A Good & Easy Upcycle

Many, many months ago, I went thrifting with a good friend who absolutely fell in love with the cover of this vintage Betty Crocker cook book. Unfortunately, it was in very poor condition, and when she peeled back the tape holding it together, some of the cover came off, too. I wasn’t specifically sure how to rebind it, but I knew I would eventually learn. So she requested I hold onto it until I learned how to make it into a blank book to put her own favorite recipes in. And finally, (I really mean finally, I think we found this book in January? maybe even earlier. . .) during my busy summer, I had the chance to learn coptic binding (also called a chain-stitch). As soon as I felt comfortable with this binding (and got back home) I started work on giving this book a new life:I carefully finished removing the tape from the spine. Then I scraped off all the goo left behind and used a ruler + matte knife to clean up the rough edges where the spiral had come undone.

I used my trusty colored pencils to fill-in the missing sections of the cover. I was a little nervous at first, but really pleased with how simple it was and how well it turned out:

I am in love with the pink teapot on the back cover, so precious! When I finished filling-in all the tape spots, I gave each cover a coat of Mod Podge to protect from peeling/smearing & for easier cleaning. I thought I wanted to recover the inside of the covers, but I decided to keep the original paper and the note that came with it:

I created new signatures to go inside. Each one starts with decorative paper and includes blank sheets like requested. The extra strip of yellow card stock will help the book expand more easily if papers are glued into it later:

And here is the finished product: This book lies flat when open; it’s the perfect form for a lot of writing or sketching:

This was such a fun way to make something unusable into a new item with purpose. For just a dollar or two, I gave my friend something unique that she can use for many years to come. Not only that, but it was definitely great practice for me. I am also excited to keep the vintage inside pages; they will make great collage material in the future. Waste not, want not!

Pop-Up Books & Sculptural Bookbinding

I had the extreme pleasure of taking a workshop taught by Carol Barton while I was at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts this summer. Carol is not only the author of The Pocket Paper Engineer Volumes I & II, but also a fantastic book artist, often making editions upwards of 300!

We started the week learning simple pop-up constructions and how to layer them. Does this look like a face to anyone else?

We also experimented with some platform and prop structures (which you can learn about in her 2nd book) and then moved on to more complicated shapes. I played around with cutting out letters:

We also learned some 3D book froms, such as: accordion, carousal, and tunnel book structures. I wanted to try something new, so I decided to focus on making a flag book. I used materials I already had, like textured packing paper and a book of old maps. Here is the cover of Wanderlust Full Speed Ahead:

Covers & spine detail:

Inside spread:

Detail of cut-outs:

During the week several students worked on carousal books. Since I had made one before, I focused on getting the flag book done. However, after I finished it, I did eventually end up starting a carousal book. But I still wanted to do something new, so I decided to scale mine down and make a miniature. Here is the start of it:

It begins with three nested layers. When you are done, it folds into a circle or “carousal” shape. When I learned this form in college, we called it a “Star Book” for obvious reasons:

This book is about 2 1/4″ x 2 1/8″ and is shaping up pretty nicely. I plan on incorporating layered pop ups and lots of stitching into it. Here is a detail of the back:

I learned so much in this workshop that I can incorporate into my work. I am excited to finish this book and to start new ones. I can now visualize what I want to make and easily achieve it. Make sure to check back here to see a finished version.

Until then, you can click here to see some of the books my classmates made during the week or go here to read what Carol had to say about her time at Arrowmont. Enjoy!

A Whole New Medium

I decided to try something a little different than usual this summer: Encaustic Collage. This technique is also known as “hot wax painting” and involves layering melted wax on a surface and encasing papers into it (if you wish). You can also transfer images/text onto the surface and lots of other techniques, but I won’t bore you with details. Instead, I’ll just show you this piece I made:

In case you couldn’t tell, this was partially inspired by The Labyrinth. Also inspired by: kittens, nebulae, marbled paper, fancy dresses, etc. Although this class was a challenge, I am glad I took it. And even though I got some work I like out of it, I know I won’t really be doing it in the future. It’s pretty time consuming and messy, and at the end of the day, I would rather spend my time making books or baking cakes. I mean, I’m all for being a well rounded person and artist, but with so many interests, I’m already nervous about being a Jill-of-all-trades-master-of-none some day, you know? I am going to spend my energy and free time on bookmaking, embroidery, and baking: so we all have that to look forward to.

Home Is Where Your Cat Is

The third workshop I took this summer was called Embroidery: An Exploration of the Stitch, and was definitely one of my favorites. I love to incorporate stitching into my books, but I never knew what I was doing. I would just freehand everything since I didn’t have any technical experience.

This class focused on stitching into surfaces other than fabric, such as wood / paper / plastic / whatever you can imagine. This is one of the pieces I made, I guess you could say I was getting a little homesick by the time July rolled around:

This is an example of an  8.5″ x 11″ embroidered photograph (this beautiful portrait was taken by my friend Ryan, who has the biggest sweet tooth the world has ever seen). I used a split stitch to embroider “Home is where your cat is” on it. This is something I discovered last summer while away from home for about a month and is possibly the truest thing I have ever said.

I didn’t actually make a lot in this class (embroidery takes a looooong time) but I did learn a lot (which is what counts, right?). Nick DeFord is not only a great instructor & person, but also a fantastic artist. I definitely recommend checking out his website and even catching a gallery show if possible.

Extreme Papermaking

I can hardly believe tomorrow is the beginning of September! I have been learning so much the past few months and working hard to do so. Now that I am back home and with a working camera + laptop, I am excited to finally share some of the work I made this summer while attending Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

The first workshop I took was Extreme Papermaking with Julie McLaughlin. The focus was on creating large 5′ x 8′ sheets of paper by hand. Of course, making something this large was definitely a group effort, but luckily all my classmates are amazing people and we had a blast all week long. The pictures below are just a sneak peak of what goes into the process, not a full-on how-to.

First, we bundled about a pound of dried Kozo together and then soaked it in water to get it soft:

Next, we cooked the fibers for several hours to break them down:

We then beat the paper, first by hand and then with a Hollander beater, to create pulp:

After we had our pulp, we suspended it in a very large vat of water and used an oversized screen to pull very large, thin sheets of paper. It took at least six people to get just one sheet:

After the sheets dried in the sun, we carefully peeled them off the screens. It usually took 3 people for this part but I just had to snap an action shot: 

I had taken one papermaking class before this one, but they were both completely different. I am glad I got to do it a second time; I now feel that if I wanted to create a papermaking setup at home that I definitely have the knowledge to do so.

I haven’t decided what to do with my giant paper yet, but we also made some smaller sheets on our own when we weren’t busy pulling the EXTREME ones, and I am excited to use those in my bookmaking. My instructor, Julie, has a background in costume design, and uses her exquisite handmade paper to create incredible wearable garments:

Papermaking is [obviously] a great compliment to bookmaking, and I have some posts coming up on that (and all the other classes I took) too. I can’t wait to share it all, it’s so great to be blogging again!