New Blog Site

We have a new blog site for the Northwest Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, now under the management of Mel Hewitt.

www.northwestgbw.blogspot.com

This blog will still be accessible as an historical archive.

Newly Elected Board for Northwest Chapter

Chapter Chair                     Jodee Fenton      

Secretary                             Elsi Vassdal Ellis

Treasurer                            Elsi Vassdal Ellis

Web/Communication      Melanie Hewitt

Events/Workshop            Bonnie Thompson Norman

Stay tuned for amazing changes coming!

Current Officers

Guild of Book Workers Northwest Chapter Officers 2018-2020

People have moved on. Officers have changed. I do not have the privileges necessary to update the sidebar with information on current officers and so this is my current solution:

Current chair: Sarah Mottaghinejad (Editions.studio@gmail.com)

Events (workshops/exhibitions): Sophia Bogle (sophiaswbogle@gmail.com) 

Communications/Treasurer: Elsi Vassdal Ellis (elsi.vassdal-ellis@wwu.edu)

Covid Creative Online Exhibition

Here is the first posting of creative work by chapter members in this Age of Covid. 

All work is copyright protected and held in the member's name.

There is no deadline for submitting work for inclusion in this online exhibition. 

Jessica Spring - Springtide Press - Viral Post Series

Search for: Bat, Chloroquine, Corona, Curve, Distancing, Fever, Home, Masks, 

Pandemic, PPE, Quarantine, Six Feet, Soap, Tests, Virus, Wuhan

Elsi Vassdal Ellis - EVE Press - No More Excuses

Here is the short story, part fiction part real of a woman who has no excuses but to clean out THAT closet during COVID-19 social distancing. What she finds is a box of fabric scraps given to her by her husband's Indiana grandmother who quilted to earn extra cash to keep the house warm in winter (real). Every square has at least one piece of Pansy's fabrics dating from the 1930s to 1980s.

Front & back covers; 14 inches square; side binding with Victorian glass buttons on front; back buttons plastic.

Endsheet and page 1

Pages 2 & 3 (Pansy loved pink; she also cut lots of hexagons for a quilt never begun)

Pages 4 & 5

Pages 6 & 7 (Pansy loved the combination of orange and teal; I am saving that combo for a different book)

Pages 8 & 9

Nominations open for Northwest Chapter Board Positions

I know you have been anxiously awaiting this opportunity to nominate yourself or someone you know for election to the regional board. 

Rather than compete with the national nomination process we have usually waited to keep nominations and election dates closer together. [It keeps things fresh in everyone's minds as well.]

Nominations may be submitted to Elsi Vassdal Ellis who will confirm nominations and work with the national board to create an electronic ballot by June 15. The electronic ballot will be sent out to all current members on [or slightly before July 1]; ballots must be completed/returned by midnight, July 31.

You will receive reminders of dates. The most important one to remember right now is JUNE 1.

The board positions open for nomination are:

Chapter chair (currently Sarah Mottaghinejad)

Vice-chair

Secretary (currently Elsi Vassdal Ellis)

Treasurer (currently Elsi Vassdal Ellis)

Website/Communications Director (currently Elsi Vassdal Ellis)

Newsletter (currently Elsi Vassdal Ellis)

Events Coordinator (currently Sophia Bogle)

Just so you have some idea of what the positions are all about, I have included the information from the GBW Chapter Handbook.

From the standard Chapter Handbook:

Every chapter must have a Chair.  [No chair, No chapter].

Other offices are optional, depending on the needs of the Chapter.  Regardless of the number of officers or officer title, the duties listed below must be fulfilled.  

 ​

Chapter offices and duties that might be considered: 

1.    Chair (or Co-Chairs). 

Responsible for the smooth and effective running of the chapter Coordinates the other officers Communicates with the chapter membership Represents the chapter at the meetings of the GBW Board of Directors Quarterly conference call meetings Board of Directors annual meeting at the Standards Conference Chapter Chairs annual meeting at the Standards Conference

2.    Vice-chair  

Is an understudy for the President or Chair Takes on assigned tasks 

3.    Secretary (recording & membership) 

Receives and handles mail 

Takes minutes of meetings 

Writes (or assigns) reports of events 

Keeps chapter membership lists (names, phone, email) 

Collects permanent records and materials for the GBW Archives. 

4.    Treasurer 

Creates annual chapter budget with Chair 

Oversees all financial activities (events, etc.) 

Records all financial transactions 

Collects, approves, and forwards all bills for payment 

5.    Website/Communications Director 

Creates &/or monitors web site information 

May maintain a blog or other social media for the chapter 

6.    Newsletter Editor 

Edits regular chapter newsletter content and production 

7.    Events Coordinator (may be divided into two positions if desired) 

Meeting and Program/Workshop Planner Exhibition Coordinator 

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me or Sarah [sarah@editions.studio]. [And no, I am not a position hog; board members resigned because life called upon them to shift priorities elsewhere, and so I filled in on things as needed. To be honest, I could have done more. . .]

And yes, there will be weekly reminders. I will haunt you until the nomination deadline!!!! [Remember that Halloween Exchange???]

Call for workshop proposals

The Focus on Book Arts (FOBA) conference is looking for instructors for the fifteenth biennial conference.  Conference dates are Wednesday through Sunday June 23-27, 2021 with a check-in day of Tuesday, June 22, 2021. This event is held at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon about 30 miles west of Portland, Oregon. We are looking for beginning, intermediate and advanced level workshops. We would also like to consider master level workshops that may involve critical problem solving or more advanced hands-on work.

The format of the conference is in classes of one, two, or three days. All three-day classes will be on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. There will be a limited number of one day classes each day. Instructors may submit proposals for the length of days they think appropriate for their class. We encourage instructors to submit a combination of workshops that cover the entire five days of the conference. Each day would be six contact hours, 9:00 until 4:30 with a 1½ hour lunch break. In addition to the individual workshops, the conference will host evening activities and receptions, a trade show, a sales store (The Artists’ Fair), and a Faculty/Staff exhibit.

Deadline for proposals: May 15, 2020

For more information go to:

https://focusonbookarts.org/workshops/call-for-proposals/

Halloween Print Exchange (finally posted!!)

Three email calls went out in September soliciting participation in the second Print Exchange for the Northwest Chapter. This time it was for Halloween/Days of the Dead/.

Yes, it was another busy time of the year for an exchange with November and December celebrations falling close together.

The call went out suggesting not to think of the exchange as Trick or Treat but as Treat and Treat! To reduce the haunting fears of how many ephemera to make, the spirits of another GBW chapter was channeled and whispered, “Just a maximum of 10 is all.”

A second call went out soothing would-be participants by emphasizing no one had anything to FEAR! There will be no zombie apocalypse. No crazed Jack-O-Lanterns and werewolves. There could be flying bats but certainly no vampires hiding in the dark, waiting for you to fall asleep.

As a woman with skeletons in her closet and sitting on her bookshelves, one last call went out with the help of Casper, the Friendly Ghost.

Here are the results of the Halloween Print Exchange call.

Mary Ashton

Sophia Bogle

Susan Collard

Karen Hamner

Paula Jull

Marilyn Mohr

Elsi Vassdal Ellis