A Book a Day? What's Up With That?


Hi, and welcome to this year-long project. So what's this all about and how did it happen, you might ask. In mid 2007, artist Noah Scalin decided to make a skull out of anything he could find, every day for a year. It stretched him in ways he never imagined, as an artist, a writer and a person. His experience turned into a blog that went viral, and then a book.

Others have picked up on the idea: 365 Hearts, 365 Masks, 365 Bears drawn on a cellphone, 365 paper napkin mustaches.
I wanted to play, too, and I chose books. I love books, I know a bit about making books (thanks to my talented book-maker sister, Marilyn Worrix), and they're broad enough in definition to give me a lot of creative leeway.

The whole point is not really the books. The idea is to stretch myself in many ways as an artist and a person, to set up a discipline, stick with it and see what that teaches me.

I hope you'll join with me and follow along on the journey chronicled here, and let me know what you think.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Day 78 - Lucky Money Book

Not long ago I was cleaning out some of my stash in the studio and I came across a whole bag full of paper stuff I bought in Portland, Oregon's Chinatown some time back (I'm afraid this is typical of me. I really have no idea what all is tucked away in there.) There was wonderful tissue paper, notebooks, Joss paper and some bright red "lucky money" envelopes, some with scenes on them and others stamped with gold foil designs.  And since I can certainly use some lucky money in my life, I decided to make a sort of talisman book out of them.

The envelopes are about the size and shape of a small manila change envelope or the one you might get a safety deposit box key in, open at the top. Inside each envelope, I folded up a million dollar "lucky money" bill. You can't see them since they are sewn up inside the book, but you can feel the extra bulk and I like knowing they are in there.

For the covers, I folded red/cream/gold foil joss paper to fit. The covers and stuffed envelopes were stacked, two holes were punched at the top edge, and they were sewn together with red ribbon in a ledger binding, very like a Japanese stab binding.

I think I'll tuck this little lucky book in my purse. Hmmm... maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.




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4 comments:

  1. TriciaApril 16, 2011 at 7:30 AM

    Fabulous! Everyone should have a lucky money book :^)

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  2. MariaApril 17, 2011 at 9:41 AM

    This is so pretty! It could be a coffee table decoration :)

    You know what would be so cool? A book with round pages! Rather than a binding on the side, they could have some sort of reinforced hole in the middle with twine or ribbon running through it with a bead on either end to stop the "pages" from falling off... It'd be a cool way to flip through inspirational quotes or pictures

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  3. DonnaApril 17, 2011 at 1:31 PM

    That's a great idea, Maria. Look for it soon! I did something vaguely similar way back at the beginning, Day 7, Wired on Jazz, with quotes about Jazz on muffin papers. But I think it's time for another take on the idea. Thanks.

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  4. RachelApril 17, 2011 at 6:46 PM

    love the lucky money book. I have all of those supplies around here somewhere, which is the key part of the whole thing *somewhere.* Maybe I would even find some lucky money if I ret this place up.

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