Book 286 - "Duke" - Leather Wrapped Accordion Book for John Wayne

Finally, something just a little different. This leather-wrapped accordion book is a homage to John Wayne, "The Duke." Actually, I'm not all that great a fan of John Wayne, but I had some quotations from him that were just too good not to use. Quotes like:


Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid.
Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.
Nobody ever saw a cowboy on the psychiatrist's couch.
And, of course....
A man's got to do what a man's got to do.

I matched up photos of Wayne to go with the individual quotes and laid them out in my graphics program. I printed them on nice heavy satin finish photo paper, cut out each page and backed each one with copper-colored textured card stock. The result was a series of nice heavy, stiff pages. I cut an irregular strip of really nice soft brown leather, spread it on the floor and laid the pages out. After marking the positions, I glued the pages to the leather, folded it up in an accordion fold and wrapped the extra leather around the whole book. I cut a long strip of the leather to wrap several times around the book and hold it together.

Even though I'm not that crazy about "The Duke" himself, I do like this book. I see more like it in the future.

Book 172 - "Imagine" . . . A Stab-Bound Book for Peace

I do like today's book. It's something I've been wanting to do for awhile. This is actually a prototype to work out the details since I plan to do this book as an edition. I'm not sure how many I will do in the edition-- maybe 25.

This is a stab-bound book with board covers in decorative paper. The pages are traditional Japanese style. That is, each page is double, folded in half with the fold at the fore edge. I used very thin translucent paper, like tracing paper, and I will probably change this for the edition. I like the look, but the paper is just too fragile. Also, the ink does not dry well on this kind of paper and it smudges horribly. I had to print about 75 pages to get the 50 clean ones I used.

Each page has a quotation about peace--and the stupidity of war--something I feel pretty strongly about. Of the 50 quotes used, here are a few of the best:

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" ~ Eve Merriam
The time not to become a father is eighteen years before a war. ~E.B. White
War does not determine who is right--only who is left. ~ Bertrand Russell
I hate it when they say, "He gave his life for his country." They don't die for the honor and glory of their country. We kill them. ~ Rear Admiral Gene R. LaRocque 
Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity. ~George Carlin

I look forward to making more copies of this, with some improvements.

P.S. Sorry I did not manage a book yesterday. I'll make it up, probably tomorrow. No, I'm not quitting!

Book 163-A Helen Keller Accordion Book

Well, I didn't make a book yesterday, so here it is today. I was just exhausted from not enough sleep and no matter what I tried to decide to do last night, I just got more confused. I finally fell asleep at the table.

So today I made this pretty little accordion book full of quotations from Helen Keller along with some photographs of her. What an amazing woman!

I spent way more time on the content of this handmade book than on the structure. This kind of accordion book is pretty easy and quick. But the  page layout took awhile, first finding the photos and quotes, then getting the measurements exact, then laying it all out in PageMaker. And of course, after measuring it three times and talking myself though the mountain and valley folds OUT LOUD three times, I got it wrong and had to tweak it and reprint. But it's a nice little book and I'm pleased with it.