Wednesday, March 31, 2010

My Book is Ready



Well, my book is ready to go. I decided to do a mix of "forms" (for lack of a better term). I used book cloth and book board, some sturdier paper on the "outside" pages and the inside pages (between the green, holey paper) is pastels and a lighter paper weight. I'm hoping there's enough room for folks to do two pages if they like. The book itself is somewhat small, around 5". I love tiny things I can throw in a bag or a purse or a pocket so I made it tiny, but not too tiny.









Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Finally got this figured out!



I just couldn't get it the right size or the right weight or ........ just right. I'm hoping it will cost just under $3.00 to mail............


Anyway, I use alot of decorator fabric samples making my handbags and this really small swatch book (5" x 10") seemed perfect for our book exchange. So I took it apart and rebound it and collaged the front and I guess its ready to go. Everyone will get to create on 3 pages altho I still have to do my pages. You can use the tassels with beads as a bookmark when you send it along.

Maybe I'll put all our names from the group on the last page but didn't get that far yet. But it has been really alot of fun working on it! And can't wait to see everyone's additions to it.










Failure = reinvention

So, last time I posted I wrote about my troubles with getting spraypaint to stick to the box for my "pages." I had similar problems getting paper to stick! I was using adhesive that I use to stick paper to glass for my lens necklaces, but I think the trouble was that the plastic of the box was thin and bendy. So I gave up on that and just made my own box out of illustration board and bookbinding tape. Here it is, ready to go out in the mail soon!

Monday, March 29, 2010

stitching.

These are some updated photos of my book. The book itself if a found book that I altered. I kept it simple, just adding some pencil shading, collage and stitching to the cover and inside endsheets.







In progress pictures...





Sunday, March 28, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Failure = discovery

I attempted to spraypaint the purple plastic box I bought to contain my index card "book," thinking silver would be much more interesting than purple. Alas, I forgot that spraypaint tends to not want to stick to things that are plastic, particularly if they are bendy plastic. Much flaking ensued:
At first this was annoying, since my desk, hands, and clothing were full of little paint flakes and my box was mostly back to its former purple self. But then I realized that the paint flakes would stick to paper, so I coated some of my index cards in glue and pressed them down on the paint flakes, which stuck in random interesting patterns. A happy accident! Here are some of the cards in progress- I'm trying to not do too much, but to at least make one mark on each card.

Back to square one with decorating the box- I'm going to try decoupaging some mulberry paper to it using a glue that I know will stick to plastic!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Land Ho!



clay person eartha


Happy Spring fellow bookmakers!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

My book & entry - so far {Nicole Bruno, A Stitch in Design}

I found this hilarious book on my bookshelf and decided it was perfect to improve with our collaboration.Here's my entry in progress. I've decided to cut some windows out and plan to decorate them with some colored pencil designs. Can't wait to see what every one else comes up with!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

My "book"

Here's the "book" I'm starting out with! It's a book in the loosest sense- it will be a series of unbound pages contained in a box. I'm going to alter the box somehow (spraypaint? decoupage?) and start doing some work on the cards before parting ways with it on April 1. I like the idea of having loose pages so the order is flexible, and also I think it will leave things wide open for everyone to do interesting things. It would be easy to run the cards through a sewing machine, or fold or cut them, or make a mini-accordion book from a few of them...Anything goes as long as they still fit in the box!

About Handmade Philly Book Exchange

Handmade Philly Book Exchange is a collaborative project between fourteen members of Handmade Philly. Each person is starting out with a book of their choosing- bought, made, or found. At the beginning of each month, each book will be sent to another participant, who will add to the book in whatever way they choose. After fourteen months, each participant will receive their original book back- transformed by the creativity of the other participants! This blog will document the progress of the project and the evolution of the books over time.