Art revisited - handmade books

A couple of years ago I made quite a few small books. Mostly these were intended as gifts and so I don't have any left in my own collection of work.

Getting heavily into the lampshades at the back end of last year got me thinking about about doing more 3D work and I was exploring my photos to remind me what I have previously achieved. 

And one little gem was this "Seize The Day" - a little concertina book I gave to a friend who I used to work with. Sadly we have lost touch. 

The base of the base was a small sturdy box. I found that flimsy boxes curl when you use a lot IV PVA glue.

For the life of me I cannot recall the exact material I used to cover it, but I do recall I coloured with Brusho ink and stitched it before sticking it onto the box. 

The concertina was lining paper - the sort you buy from a DIY store to cover up dodgy walls. 

The pockets were pelmet vilene with texture added using gesso and a stencil. The colour was again brusho and I think the gesso was not quite dry so the colour bled into the texture. Additional embellishment was machine embroidery. 

I think, but cannot be certain that the tags were a combination of bought and made - card and vilene. 

Words were cut from magazines and assembled to make the sentences. 

The finish used a combination of handmade and recycled beads. The 'band' holding the book shut was an old bracelet found in a charity shop. 

I need to make a few more of these! 

And to finish off this post, a little walk through 'Have a Heart', one of the most satisfying books I have done.