A few weeks ago, I wrote this blog post about our Books in the Woods retreat for members of the Handmade Book Club. What made our time so special was being able to finally see each other in person, give hugs, laugh and dine together, and create with one another. We have the most amazing online community, but there truly is nothing quite like being able to connect with friends in the flesh when ordinarily, you only see them over Zoom.
While the Handmade Book Club has a really active Facebook group, which is a great space for our members to interact, we also found a growing desire in the community for opportunities to meet in person. After all, making books with friends is just more fun! Realizing that not everyone can attend a retreat, and that we’re spread out all over the world, the team and I began brainstorming ways to help our club members connect locally.
We implemented a community forum on a platform called Circle, and set it up to allow people to select their geographical location and find others in their area. This forum is where the conversations begin; they seek out interest from club members in their “chapter” and then organize their meetups from there. My team created a handbook to help guide members through the process of organizing their initial meetup, and we include all of the upcoming gatherings in our weekly newsletters.
Since then, it’s been pretty incredible to watch how many Handmade Book Club meetups have been popping up all across the United States and Canada. There’s even one in Portugal! Many of these groups meet on a recurring basis, either monthly or bimonthly, and interest continues to grow. During many of our Zoom sessions, I’ll see conversations in the chat about where folks live, with invitations to join an established group or an interest in beginning a new one. Knowing that our members are meeting and connecting, making new friends, and enjoying each others’ company, is heartwarming, to say the least.
HBC In-Person Meetup Fun
One of the things I adore about these groups is how they’ve established clever names for themselves. We have some members from Kansas City, who call themselves the “KC Bookies.” There are the “Arizona Roadrunners,” the “STL Signatures,” and the “Crooked Spines” from Pennsylvania.
During their gatherings, they’ll work on the monthly project, practice a guest artist technique, take a class, or sometimes visit a gallery. It’s really all up to them and whatever they choose to do!
(Left) The AZ Roadrunners play with gelli prints. (Right) The Seattle/Tacoma group is stamping away!
Often, they’ll take turns hosting or will gather at a community center or library. And of course, there’s usually lunch or snacks involved!
Bookies Ponte Vedra Beach / MidMichigan Bookmakers
And as you can see, they certainly have a bunch of fun!
San Diego Meetup / Seattle/Tacoma Meetup
Coming up in the next month, we have Handmade Book Club groups meeting in Kansas, South Carolina, California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Virginia, and even Alaska! We have groups meeting in Illinois, Oregon, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Washington, and parts of Canada. The list continues to grow, and **spoiler alert** we’ll soon be unveiling a brand new HBC website, which will make it even more accessible for our members to find one another!
Perhaps we’ll soon see local meetup groups in every state, and all across the world, which is pretty awesome and inspiring. This all stems from a global group of folks who met online, who share a passion for handmade books, and who subscribe to the entire essence of our club, which is a creative community of craft and kindness. It doesn’t get much better than that!
WHAT IS THE HANDMADE BOOK CLUB?
The Handmade Book Club grew out of my love for teaching and community. Having spent more than 10 years teaching in-person classes, I decided to reach a wider audience in 2019 and founded the online Handmade Book Club.
The Handmade Book Club is a community of bookmakers from around the world. Each month, I teach a new book binding project to the club members. In addition to making books, we love learning about ways to fill our handmade journals. That’s why we have guest artists and speakers join us every month! Club members also have access to a robust selection of past projects within the archives.
Whether you’re an experienced bookmaker or a complete novice, the Handmade Book Club is a community for you. You can try out a free book project here.
We’d love to have you join us! Sign up for the waitlist!
