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.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Book 296 - Fuji Book - A Recycled Camera Box Journal - Modified Buttonhole Stitch Binding

I suppose as long as I am co-owner of this store, I will forever be making books from recycled packaging. It's everywhere I look.

Today's book is a little blank book/journal made from the package for a Fuji one-time-use camera. We used to sell a lot of these. Of course, we also used to sell a lot of film, and now I can't remember the last time we sold a roll of film. Everyone s gone digital now--or they've got a phone with a camera. We only sell these disposable cameras when someone has forgotten their camera or phone or it's broken.


For this book, I cut the box down and glued the spine so it's double and very strong. I then cut out the center section of the spine. The binding is a modified buttonhole stitch, really easy to do once you get the concept. There are eight signatures of pale pea green text-weight paper stitched with white linen thread.

It's a pretty b sic little book, but I'll take it.







2 comments:

  1. A lot of kids these days would consider film an antique! LOL! ;) Ahhh! But I remember box cameras and flash bulbs. :)

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  2. I made a buttonhole book very similar to that from a heavy, coated-stock file folder I found on clearance, except I got all artsy and extended the "buttonhole" into the covers, then printed a coordinating pattern on the first and last page of the text block. Then I realized I'd outsmarted myself: the whole block wants to wander out onto the cover at the least provocation, because (1) the coated stock is nice and slick and (2) even though it's heavy stock, it wasn't heavy enough to withstand pulling the stitches too tight at the head and foot. So sometimes "pretty basic" is better.

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