The Bookbindery is a small craft therapeutic studio with people with different abilities and young volunteers assisting them. The work master is Sarit Ronen, a designer and art teacher who practices art therapy and social therapy. The therapeutic process takes place through the creation of paper products while addressing the needs, abilities, talents and creative forces of each individual in the studio.

Handmade Books

Making and binding blank books is the highlight of the studio. We make the books using traditional methods of binding, sewing them by hand, and binding them with special artistic cover papers that were carefully designed in our studio. Some of the cover papers are made using special techniques like marbling.

Environmental consciousness and leaving a small footprint are basic principles of the studio. We use recycled paper and fabrics, donations, leftovers from print houses, and raw materials we find available all around us.
Every book is a one-time, non-duplicable, unique item created throughout different phases by different people contributing their individual skills.

Useful and handy sketch and writing pads and notebooks are by-products of the book making, allowing us to maximize the use of the leftover paper. The relatively quick creation of these items is a nice addition to the long and thorough process of the bookmaking.

Decorative Matchboxes

Our artistic matchboxes have a strong reputation of turning this otherwise typical product into a centerpiece on any table for everyday use, but especially during festivals and holidays, they’re a wonderful and affordable gift item loved by many people. The creation of the box covers allows us to once again fully utilize the leftovers of our bookmaking. Our goal is to create different collections synchronized to the current holidays or season.

Paper Jewelry

Necklaces, bracelets and earrings are made from paper beads by Bookbindery crew-member and longtime friend Peter Richards. Rolling those paper beads is a precise task that has to be done with patience and diligence, including choosing the appropriate color combination from recycled magazine paper, according to the event, festival or season.

Greeting cards

Our greeting cards, made by hand, are the special creative platform that allows each individual in the studio to express their unique, artistic talents and abilities. We use a wide range of techniques and mediums to allow each person to find their preference and comfort and contribute to the collection. Each card is an art piece, inspired by a theme and created by a specific person collaborating with others.

We use stamps, punchers, circuit tools and die-cuts. We add illustrations and drawings using markers, colored pencils, crayons, water colors. We use paper to create collage art. We finalize the cards by adding hand calligraphy messages. The ancient art of drawing letters, ornaments and symbols is a wonderful therapeutic discipline that requires composition skills, planning and concentration and brings joy and satisfaction.

All that appears in adornments - embellishments, ornaments, precious stones, headgear - arises in the space of feeling… This is the substance out of which it is woven; our feeling lives in it.

(Karl König, Seeds for Social renewal)