Finally Finished!

At last I have finished the Wedding Guest book for my customer.  I am so relieved that it's done.  So many silly little things went wrong - I suppose it was just "one of those" occasions...

Still, it looks quite good.  There are a few things that I would do differently "next time", but I think she will like it and be pleased with it.  I just hope it holds up to handling at the wedding and comes home with the Bride & Groom, looking fairly unscathed.
I have made some cellophane sleeves for each cover, using A4 greeting card presentation bags (like you get things in when you buy them in a shop), and they are fixed together with removable adhesive (not stuck to the book!).  The Bride and Groom can decide if they want to leave the sleeves on the book until after the wedding, so that the book covers are protected from sticky paw prints. 
I did give the ivory satin two coats of Scotchguard protector before I made the covers, but I'm still a bit unsure - all it would take is a little bridesmaid with chocolatey fingers, or someone eating crisps... AAAAARRGH!

Here are a few shots. It's just my luck, that after several days of brilliant sunshine, we have had a dull, grey day today - just when I would like to take great photos!

Wedding Album in Ivory Silk Satin and Moss Green Silk Dupion fabrics; with a Coptic Binding; embellished with a hand-made Silk Tassel and hand-printed lino-cut of Wedding Rings.

Closeup of the binding and the tassel.

Inside the front cover. Showing the binding stitches, folded page spacers and hand-torn pages.

I think it has turned out pretty well.  As I said, I'd do a couple of things slightly differently; however I am still learning and my prices are still low because of that. The customer is happy to accept the minor imperfections that result from hand-made items and I hope she'll be happy (even if I am a perfectionist!!).  The book is a gift for her son and his new wife - so I hope they love it too!

I like the Coptic binding method. It looks lovely and is not too difficult to do, so long as I take my time and take care.  I think I will take advice from some of my fellow (more experienced!) book-binders - I will look out for a set of curved needles, as it would make the process a lot easier and quicker.

More of these to come, I think. With improvements!

Now I hope to have more time to spend on Shimelle's great Love Your Pictures class.  So far I have only had time to take a few shots and try one of her lessons on adding text to a photo:

 

I want to catch up a little and try to complete the rest of the challenges, or most of them anyway.

Just one more thing to complete now... I have made the little hand-cut stamps for Stacey and Jacky, who won my Stamp Giveaway, oh-so-long-ago; except for one stamp in Stacey's set of 3. I will do it tonight. 

Stacey and Jacky - I have not forgotten you.  Your stamps will be in the post this week!