December '24) I hear that the author liked them as well- there's still a copy on his desk

[simply-sithel]

In honor of @renegadeguild's 2025 Tiny Books Bang typeset deadline closing yesterday, here's some macro photos of the book I received from @zhalfirin-binds as part of last year's exchange!

Frank Lantz's Wheels Within Wheels, bound in wallaby -- a much cherished lil book that sits on my bookshelf to greet me when I come home and see me off on my way out. So neat! Check out Zhal's posts about the progress here, here, here, here, and here (and learn about working with leather along the way!)

This year's entry is less, ah, "respectable" but I just as eagerly await it's manifestation (bwhahahaha! exchange rules ensure at least 1 typeset bound per typesetter so someone's gotta' make that baby for me!)

[simply-sithel]

Been difficult to post lately for so many reasons, one of which is that the thoughts have been very code-y lately - but also social

At a @renegadeguild meetup the subject of elevators came up and I was lead to read the The Intuitionist

a book I realized a third of the way in was written by the same guy who wrote Zone One- a beloved zombie novel. Colson Whitehead. Would recommend.

Interesting book. Lots of relevant bits, but one that I latched onto with amusement was swan diving back into Elevator Saga - an elevator optimizing Javascript coding game. Would recommend.

I remember this launching sometime while I was back at ____, so that's 2015 onward - and over 7 years ago. We played it at work- have been meaning to go back to it - fun to try and model it well, knowing what the challenges would/could look like. I remain very mournful at the lack of easy 'let' in the JavaScript language. As someone who never learned a language other than my native English, this is the first time I'm feeling something missing in expressing myself/my thoughts even though I feel rather fluent in both.

I always joked that Google was my D&D Patron and now it feels truer with the evil twist of misaligned corporate values. Despite my love of Kotlin, have been finding JavaScript to coming in more handy. Handy for helping @renegadeguild type things- a group which continues to be pleasant and whose individual company I occasionally get to entertain in person. Recent outings which included seeing Sinners in IMAX. Would recommend.

See, fun update ✨

[simply-sithel]

I've gotten into shuttle tatting this year. Of course had to combine it with bookbinding. Behold, my latest project: Plato in sexy lingerie

Absolute mess of free handing but no regrets. First attempted shuttle tatting project. 2" x 1.25" x 1" Strong 'feels good in the hand' energy & easy to read.

yes, it's trimmed crooked but I don't mind. Typeset in LaTeX, but I'm so bad at it that I needed to implement a whole new feature in my latest imposer tool to achieve the results I wanted.

The real objective here was to (a) tat something (b) read Laches as it's being referenced in what I'm reading at the moment. A friend asked if there was more motive/meaning behind the Plato + lingerie. I think I sort of hemmed and hawed my way around the explanation, handwaving at "yes" but unable [unwilling?] to offer up details.

Maybe some day I'll do better at talking about it -- but in the mean time let us all just enjoy 'sexy book'

[simply-sithel]

It's still April 1st here, so I'm not too late to make a "Happy Edible Book!" post. What a day. A lot happened. Things are good.

[simply-sithel]

I haven't been posting for a while. It's hard to come back. But I want to. I've have projects I've made that I want to record and share. I have people here I like and want to interact with.

Life has been complicated and distorted this past Winter/Fall/Year. Problems and strife and hardships near to A & I as well as those plaguing everyone else broadly. I don't want to talk about them but I find it difficult to act as if They're Not There.

But I will try.

[simply-sithel]

Beware. Christmas Season is upon us.

[simply-sithel]

[simply-sithel]

I implemented the spine order marks for this text.

You can see that the top/bottom spine markers did work at one point in time... *

[simply-sithel]

[simply-sithel]

The colors have already begun to fade, but I remain in love with my "flower skirt" as I've been calling it. Double sided as its folded in half. Fabulous flounce to it. That rosemary came out much more yellow than expected which gives it a surprisingly summery vibe. Also some loquat and avocado used in parts. I don't think the raspberry really left a mark.

[simply-sithel]

Happy Halloween, y'all

[simply-sithel]

Finally got around to creating a sheath for that French leather pairing knife I got years ago as part of a SFCB class. Had forgotten it (so intense was my NO! reaction to working with leather) and the fact I could use it to trim my text blocks till I took the SFCB edge decorating class. Embedded two tiny magnets in the case to help hold the blade in place. Covered with paper made during the Renegade retreat back in April*, marbled by the talented @ziezie13.

Is now mounted on wall in craft room next to my old thread holder (which I enjoy the sight of but seldom touch these days-- the spools of thread I use now residing elsewhere)

[simply-sithel]

[simply-sithel]

Feeling like I need to try harder to post here a bit more. For my own sake. Undocumented projects are bound to be forgotten and being reminded of past works brings joy.

Tried to frame today as a "do whatever I want" day-- and apparently what I want is bookbinding. And tablet weaving, which has haunted me since @marvinhere started making it look so fun/interesting/full of potential. Have been feeling the itch of a new interest really start to bubble forth lately - have woven two bands so far and this is my third.

Of course bookbind can lovingly absorb such labors/interests. @chubsonthemoon's bookcloth is such a beautiful and inspiring piece, have been looking for a way to similarly slam these two interests together like a toddler with a pair of pots.

Minis are my MO and I've been long on the lookout for sufficiently tiny bookmarks (most ribbons being comically large when incorporated) -- I have also been interested in testing out a 2 (rather than 4) hole card/weave.

Thankfully stoned me last night, when pulling the thread needed for sewing the textblock, had an absurdly long excess when done... Which made me realize I could just weave the bookmark directly into the textblock (and anchor the rest of the warp by just looping it around the kettle stitches)

Saturday crafting in the sun- you can see the shadow of the binder clip I use to anchor the ends. Book is in tiny press and tiny press is in lap, allowing me to apply tension while also weaving off to the side (am still struggling with posture/form - I do not want/like to anchor it to my waist)

Having a good time. Brewing up more combo ideas...