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, November 19, 2011

Book 275 - "Dogopoly" Game Board Album - Screw Post Binding

This is too cute! It's another game board book, a photo album this time, but it's the game that makes it really fun. I found this game of "Dogopoly" in a thrift store and grabbed it so fast my shopping cart spun around. It's set up like a Monopoly board but with everything to do with dogs. Instead of streets, you buy breeds, from the cheapest  Chihuahua to the most expensive Great Dane. Instead of houses and hotels, you build fire hydrants and doghouses.

I cut the board so that the original center fold was intact and used that for the hinged cover for a side binding. I originally planned to do a Japanese stab binding but then remembered I had some screw posts (bookbinders' posts) that would work well.

The album pages are heavy card stock, alternating black and brown and folded double at the hinge for extra volume at the spine, so the album can still take the thickness of photos.  The screw posts mean you can add or remove pages.

In the middle of the front cover was a rectangular box marked "Good Dog." It's where you put game cards like the Chance and Community Chest cards in Monopoly. I used a piece of black mat board to make a small frame inside the box and slid in a photo of my own sweet little dachshund, "Star."

This is Allen's favorite book I've made for a while (I think it's the picture of Star, who is his baby.)  I like it too.




5 comments:

  1. OMGoodness! I have never seen this game! What a hoot! This is priceless! :)

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  2. Love this book. The cover is such fun. What a find!

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  3. Is my idea really brilliant, virtuosic, imaginative and unique? Or should I better think two months or two years about it before I start? Often there is an internalized censor who speaks so with us, and we do not even begin and throw away a beautiful little lovely idea. Donna, what a great blog, what a great project. I came the day before yesterday on your Blog over the Book Arts list by Peter Verheyen and am thrilled. To make every day a book, follow the first incident, do not hesitate, do not criticize, the specification makes that we make simple, small poetic works of art that are truly lovable. And: the blog has not only to do with books but also with your life, I'm looking forward how the story continues. Best wishes Klaus von Mirbach

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  4. Klaus - Welcome. It is lovely to have you here. Yes, the tine constraints of having to come up with something every day does make for some spontaneous decisions and letting go of the absolute need for perfection. Sometimes just "getting it done" is more important than "getting it perfect" and it also stops you from censoring yourself too much. That's what I'm loving about this challenge.

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  5. Star is gorgeous, what a great idea for a doggie photo album, this is so sweet!

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