Let us tell you a story. A young Swiss woman partakes in a four-year bookbinding apprenticeship before opening her own atelier in Zurich.

Nearly three decades later, Andrea Stettler-Kohler’s expert service (now located in the basement studio of her Ravenna home) is still one of Seattle’s best-kept secrets. 

To create a diary or photo album from scratch, she employs centuries-old, hand-powered equipment (two paper cutters and a precision crease maker) and materials sourced from around the globe (Japanese silk-screened papers, vinyl tablecloth found in Italian and French markets).

Can’t part with your tattered Jane Eyre? Stettler-Kohler repairs detached spines and loose boards, even customizing book boxes to protect stories from future wear.

For those with wordsmithing ambitions, pint-size journal necklaces (with stitched bindings and leather covers and cords) are ideal for inspired on-the-go scribbling.

Sounds like a happy ending to us.

Available by e-mail order (andrea@kohlerbookbinding.com). For more information, go to kohlerbookbinding.com. Find ready-made paper goods online at etsy.com.

Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Kohler