iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I emerge from the void with a book. This is "All-Consuming" by ratbones, a Guardian zombie apocalypse au, typeset by @helle-bored, and it was an excuse to get a little bit experimental in design and technique.

A handbound book sewn on linen cords with the pages and sewing exposed at the spine the cover boards are dark gray weathered wood with the title stenciled vertically in red. The ends of the linen cords are laced through the board, then held down with furniture staples and the loose ends are frayed.

A close up shot showing the cord laced to the boards. A little bit of the board is chiseled out at the edge to help the cord stay in place.

A view of the spine with all the folded pages stacked up and sewn together.

The book open flat showing the front and back cover together. The back is about the same as the front, without the title.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Latest bookbinding project: the fan translation of Mo Du by priest, using a typeset made by @rainisfallingdown.bsky.social

A book bound in black, brown, and beige plaid, with a light brown leather spine, and small paper labels on both the spine and the outer edge of the cover. The label reads "Mo Du / priest / vol. 1"

Three volumes in a line side by side. Each book has a small label with the title and author at the fore-edge of the cover. Volume 1's label is towards the top of the book, volume 2's label is in the center, and volume 3's label is closer to the bottom.

The top edges of the three books. The page edges are painted gold, and the headbands are made of the same plaid fabric as the covers.

The endpapers are a repeating pattern of letterpress-printed black cats, with gold pawprints inbetween.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

I bound a copy of "How Dare You" for an exchange a few months ago and in honor of the drama coming out I pulled my own copy out of wip hell to finish it! The cover has a nested cutout design to go with the idea of transmigrating into a transmigration novel

The front cover: the innermost cutout is the actual title of the book, scrawled in green marker, the next layer is the "transmigration novel" with a floral background and fonts you might find on a romance novel, and the outermost cover is a traditional looking style with linen paper and a vertical paper label for the title.

The title page, with the title in english and chinese, and a floral border.

Two-sided endpapers, one side is a light pink and white floral pattern, the opposite side is a dark green background with pink flowers.

The book open showing the full cover. The leather spine has all three titles stamped in foil, with the first two titles crossed out.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

3d printing is NOT going to be my new hobby, I tell myself while teaching myself to build a shape in OpenSCAD because the version I tried to make in tinkercad didn't go through with accurate measurements

A piece of blue plastic 100x30mm with a triangular cutout to assist in trimming the margins off of corners when covering cardboard with paper/cloth.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Sure! Just gotta find a place I can safely open it up inside because I am not going back out 😂 The picture's on the inside, the outside is black!

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

This right here is a man who *knows* that stories work out differently when they're romances. He's written so many love songs! He recognizes all the plot devices! ... anyway, aromantic Xi Ping means so much to me

Xi Ping plucked a qin string with a twang. “For example, say you wanted to kill High Elder Xuanwu. At most, others would say that an unfilial disciple had gone berserk and killed his own teacher. Is there anything interesting about that story? It’d put me to sleep, anyway. But if you call yourself Lovesickness, when people tell the story, it’ll turn into ‘Elder Xuanwu died through the machinations of lovesickness,’ and I guarantee that your name and his will live on in the annals of history for ten thousand years. Even when the spiritual mountains are gone, the two of you won’t be forgotten.”

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

I made a simple bookbinding press with a hand screw clamp kit! It's not fancy but it was cheap!

Two pieces of wood about the size of 2x4s but with squarer edges, with two threaded metal rods connecting and handles to turn to tighten/loosen them.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Typesetting things I enjoy: shaping text around drop caps

The opening text of MDZS, beginning with "Wei Wuxian is dead. Rejoice!" The initial W is in a large calligraphic font and the first two paragraphs are spaced to line up with the slanted edge of the W.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Wow, this is making a huge difference!

The jacket for a Derpy Tiger costume, mafe of blue fake fur with lighter fake fur stripes. Im in the process of outlining the stripes with black paint.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

WIP. 7yo definitely picked the one with the coolest weapon.

Progress pic of Mira's glowing fuandso from KPDH. It's made of pvc pipe and pieces of acrylic.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

KPDH costumes continue. 7yo picked the most complicated of all of Mira's outfits; we are simplifying it (wear this skirt and spike bracelets over plain black clothes).

An asymmetrical black pleather wrap skirt with three zippers as decoration, a shiny purple belt, and a hanging tassel mase of purple glitter flowers

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Done with the sewing on this one (I'll be adding some black texturing with paint later). I will not miss the shedding.

A blue furry shirt (hooded) and pants for a Derpy Tiger costume from KPDH

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

5yo has drawn his first fan art 😁 (Jinu Kpop Demon Hunters)

A pencil drawing of Jinu by a five year old (a stick figure level drawing with a big hat amd claws made of triangles)

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

I have access to an 8-harness loom this week and I am GOING to take advantage of it

A table loom with a few inches of seafoam green and white patterned weaving in progress

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

This is so funny to me (positive). There are (presumably; idk what the maybe-cyberpunk vikings or holy roman empire or whatever is up to) none of the same cultural forces that led to the adoption of western suits in actual history. It's just another Cool Thing From The Future, I guess

Screen cap reading "Everyone else in the room was dressed in wide-sleeved, TangPro-style robes, but the Military Commissioner was clad in a smart Western-style suit. Her long, smooth black hair hung loose over her shoulders, and a custom-made visor hid her eyes completely."

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

This is what I decided to typeset over my vacation ... one of MDZS's most notorious fanfics, in tiny book form. Unfortunately, the tags filled up all the pages and there was no room for the fic itself! What a shame.

A small book bound in red leather, with the title "Sexy Times with Wangxian" in (somewhat messy and a bit hard to read) gold foiled letters in the center

The endpapers are marbled paper with a red and blue abstract swirl

The title page says "Sexy Times" in a script font with flourishes, then "with" in a basic italic serif font, then "Wangxian" in Cinzel Decorative. The author is virtual1979 and at the bottom of the title page is says "Teleport Books, Boston / MMXXV"

The list of the fic's tags continues onto the final page of the book, finishing up with "Blow Jobs, Big Fat Quiz of Everything, Gills, Gillplay, Locker Room, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Skater Victor Nikiforov, Skater Katsuki Yuuri"

Below that, the text reads "… and it seems we’ve run out of pages for the rest of the fic. Tag limits exist for a reason, and this is it!" followed by a link to the fic's fanlore page: fanlore.org/wiki/Sexy_times_with_Wangxian

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

My cnovel bookbinding exchange partner received these today, so I can share them publicly now! Item #2: How Dare You!? / This Is Ridiculous, which is a transmigration-into-a-transmigration-novel-novel, which inspired the cover design of three covers in one. #bookbinding

The front cover has three layers: the outermost cover is in blue linen-weave paper with a vertical paper label of the "original" novel's title in hanzi, in the upper right corner. The title is partially cut off by an angled rectangle cutout that shows the second cover underneath, a floral pattern with the title of the "transmigration novel" in bronze foil at the bottom. This is once again cut off by the next cutout, revealing the actual title of the book written in sharpie on lined notebook paper, in the center.

The title page of the novel, with the title in english and chinese and a repeating floral pattern around the border of the page.

The edge of the book showing a splatter-painted edge with brown and blue paint, and a solid blue headband.

The book open flat showing both covers and the spine. The spine is brown leather with four raised bands and the title stenciled in blue in the center.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

My cnovel bookbinding exchange partner received these today, so I can share them publicly now! Item #1: The Imperial Uncle, in two small volumes, bound in brocade bookcloth with a flexible bamboo-strip spine and a matching slipcase. #bookbinding

The two volumes inside their case, which is made of patterned green/tan brocade fabric and secured in front with a button loop closure made of cream satin cord. The cord continues around the whole box with decorative pan chang knots on the sides.

The two volumes of The Imperial Uncle stacked on top of each other. They have stitching along the left edge that mimics the look of a stab binding, and a paper label in the center with the title written vertically in hanzi.

The title page, with the title and author in a plain serif font and a circular floral decoration underneath.

The book open with the pages fanned out to show the flexibility of the bamboo strip spine.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Hottest thing that's happened in #ToEmbersWeReturn so far

Screenshot of a translated webnovel:

Bian Jin decided to test out the strength of her arm next. That probably wouldn’t put as much stress on her spine, she thought. From around her waist, she unwrapped the whip she’d bought online, tossed a small stone into the air, then flicked the whip at it. She did not do so particularly forcefully, but an arc of bright white light seemed to trail after the whip as it swung through the air. The whip struck the stone, smashing it completely into powder; the resulting crack seemed to echo all the way to the mountains beyond Chang’an’s walls.

The whip that had cost Bian Jin a full five hundred taels of silver disintegrated in a cloud of white smoke. Bian Jin looked down at it, nonplussed.

Then, with a faraway rumble, one of the distant mountains collapsed partway. The sound echoed through the streets of Chang’an, drawing shouts of both alarm and speculation. The more panic-stricken lookers-on even wondered if some mutant beast or other had finally breached the capital’s walls.

Even Bian Jin, who’d seen more than her share of bizarre sights, was taken aback by this turn of events.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Found in the wild: "The Pillars of the Earth" but whoever designed it hadn't heard that Ken Follett wasn't writing a thriller this time

Mass market paperback with a bright yellow cover, author's name big at the top, I don't recognize the title font but it's one you'd expect to see on one of his spy thrillers, single stylized image in the center and it's like the top of a carved column shaped like a shirtless guy (holding up the column).

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Secret project 1, printed and folded! This will be my longest single volume yet.

A stack of many sheets of paper folded in half (in preparation for bookbinding). About an inch and a half thick on the side with no fold, just over two inches thick on the side with the folded edges.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Finished my latest project, another hybrid book. This is "Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know" which was typeset by @spockandawe. The spines are made of bamboo strips laced together, but unlike my last bamboo bookbinding experiment, this has boards attached for the front and back cover.

A black paper-covered slipcase holding three books whose spines resemble bamboo scrolls

Three books set out flat. The first has a burgundy cover, the second has an eggplant purple cover, the third has a sage green cover. All of them have stitching going through the cover boards and around the spine, in the same pattern as a stab bound book. They each have a paper label in the upper right corner, which says "Cyan Wings / Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know / Volume #"

The red book is standing upright with the pages fanned open, showing the flexibility of the bamboo strip spine, which is curved inward.

One of the books lying flat with its cover open, showing the decorative paper on the inside of the cover (natural lotka paper with a printed stylized wind and cloud pattern) and the title page, which says "Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know / 3"

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

An important part of the bookbinding process

Cat on a printer! She's perched above, peering over the edge and reaching a paw down to catch the paper as it comes out.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Bamboo slip scroll with pages inside. The contents are the "first day as a second century warlord" tumblr post. Mainly done as a bookbinding experiment.

A bamboo slip scroll about the size of a sheet if printer paper. There's a geometric border at the top and bottom, two rows of string binding the bamboo strips together, and a ink-wash mountain landscape in the middle, with the title "first day as a second century warlord" painted vertically on the right hand side.

Flipped over, the scroll is like a book cover, with folded papers bound inside.

The whole thing is still very flexible, shown here folded over looking like a rolled up scroll

The front cover shown folded in half, so it is looks more like a book here.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Experimental bookbinding in which I made a "bamboo strip scroll" (made from rainbow popsicle sticks because that's what we had in the house) into a book cover. The pages are directly sewn to the scroll's binding threads.

Rainbow popsicle sticks sewn together in the style of a bamboo scroll

Four sections of pages have been sewn to the center popsicle stick (technically, to the strings wrapped around the center popsicle stick)

The scroll folded shut over the pages now acts as a book cover

Top view of the notebook showing its flexibility

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

(here is volume 1 -- note that this is not even the same eldritch cat as described in the novel. Vibes over accuracy!)

A paperback novel with the title "Evil As Humans" in red text. The cover illustration is a cat with three tails and several extra eyes, sitting behind a red rose on the ground. The book is open so you can see the spine and the back cover too.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Evil As Humans v5 cover art: tfw you find an ancient cave mural of... yourself?

A mixed media illustration of a figure in red robes, face veiled, with tentacles instead of/in addition to arms, painted on a brownish gray textured background with black swirls around them. In the foreground are silhouettes of two people gazing up at the figure, one of them is shining a flashlight at it.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

One more photo to show off the endpapers, because the geometric/abstract cloud-ish pattern here informed a lot of the rest of the design! You can see a little bit of this paper on the front cover, and it lines the inside of the slipcase as well.

The book is open to display the endpages, which are a bright red paper with a small scale geometric pattern, on top of which there's a stylized and slightly abstract cloud pattern outlined in white-ish silver, as well as a gold "confetti" pattern.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I can share this now! #Bookbinding project of "The Other Mountain" by nirejseki, made for the author The fic is a Lan Qiren/Wen Ruohan arranged marriage AU (...does it count as arranged if one party does the arranging?) archiveofourown.org/works/484182...

View of the front of the book, which has a white cloth cover with a smaller red paper frame in the center, and the author, title, and volume number written in gold inside the frame. The spine of the book is red cloth.

The two volumes inside a slipcase, which is covered in the same red fabric as the spine. There's a paper cutout of a geometric cloud pattern on the slipcase, outlined in gold foil. The title of the book is printed in gold on each volume's spine.

The title page is a two-page spread with a inkbrush style image of a mountain, the mountain peak is on the lefthand page and extends onto the bottom of the righthand page. The title, "The Other Mountain," is centered on the righthand page with three horizontal lines and the author's name, nirejseki, underneath.

The top of the two volumes side by side, showing red and gold sewn endbands and a white bookmark ribbon in each volume. The edges of the pages are speckled with gold paint.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

the nieyao coffin postcanon:

Screenshot of a headline that says "People are petitioning to drink the mummy juice from the probably cursed sarcophagus" there's a picture of a black stone coffin in a pit above the headline.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Post yourself from another era Different era both in terms of fandoms and cosplaying, which is a hobby that has kind of gone by the wayside. This was one of my favorite costumes, it was a lot of fun to make and wear (the headband lights up!)

A young woman wearing a dress inspired by the Daleks from Doctor Who, holding a plunger in one hand and the interior of a paint roller in the other, wearing the Fourth Doctor's scarf draped over her shoulders like a victory trophy.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Tiny book! There are a few things that didn't work out quite right at this scale, but I've learned what to do differently for next time. #bookbinding #fanbinding The fic is my own: archiveofourown.org/works/39351186

Tiny book, standing up, red cloth on the spine and swirly white paper on the front. Gold writing on the spine says "Madam Wen" with the "Madam" crossed out.

Title page, the full title fits here. It says "The Disappearance of Madam Wen" by E. Hyde

The first page of the fic, showing the scale of the text. There's a fancy large capital Y as the first letter

Endpapers are marbled red, gold, and black paper

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Spine writing a bit off center but for a book this tiny I'll take it (The full title is "the disappearance of Madam Wen" and the strikethrough was a compromise to make it fit; "Madam Wen" by itself wouldn't feel right)

Open cover for a book, red cloth spine which reads "Madam Wen" in gold cursive writing but "Madam" is crossed out. Theres also white paper with a swirl pattern near the foreedge. The cover itself is about 2 inches tall, for a tiny book.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The tiny book I am making for myself, as a treat

A stack of pages ready to be folded. The title page reads "The Disappearance of Madam Wen" by E. Hyde (that's me). There's a quarter (coin) for scale; the sheets are about 2x3 inches which is two book pages wide.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Making a slipcase for a two-volume box set! Those paper cutouts? That's basically tissue paper. I'm very satisfied with myself right now. #bookbinding

A red cloth-covered slipcase with paper decorations in the shape of stylized clouds. The paper is translucent white with an opaque white swirl pattern.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Highly recommend bookbinding tool: a little fine-tip squeeze bottle for pva

My hand is holding a small clear plastic bottle, a little less than three inches tall, with a metal tip that resembles the tip of a mechanical pencil. It's full of white glue. In the background is a partially made box lined with decorative red, silver, and gold paper.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Since it came up, this is as good a time as any to add Salvage to my bookbinding thread. I bound this one this past spring, using someone else's typesetting. I marbled the paper on the cover myself! #fanbinding #bookbinding

A book lying on its side, showing the front cover and the spine. There's a diagonal section of marbled paper near the fore-edge, and the spine and the area closer to the spine is leather. Lineart of a crashing wave is stenciled onto the leather and the title "Salvage" is stenciled along the spine, in gold paint.

The endpapers of the book are gray paper, with a gold lineart ocean wave pattern in foil covering the lower two thirds of the pages.

The edge and headband of the book. The edge is specked with teal-slate paint, and the headband is grey thread with short sections in red, blue, red, gold, blue (to thematically line up with Zuko's beads in the book).

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 09/11/2024

Alright this one is not a fanfic binding. You can actually print and bind whatever you want. Is it meaningful archival work if you only make a single copy for yourself? I don't know. But it feels like something. This is an excellent military scifi dystopia, worth reading if you haven't.

A small book bound in brown kraft paper with a black cloth spine. The cover has a stenciled image of a military helicopter and the name of the author, Isabel Fall.

The title page, title "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter" by author Isabel Fall.

Colophon reads:
Copyright (C) 2020 by Isabel Fall
"I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter" first appeared online in the January 1, 2020 edition of Clarkesworld Magazine. Following a controversial reception, it was withdrawn from publication at the author's request, and later given the alternate title "Helicopter Story." At the time of this printing, in February 2022, it has not yet been republished.
This edition is a personal archival copy created by the bookbinder, who believes that both Isabel Fall and her work deserve to exist.

The endpapers of the book are a printed digital camo pattern in desert colors.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 01/11/2024

Another one for Halloween, this is my first and so far only binding of my own fic, "The Exorcism of Lan Yuan." archiveofourown.org/works/27326941 Title page in several layers of vellum paper showing more of the title at each turn. Through the window in the cover, "Lan Yuan" has almost disappeared.

A book covered in blue cloth with an oval window cut out in the upper third. You can faintly make out part of the title "The Exorcism..." through the window; it's covered by translucent vellum paper. There is an unfortunate glue stain in the upper left corner.

The book held open, showing the effect of the translucent layered title pages. The page on the left reads "The Exorcism," mirrord (seen from the back) and on the right the pave says "The exorcism of" and you can see the rest of the title page through the layers.

The first page of the text, with wide margins.

Looking at the book from the spine downward, the fabric looks redder, because of the color of the the threads woven the other direction in the fabric. There's also a red endband at the top of the spine.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

You've probably heard of using a toothbrush (flicking the bristles with you finger) to get a splatter effect. I like using a mesh tray as it's easier to get a uniform effect. Rub your paintbrush in circles on the mesh, holding it a few inches above the surface you want to paint. #bookbinding

Two text blocks without covers pressed in a makeshift book press. Above them I'm holding a piece of metal mesh (it's a grill accessory) and a paintbrush.

The same text blocks as before, now they have gold sprinkled edges.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 30/10/2024

Happy spooky season! Here's @astronichter.bsky.social's "the field meets the wood" in a sewn-board binding, another one of the first books I made. I still love the cutout endpaper. Read the fic here: archiveofourown.org/works/27223936

The front cover of the book, a printed image of the silhouette of a tree against a multicolored/autumn-hued abstract background. There's a band of translucent white across the bottom third of the image, with the title "the field meets the wood" and the author, astronicht, written in plain serif text.

The endpages are plain black construction paper. The right page has the title of the book, one word per line, cut out of the paper.

The first page of the text has a wide, diamond shaped ornament centered a few lines above the text, and the text begins with an floral-embellished initial I as a drop cap, five lines of text high. The rest of the first line is in small caps.

The top of the book, showing the structure of the sewn-board binding (a cloth spine and hinge are added to a text block that already includes stiffened covers, and the cover paper helps secure everything together).

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

Not doing these in chronological order -- here's "Hear a Song This Deeply" by so_sshy, a modern-with-magic wangxian au with a focus on musical cultivation. archiveofourown.org/works/41191755 #bookbinding #fanbinding

The book opened flat, showing the cover and spine. The spine is covered in dark blue cloth and the front and back are covered in white and pale blue paste paper with a pattern of abstract, flowing musical notes.

The top edge of the book. The edge is marbled with blue ink in an abstract swirled pattern, and there is a hand-sewn headband in white and beige.

The beginning of chapter one. Above the text there's an abstract musical note pattern (it was inspired by the art in the comic "Girl Genius").

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 22/10/2024

"pluck the stars" by exoscopy -- archiveofourown.org/works/232780... This was my first fanfic #bookbinding project (not quite my first book), back in 2021. I embroidered the title onto the front cover--something I have not done on any book since.

A book bound in cream cloth with subtle gold threads woven into the fabric. The title, "pluck the stars," is embroidered in cursive writing in gold thread, with the beginning of the p and the end of the s splitting off into separate strands that extend towards the top and bottom of the book respectively.

The title page, which reads "pluck the stars" in a large font, with a flourish below and two stars above. Underneath the flourish is the author's name, exoscopy, and in smaller text near the bottom it says "Printed by E. Hyde - 2021"

The book standing upright and open, displaying the endpapers, which are marbled paper in shades of blue with a little bit of gold.

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E. Hyde @ehyde.bsky.social · 21/10/2024

Fuzzy pants with feet! #HalloweenWip for muting purposes

Child's costume pants mostly in beige furry fabric, the front half of the feet are brown.

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