Hi, I'm Ruth! Welcome to my bookbinding etsy shop! Those are my ghost hands up there creating that awesome fish journal - and if you wait a few seconds, you'll see my face, too!

I was born with a love of books - my mom, grandma, and the great-aunt who raised her were all Librarians. I even tried a short stint working at a library too, hoping to carry on the family occupation. However, I found myself drawn toward the book repair side of things more than the shelving books side of things, and eventually found myself back in the studio making my own books. All that time spent repairing books taught me a lot about creating books that are meant to last, though!

Sometimes I joke that my real hobby is collecting beautiful paper, and that I learned bookbinding so I'd have a way to show it all off - but I really enjoy the meditative process of cutting, folding, glueing and sewing a book together, as well as the satisfaction that comes with creating a useful item that I know will last for years.

My limited edition or one-of-a-kind journals often sell out within days of listing, so if you don't want to miss out, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter on my website at www.RuthBleakley.com.

This summer I had the thrilling once-in-a-lifetime experience of winning a trip to Japan to be on a reality TV show about Japanese Papermaking! You can read about it here: http://www.bit.ly/JapanShow1

My love of paper extends to my day job, too, which is creating unique nautical wedding invitations and stationery from antique science illustrations - you can check out that shop at www.etsy.com/shop/ConcertinaPress