Calligraphy ribbon with Maybelle Imasa Stukuls

I'm very excited the collaboration with calligrapher Maybelle came to life! We were inspired to collaborate together, as soon as we organized the Calligrafia workshop at our studio last spring. Some first drafts of Maybelle alphabet were ready right after the first class, but it took us a few months to complete the project in details. The black ink alphabet, in upper and lower case, became white relief silkscreen printing, over black cotton ribbon. The long time and effort to have the best printing result, was all worth the wait. Now the Calligraphy ribbon arrived from Italy and it is packaged by hand in our studio on tea dye wood spools. They are so beautiful and I'm thankful to Maybelle for working with me on this idea. Now I started to think, what can come next?

Calligrafia with Maybelle Imasa Stukuls: the workshops

Even after a few days from the Calligrafia workshop, I'm still dreaming of ink drawing on paper, the beautiful atmosphere we had at the studio with the students and the warmth of Maybelle voice and her way of teaching. It was really amazing. I selected a few photos from that special day and I hope it can give an idea of workshops. I also would like to refer to two blog posting, one by Justine Hand and the other in German by Heike Pototschnigg that add more details on the workshop. A huge thank you to Maybelle for coming all the way from San Francisco to teach modern calligraphy in our studio and to the wonderful students that joined us for the day. It was a dream!

Calligrafia with Maybelle Imasa Stukuls: The set up

The Calligrafia workshop with Maybelle was a wonderful experience. Ever since I discovered her work through Tristan of Besotted, I was completely in love with Maybelle's style and calligraphy. When we finally met in person the past December, I was thrilled about the opportunity to offer one of her workshop here at our studio. Since the very first hour of setting up the materials and styling the tables for the student to come, I knew it was going to be, indeed, amazing! During the workshop, I couldn't stop photographing each moment of Maybelle teaching, the students work and every detail it went to perform this special day. I have now more than two hundreds photos to sort and edit for the new post, but meanwhile, I didn't want to wait any longer to share these images of the set up with you. More very soon!

Ink and personalized pen holder for each student.

Setting up for each student seat

Center piece with wooden pencils and Metallic cotton ribbon spools.

  

Preparing the wood box calligraphy kit for the students.

The letterpress event

What a day celebrating letterpress printing and design! Thank you to everyone that came and joined the day with us and to Ladyfingers Letterpress, Albertine Press, Letter and Lark and Parrott Design Studio, the event wouldn't ever have been possible without you! More pics on Instagram and on lovely Posh and Prep blog. Thank you for the post Julie!

Calligrafia con Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls

It seems a dream that Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls will come to our studio and offer a modern calligraphy workshop with us, with a twist on packaging, by using our line of ribbons. The workshop will be on April 12th, with a chance to chose between a morning class or afternoon. Here below is the description, if you are interested to sign up, the workshop is listed on the online shop or just send us an email. Space are very limited. If you like to read more about Maybelle, please read the interview by Besotted Brand blog. And if you are just curious to see some images of her workshops around the world, Maybelle was recently in Japan and Singapore, you can find lots of inspiration from her photography. I truly can't wait to have Maybelle joining us here in Brookline and to meet some of you soon.
Having studied calligraphy from traditional teachers, Maybelle teaches her unique style of calligraphy, using a pointed pen. This class is ideal for beginners and she tries to emphasize that each and every student develop their own style after attending this 3 hours class and that it should come through in your writing. Starting out with capitals, miniscules and then we move on to writing words. All materials for the class are provided and specially hand picked by Maybelle. Every student goes home with a kit which comes along with a one of a kind, personalized wooden pen holder made by Maybelle's husband. After all that learning and writing, all students will be treated to some delicious snacks. We promise food, calligraphy and a great time, so do come and join us together with Maybelle at our studio. Maybelle has a very impressive list of clients, including Martha Stewart Weddings, and her works have been featured on many design blogs, such as Design*Sponge and Oh Happy day. Having more than 10 years of experience under her belt, Maybelle teaches calligraphy workshops all over the world, recently in Singapore, Tokyo, Australia, New York, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives.
WHAT'S INCLUDED Maybelle is bringing her special calligraphy and hand lettering kits packaged in a lovely wooden box. Along with the kit, you will receive a special selection from the Studio Carta ribbons. Delightful treats and espresso will be served.
CLASS VACANCY Cap of 8 students per session.

Metallic cotton ribbon and calligraphy by Maybelle

Photo by Jessie James

Photo by Elisabeth Messina

Letterpress demo this Saturday, April 6th!

Join us for a letterpress demonstration in our studio and let's celebrate spring together! We will print on our Kelsey table top press an illustration by Susy Pilgrim Waters, work with Shelley of Albertine Press on the press and enjoy a cup of espresso with us. This Saturday, April 6th from 11 to 3, 97 Boylston Street, Brookline, Massachusetts. We really can't wait! The scissors giveaway continues until April 7th.

189 libri

Today is last day of a one week long exhibition, seminars and workshops 189 Libri, organized by Silvana Amato at the Biblioteca Angelica in Rome. All our limited editions and calendarbooks by Edizioni Almenodue were on view during the exhibition, along with several other work by Silvana's students from Universita` La Sapienza di Roma and her personal research around the theme of the design and making of the book. I'm very excited our collaborative work is part of the exhibition, but missing terribly to be there and listening the seminars! Some of the images below were taken during the hand-papermaking workshop "Diventare mastro cartaio" by Fabriano and the seminar "Autoritratto allo specchio" by Guido Scarabottolo. They all must have been incredibly interesting! The photography is by Alessio Macri` and more can be seen on the 189 Libri Tumblr page. Enjoy!

The Link Stitch Workshop

Lovely class at the DeCordova during last weekend. And first signs of Spring in the Sculpture Park.

Letterpress and Bookbinding Workshop No.10

It's time for workshops for me. I have announced already the one coming up this weekend, but I also would like to announce the Letterpress and Bookbinding Workshop taught in collaboration with Albertine Press on Saturday, March 26th from 10 to 4 and Sunday, March 27th fro 12 to 4. The class is open now for registration!
On day one, participants will design, typeset and letterpress print an edition of one book page, by learning basic letterpress skill. On day two, we will learn the construction of the origami-style Lotus book and assemble the editioned pages + learn other two accordion based structure books. The picture below illustrate the result of two books, made during a previous class. If interested, please contact me directly or Albertine Press with any question. I can't believe we already arrived to No.10 workshop taught together in the past few year!

Workshop at the DeCordova Museum on March 12th

After a long time without teaching, I'm excited to offer a workshop at DeCordova Museum on Saturday, March 12th.
As my previous class, it's taught in one day, focused on the Coptic/link stitch binding, a very versatile structure that can apply to a lot of applications.
We will bind two books, one to first test the sewing and a second book, with the complete binding and eight signatures. We will use hand-made, flax paper by Cave Paper, on the cover and mould-made Biblio paper on the text block. The class is nearly full, but if you are interested, there are a few spots available. To register contact directly the Museum School or call 781-2590505.
Thank you all for your interest in my classes and for incoraging me to continue to teach. I'm thinking to start offering some classes in my studio, something I had in mind from a for a while and more classes in collaboration with Albertine Press will be announced soon.

The following is the description of the coming class:
Coptic Binding refers to methods of bookbinding developed by early Christians in Egypt, the Copts, dating back from the 2nd century AD. Due to their beauty, simplicity and ease of opening, Coptic binding styles are popular among modern artist books. The multi section spine is exposed, leaving the Coptic binding visible. The stitch, done with two needles, resembles the chain stitching used in embroidery. The book can open to a full 360° display or lay it completely flat without risk of damage to the spine. The sewing technique lends itself to a very traditional style yet the exposed look adds a contemporary elegance to the final book. High quality paper will be used for the text block and fine, hand-made, flax paper on the cover. A wide selection of book structure samples will be shown in the end of the class, for further discussion and inspiration.