365: Make a Book a Day: recycled

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.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Book 326 - A Little Jotter/Notebook for Sitting in Starbucks - Recycled Cup Holder - Stab Binding

With no computer, I've been spending a lot of time in Starbucks, where I can connect my Kindle on their wi-fi connection. So the last time I picked up one of the cardboard cup holders there, I realized... of course... that I had another book in my hands.

The ubiquitous green mermaid on brown kraft paper was a simple one to do. I just cut the cup holder in two pieces and glued them to some gold card stock for extra stability. I traced the curved shape of the covers to make a pattern and cut out a bunch of pages from "grande latte" colored text paper. I stacked the pieces up and clamped it with binder clips so I could punch holes along the spine edge.

I stitched the little notebook using a classic Japanese stab binding with brown waxed cotton thread. Pretty cool little book, and you'd probably get some attention if you pulled it out in a Starbucks to jot down an idea or a phone number.

(I sometimes can't help but wish they were all this quick and easy. I don't seem to be very good at doing quick and easy. I start out that way, then I have to complicate things. Hours later, I beat myself up for not just doing QUICK AND EASY!)

Book 324 - Recycled Vinyl Record Journal/Blank Book - Donna Summers - Coptic Binding

Finally Back! I have a pile of books to post now that I have my computer back. The whole thing had to be wiped clean and the OS re-installed, which meant restoring the entire hard drive (thank God for Carbonite online backup) AND reinstalling all the programs, some of which had to be sought and found. Still a few to find and put back on, but at least I can work now.

This book is another journal made from a vintage vinyl album. This one is "Bad Girls" by the '70s queen of disco, Donna Summers.

For the front cover, I cut the record into a rectangle with the band saw, placing the round paper label just off center. For the back cover, I cut an image of Donna Summer from the back of the album, and another piece to line it on the inside. This album had the lyrics of the songs printed on red paper inside, so I cut that to use as end papers.

The signatures are a nice 70 lb. Neenah paper, off-white with flecks like tiny pieces of lint. It has a nice feel. The 8 signatures are stitched with a single-needle coptic stitch binding with black waxed linen thread.

It's really a pretty cool book, if I say it who shouldn't.