Art Swarm Fun

Warm hearts

Creative thinking

Creamy paints

Squishy gelli plates

Lucious markers

Sharpened pencils

Waxy thread

Laughter

Meandering books

Exploding pocket books

Meditative Labyrinths

Rich coloured pencils

Smeared book covers :)

Glistening paper beads

Fun book pockets

Expressive stick figures

Sketchbook fun

Friendships forged

Memories made
A happy birthday girl

Art Swarm at the Bee Hive

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Glazier Codex: 2 new books!

Well, I haven't posted much for a long time, but I'm really happy to share my two new works! These books are in the style of the Glazier Codex and based on a model from 500 AD. I'm not going to pretend their exact replicas, but they are certainly 'in the style of!'

One book has a wooden cover with mahogany goat leather for its spine and wrapping. There are two carved bone toggles which I stained with terracotta coloured ink. That book has leather wrapped that continues off of the spine and wraps around the edges of the book.

The other book's cover is paper covered davey board. The leather used on it is deer hide. It will soon have toggles, as well.

Enjoy!

Book Arts

Some time ago I made my first book sculpture. Recently I had it photographed professionally for a show entry. Love these photos!

 

Makes me want to curl up with a good book!

 

 

 

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Intricate Beauty By Design

Intricate Beauty By Design, a talk by Marian Bantjes, graphic artist.

Thanks to my friends at the Saskatchwan Chapter of the Canadian Book Binders and Book Artist Guild (CBBAG) for sharing this!

Click the link to hear Marian Bantjes speak on TED. There are some great pictures, too!
 Marian Bantjes Intricate Beauty By Design

Japanese Stab Binding

My recent endeavours into bookbinding have included learning Japanese stab binding. You can make a variety of patterns with your thread. These books have the the hemp leaf pattern.

The books are about 3" x 6" with blank paper inside. I borrowed my husband's drill to make the holes right through the covers and paper. I am hoping to get a dremel sometime soon to do more of this fine work.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the finished products!

Clay Covers

 Recently I've been trying books with clay covers. These books were made the last couple of weeks and utilize polymer clay.

The clay provides an interesting cover and allows me to sew them up with a coptic binding. I wrote about this type of binding in a past post. I've learned a lot more about this type of binding since I made the original books and will likely post about them in the future.

In the meantime, these are pictures of the polymer clay books!

More Books!

This is a new book I've made for my daughter. This book is  11 inches tall and is about 2 inches wide at the spine and the front is about 4 inches wide. Inside the book are pockets and various decorative pages, including map pages for putting in pictures or writing. I am really pleased with it and am loving the beads on the spine!

This is a variation on the previous book that had the ribbons and threads attached to the spine.


I am also including pictures of another book I've made for a friend's neice. This one has all of the ribbons. I like them both and am having way too much fun!!!

Christmas Books

This year's Christmas tree will be decorated a bit differently. A week or two ago I was able to get together with some book making friends and made some new decorations. They're all 1 inch square. Tiny, but I think they're pretty fun!

The Paper Place

There's a great store in Toronto that I really want to visit. The Paper Place sells all sorts of beautiful papers. I've been buying a few of them for my bookmaking endeavors! This week they announced a contest. They're giving away 700 sample sizes of Chyogami paper.

They have a great description of their contest on their blog http://www.thepaperplace.ca/wp/2011/12/01/the-2nd-great-chiyogami-giveaway/  this entry on their blog also shows the way Chyogami paper is created. Very interesting in and of itself!

I have only just started using this paper.

My first use was very basic. The owls I cut out for my owl book covers came from a sample sheet I'd bought. 

I've got a nice stack of Chyogami that I'm preparing to use for some bookmaking for Christmas, too!

A Little Crazy, But Lots of Fun

I decided to try to make a book I have a pattern for. I substituted my painted and other papers for the ones suggested, and created something different. But I'm really pleased with it. I just need to be a better photographer, because the pictures don't give the full effect! The ribbons and threads on the spine truly make it a one of a kind. 

The pages inside this book are different weights and textures. One of the pages in each of then12 signatures (groups of folded paper) has a little envelope attached. This book would be fun to use as a travel journal, or photo album. You can add lots of writing and pictures and it would definitely be a one of a kind. I've already had two people say they would buy it. I'm reluctant to sell it, because it was fun to make and is so unique. Maybe if I make two or three more I'll be willing to sell one?

Owl Books and Boxes

Our recent book show got me inspired to try a few fun things.

My first new project has been owl inspired. I have a daughter who loves owls, and so I decided to make some books for her.

There are three mini books in the series. One of the books in the series has facts about owls. Another has facts about the owls of Harry Potter and the last one has literary quotes related to owls.

Each page of the book is 3 x 3" then folded into a pattern that allows the book to be only 1.5 x 1.5" All three small books fit into an owl box. the box is a 2 x 2" cube with an owl head topper.

These were fun. The owl box was a bit of a challenge. I spent a lot of time on the internet looking for an owl box pattern. There were a few, but none the size I needed, so I did some adapting and while it took longer than I'd expected, I think they're pretty cute.

The Book Show

Our book show this past weekend was a great success. We had more than 100 books on display that had been made by people in our group, as well as some from other parts of the country.

We also had a sale table of books we'd made.

It was wonderful to see people become surprised by the variety of books and things you can do with books.

Here are some pictures.