Our story

My name is  Claartje Oom Owusu, some call me Claire. When I grew up as a child, I always was in my grandfather’s workshop. From his beautiful working shop, where he did his paintings and traditional hand bookbinding, I developed my love for making books by observing him. Later, when I was older, I worked in an Elderly Nursing home and in a Child Day Care thinking that is my calling. However, my love for books and passion came again. I could not forget it. I finally decided to enroll in a traditional handbook binding training program in The Hague, Netherlands, Europe. I received training in December 1994 and graduated in 1998 and obtained my certification, but stayed on till the end of May 1999. I experienced the incredible art of traditional handbook binding and began offering services to individual clients, after setting up my own traditional bookbinding at home. I set up “Clara Helena Handworks”, a traditional handbook binding service, to offer my unique Customers. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.