Hello and welcome!

My name is Kelly and welcome to my Blog.  Bear with me as I navigate this world...  I'm not one for writing, (as I prefer reading) but I have been to and seen some amazing bookish locations, and I want to share them where I can.  

My journey as a book witch has been... interesting... to say the least, so lets start this blog off there.

I started my bookbinding path in 2016 after my youngest turned 2.  I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life once she hit preschool.  Prior to kids, I worked in a daycare setting and as a substitute teacher (I hold a degree in elementary education and a partial masters in Literacy education).  I knew after having my children, I didn't want to go back into the classroom, but I'm also not one to sit around at home (unless I can read uninterrupted hah!)

Having been a reader since childhood, I knew I wanted to do something with books, but I didn't want to go into editing or publishing... it would ruin the fun of reading for me.  

Scrolling through the Facebook, I happened on a video of someone doing a medieval book binding and I was enthralled.  So THAT'S how books were/are made!  I decided immediately that that is what I needed and wanted to do with my life.  

Now, I'm sure many of you have heard about the Golden Retriever boyfriends/husbands and the Black/Orange Cat wife.  This describes me and my hubby almost perfectly.  He is the golden to my black.  And I adore him for it.  But, as goofy goldens do, he also knows how to push my buttons.  I showed him this video of medieval binding and said, "Babe, that's what I want to do with my life." to which he replied, "That's awesome babe... but where in the heck are you going to learn that and what will you do with it?"  (Now this is in NO WAY my husband not being supportive... he has been my absolute biggest cheerleader in this career change in his golden way... he is also super logical in business aspects, so this was out of left field for him).

Gauntlet thrown.  Watch me, sir.  

Hitting the interwebs, I found a beginning book binding class in Providence, RI, only 35 minutes away.  Off I go.  Oh boy.  This instructor was SO unprepared.  They couldn't find the threads for sewing the basic notebooks we were making, so we used fishing line.  OK... I'm not going to let this deter me.  I soon find the Creative Arts Workshop, over by Yale, in New Haven, CT; an hour and a half away which is not too bad and I enjoy driving and traveling so let's do it.  Basic Bookbinding, Leather Long-Stitch, Box & Enclosure Making... I am IN LOVE.  Wanting to find more classes, I then stumble on North Bennett Street School in Boston, MA (also an hour and a half from me).  A school of craftsmanship with a degree program and Continuing Education courses in bookbinding and restoration.  Intro into antiquarian book restoration, paper repair, coptic bindings, hard-cover bindings, more box & enclosure making: I have found my niche and my passion. 

Soon after diving into these classes, Rarities Bindery was made (don't ask how I came up with the name... literally, have no idea and couldn't tell you).  

I built my workshop in my basement and started making and selling handcrafted journals at varying vendor markets throughout Rhode Island.  Through those markets, I began gaining clients looking to have small repairs done to books and documents in their private collections.  Small businesses began carrying my journals, and more and more clients began coming in with restoration projects.  In January of 2020, I rented a beautiful studio space in a 200 year old mill in North Kingstown, RI.

Around this time, I met an amazing woman in Kingston, RI who owned an antique bookstore.  Hubby brought me there for our anniversary.  This woman and I hit it off talking about old books and restoration work.  I left her my card.  Several months go by, and I began discussing with my husband how I'd like to expand Rarities Bindery into Rarities Books & Bindery, and begin selling antique and vintage books, as well as my bindery work.  As I began thinking of how this could be done, my new friend in Kingston got in touch with me, asking if I'd be interested in learning the trade of antiquarian book resell.  ABSOLUTELY I WOULD.  We began... then Covid hit... and she closed.  During the pandemic, she and I would work in her store with her inventory, do house calls for people looking to sell, etc.  As the pandemic started slowing down, the building the bookstore was is was put up for sale.  I went ahead and found a much smaller location for it in Wakefield, RI.  To my surprise, my friend decided she wanted to slow down selling as retirement was approaching.  I took on as much of her stock as I could, started getting my own stock, and opened Rarities Books & Bindery on Main Street, in Wakefield, RI, in June of 2021.

Attached to a coffee shop, Rarities did well.  We were (and still are) a niche bookstore.  We specialize in vintage and antique books, rare books, and bookbinding services.  Over the two years in Wakefield however, I felt my soul beginning to run dry.  I had no time to read for enjoyment.  I had little time with my family (and my kids were/are growing so fast!), and Covid seems to have done something to the general public, where being rude and entitled is apparently ok, even in a magical setting like a bookstore.  I got tired.  Mentally, pyshically, and spiritually.  

It was with a lot of heartache that in October of 2023 I decided to shut down the Wakefield location of Rarities, and move it all into my studio.  My restoration clients were waiting on projects.  I had (and still have) an average waitlist of 3 to 4 months for restoration work, and I hadn't made any journals in over a year, because I had no time.  Journal making and restoration work are my passions.  Not selling books, as it turned out.  

Today, I am so happy with where I am.  I am in my studio full time.  I have my intern/apprentice/social media manager/lackey with me learning everything she can and helping in any way she can.  I still have a 3 to 4 month waitlist for restoration work, but it's work I love and can focus on.  I'm home with my family on the weekend.  And while I'm tired, it's a good tired.  Not a soul sucking tired.

Now where does the witch and the travel come into all this bookishness?  Well... the witch is me.  I'm Pagan.  Raised Catholic.  Still recovering.  I find solace in many practices so Paganism, and being a witch, suit me best.  The travel?  Oh my friends.  This world is HUGE and America is so, SO isolated.  I didn't just spend my time reading as a child, but my parents took me traveling as well.  Then the hubby and I started traveling, and it just keeps going.  I'm not meant to be in one place and I want to see it all.  So I travel with my family and solo whenever we/I can.   And of course, with a book obsession, bookstores and libraries inevitably end up on my list of stops to make.

I know this first post is long af, but I wanted to give you all a decent background of who I am and why I do what I do. 

I hope it this doesn't deter you from reading future posts, and if it does, my bad.  I'm going to have fun with this and hope you enjoy my journeys as much as I have. 

Happy reading!

​-K  

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