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.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Book 196-Rook Cards Notebook-Double-Needle Coptic Binding

Today I've got a little pocket notebook that is just so-so. The idea is OK. I made the covers by gluing two playing cards from a Rook game together for the front and two more for the back. That gave the covers a bit more heft and stability.

The signatures are folded from regular white text paper. The problem is that I punched the holes in the covers with a regular office-type hole punch and they are too big. I wondered if maybe larger holes would help it lie flat better, but it just made the covers want to slide around too much. Even the stitching looks a bit sloppy on this. I'm still struggling a bit with the 2-needle coptic binding.

Oh well, I did say some of these books would just be a learning experience. This was certainly that. I might try the idea again later. The size would be handy for a pocket or purse.






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