Artists Books

I have always been interested in artists books, and over the years have created several on a number of different topics, which I plan to list in my new Etsy shop. This one, created a couple years ago, is on the theme of God's faithfulness. It is a concertina structure, with an acronym of Faithful, listing character qualities of God.


In the valley of each fold are cut-outs in the colors of the rainbow, another Biblical symbol of God's faithfulness. This modest little artist's book is the first I've listed in the shop, with more to come. Someday, I would like to start a collection of artist's books. Alisa Golden, who writes wonderful bookmaking books, makes hundreds of artist's books incorporating text and printmaking techniques, and I would love to own one of her pieces. Her work is something to aspire to!

Vintage Valentine

I was brainstorming with some other ladies on a forum about how to organize/display vintage valentines, when I remembered I had already created a book with that theme. This flag book was made using vintage postcards, most around 100 years old, that I had collected. I designed this book so that the backsides of the postcards with the writing, stamp, and postmark would be visible, because I think this is the most interesting part. The writing is legible, and it's fun to read the notes and imagine what people's lives were like back then. I get the impression that they used postcards 100 years ago like we use the telephone or email; a lot of the letters are just one or two sentences to arrange a vist or an appointment.

If you're interested in making your own flag book with ephemera or other scraps of paper, check out this great PDF tutorial.

Mini Book Ornaments

These (not the best picture) are some miniature book ornaments all packaged up for a swap I'm in. As you can see from my Etsy shop, books are my thing, so I thought it only appropriate to make some minis and turn them into ornaments. They are kind of like my Booklet Brooches, but larger, with blank inside pages. I am hoping that people will get creative and write Christmas memories, draw pictures, add small photographs, or collage in the pages to make them personal tp their family. At least that's what I would have wanted to do with such an ornament as a child! Maybe, if I really get motivated there will be some for sale in the shop soon.

Hot Drinks for Hot Mamas Apron Swap

This is the apron I sent to my swap partner Tammy for the favorite hot drinks swap. She loves coffee, and I found this neat coffee bean print fabric and geared my complementary fabrics to a mocha/cappicino-like color. I also sent her some coffee cup cozies, and one of my handbound books with a vintage food print on the covers.

Green Bookmaking

This book was created for a challenge: to use only, or mostly, recycled materials in a book. All of the materials in this one are recycled except for the pretty green cover paper.



The inner pages are made from Trader Joe's grocery bags, as are the endpapers. It has a buttonhole binding with leftover scraps of Irish linen thread in natural, green, and red to match the book. It's up in the shop now!

Playing with Clay

Finally, I'm making some more clay book covers! These clay covers were what first got me into bookbinding, but I haven't made a new batch for quite some time. It was fun to try some new patterns and decorations on the covers, and I have high hopes for this group. The firing process is so unpredictable: sometimes the covers warp in the bisque fire, and sometimes they warp in the glaze fire. And sometimes the glaze doesn't turn out right, and sometimes the covers just crack! So there are a multitude of things that can go wrong, but overall, I usually get at least 10 sets that are usable.

Sketchbook Wraps

My newest project, created in an effort to combine all my scraps of material with bookbinding somehow. Ever since I got pregnant I've had this strong desire to clean everything extraneous out of the house! Not so easy when you're sentimentally attached to almost anything and everything:)



But, it's easier for me to part with supplies if they're transformed into something useful, like a book. Hence the Sketchbook Wraps to use up all my bits and pieces of Kaffe Fassett fabric. Who wouldn't want to draw or doodle in a book covered with these fantastic prints? And I think the vintage buttons add a nice touch on the cover fasteners. There's just enough room in back to slip five shortie colored pencils too, so no good idea goes unrecorded.

Oh Baby!

We're going to have some new excitement around here in January with the birth of our first child...(maybe I can blame the pregnancy for abandoning the blog the last few months)...so I've been contemplating all things baby-related. One of the great Dover publications, a book full of clip art from the 1920's has been sitting around waiting for some inspiration. Inspiration found, with new Baby Books in the shop! This is the first one I made, with more to follow soon with blue pages.



Aren't these vintage illustrations the sweetest!

Dragonflies...

This is one of my newest books. I love the turquoise colored paper with the gold dragonflies. This is also my new favorite binding: exposed spine sewing on leather tapes. I think the leather tapes on the outside look really cool with the contrasting stitching thread. Haven't decided yet if this is going up on my Etsy site, or at a local gallery. The funny thing is, this is the same paper (in a different colorway) that I used to make my very first book, 5 years ago!