Chapter 2

Free Standing Books

I like books of any description and enjoyed looking on the internet at what other people do.  I chose the following three books for their distinctive ideas.  Please excuse the colour and my yellow is empty but there is plenty in the blue and red so I am loath to change it yet.

Top left is a triple layer book with cut out pages to look like a building with rooms inside.  The bottom left is a circular book with pockets for pictures and objects.  The book on the right is a double layer with pages torn to interpret the writing on the front and back pages.  This is quite a simple book but very effective.

I started my own samples by doing some Origami Books.  These are pieces of paper folded and cut in certain ways and then refolded in a concertina to make little books.  I used some soft paper that had been in a shoe box and I did some rubbing from some old leaf templates that I had.  The first rubbing was using Inktense sticks which has produced an interesting paper but is very messy and rubs off every time you touch it.  The other two I used oil pastels which were much cleaner but not as interesting.

This is the Inktense model.

These two are the oil pastels.  The bottom one got unfolded and I am not sure, looking at this photo, that I have refolded it right.

I then had a go at the flag book.  I followed the instructions in the course notes as I had never done this one before.  I used some plain card which I covered with papers and pictures. The flags are made from scraps of painted and printed papers from my stash.

I then made a book similar to one I had seen in Shereen LaPlantz book Cover to Cover,  This is constructed from card magazine covers and a printed page from a magazine.  I folded the card into similar sized strips as the one above then cut a rectangle from the middle of each page.  I then cut a strip of paper the same width as the card book and the same height as the opening and folded it in the same way.  I then threaded this strip through the holes and glued the ends to the back of the book.

This is the reverse side of the book and shows the paper folded through the holes and glued at the back.  I was quite pleased that this one worked out  as well as it did.

This little book used up the leftovers from the other two.  I cut the orange strip down its folds to make three folded pieces which I then glued into the yellow folded card down the folds.  They would probably be better stitched if I wanted to use this technique.  I have staggered the positions of the cards to make it more interesting.

For this one I have used some old yellow and pink card  that I had.  I have folde the A4 card into two and machined down the fold leaving a small channel.  I have then cut into the channel at regular intervals then threaded a barbecue stick through them alternating between two cards.  I have done this before with fabric and find that more forgiving if you haven't cut your channels quite evenly. If you carry on adding pages you can make a full circle which makes an interesting book.  The sticks can be trimmed or painted and decorated.

You can go on forever making books.  I love doing it but then end up with piles of them that I am not sure what to do with.  One thing I do need to be aware of - I am not very good at accuracy.  That is why I don't do patchwork.  I need to keep my book fairly simple but with impact.  I will only get into a mess if I try to do complex cutting!