Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord shared a delightful step book that she made to illustrate the growth of narcissus from bulb to bloom!  Her blog, Making Books, is dedicated to making books with children, to encourage literacy and a lifelong love of books and reading.  The story of the narcissus book is at the link above, and Susan has also created a video of the process:

With an impressive list of classes offered, San Francisco Center for the Book remains a mecca for book arts education.   Click on the link above, and you’ll find a schedule of all classes by month at SFCB.  There’s an icon on the page as well that will take you to a visual catalog, allowing you to check out the classes by what looks most appealing 

Looking for something to do with yourself now that the year is almost over?  Here’s a great project that will showcase all of your favorite correspondence from the year:
Does anyone write letters anymore? Of course they do! Even if your love letters arrived via email, this great little tutorial will show you how to make a special album to collect and cherish them. Thanks to artist Di Hickman for the brilliant idea, which you could also use to collect up your favorite holiday cards!

Although there are certainly plenty of books that cover the great art of book making, perhaps you’d like to try a simple version first before investing in more detailed directions. Dawn Vinson at Daydreaming on Paper has generously made instructions available, using both diagrams and photos to illustrate the most basic process of binding your own!

Central New York Book Arts is an exhibition that features book works created by regional book artists, including students at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y., and the printmaking course in the School of Art and Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts, at Syracuse University. The 22 works in the exhibition illustrate a wide range of book structures, including sewn books, accordions, and sculptural works using such materials as clay, cloth, paper, leather, and parchment. Techniques used for text and imagery include letterpress printing, woodcuts, silk-screen, laser/inkjet, calligraphic, and combinations of these techniques.
The exhibition, which is being held in the …read more

Richard Minsky is the founder and the current chairman of the Center for Book Arts in New York City. The center has presented over 140 exhibitions since the opening, and has been prominent in establishing the artist book movement. Minsky’s book art is extraordinary, and as a master teacher, he has inspired his students to think about the materials and structure of the book as metaphors.
Out of so many brilliant books that you can see on his website, here’s one of my favorites:

The Geography of Hunger

OK, I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for small independent presses, and even more of a sucker for small books. Combine the two, and you’ve definitely got my interest!

Leaves
Mystical Places Press is the publisher of limited edition handmade books. The series that caught my attention first is called Nature’s Details. The picture above is a miniature book from that series. Mystical Places Press also publishes a twice yearly newsletter to help showcase the works of other book artists.

I’d definitely suggest that if you’re a fan of handmade paper and books, you should visit and subscribe to CaiLun. The work shown there is exquisite, and the techniques are inspiring!

The Book Arts Web, home of one of the best email lists for book artists, has the newest issue of the e-journal The Bonefolder available online for downloading. Among other things, it includes a behind-the-scenes look at the show One Book, Many Interpretations .

There are so many more options than there used to be. To help you make sense of all the options available today (that weren’t around just a few years ago, Hamish MacDonald has written an article posted on No Media Kings. Not surprisingly, No Media Kings is a strong advocate for keeping control of your own creative works!