Three More Books

I have a lot of books on my Commissions List just now.  It's good news really, though I'm having to keep myself organised, so I get it all done (those who have known me for a while, will know that organisation doesn't come easily to me, nor am I a particularly speedy worker... hmmm..).

This week, I've completed 3 more books (one of which I posted an In Progress photo last week). 

This - a ten-needle Coptic Binding - became...

this Wedding Guest Book, for Maria and Bruce.

This is the completed binding.  I think it looks good!

The cover images kind-of continue across the back and front pages. 

The Coptic binding allows the book to open out flat all the way through - you can see that the stitching forms a sort-of "hinge" on the bound edge.

I made a special label for the inside of the book.  The coloured section-wraps are cut with my new Martha Stewart edge punch. I thought it would be lovely for wedding books!

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Yesterday, I finished this Japanese stab-stitch Photo Album, for Sarah.  She saw one I made last summer (posted on Facebook) and asked for a similar album, as a gift for her grandparents.

It has 15 pages of white stiff card, with spacers included, to prevent the photos making the book bulge.

A detail of the binding, made with a grape-purple waxed linen. 

You can also see the spacers and the gaps between the pages.

 

I used some threads from a piece of the silk, to make a hand-tied matching tassel.  It's tied with gold thread, to match the printed design on the paper. 

Sarah has seen the photos I posted on Facebook.  She says she loves the book, so it will soon be on its way to her!

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This is a Coptic-bound book, that I completed today. 

It's a Comments book, for a lady I know, who runs a stall at craft fairs and farmers' markets, selling her excellent herbal-based remedies, soaps and skin-care products.  Her name is Melanie. 

I took a selection of papers to her, just before Christmas, and she chose this "Bird and Nest" paper, by Cavallini.  I made up some covers -  a pair of hinged covers, for a stab-stitch binding and this pair, for a coptic binding.  She chose the coptic binding, so she could have more pages.  I then added the silk edges, to enhance the binding.

The back cover has more birds on (though the silk has covered a bird's head).  It's not a very large book, so the big designs have been rather chopped up, but I think it still looks nice. 

Melanie wants a label for the book. 

I have taken a number of shots for her, with various label ideas.  This is one, for the inside of the book, with an oval label mounted on a piece of silk, to match the covers.

Really though, I think the front cover makes far more sense, and looks much more balanced, with a label mounted under the medallion with the big bird in it.  I hope this is the option she likes, as it's definitely my favourite idea.

I'm waiting for her to see the photos I posted on Facebook (it's so useful to be able to post an album full of photos on my Facebook Page, then send someone a link to it!), then for her decision on a label.  Then this will soon be displayed - and I hope, used - on her table, at various fairs and markets!

* * *

That's the three books I've completed in the past week.  I still have plenty to do; also I want to make a number of books for my shop, as Stock items, that are ready to send out immediately.   Tomorrow I must go "paper shopping", then get back to work!