Starting Something New (Even When You Have No Idea What You’re Doing)

I just received my new bookbinding tools — an awl guide, T-spacers, and corner jigs — and this feels like the start of another one of those adventures where I don’t totally know what I’m doing yet… but I’m doing it anyway.

I’ve been wanting to try bookbinding for a while.
Not because I need to.
Not because I have a big plan for it.
Just because something about making books by hand caught my attention and wouldn’t let go.

Paper, covers, stitching, putting pages together one piece at a time…
there’s something about it that feels old-fashioned in the best way.

So I finally ordered the tools.

One of the things I loved when I found this set is that I could choose my own color and build the kit the way I wanted.
I went with the bookbinding awl guide, the T-spacers, and the corner jigs, and everything is made right in her own studio using a 3D printer.

That makes it feel a lot more personal than buying something mass-produced.
These aren’t coming off an assembly line — they’re designed, printed, and put together by the person selling them, and I really like that.

Even the packaging was fantastic and had such a personal touch to it.
You can tell this came straight from her studio, not from a warehouse somewhere, and that makes the whole experience feel special before I’ve even opened the box.

And that’s exactly where I’m at right now…

The box is sitting here on the table, and I haven’t opened it yet.

Part of me is excited to see everything.
Part of me is wondering if I just started a whole new hobby without meaning to.
And part of me is a little afraid that once I open it, I actually have to learn how to use it.

But that’s usually how it goes for me.

I see something interesting.
I go down the rabbit hole.
I order the thing.
Then I figure it out as I go.

I’m not here to teach it.
I’m not here because I have it all planned out.
I just like trying new things, making things, and seeing where it leads.

So… I guess it’s time to open the box.

I’ll let you know how it goes. I don’t even know why I want to try it.
I just know I want to see what happens if I do.

So this might turn into a new hobby.
It might turn into something I use for my notebooks.
It might turn into a total disaster.

Either way… I’m opening the box.

And I’ll let you know how it goes.

If you want to check out her shop, you can find her here:
Olde Mother 3D on Etsy → https://www.etsy.com/shop/OldeMother3D

She makes all of these tools in her own studio, which makes this whole bookbinding adventure feel even more personal.