Stopan

Sometimes I color the book edges either with henna or other natural days, or with potassium permanganate. It brings some aesthetic value and protects the edge from stains. Endbands are sewn on the top and bottom side of the book back. The provide protection where the cover cannot extend, also bring some color and beauty to the book.

Filmed a few steps in the gilding process on one of my last journals. As you can see it's a time consuming process but still a lot easier and quicker than using real gold.

One of my most recent books is a little journal bound in goatskin and tooled with silver. Since it's my first attempt to gild with silver I've shot some of my time working on the forwarding and finishing of the journal. Even though I still need a lot of practice to make things perfect, the end result was most pleasing and left me feeling quite motivated for my next projects. In the video I attach the leather to the covers and lay the journal on the finishing press for the bands to dry properly. Next, the leather is folded on the corners and is ready for decoration when dried. As silver leaf is quite thin and fragile, you can't touch it with you fingers because it sticks to them and is practically destroyed. It is laid on a leather pillow of sorts and cut into manageable pieces. I tap a piece of cotton on my forehead, for it to collect just a tiny amount of oil. The cotton picks up the silver piece and I can put it where needed. Tooling is done over the leaf, repeating the stamps

The Stalwart Journal is a small sized journal with robust structure and archaic atmosphere. A unique item born from hundreds of hours of care and attention to structure and detail. Made with reverence to the strength of medieval bindings and their laden with symbolism aesthetic. The book has a purpose to achieve three things: comfort of writing, structure to last centuries and to ensure it's owner is filled with pride and confidence of this loyal writing companion. I've compiled most of the processes when making it as a brief showcase.

A new set of journals and a new video showing the more important steps in making and decorating a book. The three journals of the collection are 340 pages each and are bound in goat leather tooled with 23 karat gold leaf. They are quite thinner than I'm used to making but volume is surely one of the most important factors that influence the comfort of writing. Music: Red in Black by Kosta T is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. For the first time I coat the whole surface of the book in glaire in order to tool directly with gold. This rapidly decreases the chances of making mistakes. Before this, I used to repeat the tooling, one time for creating the releaf and a second time to apply the gold. This sometimes leads to a mismatch between the two stamps, creating an unsatisfactory decoration.

I've never spent more time on a journal like on this one. For so long I backed up on trying more complex techniques like experimenting with overlays, precious stone work and different leather treatments. Everything came out at once on this book and I admit it was a great pleasure. There is no greater feeling than working slowly and carefully on something, looking at how it begins to form and finally seeing it ready. Most technical information is shared in the video. Despite the many first attempts on this work the result is very pleasant and I'm sufficiently relieved to have finished it. I hope you enjoy this short showcase.

Leather is a beautiful material and when combined with some covers becomes an excellent shield for the rather fragile book body. When binding books, some considerations are to be made when choosing your leather. Vegetable tanned leather is a must. It possesses the qualities to absorb water and to be molded into the shapes you wish it to be formed. Of course, after all the work is said and done, these qualities should be controlled in order to protect the book from moisture. In this case, various oils and lacquers are used to coat the leather surface. There is a difference between the vegetable tanned leather used for belts or saddles and the one used for bookbinding. The leather should be thinner, 1mm or below. Books have movable parts and thicker leather would restrict the movements of the joints and prevent opening or closing. The seven journals made in the video are part of an order, I've been busy with the last month.

In the past, I've mostly evened the book edges with sandpaper, which can give a wide range of finishes, from burly to quite smooth. Recently, I've been doing a lot of work with the new plough and I'm very happy to experiment with smooth edges once more. I hope you enjoy this short showcase of my work.

Since mid-June I have been busy with the difficult task of sewing, binding and decorating a total of 15 journals that will be part of the new collection. The "Whispers Collection" will be available for sale in the beginning of October on my website. The size of all the notebooks is A6, 14 of them have a volume of 350 pages and the last one is massive one with a volume of 700 pages. I wanted to try the same techniques, but in different conditions and that is why in this collection there is a slight game with contrast. Mostly because the notebooks are going to be bundled in pairs. All of them are bound in a nice, soft-to-touch, veg tanned goat skin, but half of them are lacquered to darken the the leather and allow it to be gilded as well. The 15th notebook, however, is more interesting in every respect, it unifies the qualities of the others and surpasses them in many ways. Unlike the other journals, it is bound in vegetable tanned kangaroo leather, woven Gothic endbands from leathers

Girdle books were in the possession of monks and aristocrats in Medieval Europe. This type of binding provides portability, protection against unruly weather and some defense against theft. In addition to these purely utilitarian functions, in the past it was a symbol of status in society, as it implied wealth and literacy. In the video, I don't delve into all of the stages of making the book, since there is a lot of work with the leather braids and my father's silver work. I paid special attention these stages. You are welcome to see the first footage of my father's work and how he makes the silver corners for this little notebook.

Cinematic video of me and my recent work, the Whispers Collection - a set of 15 leather bound pieces of stationary, inscribed with whispers in gold and in blind.

The “PILLARS” Collection is in itself a story of lost roots and the attempt to trace them back. Inspired by the ornamentation of Bulgarian, Balkan and Byzantine bindings, I wanted to experience the attitude of the old masters when they worked. However, I wanted to distort this feeling as well, change the proportions and dimensions, make chaos in the lines, have levels that hide and at the same time reveal the past. What I did not want to change is the feeling of strength and the heavy, secure presence of the book body. My father examined this idea through the prism of his own craft, and finally with his silver work we enveloped and sealed our ideas in the finished bindings.

The “RIDDLES” Collection is a fusion of methodical construction and experimental decoration. In the process of working, the hands are kept busy but the mind sometimes tends to wander. Questions emerge, doubts creep in and contradictions begin to make sense. What is the best way to bind a book? What materials to choose? To simply decorate or to express oneself? Isn’t expression art? Am I an artist or a craftsman? Do I win or lose if I choose to call myself one or the other? When do I become a Master? When others say it or when I start to believe myself? To create for others or for myself? Embrace tradition or push it away? Impulsive or methodical? Proud or humble? In the end, the storm in the mind doesn’t hinder the drive of the hands to create something, whatever it is. They just make. The end result however is a riddle in need of an answer. The small journals burst with abstraction on the outside but offer calm and simplicity on the inside

The “WELKIN” Collection is once again standing on the firm shoulders of traditional structures and decorative practices, while at the same time leaving space for more dynamic tooling patterns. These works are another step forward in my quest to achieve a balance between tradition and my personal contribution to the craft. We are back in a time before the printing press, when the work on creating a book was slow priorities were robustness and longevity. The three books of the collection are designed with the ambition to be the most suitable vessel for the family history, personal achievements, and the cherished dreams and thoughts of connoisseurs of literature, writing and art. With my father, we were able to improve on every aspect of our work. The body is sewn in a new, slower but much stronger way around double cores of twine, and the thread behind it passes through three holes. The uniform sealing and positioning of the stitches behind each signature allows for an even distributio

I plan on making a new series of videos where I show you some things from the bindery in a bit more detail with commentary. This time I want to focus on my dad's new project - his designer Dip Pens. I think they really manage to combine the comfort and beauty of the mahogany wood handle with the handmade silver fittings, tightly protecting and decorating this functional piece of artwork. The wooden parts have been all formed by hand and hand tools. No machinery was used in the process. It is coated with natural oils and beeswax, later sealed with coatings of shellac. The silver fittings are made from sterling silver. The length is between 13 and 15 cm, without the nib. The pens come with a removable nib, which you can replace with the ones you find most comfortable. They use a standard 5 mm nib. The perfect companion for any of the journals from the bindery!

A rather long video of me sharing some thoughts on my first days of bookbinding and how developing your skills reflects in your work.I hope you enjoy my collection of journals that I've decided to keep for myself. They're a bit of a different thing from what I usually post.

It's long overdue that I pay proper respect to this wonderful collection! I've made a showcase of each of the five books and shed some light on the inspiration and concepts behind the structure and decoration.

A new addition to my dad's growing handcrafted pen portfolio. We listened to your feedback and did some changes in regards to comfort vs functionality. We also added a handmade stand to each pen for safe resting.

At last some behind the scenes footage of my dad working in his workshop! These are his first steps at filming on his own, so please bear with some steps being missing, or odd angles and so forth. The pen in the video is made composite with two types of wood - ebony and bocote. They're held together in the middle by the sterling silver ring, adorned with 14k gold leaves. You can see that each movement in making these is by the fine touch of the hand. This holds true for all of the pens in this "Summer" Collection.

Me and my dad were getting ready for a local competition for Contemporary Christian Art and our entry will be this mosaic binding of the Four Gospels.

As the title suggests, this was my entry for the 2019 International Bookbinding Competition - organized by Society of Bookbinders UK. The book was done some months ago but I'm releasing it only now, after everything passed. I didn't manage to win anything but it was nonetheless a great experience!

The “BOLYAR” Collection is a finer and more simple addition to the family of our leather bound journals. Paying homage to the STALWART journals from a few years ago, these books incorporate a minimalist approach to decoration with a balanced combination of blind and gold tooled ornaments. Leaving much more space to accentuate the beautiful qualities of the premium goatskin, the tooling only takes the central area of the covers and protrudes a bit to the inside as well. The fine covers are kept closed by the elegant sterling silver clasps, made by the careful hands of my father. Another contribution by him is the Rosewood Dip Pen that comes with each journal, each fitted with a sterling silver insignia and iroko wood stand.

In this update I wanted to share the latest set of journals from the "Ember" Collection. They were made with some new things in mind and I'm quite pleased how they turned out.

It's been a long wish of mine to spend more time drawing and making prints. The past month I did my best to make this wish come true and these are the first results. Bookbinding leaves behind much paper waste and I've meticulously tried to save each scrap to use for my handmade paper. Today I'm combining my two favorite pastimes, aside from bookbinding and made some nice paper to print on.

A book bound from much inspiration, stemming from many places. It was born from a fascination of primitive artworks, 15 century binding techniques and our own reimagination of combining different materials. It is a color I've not used before. This book is ancient in a way. Paying homage to the sun, to our ancestors, to our consciousness. "I Am Far Away" because when looking at the book I am not here. I am astounded at how my father beautifully combined his knowledge of wood and metal on these wonderful fittings. They are made with three layers, the first and last being sterling silver, while the center is a thinned down ebony plank. The color of the patinated and matted silver combines excellently with the dark ebony. The book wouldn't be complete without this set of corners and its clasp, they truly balance the condensed decoration of this bright yellow book. It is something we haven't done before. Another novelty are the lino printed endpapers, again from an original design and usi

I'd like to introduce you to all of the bookbinding presses I have in the workshop. Each has a special place, a special purpose and use for the various stages in book crafting.

My short story regarding my experience with bookbinding knives, paring leather and sharpening.

The extraordinary spring of 2020 and the hovering uncertainty over these few months led me to a very appropriate type of binding for this period. The millimeter binding originated in the uncertain times of the past, in times of war, when leather stocks were even more valuable and it was necessary to ration wisely with them. The binding is characterized by the strengthening of the book with leather, but only in the most vulnerable places such as the corners, the upper and lower sides of the covers, as well as the part of the spine above the endbands. For the rest, paper or textiles are used as cover material. In this Linen Collection yellow goatskin was used to cover the upper and lower covers, as well as over the endbands with a continuous strip. The rest is covered with blue-green linen fabric, reinforced at the bottom with paper, and decoratied with a printed linocut - with yellow relief ink. Finally, the decoration is enriched with silver decorative fittings, made and assembled by

The Birch Grove Journal - a goatskin bound journal with birch bark inlays, gold tooling and sterling silver fittings. The Zmey Eye Writing set - a mahogany and silver treasure from my father which includes a wonderful inkwell, dip pen and stand. A small silver Box Medallion from my dad as the smallest addition.

My biggest thanks to my father who filmed this whole video by himself in his home studio! It was a pleasure editing it and seeing once again each of the familiar processes. They're familiar for me but I'm sure most people are unsure what exactly takes to complete such a project. As you can see, this small pen is worked with a lot of different techniques but not only that - quite the number of specific tools are needed to produce this particular result. I'm sure an experienced wood carver is more that capable of making such an item with simple hand tools. We however have decided to speed up the process a bit with our new micro lathe and finished only the specific sculptural parts by hand. This also leaves a bit more time to be spent into working the silver, as it too requires much precaution. Designed and made by my father Ivo Daskalov, this wonderful Dip Pen combines the comfort and beauty of the Karelian Curly Birch handle and the silver fitting, decorating this functional piece o

The ORIS scroll is the abode of a poem. ORIS tells the tale of a tortured soul who is ordered to kill his own king. The hero wanders in a torturous timelessness around the mournful event and is seen both before the act and after its fatal end. The king, anticipating his death, destroys his entire domain, and his assassin with a guilty conscience ends his own life the moment his king dies. The fact that he tells this story after his death suggests that the prediction of the hero comes true, namely that he is doomed to torment beyond life.

THE HARVEST BOOK is a small manuscript containing two songs dedicated to the Sun and the harvest. They are written and decorated on specially made handmade paper and then bound in a flowering body of goatskin, cotton and silver. The work is available to be in the collection of a connoisseur of our work. If you are interested, please contact us via the contact form on our website.

The Passage Journals are a humble set of small blank books in a bit exotic square format. Each is an object devoted to be of service to its owner, built portable and attractive to the eye. A true object of craft and a temple for your writings. The four journals and other examples of our handmade craft work is available at the website shop at: www.iostopan.com/sho

These peculiar amulets are inspired from Manuscript #646 from the Bulgarian National Library “St. st. Cyril and Methodius”. It was written in 1787 for a gentleman named Niketa and is a compilation of various text and stamp amulets for good fortune and protection against various evils. This series pays homage to this exotic written treasure and offers some artistic additions to the otherwise short compilation. These amulets are meant to be carried with the owner or put in special places for continued protection. People from the past had a strong fascination with such object and they came in many forms, either in loose leaf formats such as this one, sometimes scrolls or book compilations, as is the original source.

The Superstitious Chorbaji is our latest artwork, combining the arts of bookbinding, weaving and silversmithing to achieve a book never before created.

The inspiration behind The Superstitious Chorbaji is a fusion of traditional Balkan art and craft influences with a sprinkle of Western bookbinding technique.

The making of this project took almost half an year collective efforts from me, my mother and father. Some of the processes, by themselves took more time in comparison to others like the paper making, printing, designing, belt weaving and others. In this video, you'll won't find the complete process of making but selected highlights that are seldom shown.

The Superstitious Chorbaji takes us back to the 17th-18th centuries - a time of oppression, of new Bulgarian self-consciousness and of a blazing strive for enlightenment and freedom. The main idea of the work is to transfer an aristocratic type of book in a time and society, in which aristocracy is not to be found. Bulgarian bookbinding history is like a puzzle with many missing parts, that are impossible to be discovered. This book is a small and at the same time, new part to this old puzzle.

After a long pause from social media, please feel welcome to join me in my most recent visit to South Korea and the work I had the opportunity to produce there.

I think it's about time I get to reveal what we've all be busy working on these past few months and still have a few left to go. We're making a new artist book, this time even more complex and in two editions. In the video I show you some sketches, finished stages and I ask for some help in promoting the finished work later on.

If you wish to support my work, please consider contributing in one of the many ways:

I’ve made the margins even for every page to make reading more comfortable. Heading and image positions are fixed, as well as a new Table of Contents, which links to the particular sections and corresponds to the proper pages. I’ve removed the alphabetic index in the end as well as all page references, which were untrue due to the change in format. Basically, it’s what a handbook or manual should be – without distractions, easy to use and concentrated on the topic.