Earlier this year I liberated some coloured papers from the rubbish bin at the gallery (never waste anything that might be useful is my policy), and I was wondering what to do with them. I know.... make them into a simple little paper book.
Well, I did that, then decided that books need stiff covers, so the next little book has a cover made from a discarded watercolour page. These books were bound using the three hole pamphlet stitch. Very simple to do, I learned it at school 100 years ago.
Then I got ambitious. I thought I'd try something more complicated so I investigated numerous youtube tutorials showing Coptic stitch binding. I covered front and back boards with fishy gelli prints from the discard pile, and got started sewing everything together with waxed embroidery threads. Well.... it looks OK but it's not perfect. And the paper that I used inside is sort of textured and hard to write on. The advantage of the Coptic stitch is that when the book is open the pages will lay flat.
My second attempt at bookbinding using the Coptic stitch was better, I had an idea about what I was attempting. The front and back boards are covered with suminagashi paper that we made at art group last year. I wondered what to do with it, and this was the perfect solution. The pages were cut from an unused sketch book that I bought at a thrift shop.
But I'm pretty pleased about the way this one turned out. I'll be making more.
Clever, clever you.
ReplyDeleteThat looks wunnaful.
Thank you, I surprised myself!
DeleteYou did a great job. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, this one was better then the first attempt.
DeleteI do like that Coptic stitch
ReplyDeleteI had to watch about 6 videos on how to do it before I attempted it.
DeleteYou should be pleased Shammi, looks fantastic. I love the idea of using floating ink to make art, might have to try that 💜
ReplyDeleteP.s. breakfast in Toodyay was definitely worth the drive 😉
Glad to hear the Toodyay breakfast was as good as you anticipated.
DeleteThey look very attractive.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI am very much impressed with your ethic to reuse things that would otherwise find their way to the land fill, and I must say that the results are very attractive indeed. I think you can find a video to do just about anything on You Tube! You really must come down here and work on a couple of my books that need some tender loving restoration work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment. I'm not really a hoarder, I just like to save good stuff until the perfect use reveals itself.
DeleteAwww -lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteWonderful job, it looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment. Not bad but could be improved!
DeleteWow, these are wonderful. I like how you "learned as you discovered"
ReplyDeleteThat is recycling at it's best. So creative.
Love the "Fishy" cover a lot.
To answer your question from my blog...
Yes we did eat the gummies but oh my so sweet and sour. Something about the artificial flavors was so addicting..haha
Sue
There'a a youtube video for everything these days! Those gummies are pretty good but there's a limit to how many I can eat before I begin to regret it.
DeleteYou are so creative - I love your little books. They would make brilliant gifts :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment. Yes they would be great gifts. Christmas is coming.....
DeleteMy mother worked in a book binding factory in the Netherlands before immigrating, and she sometimes used the skills she learned along the way.
ReplyDeleteDid she pass any of those skills on to you?
DeleteNo, I'm pretty hopeless with anything that involves craftsmanship.
DeleteI've never heard of coptic stitch but it works really well! Love the look of the ink floating on the water designs, and the pastel colours.
ReplyDeleteThanks, it definitely has a hand made look.
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