Botanical Bookbinding Journey

£310

Fri 9 - Sun 11 May

In stock

Description

Botanical Bookbinding Masterclass
Fri 9 – Sun 11 May
10am – 4pm

Join us for a special extended three day Botanical Bookbinding journey, where you’ll learn every step of creating a handmade botanical book. From crafting your own paper to experimenting with foraged inks and finally binding your pages with various stitches, this hands-on workshop equips you with the skills to continue making at home.

Day 1 dives into the art of papermaking. Using pulped recycled materials, you’ll cast sheets of handmade paper, enhanced with petals, pressed botanicals, or even preserved botanical samples. Cass will guide you through each step, ensuring you leave with a beautiful collection of textured papers. You’ll also receive tips, techniques, and a kit list to keep exploring papermaking on your own.

Day 2 is all about expressive mark-making. Based on your feedback, we’ve expanded this part of the course into a full day. You’ll use botanical inks prepared by Cass and experiment with natural tools like twigs and plants to create unique marks. Print directly from foraged leaves, design your own stamps, and combine these techniques to produce a stunning set of textural and illustrated papers. These can be used in your bookbinding projects or saved for other creative ventures.

Day 3 focuses on bookbinding techniques to bring your creations together. Cass will teach you how to make a leather or pleather-spined hardback book with exposed stitching, as well as a Japanese stab notebook featuring a twig spine. You’ll incorporate your handmade papers from days one and two, along with optional blank pages and found papers to create functional books perfect as sketchbooks, journals, or gifts.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with a collection of unique papers, several handmade books, and the confidence to continue your craft journey. Follow-up resources and kit lists will be provided, ensuring you have everything you need to keep creating.

About Your Tutor

“I have a background in Fine Art Sculpture, which is were I first discovered bookbinding – making my own sketchbooks out of whatever was to hand so I could get the sculptures I wanted to make out of my head, onto paper and into the world. Driven by a desire to help people explore their own creativity I went on to complete a Masters in Art Museum & Gallery Education, which led to me working as an Art Educator at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Artist in Residence at the Girvan Lantern Festival and taking on the role of Development Officer with Voluntary Arts Scotland, supporting community groups of all shapes and sizes to develop and deliver creative activities – all the while teaching myself bookbinding and running bookbinding workshops. In January 2019 I took the leap and went fully freelance and set up Bookbinding with Cass, which enabled me to put together a dynamic programme of creative classes and work in partnership with some fantastic community organisations, sharing my love of bookbinding with people from a range of backgrounds.”

  • All materials for your Botanical Bookbinding Masterclass workshop are included in the course cost, but you are welcome to bring your own collection of papers and plant materials to incorporate into your design
  • Tea and coffee are provided but participants should bring their own lunch and utensils
  • All of our classes are suitable for over 16s, younger crafters may be accommodated if accompanied by a participating adult but please contact us before booking
  • If the workshop you were looking at is fully booked drop us an email and we’ll add you to the waiting list. We will add extra dates to our most popular workshops too, join the mailing list to be the first to know
  • All of our workshops are held at Craft Central, High Street, Dunblane, FK15 0EE
  • If you need to cancel or reschedule your workshop we need at least three weeks notice. Please read our cancellation policy before booking

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