The Humble Squash Book...

This is a squash book. I discovered squash books by happy accident while searching out tutorials and videos about hand-made books. I found plenty on the subject, but try the one by Dawn of Stampin' Up on YouTube. It's very clear and easy to follow if you'd like to try making one of these yourself. Essentially, making a squash book involves using cardstock, a little double-stick tape, and a variation of the accordian fold. While they may look complex, they're really easy to make. Squash books make good photo albums, but I decided to make mine a sampler containing various painted and mixed media papers I made.

For the front and back covers I used sections of hand-painted and embroidered fabric created in an online workshop with Susan Sorrell. We used the art of Joan Miro to inspire our embroidery creations. I enjoyed the class, and decided preserving the class project in this book would be a fun way to display it.

Another online class I took at Joggles  had as its topic the many ways to create paper backgrounds for journaling and mixed media projects. We painted, and sprayed, and spritzed, and marbled, and stamped our way through a pile of cardstock to come up with a delightful assortment of papers. Some of them are showcased here in the squash book. I even tried my hand at a Zentangle-style heart and glued it in as well. There are pieces of fabric paper on display, too. 

The thing I noticed about squash books is the incredible amount of room there is inside. After all, it's just three squares of cardstock. But even though assembling the book base itself was quick and easy, it took me awhile to fill it up with samples.

This is how the squash book looks while it's being folded or unfolded. It's a little hard to capture or to explain how easily it pops out, and back into, the small 4 1/2" square format. The photos below show the opposite side of the book, so you can see how many display areas there are in that small space. Some of the papers included in my squash book are ones I received in swaps with others who have been bitten by the same paper-arts bug as I have. Good news... there are other styles of these fun little books, too. I spotted one in a Pyramid style, and a round one. I'm pretty sure I feel some Christmas Squash Books coming on!

More Prizes, More Christmas Joy...

Time to add more prizes to the mix. In addition to the little vintage booklet shown in Sunday's post, I'm also adding one of the Christmas journals shown above. The giveaway journal is the red cover one. Both are made using the methods in Mary Ann Moss' Remains of the Day online class. However, both journals are a smaller version- they measure about 5" x 7", closed. The red journal has one signature made from 9 folded pages inside, so that yields 36 actual pages on which to write or add photos and memorabilia. And if you like making journals yourself, there is room to add another signature of your own creation. Some of the inside pages from the red book are shown below.

These journals are so much fun to make. They provide a home for all the bits and pieces of paper, images, embellishments, and whatnots I can't bear to part with, but never knew what use to make of them! Take for instance the kitty in the Christmas stocking above. So cute, she can't be tossed. And the angel tag I received in a swap with another paper afficionado... it found a comfy spot in the pocket stitched from a Panera Bread gift card holder.

The inside pages are in no particular order. In fact this pretty church image, above, is the last page of the red book. It reminds me of a small New England village at Christmastime.

Remember, there are two chances to win one of the prizes: 1) just leave a comment on this post, and I'll write your name on a slip of paper to be placed in a bowl for drawing. And 2) go back to visit the Sunday post and leave a comment there telling me your favorite of the little books. Be sure I'm able to contact you easily through your own blog, or provide an e-mail address in your comment so I can let you know if your name is drawn. A couple of people mentioned that they had trouble leaving a comment, so alternatively, you can click on my profile in the sidebar (where it says "More About Quiltnan" and "view my complete profile"), and it will show my e-mail address. Just e-mail your comment to me and I'll add your name. I'll draw four winners and announce them on Wednesday, next week.

These Christmas tags are an insert from an old 1980s-era Women's Day magazine. I noticed a lot of cigarette ads aimed at women when going through the old issues. I'd forgotten about those ads that made smoking seem so glamorous and womanly.

This image is from a advertising flyer and is faced by a security envelope page.

The centerfold- it's also from that 1980s magazine. Imagine if this image had gone to the landfill! It needed to be preserved, don't you think?

Even Lulu the cat found her way into the journal. Her photo was attached to a swap packet of journal items I recieved from the Remains of the Day Yahoo group. Lulu had chewed the corner of the packet and sent her note of apology with her photo. Isn't she pretty?

This is the back view of the journals. Some crazy piecing, braided ribbon and fabrics for the tie, ball fringe... anything goes when sewing these journal covers! And look below for a current magazine and a Christmas book I'll give away, as well.

I love all of the Stampington & Company publications. This Somerset Studio Gallery is the current winter 2012 issue. It's packed with mixed media projects and ideas. Pleasurable reading.

Here is this year's Christmas From the Heart book from Better Homes & Gardens. It's full of fun projects and tasty-looking recipes. I'd love for you to have one of these prizes.. just leave a comment. Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Past...

Since I'm such a big fan of vintage images, it's only natural that I'd sign up for Mary Green's "Christmas Gluebook" online class. Mary supplied the expertise, the instructions, and many of the images used to make these nostalgic little booklets. Other images came from a Dover clipart CD titled "Christmas Illustrations", which I was able to print out on matte photo paper. Wielding a pair of sharp scissors, a glue stick, and some ribbon along with the images and watercolor paper, these collage-style books were the happy result! Apparently I had not gotten my fill of paper dolls and other such crafts in my youth because I found this project to be endlessly absorbing and fun. The Blue Book below is the first one I created in Mary's class. I couldn't stop at just one!

The cover for the Red Book is shown above, and the inside pages and back cover follow. Doesn't that sweet little girl look pensive as she writes her letter to Santa? The reason I'm showing most of the images of all three books here is because I'd like to share one of them with one of you. I'm grateful to those of you who read and/or follow this blog and for the comments you add. It's very encouraging. I'm coming up on a two-year anniversary of the blog, and thought now would be a good time to hold a giveaway to express my thanks.

There will be four prizes (one of them will be a booklet shown here), and here's how you get two chances to win:

1) First Chance: Leave a comment on this blog post telling me which of the booklets or images is your favorite.. Red Book, Green Book, or Blue Book. Make sure your e-mail is one I can easily find, or add it to your post to ensure that I can contact you for your mailing address you if you win. All of the names of those who comment on this post will be written on slips of paper and placed in a bowl for the drawing.

2) Second Chance: Stop back later this week (starting on Thursday) to see the rest of the giveaway prizes, and leave a comment on that post as well. I'll add all the names from that post to those already in the bowl, and draw winners the following week. (I will mail your prize internationally).That's it... so simple. Tell your friends, and invite them to visit so they can leave a comment and enter, too. And we'll all have a Merry Christmas!

Center pages, Red Book

Pages 6-7, Red Book

Back cover, Red Book

Cover, Green Book

Pages 2-3, Green Book

Center pages, Green Book

Pages 6-7, Green Book

Back cover, Green Book

Cover, Blue Book

Pages 2-3, Blue Book

Pages 6-7, Blue Book

Back cover, Blue Book

Summer Reading List...

Summer is all about books and reading, right? I'm happily surrounded by books of all kinds this summer. First are these three wonderful "little books" from a recent swap on Creative Swaps site. Swap hostess Lenna Andrews, from the Gulf Coast of Florida, made the little denim and lace book at the upper left. She stamped the denim, which she left with a slight raw-edge for a nice frayed look, and stitched on lace trim and a ribbon closure. Inside are blank pages for me to journal on. These are sewn in and trimmed with paper tape. It's a sweet little book that measures just 4" square. Sentiments on the inside covers say "It is the smaller moments that create the most exquisite beauty" and "Create as though there are no critics." Good words to live by.

The pink fabric book at the upper right was made by Siri Hauge Opdal from Norway. It's soft and flexbile, and contains page after page of trims and embellishments. Clearly she put a lot of thought and workmanship into the pages... and she must have a very interesting stash of embellishments! Even the spine is trimmed with small heart-shaped buttons.

A poem by poet Wilhelm Busch is the theme of Sabine Schneider's swap book. Sabine is from Germany. She used painted canvas fabric as the base, and added machine sewn transparencies, stamped images, glittered lettering, and hand sewn trims like a feather and button. There's even a pen nib sewn in, shown above, to go along with the literary theme. The book is tied closed with sheer rayon ribbon. Lovely!

We are heading to Maine for a few days of travel and lobster dining, so of course books are part of the trip. I've got my e-reader Nook loaded. Also I borrowed Diane Mott Davidson's latest mystery, Crunch Time, from the library. Her series of titles make enjoyable reading, plus they contain some interesting recipes. The main character, Goldy Schulz, is a Colorado caterer who just happens to stumble into all sorts of mysteries while she's cooking. Books are such great travel companions.

Waiting for me when I get home is this "Squash Book", above. I started it a long time ago, using a piece of hand-embroidered, mono-printed fabric for the cover. It's little (about 4" sqauare), but there is a lot of space to fill inside. I'm inching toward filling it, and hope to show you that one completed in August. I'll also provide a link to a tutorial I found for making one of these... they are great fun to put together! See you in August.

An Open Book...

At last! I have completed the Remains of the Day journal. The cover was shown in a previous post. I may be slow and plodding, but projects eventually do get done. After enrolling in the class offered by Mary Ann Moss, I made the cover and began saving and sorting all sorts of paper and images for use in this journal. Then it was time to compose pages, sewing bits and pieces in place in a pleasing way. Business cards, food photos, magazine covers, advertising brochures, patterned paper, envelopes, paper bags, fabric strips... all of it found its way into the journal.

There are two signatures (groups of pages) in this journal, and each one contains 8 folded pages for a total of 32 pages in the book. I even sewed enough pages to have a pretty good start on my next journal.

There is always more to a subject than first meets the eye, and I've enjoyed learning about book making. There's an entire vocabulary to master... words like "signature" and "spread" (the two pages you see when a book is open). Even the left and right pages of a spread have a term. In the photo below, the green heart is on the recto, or right-hand page, while the yellow arrow is on the verso, or left-hand page. I don't know if I'll remember the terms, but I hope to craft more handmade books, so they might just stick with me.

I've also borrowed several library books on the subject of handmade books. It's fascinating how many methods and styles there are, some of them quite simple to accomplish. "Making Handmade Books" by Alisa Golden is one title that has useful information and clear instructions.

The next questions to answer are: Will I be courageous enough to write in my journal? Will I have anything to say? Even if it remains blank, it's been great fun to create!

Last, But Not Least- Little Book...

Well, it's June and the deadline for the Little Book Swap is fast approaching. So I'll mail mine off this week. Here is the last of the three. This "Pieced Paper Friendship Book" measures about 3" square, and it is filled with painted and stamped pages. It's pamphlet-stitch bound with floss, and has beads and charms added to the thread. These were such fun to make. You can see other swap books at Lenna Andrews' Creative Swaps site.

And speaking of books, I found a lovely keepsake one full of nostalgic illustrations at a book sale recently. We were riding our bikes around the charming village of Melrose, FL, when we saw a sign for the sale at the library. This hardback copy of "Heirlooms from Loving Hands" by Sandy Lynam Clough (Harvest House Publishers, 1998) was only $1. I couldn't resist for that price.

More Little Books...

I've plodded along, making my little books for our swap at Lenna's Creative Swaps site. You can see some little treasures she's already received at that site, some as small as 1" square! At last I'm calling my books done and preparing to mail the three of them in plenty of time for our mid-June deadline. "The Book of Birds" was already shown here. And there's one more I'll post in a few days. This has been such a pleasure, and I've learned a lot. For one thing, I've learned how much fun it is to sew paper! It's inexplicable why I like it so much... and yet I find it absorbing, relaxing, and creative. And for another, I know I'm a book lover, but had no idea how much enjoyment there is in actually making books like these.

The book shown here is titled "In The Pink", and I made it by piecing fabric-paper scraps into a portfolio-style cover. The pages inside are made from watercolor background papers I painted, stamped, spritzed... all manner of color applications. It measures 4" x 5" and has a few images and trims inside, along with space for its new owner to do some journaling. There isn't a whole lot of room along the spine, but just enough to add some sassy fabric scraps, below.