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.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Books 279-280 - Two Pocket Notebooks with Quotes - 2-Sewn-as-1 Binding

You know, sometimes the most interesting results come from making a mistake--or at least from something unexpected and unintended.

I planned to have the quotations/statements on the front of these little pocket notebooks/journal a lot more bold. But I wanted to use some pearlescent metallic finish card stock I bought recently for the covers and the truth is that it's not very absorbent. When I put it through the printer, the ink just sort of sat on the surface. I set it aside, thinking I'd have to start over. But after awhile, once the ink had actually dried, I liked the shadowy effect of the print. Dry, it seemed permanent enough, so I decided to go ahead and use it.

These little pocket-sized notebooks us what Alisa Golden calls the "2-sewn-as-1" binding. The cover is a single sheet, folded back on itself at the center of the spine, then folded forward again, so there is a folded flap, of sorts, inside at the center. I folded text paper into two signatures, opened the sigs so the two folds were on either side of the flap and then stitched through all the layers at once with a pamphlet stitch.

Hmmm, I'm finding it is far harder to describe than it is to do (really, it's dead simple). I guess I need to work on my technical writing skills. Miss Fowler, my high school English teacher, would be ashamed. Hopefully, you can get an idea from the photos how this fold works.

I'll probably end up making a whole slew of these to sell, maybe for the holidays, because they are fast and easy and don't need a lot of materials. I've got literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of quotations I can use on the front covers.









2 comments:

  1. I like the faint quotes on the cover. That was just one of those happy accidents! I would think you could sell these in your store if you popped them up by the register someplace. They're cute! Just the right size to fit in your purse. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rita - Yep, that's part of the plan.

    ReplyDelete