[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-getting-ready-for-leeds-thought-bubble-mini-comic-bookbinding":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"So much to do before \u003Ca href=\"http://thoughtbubblefestival.com/\">Thought Bubble\u003C/a> comics festival this weekend! The writer of two of my picture books, \u003Ca href=\"http://thoughtbubblefestival.com/portfolio/detail/gillian-rogerson/\">Gillian Rogerson\u003C/a>, lives in Leeds, and we're going to run an all-ages activity table, where you can design wacky pirates, invent new worlds by designing treasure maps or just generally hang out with us and draw comics. I'm trying to make our tables a bit more pirate-themed, so yesterday I printed out this big pirate ship in the studio, from the cover I painted for \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/princess-pirate.php\">\u003Ci>You Can't Scare a Princess!\u003C/a>\u003C/i>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_10-a067687b16.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's a poster I knocked together earlier this evening:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_12-1f42bec5aa.gif\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd some cut-out lettering so people will know where they are.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_11-1e735f799b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nNow for mini comics! Handmade books take so long to put together, and this one is 70 pages long, but I really wanted to show something new that I'd made entirely myself. After I'd drawn and scanned the comics, I put together a cover out of stiff card.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_6-40e24dc697.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI thought it would be a nice handmade touch to put a Chinese seal at the end of each book, so here they are, spread out on Gary's scanner to dry. (Sorry, Gary.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_1-42890e5367.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for more bookbinding pics under the cut...-->\\r\nI brought the print-outs home a couple evenings ago and laid out all the stacks of pages. I think I could have had my studio printer collate the pages and save me this step, but I had a whole bunch of printer glitches, so I won't go into that.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_2-ddd726c921.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere are the stacks of book pages, ready to be folded.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_3-c27d1b2ecf.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThis thing's called a bone folder. Sometimes they're made of bone, sometimes Teflon and sometimes plastic. They're great for sliding down paper to get a really hard fold, and to save your fingertips.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_8b-e3fb279a65.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHurrah! Thirty comics folded, cup of tea mostly drunk. (Why am I sitting on the floor? I'd recommend doing this on a table.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_4-86a57446bf.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI didn't have to trim the pages, but the paper stack in each book was so thick that the pages were sticking pretty far outside the edges of the covers. So I cut off the edges to tidy them into one straight line.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_5-a5c682073c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd anyone would just \u003Ci>have\u003C/i> to take a little break to turn the trimmings into a fine moustache.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_5b-12f904bdfd.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI used an awl to poke three holes through the 17 sheets of thick paper and cover. My awl didn't like that at all and the end is getting a bit blunt, which is a real pain. (Makes it such a pointless exercise... arf.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_7-b6f8cd69b5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIf the paper had been cheaper and thinner, I probably could have got away with stapling the pages, but it's just too thick. So I sewed the pages by hand, starting through the middle hole, going around to the two other holes, then coming back to the middle hole and tying it off.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_8-1e9a803c18.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd there you have it, the comic I'm going to be selling at Leeds, along with my comic \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/vernlettuce-book.php\">\u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/a>\u003C/i>, my two picture books with Gillian, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/princess-pirate.php\">\u003Ci>You Can't Scare a Princess!\u003C/i>\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/princess.php\">\u003Ci>You Can't Eat a Princess!\u003C/i>\u003C/a> and possibly a few copies of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/morris.php\">\u003Ci>Morris the Mankiest Monster\u003C/a>\u003C/i> and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/titus.php\">\u003Ci>When Titus Took the Train\u003C/a>\u003C/i>. Gillian will also be selling her new book \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://gillianrogerson.net/signed-books/the-children-s-history-of-leeds/\">The Children's History of Leeds\u003C/a>\u003C/i> and some of her own picture books. Do stop by if you'd like to get your copies signed, they make great Christmas prezzies.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/minicomic_9-1a3aacd207.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd, of course, don't forget the newly launched \u003Ca href=\"http://www.blankslatebooks.co.uk/2011/05/nelson/\">\u003Ci>Nelson\u003C/i> anthology\u003C/a>, which I'll also be signing! And I'm speaking on a panel about it at 11am on Saturday at the festival, hope to see you there.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.blankslatebooks.co.uk/2011/05/nelson/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/nelson-e9699d1a94.jpg\">\u003C/a>","2011-11-16T00:22:00.000Z","getting-ready-for-leeds-thought-bubble-mini-comic-bookbinding",[],"getting ready for leeds thought bubble + mini comic bookbinding",1776628720979]