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Hi, I’m Ellie! I’m a queer bookbinder in Salem, MA. I learned a simplified long stitch method of bookbinding at The Witchery, where I taught beginner workshops for about 2 years. In my free time I got deeper into binding, making jurnals from the scraps we generated at the store.

3 years later, I’m still at it. Journals covered with vintage wallpaper are my favorite things to bind, but I’m also getting better at rebinding paperback books..

Besides some tools, almost everything I use is secondhand. Sometimes this means materials are thrifted. Sometimes this means they’re NOS from ebay or etsy. Some things are sourced from the junk drawers of friends and family. Some things are given by neighbors or bought from yard sales. Occassionally I’ll find things on the side of the road or forgotten on a park bench. And sometimes materials are swapped and traded among other artists.

There’s so much stuff that already exists in the world; I try my hardest to use things that have already been forgotten or discarded.

A true Jack of All Trades, I also make jewelry and sculpture with a similar secondhand-first ethos. My jewelry often includes little creepy crawlies and more grotesque elements. My sculpture uses predominantly shells and manmade trash found on nearby beaches. I’ve also been known to customize clothes and accessories with a sewing machine. It’s never boring in the Dream Age Dirt Hag studio!

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