Join Brenda Gallagher for an afternoon of fun paper projects to liven up your holiday decor. We'll create some colorful bulb ornaments from decorative paper strips, lattice cut holiday trees and a folded star wreath. Come join the fun! All materials provided.

Ages: 16+ 

All supplies and materials will be provided. 

Will be available to register on Monday, September 22 at 8:00am.

Ephemera: any transitory written or printed matter not meant to be retained or preserved.

Each year the Book Arts League hosts a print Ephemera playdate. Letterpress printed pieces are encouraged, but the BAL will accept any entry! In the past we have had potato prints, laser printed quotes, creative cuttings from old phone books, poems picked out on pages of old books, a set of 30 individual collages, folded maps, even laser printed illustrations. Anything you can print, you can send!!

To play, participants make an edition of 30 pieces, send them into the BAL by January 31 (or as soon thereafter as you can!) Once the Book Arts League receives all entries for the year, the sets will be collated. A BAL volunteer will then design a wrapper or package to contain the collection and you will be mailed back a complete set! Inside your package you will receive one piece from every person who participated and one of your own pieces. Also included will be a list of the names of all the artists who participated. 

Would you like to participate in our annual event but don't know where to begin? Don't have a press? Come join Brenda Gallagher in the Book Arts League letterpress studio to print your submission for this year's exchange! Bring your paper of choice. You'll need at least 30 pieces that can be cut (or folded) down to 5"x7" pieces. You can set a few words using the BAL type collection and pair it with a picture block from the BAL's collection. Bring your ideas and get ready for the 2026 Ephemera Exchange!

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

Ages: 16+

Prints can be dropped off at Groundworks East (3063 E. Sterling Cir)

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

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.