A week has passed in which John and I have been recovering from spring colds, John first and me right behind him. We are finally turning the corner, and with it have experienced a little more energy to finish some tasks around the house. Hopefully the weather, too—spring-like weather, that is—will begin to turn more consistently in the direction of spring. We had several days this past week when temperatures were in the 50s, but the last couple of days were closer to the 30s, with snow in the forecast early this coming week. Typical spring weather!
Since warmer temperatures and flowers have been on my mind, I finished a few flower-embellished books that were sitting on my “work stand,†which is really nothing more than the same tiered acrylic shelves that I use for selling the books at craft fairs. This one has been sitting on a counter in my kitchen, and I really need to find a better permanent space for it.
Typically I’ll adhere papers to chipboard, press them flat in my paper press, then slice and trim inside pages. Then begins the edge-sanding and inking process—somewhat tedious—followed by punching holes in the pages and covers, assembly of the books, and finally—my favorite part—adding floral embellishments to the cover. Here are the books I finished this week.
One of my fellow Blogging Business Artisans friends, Edi Royer (whose buttons I blogged about in the last post) has been expanding her wonderful line of books with wooden covers. I’ve been thinking similarly, in some cases coming up with books serving the same purpose but with different materials. Ours is a small team, but it’s interesting that three sellers in our group like to make books (or book covers), each with her own slant. It’s easy to appreciate everyone’s creativity! Here are a few of the handmade creations from fellow team members.
Left: Beaded Tail; Middle: Memories for Life; Right: Pasque Flower Creations
On Etsy we are allowed to group our products into 10 sections, but I find that I usually have more ideas than available sections. Can you help me prioritize? Until the end of the month, you can vote in the poll that appears in the upper right side bar for the three types of handmade books that appeal to you most. I will post the results afterward.
If you have other ideas, let me know in the comments below.
© 2014 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.
More ideas than sections…I wish that weren’t a familiar problem! I end up grouping things together and hoping they make at least some sense that way.
Good idea to expand! I wish they’d give us more sections too — I have mine pretty much sorted out but I do change them up sometimes to suit my needs. (voted!)
Your flowers really add a great finishing touch to your books! And smart idea to store them on the shelving unit while you wait to finish them.
Thanks so much for sharing my book 🙂
I agree about the sections. Off to vote…
I voted!
I love the embellishing part of my work most too 🙂 The papers you use for your books are gorgeous. I’ve never attempted to make a book, I have however made fabric notebook covers for friends 🙂
I voted!
All your ideas are good ones, though!