My husband and I recently went home to visit my family during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. While there, we met some friends of my parents and were invited to visit their home. It was a very nice visit and so we wanted to send them a special thank you gift.
During the visit it became apparent that both individuals were avid book lovers, having collected original editions published starting in the 1500’s to current. I got to hold and leaf through an original edition of Paradise Lost published in 1667 and another book that was printed in the 1500s! I could hardly contain my joy of getting to personally examine such historical pieces!
It seemed that a simple thank you card would not quite cover our gratitude for the generosity our new friends showed us in opening both their home and their antique collections to us. Since they seemed to really love books of all types, I decided that I should make them a small book/journal as a memorial to our visit.
I started by making a flexible cover from Fabriano 140-lb. Hot Press Watercolor Paper. It is supple to the touch but holds up very well to repeated use such as the opening and closing of a book cover (most other similar weight watercolor paper does not hold up well to repeated folding). I planned for 3 small signatures so I made an allowance for a “spine” in the folded cover design. I then used a Gel Press plate to add some gold gesso as a background to the cover. I used thin layers of the gesso so I had to repeat the process until I was satisfied with the amount of gold on the cover.
I then found a stencil pattern that I thought made the cover look more old style and mixed some red and blue shade paints to make an uneven paint color pattern for the design. I used the gel plate again to get the pattern on the cover. I laid down the paint on the plate then laid the stencil on the plate. I removed the paint though the stencil with some deli paper and then removed the stencil from the plate. I then immediately took a print of the paint pattern that was left on the surface of the plate. Both sides of the cover turned out a little different even though the same technique was used for both. Pressure and paint coverage can make all the difference in the way a print is created and is often hard to duplicate exactly from print to print.
It was then time to do the inside cover. I put a layer of a mixed purple matte paint on the gel plate and took a print. I then laid down a layer of Paper Artsy Buff matte acrylic paint. I crunched up a piece of deli paper and then spread it back out and took a light print of it on top of the buff paint to create a random pattern. I then took a print of the resulting design with the inside of the cover. Here is the result:
I was now ready to sew the signatures in. I chose 90-lb Strathmore Watercolor cold press paper available in a 9″x12″ pad at a local. I made three signatures of 4 folded pieces each.
I guess I should have stated at the beginning with how I determined the dimensions of my book. I didn’t want to have to do any special measurements or multiple cuttings on the pages so I selected the Strathmore pad, cut one of the pages in half and folded it. That became the basis for the book. The 9″x12″ page became 9″x6″ when cut and when folded it became 4.5 inches wide by 6 inches tall. Thus the cover of my book measured 9 7/8″ by 6″ (one half inch allowance for the spine and another 3/16″ on either side to account for the nested pages extending slightly further than 4.5″ when nested together as signatures). I had a scrap piece of Fabriano from a previous project that just happened to be 6 inches high and several inches long that was perfect for making the cover.
I selected a black waxed polyester thread and went to work. I did a modified version of the Loopy Spine book as taught recently by Kiala Givehand during her 7 Books in 7 Days on-line class. I used 5 holes instead of 7 as shown in the class as my spine was a bit shorter than the one that she demonstrated. Unfortunately I didn’t bother to measure the spine holes exactly so some them are a little wonky between the signatures. However, it all worked out nicely end the and and was nice and snug and only a perfectionist like me would really care or even notice that the signatures were not arranged perfectly on the spine. 🙂
I didn’t want to leave the book completely blank as I find blank books a little intimidating for starting so I stamped a sentiment and added some of Traci Bautista’s watercolors and inks to the page. One can never really add too much sparkle, I think.
During the visit, a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was read. I took a quote from that poem and incorporated it into some found clipart via Adobe Illustrator. It was then printed, attached with at glue stick to the last page of the book and edged with some matching watercolor from the front page. It is sure to mean a lot to the recipients as the poem holds a special meaning for them.
Some quick artwork added to the recycled bubble wrap envelope with Sharpies and a black pen the next day along with a separate thank you note and off it went to it’s new owner.
This was an extremely long post. If you are still reading this, I thank you for sticking with me to the end. Go make something for a friend–a book, or a simple piece of mail art–and send it. Both you and your friend will benefit from the exercise!
