Merry Christmas! Also - The Mega Book is Completed!

Merry Christmas everyone!
I just love this time of year (if only it was snowing it would be perfect). I hope everyone has the most amazing Christmas and a fabulous start to a wonderful New Year full of inspiration, fun and adventures!

So the Mega Book...I don't mind telling you that it is kind of nice to have space back in my studio again. The Mega Book was just so HUGE that it seemed to take up every available space going (even the bits of my shared space that are not meant to be invaded by my book-binding...oops!).

 

 I actually gave this to the client on the 18th, but I have been so busy dashing around and trying to catch up on sorting out all my own Christmas gifts that this is the first chance I have had to sit down and write a few words about it! (SO big! Just look how mega huge it is!)

A3 in height, but slightly slimmer. Leather covered boards, coptic bound with metal embellishments. Different papers interspersed in a specific order dictated by the client's needs (collation was a challenge in itself!).Such a lovely personal gift though; the client's girllfriend speaks several languages so he had picked a poem in each native language and several images of paintings from that country to go with it. He wanted tissue paper to protect every painting page and the poems were to be displayed on handmade paper. Such a thoughtful and romantic gift don't you think?

I must admit I was a bit overwhelmed by this project, but I am so pleased with how it turned out. So nervous when I presented it to the client but he was speechless and later said that I had "created a wonder". Very happy! I hope the girlfriend appreciates all the hours of thought and work that went into it!



On that happy note, I shall leave you with more fabulous festive wishes.
Have a most wonderful time everyone!

Lizzie x

Well this is all rather exciting!

 Let me see...

Still working on the 'Mega-Book' commission as I had to wait for board to arrive. The sheer scale of this still scares me, although I haven't admitted that in such bald terms to the client! It is fun to have so much space to play with though...maybe I will up-scale in future...maybe...unlikely!

However, this morning I opened my e-mail to TWO orders from etsy! Unprecedented! I am now officicially all sold out of rainbow 'Be Happy' books... so I will just have to go and make some more, hooray! (I love making these wee books, they make me smile the whole time because they are so bright and cheery. Honestly, who could be grumpy when they are sewing a rainbow together?!) Orders are now both packaged ready for their trip to the post office in the morning (One of them is going to the States! Wow! And yes, these things still require dancing around the living room. WAY too exciting not to!)

I also finished off the double custom order for two A8 Rainbow 'Be Happy' books this evening. I was contacted by a lovely lady who said that she would like one of my books...but she was a strict vegetarian so could she have the cover made of something else? Now as you know I love challenges so I said yes and suggested paper covers, made of layers to make them nice and strong. Sounds great doesn't it?

I forgot that glue (or paste) and I have an agreement of only minor skirmishes, no full on usage...hmm... (I stitch wherever possible when it comes to books) We had a minor falling out and accidentally created a lovely collage piece but then we sat down and talked things over... Eventually I had two really cute wee covers.

The request was that the books were quite different so I made one with all rainbow pages and one with plain pages with rainbow ones interspersed. One cover was soft handmade purple paper (with a stunning white handmade paper lining that was loaded with silver flecks of mica to pick up the silver thread binding) and the other was a bright blue handmade with a shiny finish (turquoise handmade paper lining with gold stars on it that I brought back from Nepal). You get the idea, they are the same yet very individual.


I was really worried half way through this project (when the glue was winning the debate) but I love the way they have both turned out. Similar yet completely different. I will be making more of this size of rainbow book very soon! Although I will need to check how long the glue will agree to keep the peace... :)

Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with something that most people consider completely essential? Just me? Why does that not surprise me?! ;)

Let It Snow!

Finally my snow dances have paid off! There is snow in Scotland! Not at my front door quite yet, but I will be heading up north to visit it at the weekend. Snowman and snow-angels here I come! :)

To celebrate I finally got brave enough to use the lovely pendant that I bought from the lovely Miss Erin of Tresoi Trovati. I just have to wear it to celebrate the arrival of the snow tomorrow (and help cheer me up that I have to go to work instead of bind books all day!). I hope she likes what I have created, and forgives me for it being a last minute inspitation thing and not quite finished yet.
(Hence the reason it doesn't have a clasp quite yet...I'm working on that! The options I had just didn't seem quite right so I will re-visit that a little later, but I can't wait to wear him so it will be ribbon tied tomorrow if I don't get inspired tonight...good thing I not a professional at this jewellery business, no image to up-keep :))

This cute wee chap is a bit bigger than most pendants I wear so I have been mulling over how best to frame him for a while. Then today, in the midst of a flurry of fun and inspired bookbinding I pulled our this glorious deep red ribbon...ooh...now I have a plan... Layers of ribbons to capture the colour pallete, plaited to give substance and colour matched beads spaced to create interest. That makes it sound much more planned than it was but I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Lots of bookmaking has been going on today, I will share that soon. Let me just say that working on rainbow books is the happiest work ever, smiles are guaranteed! :)