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lindstromm · 3 years

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Simplified Bookbinding: Buy Good Glue

In the first post in the Simplified Bookbinding series (How to Make a Cheap First Book), I explained the four steps to binding your own book. Because it was a crappy first-effort practice book and I didn’t want to ask you to buy anything special, I used Elmer’s school glue. You can see what’s already happening to the book. The end papers are pulling off the cover; the cover is coming off the boards; even the binding has split and pages are going to start falling out.

The most important bookbinding supply to upgrade immediately is the GLUE. In this post, I’ll go through the four standard steps of bookbinding and talk about what kind of glue you need for each step. Here are the steps:

Step 1. Format the text and print it. (No glue required.)

Step 2. Create the text block. (The glue is incredibly important for this step and I will tell you exactly what to buy.)

Step 3. Create the case. (You need a decent craft-strength glue. I’ll explain some options, but there’s a lot of leeway in this glue choice.)

Step 4. Attach the case to the text block. (I’ll give you a couple of pointers, and then you can choose your own glue as you develop the technique.)

If any other bookbinders @renegadepublishing want to reblog and add glue comments, please go ahead. There are so many glue tips and tricks, and what you can get varies with what part of the world you’re in, so the more perspectives, the more helpful it is.

Long post with pictures and astonishing amounts of glue geekery under the cut.

Step Two: Create the text block.

To put the pages together, whether you’re perfect binding or sewing signatures, you must use PVA bookbinding glue. The description should also say things like “archival quality” and “acid-free” and “PH neutral” and “non-toxic.” There are several brand names of PVA bookbinding glue. I bought Lineco brand from Amazon.

Step Three: Create the case.

The glue to create the case is basically any glue that permanently sticks paper and cloth and cardboard together. I watched Sea Lemon’s glue video and went to a craft store with my list of glue brands she recommended and couldn’t find any of them. So I picked up a bottle of Aleene’s Tacky Glue and an Elmer’s Craft-Strength Glue Stick mostly because that was all the store had. They’ve worked out great and I’ve never tried anything else.

Check the glue descriptions for those important words like ‘archival quality’ and ‘non-toxic.’ I figure any glue that claims it’s safe for photos is safe for bookbinding.

A case for a book is made out of cover boards (stiff, strong and thin cardboard) which are covered in either bookcloth or cardstock (See Simplified Bookbinding: Cardstock Covers). Those things will all warp if they get wet. Glue is wet. Creating a case means using enough glue to stick it together without using so much glue that your cover warps.

This is one of my first books, in which I spread liquid glue over the entire cover board. I think I was still using chipboard for the cover boards at this point. You can see how badly it warped:

Then I figured out you should only put glue on the edges of the board, and my covers warp a tiny bit or not at all:

I do not use the PVA bookbinding glue on the covers because the PVA bookbinding glue is very runny/wet. The Tacky Glue is thicker. The glue stick is thickest of all. I know some people are leery of using a glue stick, but I’ve had great results. The craft strength glue stick says it was formulated to use on photos, so I figure it won’t turn yellow and rot ordinary paper either.

Step 4: Attach the case to the text block.

There are two places you use glue in Step Four. One is to glue the end paper to the text block. For that, I use the PVA bookbinding glue, applied with one of these methods.

Method 1:

Dipping the end paper in a line of glue gives you a nice thin and consistent line of glue on the crease.

You can also apply the glue directly to the text block, but that risks getting a glue blob somewhere, and then that spreads out and glues a bigger area than you wanted to glue.

Method 2:

Put some trash paper and wax paper between the end papers, and between the end paper and the first page of the text block (so you don’t glue pages together). Set wax paper on top of the text block, put some heavy books on it, and let it dry.

Is it dry? Moving on.

The second place you use glue in Step 4 is to attach the end paper to the case. In the pic on the right, I used liquid glue spread only at the edges. Maybe you can’t see it very well, but the paper is wrinkled like any paper gets if it gets wet and then dries. If you put a piece of paper in between the end papers while it dries, it absorbs some of the moisture, but I still get wet wrinkles sometimes. The one on the left was glued with a glue stick, and you can see how smooth it is.

I apply the glue stick only to the edges. (Notice I cut off as much of the spine cloth as I could.) Any glue on the end papers, whether glue stick or liquid glue, should only be applied around the edges:

Glue sticks dry really fast, so two sides are already drying out while I took this picture. One drawback to using a glue stick is you have to work fast. It might be easier to practice with liquid glue so you’ve got an extra few seconds to get the text block set straight in the case. Otherwise, you may have nice smooth end papers, but your entire text block is crooked. If the end papers are bad enough, you can always cut them off and start over with Step 4.

And just to keep glue in perspective, if the end papers get really screwed up, it probably isn’t the glue’s fault. This one is me not smoothing out the end paper very well before putting it under a heavy stack of books to dry:

Summary: Find good craft-quality glue and experiment to learn how to apply enough glue to stick your case together without applying so much that it wrinkles. That’s just a matter of practice, which is why I suggest making a few blank practice books before trying to bind something that really matters to you.

Good luck and have fun with it!

#simplified bookbinding #bookbinding #renegade bookbinders #renegade bookbinding #glue #lindstrom2020 #op #renegade publishing

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some-cookie-crumbz · 3 years

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A Little Charismatic

A Little Charismatic Fandom: My Hero Academia Pairing: FuyuPress Summary: FuyuPress Week 2021 Day 1 Prompt Fill: Life Swap - Never said who had to swap lives and I’m running on too little sleep and too much caffeine to stay in the lines. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more.

Sako Atsuhiro liked to consider himself an observant fellow, if not also a bit of a creature of habit. He had a handful of places that he enjoyed frequenting, where he knew his face was safe. He could walk about in his usual work garb, with or without his mask and hat, and none of the other patrons would bat an eye. It wasn’t because the company he found in these places was particularly trustworthy or noble sorts, however; oh, no, they were far from that. He had just taken the time to establish that, despite his seemingly frail physique, he was not a force to be tested. He was always watching, always vigilant, watching to make sure that men conducted themselves like proper gents in the company of potential romantic partners. And if not? Well, he may have done a sleight of hand trick to remove a wandering hand or two.

It wasn’t often that there were new faces wandering around his usual haunts, so when there were, he noticed. That night was one such example.

She’d been settled at the bar when he walked in, another bar patron already trying to get cuddly with her. Judging by the glower in those bright baby blues, she was less than impressed. She was an odd one to place as Atsuhiro moved past them, her eyes straying from her suitor to chase him instead. Ah, that was unsurprising. Many a woman’s eyes had wandered over him, taking his attire to mean he must be some brand of wealthy and useful. They’d come over and start up with the fluttering lashes and slow, playful touches while asking for a drink.

It was always entertaining to watch how their expressions shifted when he insisted they have separate tabs.

It took her a full ten minutes to shake the guy she was dealing with at the bar, but once she’d gotten him off, she approached. “This seat taken?” she asked, her hands laced behind her back and head tilted to one side. He chuckled as he sized her up, taking in the leather jacket tossed over a halter dress and combat boots. The damn thing was incredibly low cut and he was quick to avert his eyes, instead taking a sip of the beer in his hands.

“Not at all,” he hummed, indicating the booth seat across from him with the wave of a hand.

She offered him a polite bow before settling into the seat, a nice change of pace. Usually the women that approached would slide in beside him first go, but she seemed to have some iota of manners, at least. “You are a difficult man to track, you know,” she mused slowly, “Mr. Compress.” He froze mid-sip to stare at her, doing his best to keep the shock from showing on his face. Very few knew of his moniker, even when he was out and about in his full regalia, so for her to address him so matter-of-factly… She was a threat and would need to be disposed of. As if sensing the bleak thoughts running through his head, she held her hands up in a placating manner to him. “Don’t worry, I’m not a narc. Or affiliated with one. I don’t think many of the people around here are, in fact.”

“Whatever it is you are trying to play at, dear, you are wasting your time,” he quipped, turning his attention away from her to the bar keep. He seemed to be more focused on a loud, clearly drunk man arguing the merits of his tab, thankfully.

He kept her in his peripheral view, though. Just in case.

She blinked before her face morphed to show hurt. “So quick to disregard me… Ah, that seems to be a trend with men in my life,” she lamented with a long-suffering sigh. He got the distinct impression that most of her behavior was an act. One of her legs shifted out to prod at the side of his calf gently, trying to coax him to look at her again. “Won’t you at least hear me out?”

He scoffed but did return his attention to her. It was the least he could do and might yet yield some further information to help him discern her authentic intentions. “There is no reason to do so outside of wasting both our time,”

“What about a game, then? You seem like a man who fancies a fun game,” she suggested.

A game? Well… He couldn’t help but be intrigued by the hand she was laying down. “Depending on what the wager is, I may be inclined to humor you,”

“Here,” she shifted to rummage through her jacket pockets. After a moment, she dropped three items onto the tabletop between them; a lighter, a small vial of some kind of liquid, and a yarn and bead bracelet. With the items spread out, she picked up the bracelet and dangled it off her index finger, before indicating the other two items with her free hand. “Use your Quirk to put these three items away. Only one of them - this one here - is of any value to me. If I can get this one back from you, you’ll agree to comply with the request I have for you.” When she spoke, she waggled her index finger to attract his attention to the bracelet briefly, before dropping her chin into her other hand.

He blinked owlishly, contemplating her game. It was in his favor, yes, but then it became a question of what she could offer him in return. “And if you are unsuccessful?”

“I’ll comply with a request of yours. No limits,” she drawled the last two words out in a leading way, her fingers lightly drumming away along her own jawline. He wrinkled his nose a bit at her implication, but found it could be a rather useful trap. After all, there would be no indication as to which marble held what once he used his Quick to compress them. Only he would be able to say for certain, and it wasn’t as if he couldn’t easily swap them around if she picked the right one. There was much more to gain in this than he had to lose. “So, what do you say?” She stuck her hand out towards him, beaded bracelet still hanging on.

“Very well,” he said, taking her hand for a brief shake before sliding the bracelet off. Judging by the yarn on it, the thing was old and may be in dire need of some new yarn or replacing outright. He waved the thought off as he compressed it and then set to doing the same to the other two items. Under the table, he was sure to shuffle them around, placing the marble with her bracelet in the back pocket of his pants. He waited until she stepped away to get a drink to make that adjustment, sly grin on his lips. There was no way she’d be able to determine it was there as he wouldn't present it as an option, and then he could easily be rid of her. “There we are now. Just be aware, however, that I am very wise to the tricks a young minx like you is prone to attempting.”

“Is that so?” she hummed.

From there, they started up a fun little back and forth. He tried to get more answers to why, exactly, she knew his street moniker and why she’d been looking for him, but she flitted about the subjects using redirection. It was Take-aPenny, Leave-a-Penny logic she was trying to enact and he couldn’t help but find it amusing. It was clear she had some kind of experience with this kind of situation, with having to negotiate ones hand without tipping it too much. A flurry of questions came to his mind at the thought. She was such a young, demure young lady once she was engaged in a conversation. Something about those mannerisms and the idea of her living her whole life on the streets simply didn’t add up quite right to him.

It did, however, give him a fun little mystery to chase around.

After a good while she shifted to sit more upright, hands folded neatly in front of her. Her eyes were alight with mirth as she repositioned herself. “Well, I think that’s enough of that. I came here to accomplish a goal, not play footsie all night,” She stretched languidly and her gaze shifted from his face down lower, giggling a bit at what she saw.

He blinked twice before glancing downward himself and uttering a small short curse.

His eyes widened as he suddenly registered what, exactly, she’d been playing at all along. A glance downwards revealed a layer of ice sticking to the outer traces of his body, over his legs, hips and wrists specifically. Given that he was wearing his full gear minus his mask, of course he hadn’t noticed the change in temperature! She must have been assessing him during their conversation, skirting about with her verbal distraction while leaking small traces of her Quirk to gauge his reaction...

A clever ruse that he’d fallen into with regrettable ease.

“What in the devil did you do?” he spat, keeping his voice low as his eyes scanned the bar. No one else had noticed their exchange, thankfully. The last thing he needed was other hooligans taking advantage of this situation.

She tilted her head with a feigned innocence. “Hmm? What’s wrong? Don’t like that I used my Quirk too?” The faux concern melted into a mischievous grin of delight as she moved from her perch across from him to sit beside him. She nudged the chunk of ice pinning his legs down with the toe of her boot as she settled in nice and close. “I never said that it was against the rules, you know. And it’s only fair that if you got to use yours, I get to use mine. Wouldn’t that be the gentleman’s viewpoint on this matter?” Her tone was light and playful, but he could cast the mocking wisps underlying her words. Without further preamble, she reached over to rummage through his coat pockets as well as the pockets of his slacks, humming to herself as she ignored his quiet snarls to cease her actions. She leaned back just a bit once she gathered seven marbles in total, swirling one in a circle in her palm. “Ah, there’s more in these pockets of yours than just what’s mine. How uncouth! Scandalous even!”

He tried to twist himself free but the ice pinned up along his wrists and hips didn’t budge an inch. Not even a thin crack was visible, to his uncensored chagrin. “What game are you playing at, wretch?”

“Just the game we agreed to,” she hummed. She peered at his marbles with an appraising eye before stuffing them into the pocket of her tattered denim shorts instead. “Since I’m the obvious winner here, I guess that means you have no choice but to abide by my rule, hm?”

“Name your damn price, then,” he growled lowly.

She giggled and leaned closer, walking two fingers up along his chest to his face. “You’re going to come with me to have a meeting. With. My. Boss,” Each of her final few words was followed by a mocking tap to the tip of his nose. If he could move his hands, he would have firmly shoved her from his personal space, but instead settled for jerking his head to the side. It only made her Cheshire grin grow wider. He could almost see a feline tail swaying in delight behind her, he swore. “He has a very… prosperous job opportunity for you. One that I think you’ll be very much inclined to take.”

This young woman was dangerous, and he was unclear if that was unappealing to him or not.

#My Hero Academia #FuyuPress #Mr. Compress #Sako Atsuhiro #Todoroki Fuyumi #FuyuPress Week 2021 #my fics #I am surprisingly pleased with this one #All things considered

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criminology-studies · 6 years

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Day 12 mental health tips.

To those who have depression, some tips/coping methods:

Now, some of these might not work for you and that is okay. Everybody is different, no one is the same, that’s what makes you wonderful and beautifully unique. When I am having one of those bad days I might do/have been recommended to do some of the following:

1. Know that at the state you are in you going to be thinking mostly irrationally. No matter what you think, it is mostly irrational. The little voice in your head saying that nobody loves you? Telling you to do all of those horrible things to yourself? Breathe in, push them to the back of your mind and ignore them. I know it’s hard, trust me. But you just have to try to not think about it. The longer you do, a detailed plan can form inside your head and that is bad. Especially when you want to focus on the positives.

2. Focus on the positives. Before you all throw heavy objects at me and scream, let me explain. While it sounds like the most dumbass thing to tell someone with depression, you have to try to get into a happy mindset. Now, I have been told this when I was feeling so down that I could barely do anything (like I got given a book on how to think positive). You have to look at it like this, the world is an amazing place. It’s wonderful and one day, you’ll get to explore it. You’ll get to see all the things you’ve dreamed of seeing, but you can’t do that do that if you give into your thoughts. Then they have one.

3. Ignore people that tell you that you don’t deserve to be depressed because you have a roof over your head, you have food, you have parents who love you. These idiots don’t understand depression. This brings me onto my next point.

4. People who haven’t had depression will most likely not understand and say things like ‘it’s a bad day, not a bad life’ but in that situation, in your head, it doesn’t feel like a bad day, it feels like a bad life. I know, don’t worry. If you are one medication and someone tells you shouldn’t be taking it because you can cope without it, just never talk to them again. Seriously. Even if you are sure you’re just being dramatic, explain to them how it helps you and if they still don’t get it, ditch them.

5. Go to the doctors, they can either get you counselling, or give you medication. But they need to know things like this.

6. If your friends don’t understand, you are not the issue. I promise you, it is not your fault. You did absolutely nothing wrong to be told that you are just sad and to move on.

7. If you self harm, draw and doodle on your skin in a red felt tip.

8. Talk to someone, please. it could be a parent, friend, sibling, councilor, therapist, psychologist, doctor. Anyone, just don’t let them feelings of yours get bottled up.

9. If you are having one of those days where you don’t want to do anything, that’s okay. You don’t always have to do something. However, bare in mind that this could go two ways: one, you feel better the next day since you have had time to relax. Or, two, you wake up the next morning down, anxious and stressed because you couldn’t do the work that you were meant to do yesterday because you were so stressed. But you know you better than I do, so do what you think is best.

10. If you are having a day where you don’t even want to talk, that’s fine. I was told that if I don’t want to talk, that’s fine, I didn’t have to. So, I didn’t. I just didn’t have the energy to, and that was okay.

11. Surround yourself with people who care and love you. I promise you, those people are there.

12. Anything that keeps you here is worth it. It’s okay if the one thing that keeps you here is you cat, your friend, the one youtuber you love, mcdonalds, your parents, your siblings. Anything that you find helps keep you living is worth it.

13. My last tip on this is to remember that you are loved. I promise you, I know I ave said I promise a lot, but I mean all of them.

To those who have anxiety, some tips/coping methods:

Okay, so I have been told a couple of tricks that I have been told by some people I talk to that could help some of you and help me a little bit, so I though, why not share :)

1. Control your breathing. The one I have been told to try is the breathe in for four seconds, hold it til seven and then out for eight. This helps slightly, however, when I go back to breathing normally, I feel anxious again, which is when I try something else on this list.

2. Doodle. Seriously, go crazy, I have a whole notebook that I will turn to a clean page a just go mad and doodle. Sometime my doodles are effected by my mood, which helps me express myself. It’s great. I had a word with my teachers and they let me doodle in class as long as I get the work done and pay attention, maybe try doing the same?

3. Fold paper. Don’t worry if you can’t fold some swans or boats or whatever. But just folding paper that you focus on completely can help take your mind off of your worries. Obviously, if you fancy making a swan, then go right ahead, but don’t worry if you can’t, I can’t either.

4. Maths. Now, before you all start screaming at me for suggesting that. It doesn’t have to be things like algebra or Pythagoras, just simple things like choose four random numbers, order them by size, multiply them, or subtract them- just distract yourself. That’s what these techniques are all about, taking your mind off of whatever you are worried about.

5. Talk to someone. Like, anyone. It could he a teacher, a parent, a cousin, an uncle, an aunt, a tumblr blog, a friend, a pet. Just anyone or anything to get it off of your chest and face the issue. Normally people from an outside point of view can give great advice or give you some comfort.

6. Fiddle with something small. Some people that I know carry guitar picks in their pockets, or hair clips/pins, That way if you’re at school, teachers won’t really notice something you can keep in your pocket, I have not tried this yet, I am planning on it though, I have a guitar pick and everything.

Those are the ones I do mostly, but just because they work for me doesn’t mean they will work for you, everyone is different. If you have anymore please reblog and add them so other people can try them.

#wilstudiesfeb #anxitey #mental health #Icecreamstudies

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learnjp · 7 years

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My Regrets

Hey guys, I can't thank you guys enough for being patient with me and my inactivity on this blog for the past couple of weeks. I've had a lot going on in my life, including both university and some difficult personal matters too. I still have two exams next week but I just couldn't stay away any longer! One of my friends who has recently begun studying Japanese asked me, "What do you wish you had known or had done when you first started learning Japanese?" and that got me thinking, it might be worth making a post about the things I regret or wish I had done when I first started, so that new learners can avoid these mistakes or bad habits! It'd be great if other people could reblog this post and add their own regrets so that we can all share our valuable tips! My regrets:

Wasting time trying to find the most efficient way to learn Japanese - I wasted a lot of my time when I first started out, just trying out various methods and tricks on 'the best way to study Japanese'. Really, all I needed to do was find a good textbook or a useful website and just stick to the lessons and guides that it offered. There's no need to find fast, efficient, or accurate ways to study. Of course I'm not discouraging anyone from trying out different study methods until they find one that suits them, I’m just saying that once you find something that suits your learning style - stick to it, don't waste time trying other methods out too if you already have one that works for you.

Avoiding kanji - when I first began studying Japanese, kanji looked impossible to read, write, and memorise, so I ignored it and simply used hiragana and katakana. I regret this because kanji is honestly so useful and important in regards to Japanese. So please, don't shy away from it, just dive in headfirst and start learning it. When learning new vocabulary, try to learn the appropriate kanji that is used with them.

Using romaji - I relied on romaji way too much at the start, and this did make it difficult for me when I finally decided to stop using it and focus on actual Japanese characters. Romaji just isn't worth it. It's fine above new kanji that you're learning and trying to remember, but don't rely on it. Just try to memorise the characters and their sounds - yes this will take some time, but it's much more effective and efficient than using romaji.

Focusing on grammar instead of vocabulary - I spent most of my time trying to learn how to say something, but I didn't know enough vocabulary to actually use in the sentences that I had learned. It’s important to have a wide vocabulary otherwise you’re going to have trouble in terms of speaking, reading, and listening to Japanese. Plus, I found that grammar is easier for me to remember with a wider vocabulary.

Of course this is purely based on my own experiences and I am in no way suggesting that you should or have to follow these recommendations. These are just some of my own regrets and I hope that they can be of help to you guys who are just starting out!

#studyblr #studyspo #langblr #japanese #japanese language #日本語 #regrets #language regrets #mine #text #beginner #romaji #study tips

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