Week Thirty Nine - Egg Rolls

To make this book I cut other random books into strips. Then I used water to wet them and molded the strips into a specific shape. After the strips finished drying they retained the shapes and created an egg.

Pullen Arts Center's Fall Arts Fair

Come join us at the Fall Arts Fair. Many great artists will be there along with kids crafts, live music, food, and demos. This is a great place to do some holiday or birthday shopping. Forget the mall and join the fun at Pullen Arts Center. We are located near the NCSU bell tower. Make sure to stop by my table to say hello, I will be selling handmade books and more.

Week Thirty Eight - Crackle

This book is a mix between my book sculptures called Cheshire (which can be found on my website) and the circular Coptic book I did earlier in the year. I painted all the pages to make them thicker and more plasticky. Instead of curling the pages, as I did for Cheshire, I crinkled them.

Week Thirty Seven - Folds

This week I wanted to try out manipulating books by working with altered books and sculptures.  Only using folds and the pages that are already in the book I created a design. This is my first attempt at doing this, so it was all about exploration, next time (though I don't know when that will be) I would like to using the folding to write a word on the side of the book. For a few weeks or so I am going to concentrate more on books as sculptures. 

Bookmaking and Fiber Classes

Check out my up coming book making classes. One Saturday a month I will be holding a book arts class where we will make one book that day, each month featuring a different style book.  It provides a great way to learn or refresh yourself on a style of bookmaking and time to spend with friends.  I am also offering a surface design class where we will be going over many different techniques for manipulating and decorating fabric. Go to <a href="http://reclink.raleighnc.gov">reclink.raleighnc.gov</a> to register. Classes are held at Pullen Art Center in Raleigh. 

Fibers - Surface Design

Age: 16yrs. and up.

Learn processes to manipulate fabric such as appliqué, reverse appliqué, some embroidery and other decorative techniques.  No sewing skills are needed.  If you have a transportable sewing machine it could help with some of the class projects. Instructor Jennifer Mahaffey (5 weeks)

$70

#130744    Nov 7-Dec 12  W  6:30 PM-9:00 PM

 

Bookmaking - Saturday Book Arts

Age: 16yrs. and up.

Come enjoy a relaxed afternoon of bookmaking.  Each class is a one day session to make a specific style of book. The sessions are stab binding (September), accordion fold (October), pamphlet (November), and folders (December). No previous bookmaking experience necessary; this is open to all skill levels. Basic supplies are provided, but we encourage students to bring any papers or ideas you wish to incorporate into your book. Instructor: Jenny Mahaffey (1 session).

$36

#130710    Sep 22       Sa        10:30 AM-2:00 PM

#130711    Oct 27         Sa        10:30 AM-2:00 PM

#130712    Nov 10       Sa        10:30 AM-2:00 PM

#130713    Dec 15        Sa        10:30 AM-2:00 PM

Week Thirty Six - Not Quite Related

In this book there are 15 panels, each with an old photograph on one side and a dictionary page on the other. I chose one word from each page to write larger. The people in the photos aren't really related to me, hence the title this week, but are related by marriage to my family in a more complicated way than I'm willing to describe in a blog.

Week Thirty Five - Blobs

This week is more conceptual. I didn't really have a plan while making it, I just did whatever came to mind. Each page has a blob cut out of it, getting smaller as you flip through it. Afterwards I soaked the book in balsamic vinegar to give the paper an aged look.

Week Thirty Four - Hospice

This week I helped make books for Hospice along with many other people. The goal is 20 books a month. These will become journals for those through the Hospice program.

Week Thirty Three - Folders

This Week it was all about folders. I made 2 books, one with folders and blank paper and this one which only has folders in it. The folders are made from sample pieces of wall paper which should make them much more durable. I would still like to add closures to them but haven't found the right buttons yet.

Week Thirty Two - Robots!

This has a hard cover spine. I've been trying to do more of them and make them better. This one I decided to screen print on the cover for fun. A robot happened to be the creature I felt like drawing that day. A working man robot.

Week Thirty One - Reuse

This week I taught a half day kids camp and one of the things we did was make our own paper. This is the single signature book we made from the hand made paper with a book cloth cover.

Week Thirty - Casing

Instead of having the pages seen to their cover, I made 2 single signature books that fit inside a hard cover case that can be tied closed. Next time I would like to put a little bit of elastic inside the case to hold the books but so you could still remove them if you wanted.

Week Twenty Nine - Getting Fancy

Using a long stitch and a kettle stitch, I did a more decorative stitching on this book. This is my second attempt at curving the stitching. The template for this stitching gets abused during the making of the book and it takes forever but is well worth it in the end.

Week Twenty Eight - Joker

This book is all about it's cover. I wove together two different decorative papers then put a medium over it to make it more durable. The colors are perfect for the joker.

Week Twenty Seven - Experiment

This book is another version of my cereal box book that I have been working on. I'm trying to perfect this style of book. This time I put the decorative paper on the outside and the cereal box on the inside. I painted the outside with a gel medium to protect it and make it more durable. I created more of a design with the stitching as well. This book does not have tape around the edges of the cover but that may change later. I think I will make this my next sketch book to see how it uses.

On the inside I added marbled paper that I recently made in a class I took of Kathy Steinsberger's

Week Twenty Six - Chained

Well we are now half way through the year and this is my halfway book. This book doesn't have a full cover. It is sewn onto a band of paper and has a clay bead and a wax thread chain
for the closure. This book feels summery to me which is fitting since this week has been way too hot. I don't particularly like the summer.

Week Twenty Five - Exposed

I saw a book similar to this recently so I wanted to try it out. I found it interesting that the edges of the covers are raw so you can still see the book bored used to create a hard cover. I'm calling this book Exposed because you can see all the pieces: the stitching, knots, book bored and more. It feels like a very raw form of a book, not hiding what it is. I also have sewn in the end pages instead of gluing them in. Most the pages inside of this book are colorful and decorated.

Week Twenty Four - Hide Your Shit

This uses the method of a hard cover book but instead of pages you have a box. Great for hiding things, especially if you make the box look more like a book. For now I shall call it Hide Your Shit though I'm tempted to call it a coke box ;)

Week Twenty Three - Two Hands

This book is made from left over fabric from Art 2 Wear 2011. Everything is hand dyed and hand sewn. The pages are held inside with two bands, so when you fill up these pages you can take them out and slip in a new signature.

Week Twenty Two - Corded

This is a cord bound book and I used the extra cording from the spine to create a tie closure. The inside is all blank paper. This was my first attempt at a cord bound book so I'm not sure I did it correctly but I made it work.