This book combines the soft opening of a leather spine with the sturdy firmness of board covers. The completed book opens nearly perfectly flat making it an ideal book for your journal writing or drawing. Creating your book involves sewing folded signatures through a leather spine with the long stitch. We will begin by getting acquainted with paper grain and its importance for the finished book. We will cover the boards of the book with decorative paper and once dry we'll drill holes in the covers to prepare for sewing. The leather spine will also need holes for sewing which we will pierce with an awl or drill. Paper signatures will be folded and pierced and then we'll take a short break for lunch. After lunch we will learn to sew the long stitch to bind the book. Covers will then be sewn onto the leather spine piece. By the end of the workshop, you will have completed your book, and have the skill to make more on your own. Class fee includes all materials we use to make a book: leather for the spine, a sheet of decorative paper to cover boards, paper for your signatures, a pair of pre-cut cover boards, glue, and waxed-linen thread. Please bring your own basic bookbinder's toolkit: bonefolder, pencil, awl, Xacto knife, scissors, ruler, and a bookbinder's needle. If you don't have any of these, the BAL will have student tools to share.

If you are a BAL member please reach out to registration@groundworksartlab.org for a $10 off discount. 

Ages: 16+

This class takes place at Groundworks East (3063 E. Sterling Cir)

Class will be available for registration December 8th at 8:00am. 

The Book Arts League is excited to announce that we will now offer open studio hours! Our shop will be available monthly for you to print your work. Below are the upcoming open studio dates. BAL board members will be your hosts and will assist you with your printing projects. Please bring your own paper and get ready to print! Book Arts League Members please RSVP to bal.workshops@gmail.com. If you are not a Book Arts League Member, register here!

THURSDAY Mar. 12th — 4:30-6:30PM

THURSDAY April 9th — 4:30-6:30PM

We will print a saying of your choice over the wonderful textures and colors of old maps using the Vandercook letterpress. “Get Your Kicks on Route 66!”, “Life’s a Journey”, “Those who wander are not lost” - or any short quote you might think of. Make a special gift for travel-partners or mark a special place with “x-marks-the-spot”. 

Bring your own maps - which we will trim to size - or take from our vast supply. Everyone will take home five 9”x14” broadsides. 

The Book Arts League is a Colorado-based community of individuals who share an interest in letterpress printing, calligraphy, and bookbinding.

(kids 12+ must be accompanied by an adult)

All supplies and materials will be provided. 

Will be available to register on Monday, February 2 at 8:00 am.

 Do you have a super cool tie from the back of your Grandpa's closet with a cool funky design? You can make that silk tie into a beautiful handmade book! Join Brenda Gallagher to transform the fabric from your old tie into a paper backed book cloth that can be used to cover boards of your own hand sewn blank journal. You can bring your own tie or choose one of the dozens of ties from Brenda's collection to cover your book. We'll begin making ties into bookcloth, then we'll proceed to cover our book boards with the tie bookcloth to make a case. The blank book for the inside of our book will be hand sewn and include colorful endpapers and matching endbands. Come spend the day learning beginning case bound book binding skills that show off your Grandpa tie flair.

Ages: 16+

This class takes place at Groundworks East (3063 E. Sterling Cir)

Class will be available for registration Monday, February 2 at 8:00am. 

Create a small, leather-bound notebook that is refillable (3.5" x 5.5"). We'll build two signatures of fine writing paper of about 30 pages each. We'll sew them with linen thread and include a pocket cut and folded from cardstock. Then we'll enclose the signatures in the leather cover with an elastic cord or a leather cord, depending on preference. Participants can emboss their initials or name on the cover.

Ages: 16+

This class takes place at Groundworks East (3063 E. Sterling Cir)

Class will be available for registration Monday, February 2 at 8:00am. 

The Book Arts League is excited to announce that we will now offer open studio hours! Our shop will be available monthly for you to print your work. Below are the upcoming open studio dates. BAL board members will be your hosts and will assist you with your printing projects. Please bring your own paper and get ready to print! Book Arts League Members please RSVP to bal.workshops@gmail.com. If you are not a Book Arts League Member, register here!

THURSDAY Mar. 12th — 4:30-6:30PM

THURSDAY April 9th — 4:30-6:30PM