Friday, September 12, 2008

Hand Made Books

I had so much fun making books last week. I was completely inspired by all the goodies that Terri sent. Plus, I wanted to make a little something to give to the Frayed Edges.



I started with a teeny little book as a thank you for Terri. The cover is made of her beautiful collaged fabric and I mixed in some scrapbook paper and other stuff from my stash of interesting papers -- including a letter stencil.



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Next I worked assembly-line style to make a book for each of the Frayed Edges. Each book has essentially the same elements in the same order. This made creating the signatures just like following a recipe. Each book focuses on one main color -- green, pink/red, blues and yellows.



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I used fun foam for the covers (except for the yellow -- I didn't have any yellow fun foam, so I made a fabric cover). I wanted to covers to be pretty simple since the body of the book is filled with so much creative clutter. I just added one simple rubble stamp element to the covers. (I got that excellent stamp at the new Paper Source at Northpark Mall. Love!)



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I had to hide the books behind my back and blindly hand one to each of the Frayed Edges lest a fist fight break out in choosing the colors.



Here is a peek at the pink/red book. (Plus green and purple apparently.)



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These books are really just little interactive sketches -- well, not really sketches. But I think of them like warm-ups. I go through my stuff. Think about what goes together. Create things to open, fold, flip and hide. I keep my hands busy and focus on the raw creating. I try to embrace imperfection. Maybe the books will be filled with journal writing, maybe they are just fun to flip through. Maybe the get de-constructed and become something else. It's about the process.



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I wrote a note on the little mini-book within the journal that says something about "keeping your hands busy." That phrase just popped into my head. It's figurative and literal, I think. Keep going.



I made another little interactive/mixed-media/journal/book for Joanne to celebrate her September birthday.



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There's that circle stamp again. It's also got a "J" for Joanne.



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That's electrical tape holding the stencil in place. Purple! I also have green and yellow and next time I'm at Home Depot, I'm buying more. It's so fun.



And speaking of books... I read one that was FABULOUS! Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. Oh my goodness. I have just discovered on Amazon that she has written a sequel. Well, I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.



8 comments:

Françoise said...

Wow! Nice little books! What a good idea.
Your friends must be delighted.

Kristin L said...

These are such fun gifts. I really like the idea of them being open-ended; with the idea that they could be art in and of themselves, used as sketchbooks or journals, or deconstructed. It takes so much pressure off both you and the recipient.

Deanna said...

Those books are so cute! I am totally stealing that idea. :-)

Vicki W said...

These are terrific books!

kathy said...

I love my beautiful green book! I have it on my sewing table, right in the middle of chaos and when I look at it I smile and don't notice the mess! It's there because I want to think of something perfect to do with it...use it as a new journal? Just look at it? Either works.

Jules said...

The little books are terrific. I loved reading about your trip to Maine.

Gerrie said...

What fun!! They are so colorful and such great dey candy.

Pam said...

love these little books too -PP