heartfelt, beautifully bound.

One-of-a-kind, Timeless Albums

For Memory Keeping & documenting artwork.

KHATA COLLECTION

For mindful art journaling

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Woodland birds

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tropical Birds

Featuring prints of antique artwork,

touched up with vibrant handmade mineral stone paints.

Bound with cotton-rag watercolour paper.

Personalised Guest Books & Photo Albums

SHOP BOOK JEWELLERY

Fill them with favourite quotes, poems, prayers

or miniature paintings.

SHOP OUR FAVOURITE TO MAKE

STORYTELLER

Behind the scenes

Join us on Instagram @Lotusblubookart

Good morning from sunny Yorkshire. We spent all day pottering around in the garden yesterday and I’ve woken up with aching bones this morning, I’m so unfit! Still, I’m glad this little patio area is now finished. I’ll be sat here binding and painting later on. Hope you’re having a sunny start to the bank holiday weekend🌷 . . . #seekinspirecreate #aquietmoment #alliseeispretty #allwhatssbeautiful #everydaymagic #lifeunscripted #houseandgarden #littlestoriesofmylife #bevisuallyinspired #rusticwalls #yorkshireliving #countryliving #fromwhereistand #postitfortheaesthetics #farmhouseliving #rusticgarden #magicmoments #goldenhour #lotusblubookart Rosy Days — Three hand painted albums with a summer rose theme for printed photos and mounted artwork. I recently bought a beautiful @david_austin_roses climber which I’m going to plant outside my studio, I don’t have the greenest fingers, but I like to try. I love adding dried roses and lavender to our packaging, home grown will be even nicer🥀 . . . lotusblubookart.com/hardback #seekinspirecreate #aquietmoment #alliseeispretty #allithinkisbooks #allwhatsbeautiful #everydaymagic #houseandgarden #bevisuallyinspired #rosesroses #davidaustin #inspiredart #paintedroses #handmadebooks #photoalbums #paintedroses #shabbylovers #shabbystyle I was browsing through a beautiful paper shop yesterday selling some exquisite batik papers, I was so tempted to buy, but I’ve made a promise to myself that I must use up all the paper I already have. Less hoarding more making. These three albums are covered with screen printed Chiyogamj paper, traditionally bound with 300 gsm ivory pages and translucent interleaving sheets, they can also be used for displaying and protecting artwork as well as precious photographs. Find them at lotusblubookart.com/hardbacks (link in bio) . . . #lotusblubookart #handmadememories #photoalbums #chiyogami #traditional #wermemorykeepers #memoryalbum #displayart #bookdecor #bookbinding #orientdesign #searchwandercollect #creativelifehappylife #colourmehappy #rusticdecor #booklove #printthosephotos Tattered old books, one of my first loves🧡 . . . #vintagefinds #lotusblubookart #oldbooks #antiquebooks #bookdecor #shabbylovers #tatteredbooks #rusticbooks #lotusbluvintagefinds I took a day off to visit York. What a beautiful city. The cathedral was breathtaking and The Shambles very charming. I was unintentionally dressed as a monk today, very fitting (more in stories) . . . #york #visityorkshire #yorkminster #yorkcathedral #lotusbluwanderings #jorvik #lotusblubookart
Book spine details of a couple of wedding guest books sent out this week. Love these colours. #weddingguestbooks #beautifulbooks #rusticweddingdecor #weddingalbums #lotusblubookart Happy Friday dear ones. I’ll be pottering around in the garden today and taking photos of new books on this lovely spring day. Wishing you all a sunny start to the Easter holidays🐣 (Photo of my old terracotta pink studio, I feel like going back to this colour) . . . #lotusblubookart #studioday #heartfeltcreations #bookbinding #rusticfarmhouse #beautifulbooks #artjournals #creativityfound #discoverunder5k #booksonbooks #bookdecor #fortheloveofbooks #cottagestyle #terracottapink #pinkwalls #studiolife Sorting out my hoard of vintage textiles into tidy piles, all ready for new Caravanserai & Heritage book collections to come. Oh the excitement of rediscovering old things you you love, but forgot about. Who gets that’s that? 🥰 . . . #lotusblubookart #vintagetextiles #fabricjournal #bookbinding #handmadebooks #beautifulbooks Can you imagine a world without colour? Here’s a peek at what I’ve been working on in my spare time. A collection of vintage textile journals and little curio boxes filled with swatch books. I’ll send out a newsletter once these are up for sale, if you’d like to sign up for it, click the link in my bio. Hope you’re all having a lovely start to the Easter holidays🌷 . . . #lotusblubookart #handmadebooks #heartfeltcreations #booklove #journalcollection #rusticjournal #watercolourjournals #junkjournals #cottagestyledecor #shabbychiclovers #creativejournal #makeartdaily #watercolorchallenge #storiesfromtheroad #travelingartist #travelartjournal Weekend work on the cards for me as I prepare to take some time off soon. Leather paring is not something I enjoy much as I’m still pretty rubbish at it, but learning more each time I attempt it, plus I’m finding @jeffpeachey knives make it a less painful experience📚 #lotusblubookart #leatherjournals #beautifulbooks #bookbinding #leatherparing #bookbindingtools #handmadebooks Sat here with my mum @faridajk chatting away and getting her to remind me how to do a simple chain stitch. These will be book wraps for more tiny watercolour swatch books to come. Hope you’re all spending your time just as you like.🧡 Coming soon to my Caravanserai collection, journals covered with vintage Uzbek Suzani and beautiful Pakistani indigo Ajrak that my dear brother (from another mother) @loaflifestyle kindly sent to me. I like collecting tribal textiles, especially ones that already have stories behind them. #suzani #centralasiantextiles #rusticbooks #lotusblubookart #lotusblucaravanserai #caravanserai #vintagetextiles #fabricjournals #uzbeksuzani #thisvintagelife #storiesfromtheroad #silkroute #embroideredjournals #beautifulbooks #quarterbinding #bookbinder #bookbinding Just popping in to say hello and welcome to new followers. I thought I’d give you lovely people an introduction. I’m Moneeza, the face behind Lotus Blu Book Art. I started teaching myself how to bind simple books back in the early 90’s when I worked for a small family business designing screen and block printed textiles and stationery. I could never find journals or photo albums I liked, so I decided to make my own. I learnt by taking old ones apart and putting them together again. I made albums, guest books and journals as gifts for family and friends, but it wasn’t until 2012 that I started to sell my work after being made redundant from a bank job I had at the time (how I worked in a Bank for 6 years will always be a mystery to me!) I opened an Etsy shop in 2012 and a website shop lotusblubookart.com a few years later. In 2016 after 11 years of living in Ireland, my husband and I moved to England to be closer to my family; here I had a chance encounter with Christopher Brown, an ex apprentice of @sangorskiandsutcliffe who taught me how to create better book structures and refine my self-taught skills. Since moving back to England, my mother @faridajk and auntie @parveenpkh join me in the studio twice a week to help with wedding orders, this has freed up so much of my time to work on new ideas and one of a kind books. I love photography, I used to dream of travelling the world working as a freelance photographer (that’s still a dream) I also adore thrifting for beautiful old things in dusty charity or antique shops, some of which I sell. And in more recent times, I’ve started to dabble more in painting, mainly miniatures which I’m trying to build up the courage to show you. My style of work is influenced by my dual English and Pakistani heritage, always juxtaposed between eastern and western aesthetics. A few things you might not know about me: I was born in England, but spent of my formative years in Karachi, Pakistan where I had the best childhood. I can speak 2 other languages, Pushto and Urdu. I’m a mum of two boys 11 years apart. I’m married to the kindest man I’ve ever known. I’m a cancer survivor thanks to cannabis oil! I’m a lucky girl. New Arrivals — For the love of small things, little nugget book necklaces have been made and added to the shop, some with tea stained hemp paper and others with watercolour paper off-cuts, wrapped in reclaimed, weathered leather. One of a kind. Find them at lotusblubookart.com/book-necklace I also wanted to let you lovely people know that I have been announcing new collections via our newsletter, if you’d like to sign up, head over to lotusblubookart.com or click the link in my bio. All new subscribers get 10% off their first order. Thank you for all your support🧚🏽‍♂️ . . . . #bookjewelry #handmadejewelry #bookishgifts #tinyartjournal #miniaturebooks #fortheloveofsmallthings #rusticlife #gatherandlove #rusticbooks #bookdecor Tinkering with new ideas with a few of my favourite things from one of the various old boxes filled with bits of this n that. Other than vintage fabric, I like collecting old brooches, hat pins, keys, broken costume jewelry and buttons of course amongst other things. Some things get used on a book, others just live in a box and get taken out to be admired once in a while. Do you have boxes filled with odds n ends that look like clutter to others but are treasure to you? What do you collect in them? #lotusblubookart #lotusbluvintagefinds #thriftedstyle #vintagetrinkets #embellishment #mondayeyecandy #reuserecycle #oldbooks #bookartist #searchwandercollect Last week Brian and I went to an antique shop where I was drooling over this beautiful ink well. Today he presented it to me in a plastic bag (he’s not the best gift wrapper😌) my first thought was, box of chocolates, a plant, hmm maybe a new mug? Not in a million years did I think it would be this beautiful ink well! (Get a closer look in stories) He did good! Best early Mother’s Day gift; in fact I think it’s the best gift I’ve ever received. Now I just need a beautiful desk to go with it🥰 . . . #antiqueinkwell #glassinkwell #calligraphytools #veryposhindeed #theydontmakethemlikethisanymore #elegantdesk #vintagedeskdecor #beautifulthingsinlife #antiquefind #bookbindersdesign #handwriting #calligraphers #traditionaldecor #oldworldcharm #aquietstyle #buyvintagesavetheworld #allthingsbeautiful #victorianinkwell #victorianfind #storiestotell Painting with malachite. It’s beautiful. New one of a kind photo albums coming soon. Peregrine Falcon — a little box of loose watercolour sheets wrapped up in a remnant of vintage indigo dyed ajrak, tied up with a reclaimed leather strap embellished with Murano glass beads bought in Rome and others I bought in Nepal over 20 years ago.