I’ve been making books like this for several years now, giving them away to writer friends. My rule is that people only get one. Then I realized I’d never given one to Beth, my sister-in-law, even though I talk to her every day. I only had three little books left, so I had to make more so she’d have a better selection to choose from.
I started with three different fabrics, pasting them onto thin paper for the base. Then I got out black gesso and some texture plates and went to town with printing. This one has leaves on it. The printing was only a start. After that, I wanted to use a rubber stamp and make raised embossed text on it. However, the embossing powder doesn’t work well on cloth this porous. I can see the black text a little, but it’s not 3-D.
Eventually I decided that the background was fine as it was, and I’d add some interest with tactile elements. The little prayer-flag/tassel yarn is one I’ve had for a while. It’s rather distinctive, so I try not to use it too often. I searched through all my beads and doo-dads and ephemera to see if I could find something that worked. I used this scrap of purple sari-silk yarn, and that was an easy choice, but I went through maybe a dozen charms before choosing the silver oak tree.
I don’t have a very good photo of this, because my photo backdrop fell down a few weeks ago and I only had my camera phone. I made two others at the same time, and I think I’ll try to re-photograph them.
