This page was updated on 8/16/11. Please email susan.bonthron@gmail.com to sign up.

August 20th: All about accordions: Make 2 to 4 accordions (some hardbound) and create images to fill one. One-day class (10AM to 4PM). Lunch and instructions included, $90. We will make one hardbound accordion, and one accordion that has images contained in it, which we will generate as part of the class (but you are also welcome to bring your own images if you wish). Currently the Schoolhouse is available that weekend if you are from away.

September 17th: 2-Day Tunnel Book Class (10-3 or 4 on Saturday, Sept. 17, and 10-3 on Sunday the 18th. Lunch on both days is included in the price ($160), as are instructions and all materials except those you may want to include in your tunnel, such as photographs, postcards, etc. I will have a selection of such items to choose from as well. You may see photos of two tunnel books on my just-launched Facebook page in the "Artist Books" album. The tunnel is a book with content, so I do urge you to think about what you might like to commemorate/play with/include in it. (Schoolhouse not available that weekend.)

Others to be scheduled soon, depending on your responses:

* Boxed In: Make a multi-section box for your bookbinding or sewing tools, decorated with marbled paper and covered with book cloth (2 day wkshp). This workshop could include a paper marbling session as well.

Design Your Own Workshop

Imagine sharing our cozy two-bedroom Schoolhouse with a friend or three in beautiful southern Vermont, and attending a book arts workshop of your own choosing. It could be anything from a 2-night stay with a single day-long workshop to a 3 or 4 night retreat with a day-and-a-half to 3-day workshop. Weekdays or weekends -- your choice. Make paste paper or marbled paper, then use it to create your own journal. Or delve into pop-ups or tunnel books. Or treat an affianced couple to a weekend at the Schoolhouse where they can make their own wedding album. The Schoolhouse offers all the amenities (fully equipped kitchen and bath, wraparound decks with hot tub) all in a secluded, beautiful rural setting a short walk from Otter Pond Bindery. Organic breakfast fixings provided, and gourmet lunch for each workshop day is also included. Call or email for details and rates.

Here are a few of the many possibilities:

* The Tunnel's End: Imagine & construct a tunnel book with your own images (2 day wkshp).

* All About Accordions: Make 3 to 4 different accordion structures and create images to fill one of them (1.5 day wkshp).

* Rounded and Backed: Make a hardbound book sewn on tapes with a rounded back cloth-and-board case (minimum 2 day wkshp)

* Casing In: Make a hardbound book and slipcase (minimum 2.5 day wkshp).

* A Slim Volume: Create your own collection of favorite poems (written by you or others, collected by you) in a limited edition chapbook (2 days with prep ahead).

* Paper Decoration I: Paste paper and three-section hardbound journals (2 day wkshp).

* Paper Decoration II: Marbled paper and two portfolio structures (2 day wkshp).

* 3 Books, 3 Sewings: Make three hardbound books using pamphlet stitch, secret Belgian binding, and Coptic sewing techniques (2 day wkshp).

* Illustrated journals for beginners: Make a simple hardbound journal and learn 6 techniques for filling it (1.5 day wkshp).

* The Drop Spine Box: Make one small and one large drop-spine box to store special objects, photos or papers (2 day wkshp).

* Out in the Field: Making and Keeping Field Journals (1 or 2 day wkshp).

* Books in the Classroom: Three techniques for teachers who want to integrate book arts into their curriculum (1 or 2 day wkshp).

* Chinese Sewing Box: Make a drop-wall etui of boards and book cloth to hold your sewing needles and findings (2 - 3 day wkshp).

* Fun with Pop-Ups: Make a boxed set of pop-up forms and then pick one to elaborate and encase it in a hardbound cover (1.5 - 2 day wkshp).

* Boxed In: Make a multi-section box for your bookbinding or sewing tools, decorated with marbled paper and covered with book cloth (2 day wkshp).

PAGE DOWN FOR DIRECTIONS TO BINDERY AND SCHOOLHOUSE NUMBER 10.

Please note there is an error in the directions from the South. Go right, not left, from the exit ramp off I-91, toward Bernardston. It is about 4 miles up Rte. 5 to Keets Brook Rd, and about 3 miles on Keets Brook to Weatherhead Hollow. Also, I recently discovered that the road sign is missing at the Weatherhead Hollow turn off from Keets Brook Rd.  The first stop sign on Keets Brook Rd. IS Weatherhead Hollow. Sorry for any confusion.

 

FROM THE NORTH: take I-91 South to exit 1, go south (right) on rte 5 toward Guilford, and in less than a mile, turn right in front of the Guilford Country Store onto Guilford Center Rd. Follow that for a little less than 2 miles, and turn left onto Weatherhead Hollow Rd. Follow that for about six miles until you pass Weatherhead Hollow Pond (a large pond on your left). You will see the Franklin Farm (and farm store) on your right. Just after that is Packer Corners Rd on the right. Take that for 1.6 miles, then turn right onto S. Belden Hill Rd. You will pass our small refurbished schoolhouse on the corner ("Schoolhouse No. 10"), then a gray barn on the right, then you'll see a white house and red barn. That's me! Park on the side of the road or near the barn.

FROM THE SOUTH: Take I-91 North to Exit 28b in Bernardston Massachusetts, and go left from the off-ramp. Turn right (North) when the road dead-ends into Route 5. After several miles, turn left on Keets Brook Rd. and follow it through the valley until it comes to Weatherhead Hollow Rd. Turn left and pass the Franklin Farm, then take a right on Packer Corners Rd. and follow that for 1.6 miles. Turn right onto S. Belden Hill Rd. Our refurbished schoolhouse ("Schoolhouse No. 10") is on the corner, then a gray barn on the right, then a white house and red barn. Park on the side of the road or near the barn.

For a charming local accommodation, see Schoolhouse Number 10 (our 2-BR refurbished 18th century schoolhouse).

For additional local accommodation nearby, see the Cabin at Bear Meadow (http://www.vtcabin.com/).