"Think love, light, laughter, happiness, family, rural living, history, heritage, creativity, joy, union, light and magic ... A magical, beautiful, oozing-with-love book, complete in every way. A wedding guest book to inspire beautiful, supportive loving words and images," she said. So I set to work.
The first step was gathering bundles of materials; textures and hues in red and gold.
Then I cut and shaped the book board to the required size (A4).
The next thing to do was lay elements together, stitching as I went.
I had an image in my mind of how colours and textures would
morph from one end of the book to the other.
As the elements came together, they were adhered permanently to the board.
Loose threads were left trailing from the ends of pieces.
The result: a work of art!
But I wasn't finished yet. With the layers and materials in place,
I still had to decide where to attach my selection of beads, buttons and charms.
Once I had the cover it was easy enough to lay them out
and push them around until I found a composition I liked.
The flowing composition of circular buttons nicely offset
the straight lines formed by the layers of materials underneath.
The process was repeated for the back cover.
The inside cover, front and back, was lined with a rich burgundy red book cloth.
Ribbons were sewn directly into the edges of the board to close it.
Pages were torn, aged, pressed, gilded and sewn by hand, using coptic stitch binding,
to complete a book I am very proud of.
A few weeks ago I blogged about the importance of storytelling in my life and my work;
about journeys, adventure, mystery, wonder, magic, love;
about incorporating these elements in my work in 2014.
What a coincidence, then, that this custom order should find its way to me!
- Sam
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