july 20

It is Tuesday already... and time is stretching and contracting leaving me wondering if I have gotten anything accomplished at all... but here, I've finished this watercolor book and taken some quicky pictures out on the patio (rained last night, not enough, but grayish day for AZ)
The book has a soft cover, made from a heavy hand-made paper I had. I'd seen something similar to it at Creative Quest... and couldn't be stopped until I'd made my own version. I visited the shop daily for a bit, asking questions, examining the book... and this is the result. The book in the shop was about a 6x9, this one is 11x13... quite a bit bigger. Plus I used really nice 140 lb. watercolor paper for the signatures... the book in the shop used lined writing paper...

I worried that, because this book was so much bigger and the interior paper was so much meatier, that I needed to make the cover sturdier too. I began cutting and reassembling the cover paper and sewing the spine part to the front and back cover part, adding a strip of 3" wide Tyvec to the spine, gluing a sturdy piece of brown paper inside the entire area, front to back. I stamped and sprayed to give it a nice texture and then used stencils and layered on more pattern, ending with the same stencil but making the flowers turquoise blue(I love turquoise blue and red).

Once the cover was painted up to the point that I began to worry I'd gone overboard, I dug through my bead stash and found some turquoise chunks, hand made paper beads and glass beads, chose a turquoise waxed linen I 'd had and began sewing the book together... and here it is...

Sturdy enough, though I think the book would have looked better if it had been a bit smaller.

I'm really happy with how the texture on the cover came out... I wanted to write a line of something from the back to the front, but nothing profound or suitable crossed my mind... so the book remains wordless.

As you see there are not a lot of pages. Five signatures of three pages each, and the first and last page I glued to the cover to give it more rigidity and to help hold the whole thing together.

And here is a close-up of the front cover... I'm still pulled between having done too much or not enough... but time and fear made me stop.

I think as I begin to use the book... paint, draw and handle it... the interior pages will soften up and really compliment the soft pliable cover. I think it is also sturdy enough to withstand some rough treatment.

While I do love the raggedy beat-up appearance, there are some things I've learned and will change as the next book begins. Tonight I take a book class and Kathy from CQ will lead me through a process again that will end in a very nice little book. Then I need to clean this poor house, pack my gear and get ready to head to Idaho and the mountains. I'm taking book projects, paint and yarn for knitting and hoping the lure of the outside and the trail will leave me some time for this art.