Earlier in the summer, I took part in a 30-day sketchbook event with artist Karen Abend in which I stitched a small vintage-look fiber collage (see some others at the link) each day. I knew my goal was to include many of them together in a journal, and at last, I've compiled the collages and completed the journal. It's awaiting a title, so make a suggestion in the comments if you have an idea. This project is another "crinkle" book, meaning the pages have a wonderfully crackly sound as they are turned. A noisy journal!
And the reason for the sound is that the pages are made using recycled plastic liners from cereal boxes. I learned the method from Kristen Robinson, and showed my first journal in this blog post last March. Interesting bits of paper, lace, and trim are encased between two sheets of the plastic, covered with parchment paper, and briefly ironed to adhere them together- thus embedding objects.
You can see the doily in this photo is embedded in the plastic. Then I stitched the collages on the fronts and backs of the pages. Some of the collages are made with free-motion stitching on paper, while others included used and dried tea bags, thread bits, and lots of other quirky things lying around in the sewing room!
This vintage girl photo is sewn to a tag with beads and faces a free-motion cityscape stitched on cheesecloth and a tea bag. Once all the collages were sewn in place, I stitched a line of decorative machine stitching around the edges, and bound them together. The book is lying on a lovely piece of rust-dyed fabric gifted to me by a quilting friend.
Burlap, sheet music, old postage stamps, buttons, even corrugated cardboard bits found their way into the pages. So the pages are very tactile and just invite a touch, but then they make the most satisfying sound to boot. What fun.
There is something so appealing to me about vintage photos. This wedding couple is a pair from one of Tim Holz's series of paper images you can purchase if you don't happen to have old photos of your own relatives. You might think this book put a dent in the large collection of found materials in the sewing room, but I can't see a discernible difference- there is lots more! Another book may be in order.
The back cover gives you a glimpse of images from the other pages inside along with the random threads embedded inside. Transparency is another bonus of using these recycled materials in bookmaking. So think "handmade crinkle book" before you toss out another cereal liner, and upcycle!
