The binderie workshop...

Lips dusted with powdered sugar and the sour sweet of lemon, you look down the narrow market corridor of tents, wondering where to begin.  Your stop at the little crepe cart was a wonderful way to start as you watched the masterful way in which the batter was poured and spread over a hot plate until cooked then briskly given a bit of lemon juice and sprinkling of sugar.  You stand nibbling the paper-wrapped crepe as your eyes dance over the seemingly endless array of trinkets.  

It is a true art to navigate the overfilled baskets, tins, bowls, clay pots and various makeshift trays draped with colorful bits of fabric holding the goods of the marketplace.  The experienced gypsy knows not to waste time digging through such, but rather looks beyond what is laid out before them to what's hidden behind.  You carefully watch one of these gypsies as she makes her way through the market, then follow in her steps.  Slip between the dazzling gypsy jeweler's bright glass cases of his latest creations and the cordwainer's tools & leather goods- then make a quick left through the door with the now worn paint remnants of the word "books".  

A trio of bells signal your entrance and a voice calls a warm welcome.  Trying to take in the overfilled wooden shelves, your eyes wander over jars filled with pastes and brushes, a board with different sized awls poking from it, spools of twines and threads and come to rest on the old bookbinder's skilled fingers repairing the binding on a worn book.  Your heart races in anticipation of what's to be discovered here-  you have entered the binderie workshop...

Tucked safely in your knapsack is your little secret bookbinding tool.  The binderie punch.  Yes, you think, it may not be as rudimentary as the book binder's awl, but it allows you to bind your books as masterfully as his.  You notice a small basket under your feet containing book covers, their bindings too worn to salvage.  Always in search of good junk, you bend over to examine them.  Wouldn't they be perfect for your next hand bound book?  You slip one into the binderie punch and it drills through it with ease.  Vintage book covers, you think, what a great new idea!  And in a couple of different styles, the possibilities are endless.  And with that your binderie workshop adventure begins...

After an hour or so of pouring through every nook in the workshop, you walk out, arms filled with parcels, content that you have a good start to your bookbinding collection.  

Three new book board kits to bind accordion style, traditional book left or to use as pages in other projects!

And book board in funky new shapes.  Perfect for covers or inserts.

You delight in the clever little alphabet that the bookbinder's apprentice has fashioned from leftover chipboard bits and covered in your favorite new gypsy market papers!

And finally the new envelope book straight from the bookbinder's own hands.  Already wire bound and ready to use.  You loved the paper covered version he used to store his sales slips and vow to make one just like it.

Back onto the cobblestone street you go wondering what the market will bring next...