Black Cat Bindery (North East)

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Before and After
Types of Binding
Price List
FAQ
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For Sale

THE black cat bindery

(north east)

Demonstrations

For Sale

Although my first love will always be repairing/rebinding antiquarian books, I enjoy trying out new ideas and working with materials that wouldn't be suitable for a 2 or 300 year old book. Making a variety of notebooks which, for several years now I've sold via local shops and giving the profits I make to the charities I support is, for me, the ideal solution.

My ability with a camera is not wonderful and, in addition, colours on a computer screen are not always true, but people are very welcome to come and look more closely at the notebooks before committing to a purchase. (The general consensus seems to be that the pictures don't do them justice.) I am also happy to take them out of their wrapping for anyone wanting a closer look.

I would prefer customers to come and collect, but would also consider delivering locally if circumstances didn't allow buyers to call.

Email me or send a PM for further information, or if you'd like to buy.

All items over £5 are attractively packaged with ribbon and come in a cellophane bag or a box making them ideal for gifts.

Click on the pictures to see larger versions of them, then use the back button to return to this page.

NEW!

These are books with a difference! When you look at the picture on the left, they just look like normal books, but open them up and you'll find 2 notepads, one ruled, the other blank, 5 sets of Post it notes in various sizes and a pen. They measure approximately 12 x 15.5cm closed (4¾" x 6")

£8

Small refillable, cloth bound notepads. Approximately 9 x 11cm (3 ½" x 4½") They will strike a chord with all computer owning cat lovers! £3

Approximately 9cm x 11cm (3½" x 4½") these are small, refillable notepads. I am currently making more, and will probably vary the colours of the Tyne Bridges one. (If you have a preference for a particular colour for either, let me know.) £3

A small notebook approximately

11cm x 12cm (4½" x 5"), with blank pages. £5

Handstitched, these books are made from 240gm acid free paper and open flat making them ideal for small sketches. Each has plain coloured endpapers. They measure just under 14cm square (5½") £10

The coloured endpapers on each book co-ordinate with the covers.

These have always been good sellers, the more so now I've started to vary the motifs.

Measuring 5½cm (2¼") square, these little notepads each contain a block of Post-it notes £2

The back of the Post-it pads. Inside, each one has a patterned or plain coloured paper lining and a small Post-it pad.

Approximately 10cm (4") square these are refillable notepads with a magnetic flap. Each is lined with a co-ordinated plain coloured paper. £6.50

A6 ruled notebooks bound in leather. The mosaic one has cream pages, the others white. £12

Each A6 notebook has endpapers which co-ordinate with the leather bindings.

They each come tissue wrapped in a box. The leathers I use are so unusual that there is a small piece attached to each of the tags showing that they really are leather.

Refillable notepads with the phrase "Don't forget it, you'll regret it!" printed on the front. Approx. 11cm square (4½") £5

Each notepad has a different lining.

A boxed set of 4 notebooks with a 22ct gold motif on the front of each booklet. The booklets are 9.5cm (3¾") square and have 48 pages. Each set has one booklet with white pages and 3 with coloured pages. 3 boxes are made from grey board, 1 from gold card. £12

An A5 book to suit a cat lover. the text block is cream and the binding cloth and paper. £10

These have white pages and are a little thicker than
the other A6 cloth/paper notebooks.

A5 ruled cream paper. Cloth and paper bindings. £10

Miniature books measuring 3½ x 5cm wishing the recipient a charmed life with health, family, friends, wealth and good fortune. Each has a small gold slip case. £5

The index tabs are blank so that they can be used for any purpose, recipes, gardening, birthdays, addresses etc.

A5 quarter bound in leather and cloth with cream pages and gilded edges. £12

Slim perfect bound notebooks. Text blocks are made from either 90gm or 100gm paper. To see an example of how perfect bindings are made click here.

A6 ruled notebooks with cream pages.Bound with cloth and paper. £6

A6 leather bound with white pages. These books are square ruled which makes them ideal for anyone working with figures as well as text. £10

The endpapers of the square ruled books.

I keep the accounts, names and telephone numbers of the Whitley Bay Bookbinding Group in my one.

Smart A6 ruled notebooks with cream pages bound with leather and bookcloth. £9

The leather and cloth bound notebooks have decorated endpapers which co-ordinate with the covers.

Slightly thicker hand stitched A6 notebook. The bookmark has a small kettle and a cup and saucer on the end.

Text blocks are white.

Mini jotters decorated with gold. Approximately

1¾" x 3¼" (4.5 x 8.5 cm) £2.50

(I would have loved one of these as a child!)

Refillable books with a magnetic fastening, bound in leather. Approximately 4" square. £10

A5 with white pages, bound with cloth and paper. £9

Neverending cards are ones that just keep on giving. They don't just open once, they keep on going as the picture below shows. If you want to find out what's hidden away in the other three, you'll have to buy them to find out, I'm not giving all my secrets away! They come in a cellophane wrapper with an envelope and a small picture, similar to the one below. £2

A behind the scenes look at some notebooks. Mass produced books often no longer have the layer of scrim that adds strength to the hinges. The headbands aren't just decorative, they help to protect the spine when it is being taken off a bookshelf.	A closer look at the labels

If you're interested in learning more about bookbinding or trying it out for yourself, visit Whitley Bay Bookbinding on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/NortheastBookbinding

Should anyone be interested, the way I work out my profits is to take £1 from each item I sell, which goes into my materials kitty. This is regardless of the retail price. The rest of the money goes into my charity pot.The materials for the larger, more expensive books cost considerably more than £1, but the materials for the smaller cheaper ones a lot less, so it all evens out and makes life nice and simple for me when I do my accounting.