This hand-made book is a pretty one, I think. I saw a picture of this book today in a book arts newsletter, but it had no directions, or even a hint how to make it. All it had was the name, "Water Lily Book." So off I went a-googling and found a great tutorial at the My Handbound Books blog. It's not a difficult book. Mostly it's just folding with a bit of gluing.
I made four water-lily-fold "signatures" from 6" squares of decorative paper. Inside each of the four main panels, I glued photos of water lilies. The covers are davey board covered with mulberry paper. I added a ribbon to hold it closed. When you untie the ribbon and open the book, it opens up like a water lily.In these two-dimensional photos, it looks a lot like a quilt block, but it does have a lot of dimension and looks quite nice.
The front cover has a quotation from Sri Guru Granth Sahib: “Wealth, the beauty of youth and flowers are guests for only a few days. Like the leaves of the water-lily, they wither and fade and finally die.”
I made four water-lily-fold "signatures" from 6" squares of decorative paper. Inside each of the four main panels, I glued photos of water lilies. The covers are davey board covered with mulberry paper. I added a ribbon to hold it closed. When you untie the ribbon and open the book, it opens up like a water lily.In these two-dimensional photos, it looks a lot like a quilt block, but it does have a lot of dimension and looks quite nice.
The front cover has a quotation from Sri Guru Granth Sahib: “Wealth, the beauty of youth and flowers are guests for only a few days. Like the leaves of the water-lily, they wither and fade and finally die.”
This is lovely. I'll have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteReally pretty! Never seen anything like it. :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous book! Beautiful way to showcase the water lily my favorite flower. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am very fond of water lillies, even if they are short lived. this is just wonderful. and now I am off to chase down that site.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely amazing
ReplyDeleteThe Water Lily Book was designed by Viva Lloyd, a calligrapher from Surrey England, and it was published (with directions) in "Bound & Lettered" on 2006, though I'm not sure of volume or issue number. Her lovely "Bridge Book" is featured in the same issue. Back issues are available from JohnNealBooks.com
ReplyDeleteThe correct issue is Bound & Lettered Vol. 5, No. 2.
ReplyDeleteDane et Moi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that information. I like to credit designers when I can. I will add her name to the original post. And I will definitely check out those back issue of Bound & Lettered.