The True Secret of Happiness

Image via gladgirl.com.

From the venerable William Morris, a beautiful thought to keep in mind in the midst of the busy holiday season and as we move forward into a bright, new year... 

Happy Holidays from Parvum Opus!

Desk Calendars, Looking Back...

The 2016 desk calendar from Parvum Opus... How the time has flown!

As our new calendar for the coming year is flying out the door (I'm impressed at how organized our clientele is, as always-- I won't start my own holiday shopping for quite some time!), I'm feeling nostalgic for all of the beautiful objets d'art that I've had the privilege to study and paint over the last five years. Here, starting with the new batch, is a little trip down memory lane...

The paintings for 2016 include beautiful objects from all over the world, and spanning thousands of years in age. Click here to learn more.

The paintings for 2015-- that tea caddy in the top row is one of my personal favorites:

And here are the motifs from 2014:

 And 2013:

And lastly, 2012:

We actually began producing calendars on a very small scale for friends and family in 2010, but sadly, those images have been lost. Even still, it's lovely to look back through five years' worth of these small jewels and think of all the hours happily spent minutely observing these beautiful treasures of the decorative arts. We certainly hope that all of you who have purchased calendars for yourselves and as gifts will find them beautiful and useful throughout the coming year!

Parvum Opus desk calendars are available for purchase as a boxed set, refill folio, or simply the cards and easels 'a la carte'. We invite you to visit The Parvum Opus Shop to learn more.

New for Spring: Moleskine® Cover Jackets

New refillable Moleskine® cover jackets by Parvum Opus.

Well, perhaps it's not quite spring yet, but here in Michigan, a 40+ degree sunny day like today can certainly bring on a case of spring fever! And just in time, we've introduced a new series of colorful jackets for everyone's favorite notebooks from Moleskine®. Even though I make books here in the bindery, I adore filling my Moleskine cahier journals with notes, sketches, doodles.. They've been my favored sketchbooks for many years. The Moleskine covers         

An interior view of the jacket, lined in 

Italian book cloth. The pockets along 

the edges accept the front and back 

covers of the Moleskine® cahier.

we've designed are flexible, and meticulously tailored using the same Italian book cloth and fine art papers from France, Japan and Italy used in our hand-bound books. They feature rounded corners and allow access to the journal's back pocket. We've also designed a series of fun adhesive labels to personalize the covers-- such a small thing, but our clients are having great fun with them. Best of all, our cover jackets are refillable, so once a journal has been filled with genius ideas, it can be removed and a fresh one slipped in. Soon we'll be introducing slipcases sized to fit the Moleskine® cahier journals, beautifully archiving up to twelve volumes of art- and poetry-filled journals. Stay tuned...

It takes many tiny cuts to form the beautifully
rounded corners on our Moleskine® jackets.

It's such fun to design a new range for the bindery, especially as we find we've tapped into the shared obsession surrounding the Moleskine® cahiers. Keeping journals or commonplace books is nothing new, of course, and stunning historical examples exist. If Pinterest search results are any indication, note-taking, sketching and pleine air painting are alive and well, despite the ease of 'electronic options'. 

An incredible example from the past: A page from Carl Linnaeus' commonplace
book, 1726-1727. You can see and read the entire
archive thanks to The Linnean Society of London.

And a beautiful example from the present: Architectural
sketches by Chema Pastrana, via Pinterest.

Are you familiar with commonplace books? According to Wikipedia:

"Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Such books were essentiallyscrapbooks filled with items of every kind: medical recipes, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, proverbs, prayers, legal formulas. Commonplaces were used by readers, writers, students, and scholars as an aid for remembering useful concepts or facts they had learned. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator's particular interests. They became significant in Early Modern Europe.

"Commonplace" is a translation of the Latin term locus communis (from Greek tópos koinós, see literary topos) which means "a theme or argument of general application", such as a statement of proverbial wisdom. In this original sense, commonplace books were collections of such sayings, such as John Milton's commonplace book. Scholars have expanded this usage to include any manuscript that collects material along a common theme by an individual.

Commonplace books are not diaries nor travelogues, with which they can be contrasted: English Enlightenment philosopher John Locke wrote the 1706 book A New Method of Making Common-Place-Books, "in which techniques for entering proverbs, quotations, ideas, speeches were formulated. Locke gave specific advice on how to arrange material by subject and category, using such key topics as love, politics, or religion. Commonplace books, it must be stressed, are not journals, which are chronological and introspective." ^[1] By the early eighteenth century they had become an information management device in which a note-taker stored quotations, observations and definitions. They were even used by influential scientists. Carl Linnaeus, for instance, used commonplacing techniques to invent and arrange the nomenclature of his Systema Naturae (which is the basis for the system used by scientists today)."

Whether you keep commonplace books, journals, diaries, vade mecums or doodle pads, we're delighted to share in the long-running and very human enthusiasm for putting pen to paper. Enjoy!

Letter Sorters of All Sorts

A desk organizer/letter sorter from the new range at Parvum Opus.
This one features a beautiful French hand-marbled paper.

Recently, we introduced our new letter sorter designs at the bindery, and their popularity leads me to believe that there must have been a bit of pent up demand for an object that was a staple of the well dressed desk in years past. I thought it would be fun to do a Pinterest search for unusual antique and vintage letter sorters, and I came across hundreds of variations... The images on Pinterest don't always come with complete descriptions attached, but these ten are all aesthetically interesting enough that I thought you'd enjoy seeing them. Let the sorting begin!

An antique English Victorian Era papier-mâché letter holder. I love the cut-out shape of this piece-- lovely!
Image via rubylane.com.

    
                                                                       

An elaborately moulded faience letter holder, France 1880.
Image via onlinegalleries.com.

A Tiffany Studios bronze and glass letter sorter.
Image via liveauctioneers.com.

This is something I'd never seen-- a vertical stack of papier-mâché wall-mounted letter sorters, English, 19th C.  
Image via rubylane.com.

A fantastically crafted silver-gilt and champlevé enamel
letter holder by Antip Kuzmichev, Moscow, circa 1890.
Image via sothebys.com.

And now for something completely different:
a pair c1870s Victorian Gothic Bronze Desk Top Letter Holders
Image via rubylane.com.

A sterling silver overlay leather desk top letter holder box, ca 1860.
I love the curved lid on this design--most elegant.
Image via rubylane.com.

If I had to choose amongst the letter sorters in this post,
it might have to be this one... Such and unusual and beautiful design!
An antique French Bronze Enamel Letter Holder.
Image via 1stdibs.com.

This one is plainer, but such a classic beauty:
a 19th c English mahogany letter sorter cabinet.
Image via etsy.com

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless variations in design, manufacture and materials--especially from the 19th century-- thank you Victorians! They all have style and personality, don't you think? 

Fresh New Finds for a Cheerful Desk

The most intriguing Pelikan fountain pen highlighter. I'm not doing 
much highlighting in my books these days, but I can imagine neon 
yellow doodles and flourishes for correspondence-- what fun!
Image via likecool.com

If you've browsed my past posts here, you might have gathered that I have a passion for antique desk things. This is still true of course (!), but I've recently come across some interesting new things to add to my desk. 

Art on a roll: fabulous printed tape by Angie Lewin for St. Jude's.
Image via stjudesprints.co.uk

The porcelain shade on this functional and cheerful lamp by
Original BTC gives a warm and wonderful light.
Image via originalbtc.com

A bit of art for the desk: an art print by Warpaint Studio.
Image via Signal Return Detroit.

There is a sense of permanence and continuity in contemporary design that's rooted in function and tradition. Perhaps it's because of the way they're made that these pieces mix seamlessly with antique prints and porcelains.

These are of course perfect for a cuppa, but wouldn't they be perfect for
pens and  pencils? Beautiful mugs from my favorite shop, Pentreath & Hall.
Image via pentreath-hall.com.

I always like to have a cushion on my desk chair, and this one is fantastic!

Emily Sutton's charming print for St. Jude's. 

Image via stjudesfabrics.co.uk.

It's wonderful to know that there are products out there that are designed and crafted with the same attention to quality as the antiques that I so adore. I feel a special affinity with these artists because in my work at the bindery, I aim to find that perfect balance between traditional craft and fresh new design as well. Adding these pieces to the mix on my desk has been such a treat, and has made everything seem new again. I hope you'll be inspired to do the same!   

New Projects

The new Grande French Curve Letter Sorter, made to order 

in hundreds of paper patterns. This beautiful blue palmette pattern

is made by Rossi. 

Whew, it's been such a busy summer at the bindery! I hope this post finds all of my blogging friends well and enjoying the autumn. In my attempts to compose the best new post possible after such a long absence, I thought it best to simply share some of our favorite recent projects. I hope these colorful images speak for themselves, and that they might also hint at the great pleasure we take in crafting each one. 

An Archival Storage Box made with one of our favorite papers, a
vintage Italian map design, made by Cavallini. 

A new Petite French Curve Letter Sorter, made with a cheerful fleurs de lys
patterned paper by Rossi.

A bespoke Hexagonal Pencil Cup and Note Tray with matching
golf pencils made with our client's vintage hand-blocked paper.

A Stacking Desk Organizer and matching Pencil Holder, made using our client's
Italian wedding paper.

A Desk Set including a desk pad, lidded pencil tray, a pen and pencil holder,
8 1/2" x 11" paper tray, and 2 note folios. In this case, our client selected a beautiful turquoise Florentine paper by Rossi and dark brown Italian book cloth.

A bespoke Journal and matching Archival Box, jacketed in a beautiful
Japanese Chiyogami paper in shades of gray and orange.

A couple of views of our new Paper Trays, made in four sizes and
an array of stunning patterned papers.

A refillable Notepad Folio in one of our new paper selections,
a pea-green hand-marbled paper from France. 

A bespoke modified Clamshell Box, made to our client's
specifications, and using another French hand-marbled paper, this time
in shades of violet.

A bespoke Desk Set in a paper chosen by our client, a green
and blue floral by Rossi.

A Desk Pad and Petite Letter Sorter made in Cavallini's vintage
world map paper, paired with Italian book cloth in a deep wine color.

A gaggle of Travel Picture Frames made for a wedding party, again
featuring the turquoise Florentine paper by Rossi. 

.....And so on, and so on... The cheerful work continues...!

Sentimental Gifts for the Traveller

A bespoke gift box by Parvum Opus, jacketed in an Italian
wood-block print style paper by Rossi

Today, I'm delighted to share two recent and memorable commissions, courtesy of our thoughtful and generous clientele. Perhaps these will serve to inspire as we merrily make our way the summer graduation and wedding season. 

The first, seen above and below, is a bespoke box commissioned as a gift for a friend embarking on a long-term travel adventure. Before presenting it, our client filled the box with one hundred stamped post cards. I was struck by the simplicity and warmth of this gesture-- a beautiful invitation to keep in touch as her friend's adventure unfolds. The diminutive box, having travelled along, will make a charming souvenir long after the post cards have been sent, a reminder of the bonds of friendship. I admit that this project will be on my mind as my own friends and family set off on their own exploits!

The next project is similarly adventure-related: this one is a travel escritoire, or traveller's writing set. Contained in the small hinged box are compartments for stationery, a small German Kaweco Sport fountain pen and refill cartridges, postage stamps, address labels, and a travel journal. Besides the requisite blank pages, the hand-sewn journal includes pages for recording addresses, birthdays and anniversaries. It also includes a map of world time zones and stellar constellation charts for the northern and southern hemispheres-- a must for every adventurer, wouldn't you agree?! Of course, all of these functions are easily replaced by the apps on most smart phones, but for many of us, hand-written notes in a paper journal make a denser, more romantic and memorable souvenir of a long trip than typed notes in a phone or laptop.  

A small traveller's writing set, made with a butterfly
and flower print paper made in Italy, also by Rossi.

This project was created for a client whose friend was off for a year-long sabbatical. The box is small and sturdy enough for travel, and is intended by the gift giver to act as a stand-in for a special writing desk that will be sorely missed during the long journey. Given the clear and imaginative directives from our client, I think it turned out beautifully, and can only imagine how lovely it would be to come in from a day's work in a far-away land, and sit down to write with such thoughtfully given tools at hand. 

The writing set as it appears when closed:
a clear elastic band holds the lid in place during travel.

Along with these projects, we have made countless traveller's picture frames and hand-bound journals for clients wishing to send a bit of home along with their loved ones, and we always enjoy these heart-warming collaborations. This sort of work is a great pleasure for us, and I hope that you'll be as inspired by these gestures of friendship and camaraderie as we have been.