The Web at its DIY Best: Make a Booklet with a Pocket

Every time I feel the need for easy breezy inspiration, I go over to Jessica Jones's website, How About Orange. I am never disappointed. Despite an irrepressible penchant for language, interest in inquisitive cultural criticism, and devotion to complex, psychologically edgy writers (those I would call the Shakers), I take my ease with the Makers: the patient, clever craftspeople of the world. Brilliant visual thinkers who get lost – and found – in the flow of construction and design.

It was a study of Jessica's website that first made me want to launch my own blog, where I imagined I would offer tutorials for various artful projects. It hasn't turned out that way – I am easily diverted and driven down more cerebral or abstract avenues of pursuit, by the Shakers. Nonetheless, I feel that Makers offer examples of the interweb at its best: they are generous, inspirational, and they know how to teach. Maybe elenabella can be a bridge between these two blog spheres. (Jessica has a cool Monday Giveaway at her site today: purchase a pack of her new birthday cards and get a free set of postcards, available through her Etsy shop.)

Last Friday, Jones posted instructions for making a booklet with a pocket. She scoured the web for good ideas, finding this one at Curbly, another good DIY site. She revised the project template slightly, and offers it here, a nice freebie. Both Curbly and How About Orange link to Peter Baumgartner's Atelier Für Papierdesign in Freiburg im Breisgau, Deutschland, where there are many more projects, as well as videos about bookbinding. You can even sign up to take classes there, in beautiful Freiburg, where Andreas went to University, and where beloved Tante Ursi lives.

Baumgartner's silent zen-like tutorial about making the booklet is very calming and nice – take a look! He has others as well, for a magic briefcase, bookbinding, Japanese bookbinding...the possibilities are endless. You could even make a booklet containing this cool panorama of Freiburg, with the famous medieval Freiburg Münster at the center. Or one featuring Jessica's postcards. (She has an exquisite instinct for color, doesn't she?) Enjoy! Such pursuits are very peaceful and pleasing.