My bookbinding, whether I'm making journals, sketchbooks, baby books, dream journals or albums, happens at the confluence of my love for writing---recording memory---and my love for making art. My love for writing has pushed me through an MA program in English/Poetry Writing, my poems into a few national literary magazines, and my personal blog into the lives of many whom I know, and many I don't know. It's a vocation, and I link it strongly with the physical act, through the centuries, of laying sentences down on paper.

As writing of all kinds is increasingly done digitally, I want to involve my hands, and yours, in the good work of writing, drawing, and preserving photographs...in books. And not just any books: beautiful books, books designed and bound by a human who, like you, cares about what the book you hold in your hand will remember.

I use fine writing paper and real leathers of all colors and textures because the ephemeral nature of human life is both persistent and fragile---what moves on into the future, and recedes in the past, is your life. You should be able to touch with your hands what you have lived. That's what I think, anyway.

While I started Good Work with small leatherbound journals, I've moved into new territory with leatherbound baby books and leatherbound dream journals. I love making all the books I make, but baby books and dream journals are unique in that they are tools you can use to polish your inner eye. The prompts, writing space, and photo squares of a baby book and the prompts and writing/drawing space of a dream journal help you to become more observant of your family's life and your own inner life.

I love what I do, and I hope you do, too. Enjoy browsing Good Work. Do get in touch if you have questions about listings, current or past, or about a custom order. If you want ideas about a custom order, visit my facebook page to see my "portfolio."

Cheers,
Anna Laura

P.S. I love bartering / doing trades, too, so if you want to talk about possibilities, send me a message. If I have favorited your shop, chances are I already wish I owned things that you make. :)