#scumbinding

Covenant by RobotSquid (Marvel ; Thor/Loki)

One of three binds I did in 2023 along with What Kacchan Wants by heartsinhay and an updated author's copy of Heartworms by geckocest. As I mentioned in my last post, 2023 saw me losing some of my passion for this hobby. WKW helped bring that passion back, as did this project.

I've been a Thorki fan for a long time. Like, a really long time. I've read a lot of fics over the years and Covenant is easily in my top 5. Re-reading it while working on this bind was a treat.

Usually, when I bind a book, I plan out the typeset first and then search for suitable bookcloth, cover papers, endpapers, etc. This time, I saw the Gold & Blue Kikkou papers and created the design around that. The design just screamed "Jotun royalty" to me.

This was also my first time using ribbon charms. I originally looked for one that would give a similar vibe to the hair brooch Thor gifted Loki in the story (one of my favorite scenes). Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything similar, so I opted for this aesthetic key instead.

I somehow forgot to take a pic of the endpapers, but they're these gorgeous gold Chiyogami papers from ChibiJayShop.

Covenant - Build Info

72,935 words / 272 pages

Bookcloth: BOOKCRAFTSUPPLYCO’s Neutrals Bundle

Cover paper: ChibiJayShop’s 0486 Gold & Blue Kikkou

Endpapers: ChibiJayShop's 0917 Gold Sayagata Design

Key charm from Amazon

Ribbon from JOANN Fabric and Crafts

Title font is Barosa by NREY

What Kacchan Wants by heartsinhay (My Hero Academia ; Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku)

I didn't do much bookbinding in 2023, partly due to Everything Happening So Much, and partly because I had lost some of my enthusiasm for the hobby. But working on binding What Kacchan Wants by heartsinhay played a crucial role in reigniting my passion.

Typesetting this was a blast. heartsinhay helped me choose between two designs I was stuck on and the result is A+. The piggybank design is perfect for the comedic sugar daddy plot.

This was my first time titling a spine, too, and it only took 5 tries and a physical fight with my Cricut to make it happen. Now I'm a bit more comfortable using my Cricut for non-papercraft projects. I hope I can create more elaborate designs with it in the future.

What Kacchan Wants is easily become one of my favorite BNHA fics, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to gift a copy to the author. This won't be the last fic I bind from them, either. I already have Number One Nemesis on my 2024 list. ✦

What Kacchan Wants - Build Info

37,133 words / 160 pages

Bookcloth from BOOKCRAFTSUPPLYCO’s Neutrals Bundle

Cover paper is ChibiJayShop’s 0816 Sayagata Design on Green

Endpapers are 0297 Orange Swirls

Ribbon from JOANN Fabric and Crafts

Title & Chapter heading font is Sanchez by Daniel Hernandez

Heartworms by geckocest (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series ; Seth/Richie)

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series will always have a special place in my heart. A friend pitched it to me in 2014 as darker, grittier, more fucked up Supernatural. And. boy, were they were right.

My dear friend geckocest gave me permission to bind this fic—a seriously good Omegaverse with Seth and Richie reuniting for a job after a fallout years earlier—when I first got interested in the hobby, so this bind holds a special place in my heart. 

This would have been my first completed bind had I not drastically underestimated the importance of the number # of signatures for a half-binding. While I probably could have worked with an eight signature textblock, I didn’t want to risk it with my limited skill. I put it off and finished a different binding that fit the tutorial I was used to/ Too intimidated to try a tiny book binding, I decided to go with the stiffened paper binding method using DAS Bookbinding’s tutorial. I’ve come to really like this method for shorter works and I look forward to doing more stiffened paper bindings in the future.

Heartworms - Build Info

Bookcloth from BOOKCRAFTSUPPLYCO’s Neutrals Bundle

Cover paper is ChibiJayShop’s 0417 Gold Floral on Black

Endpapers are ChibiJayShop’s 0913 Gold Matsuba on Black

Title font is Cormorant Garamond