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, October 8, 2011

Book 238 - A Classic Black Leather Journal w/ Long Stitch Binding - Elegant

Today I've gone for classic simplicity and elegance. This blank book/journal is made of beautiful, smooth black leather with a nice weight to it. When I was deciding where to cut the leather, I saw that the natural edge was just off straight with a very gentle curve and when wrapped around the book made for a very nice front flap closure. I decided I didn't want to do anything to ruin the clean line and simplicity.

The book block is made up of six signatures of five folded sheets each for a total 60 pages (120 both sides). The paper is Arches Text Wove, a simply wonderful art paper that is both thick and soft. It has a wonderful tooth that makes it a joy to touch as well as write or draw on.

I bound the book with black waxed linen thread in a simple but elegant design. The black on black gives it a finished look. To keep the book closed, I put a 1" square of Velcro on the flap. I used the self-adhesive kind, and the bond seemed quite strong, but just to be sure, I added a bit of epoxy adhesive at the edges. These are not coming off any time soon.

I just love the cleanness of this book. It's a great journal size, or would also make a great diary or travel journal. This book has class!









2 comments:

  1. Sleek and elegant! That leather looks fairly soft, too. Like the textured look to that first page, too. Nice job! :)

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  2. Beautiful and elegant; a book with class indeed!
    Donna, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about another great book that you've made. It's book 185, a piano hinge split double accordion book. I would love to make a book like this myself. Could you tell me where I can find a description of this structure?
    best, Annie

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