King’s Lynn Field Archers

The start of this year has kept me quite busy with commissions (always a good thing!), and here’s the latest one.  A friend, who is an archer, asked me if I could make him a score book.  His specifications were that it should be waterproof, approximately A5 in size, contain score charts on each page, and that the club logo should be prominent on the front – leaving him at my mercy for the actual cover design…

There are, of course, cheaper materials to waterproof a book with, but I couldn’t resist this burgundy leather.  It’s hardwearing, waterproof, and gorgeous to boot.  The club logo has been covered with a clear plastic and set into the front cover, and the book contains 60 score sheets, which will hopefully last Andy some time!

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Feeling under the weather?

Then this is just what the doctor ordered…

Click here to visit the Etsy listing.

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Project 365 – Day 328

23rd November 2012 – “Words”

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Cohiba

I’ve finally made another foray into my stash of cigar boxes, and the result is a rather swishy looking notebook housed in a box.

I made a similar book about a year ago (click here to see that blog post) which was definitely a luxury notebook as it was bigger and involved quite a lot of leather.  I loved making that one and it sold immediately but I dithered about making another as I always feel bad when I have to charge lots for a book, even if the work and materials warrant it.

So I made this one simpler.  It’s smaller, as dictated by the size of the box, and I’ve used plain board covered in parcel paper to reinforce the wooden sheets used for the covers.  This version also has cartridge paper for the pages but it’s a lighter weight (140gsm).  Lightweight luxury in a box

This book is available to purchase in my Etsy shop, click here to view.

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The Road to Life…

… and The Express Ready Reckoner are the two newest additions to my Etsy shop.

 

I picked up these lovely books at the beginning of May, and they’ve now been transformed into notebooks (or sketchbooks, if you prefer, as the pages of these are 140gsm cartridge paper).  Click here to view the revamped vintage book section of my Etsy shop.

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Gulliver’s Travels

This time last year I was 7000 miles away, celebrating my 30th birthday in Jakarta whilst surrounded by relatives.  Today I’m at home, and all by myself – and I have to say it’s utter bliss.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my family… but I’m very much a loner and this is much better for my sanity!

I have been thinking of that holiday though so I’ve spent the morning repurposing a vintage copy of Gulliver’s Travels so that it can be used as a travel journal or scrapbook.

I was able to retain the original end papers which I’m really pleased about as they do look lovely.  The book now contains 104 pages (208 sides) of 140gsm recycled cartridge paper.  It can be found in my Etsy shop, and I hope that it will go to a good home.

I think that’s plenty enough work for one day (especially as I’m supposed to be having a day off!), so I think I’ll down tools and head to the cinema!

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Recycling Rococo

Once upon a time I made a set of books using the packaging from some chocolate.  Doesn’t sound dreadfully interesting, but they turned out really well – click here to take a peek.

I really liked the finished books and thought that someday I would like to make another set, so I have.  I treated my mother to a few bars of Rococo’s dark chocolate (I don’t eat dark chocolate, and sadly the milk chocolate bars don’t have such pretty wrappers) and yesterday I had a blissful morning in my studio creating this set.

I wanted to do something a bit different from the last set (they are supposed to be unique, after all!) so instead of making the chocolate wrappers into tiny books I used all three to make one A6 sized book.  I love the effect, and I think I shall have to take another trip to Rococo and see what other pretty wrappers they have!

The smaller of the two books has, as mentioned above, a front cover featuring the three chocolate wrappers.  The back cover has been covered with a wonderfully soft and smooth suede in chocolate brown.

The covers for the larger book (15.1cm x 15.1cm) have been made using the bag the chocolates came in.  It’s simple, but I like that, and have gone for a square shape this time (the first one I made was rectangular).

This set will be added to my Etsy shop later today.

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I’ve been a busy girl

You would be forgiven, having read my blog last week, for thinking that I spent most of my time sewing frivolous things for teddy bears and making faux plants instead of doing any real work.  Thankfully that wasn’t the case, I did quite a bit of bookbinding, I just didn’t talk about it!  A grand total of 26 books and one special gift set were finished and added to my Etsy shop last week, which is pretty good (and all thanks to me being organised earlier this month and prepping a load of covers).  Here’s a selection of my favourites, but do pop along to my shop to view them all.

 

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Tardis

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for ages, but my hands have been tied as I had to wait until after the recipients had opened their Christmas presents.

I don’t watch Dr. Who, so this was one of those commissions where someone handed me a photograph (well, a screenshot) and said “make that” … so I did.

The larger one is a present for my brother-in-sin, and the smaller version is for his son (who is also crazy about Dr. Who).

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Off to a good start

So, yesterday I told you about my resolution not to procrastinate.  I was as good as my word and my first job when I went down to my studio on Friday was to start using up some of the scraps of mountboard I’d accumulated this week

I had a bit of a think and then dug out some scraps of paper…

Normally I use up scraps of paper by making miniature books, but this time I wanted to make something more substantial so I went for an A5 sized book.  In keeping with my desire to use things up, and the recycled waste-not-want-not ethos of this book I used some packing cardboard/paper (saved from last year…) to cover the front and back boards before adding the little mosaic tiles to the front.

It’s a bit different, but I like it!  I think I’ll be making some more in this style, it’s very labour-intensive cutting and covering the individual shapes, but the final effect is a good one.  This book is now available in my Etsy shop, click here to view.

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