Art, Crafts and Bookbinding
By Kayden Keeney
I’m a trans, neurodivergent Illustrator and Bookbinder living in Eastern MA.
This page is still under construction as of August 2025
About
My name is Kayden and I’m an Illustrator and bookbinder living in Massachusetts. I previously branded my artwork under Kaybeast Art and shared my work through a YouTube channel and at local conventions. Then the pandemic happened. Like a lot of other folks, it took me a while to bounce back from that life-changing event, but during that time I discovered and fell in love with the craft of bookbinding.I made my first books as presents for my Dungeons and Dragons group in 2022 and have been loving the craft ever since. I especially enjoy incorporating my other art skills, like watercolor, ink, and embroidery into my book pieces to elevate them further.I chose to rebrand to Serpent Bound Studio to better reflect my new direction of work - focusing on books and catering to a fantasy, nature and D&D aesthetic. I chose the serpent as my logo in honor of my boa constrictor, Diamond, whom I’ve had since Christmas of 1998.
Books I’ve Made
Other artwork
A sample of some of my best work over the years. Most of these are from my artist alley days pre-COVID.
Resources for Bookbinding
I’m self taught and have compiled together a list of useful links for anyone else interesting in trying out this craft.
| Link | About |
|---|---|
| Sea Lemon | Very beginner friendly, has a variety of tutorials covering different kinds of binding and diy solutions |
| Bitter Melon Bindery | Beginner friendly to intermediate level tutorials, also published a very useful book “Handmade Books at Home” that I highly recommend |
| DAS Bookbinding | Intermediate to advanced for the most part, has a lot of specialty tutorials and a variety of binding types |
Most of my book supplies I’ve purchased at places like Amazon, Michael’s or Blicks, but there are a few places that cater to specialty items that are hard to find elsewhere.
| Link | About |
|---|---|
| Hollanders | Specializes in bookbinding tools and supplies, including book cloth, presses and decorative paper |
| Talas | Also specializes in supplies specific to bookbinding, book repair, and archival conservation |
| Colophon Book Arts | More bookbinding specific supplies, including book cloth, papers, and paper marbling supplies |
| Church Paper | They sell a variety of paper, but recently started putting together short grain options for bookbinding specifically. This is what I use in my journals. |
Below are a few other resources I’ve found helpful in my bookbinding journey
| Link | About |
|---|---|
| Incompetech | Kevin MacLeod is widely known for his royalty free music, but he also makes these free to use generators for various kinds of paper patterns, like grids and lines. I use these for my dot-style bullet journals |
| r/bookbinding | This Reddit page is full of other binders sharing their work and offering advice. If I’m ever stuck on a problem this is the first place I look for possible answers |
Past Events
Below are some of my tables from my Artist Alley days pre-COVID, back when I was still using my Kaybeast Art branding.
