This was the third cover of the “off white” themed series.  For some reason, this one didn’t turn out as the rest, to fix it, I cut out shapes of wings from different papers and adhered them randomly to the surface using a semi-translucent mixture of acrylic medium and Titan Buff paint.  After it dried, I sanded it slightly.  On the back, you can see that the gold of the joss paper has come through.I read in a magazine or multi-media book that you can do photo transfers by printing on photo paper with an inkjet printer, then pressing the fresh print face down on a thin layer of gel medium.  It looked really cool in the book, so I tried it, first scanning an image from an audobon print, then preparing the surface of the cover with a thin layer of translucent medium.

It did not work. At all.  None of the ink came off onto the paper, and when I lifted the print up, some of the papers came up as well.  Best it did was leave a faint greenish yellow stain on the lower edge of the paper.  Maybe it would work if I were to do it on a smooth, flat sheet of paper, but that’s extremely limiting.

Once I’d finished swearing and complaining, I let the photo dry, and then decided I could salvage some of it. I cut out both the birds on the print, and chose one of them which looked like it would fit on the finished cover.  I cut out some circles of other paper, to make a halo and keep the bird from feeling too framed.  You can still feel and see the rough texture from the acrylic paint that stuck to the surface of the photo.

In keeping with the bird theme, I sewed the feather on the back. I think it’s a dove feather, from an acquaintance who keeps doves as pets.

Despite the botched photo-transfer technique, I feel that this book cover works.  My only complaint is that the paper isn’t as sturdy and flexible as cloth, so on the edges of the cover, it’s torn and will probably fray.  I have a person in mind to give this book to, and I hope she doesn’t mind that it will quickly become even more worn as it’s used.

When I made these three books, I meant to have  a theme of off-white covers. This one started as gesso brushed over off white muslin, with stamps impressed into it for texture. You can see the faint image of a bird in the lower right hand corner of the cover. After the gesso dried, I used interference paints to give the surface some depth. Interference paints don’t show up well in photographs.  They basically make the book have a sheen of color when viewed from a certain angle.

For the cover, I first started by cutting some scraps of Chinese brocade and ironing them under so that I could sew some down to the cover without the edges fraying. I knew I wanted a tactile focal point, so I took an old car key and sanded it until it shone. Then I painted it with alcohol based inks, which stick to non-porous surfaces.  Once I’d sewn the brocade down, I sewed the key on top of it.

On the back, I placed a collection of antique keys on the bed of my scanner and scanned it. In some ways, this is even better than a photograph, as long as the pieces are flat.  I printed it on laser transfer paper, then cut the shapes out wiht a razor blade.  I debated cutting out the shadows, but in the end decided to draw them back in with colored pencil.  This time, I used acrylic medium both under and on top of the images, so hopefully they will stick.

Not shown in this photo: on one of the inside pages is yet another laser transfer of a key.  I’m wondering if the adheseive sheets that I got (which I assumed went with the temporary tattoos I bought at the same time) were really supposed to go with the laser transfer sheets as well?

This would have, should have been my favorite book cover.  I started by stamping gesso designs onto muslin, and then using a wash of buff paint to bring out the details.  Since the background was so plain, I went to my old files and found a photograph I had taken last year of my yard of California poppies.  I printed out one of the better photographs on lasertransfer paper, cut a window out of it, and transferred the photo to the muslin.

Here’s what I’ve discovered about laser transfer paper. It does the laser part fine, but the transfer doesn’t stick.  In the future, I’ll try to use a layer of acrylic medium under it or something. Not only does the photograph not stick very well to the muslin, but the acryilic paint on top doesn’t stick very well either, and is peeling off like an unprimed wall.  Very frustrating.

For the detail on the front, I used an epoxy sticker of a clock face and stuck it down to a circle I’d cut out of the remaining laser transfer paper. This one does stick, since I put glue underneath it.

Before I glued the cover to the book blank, I sewed the braided cord around the perimeter for depth. I also sewed on a strip of orange cloth to use as a bookmark. I had been planning on using a red glass bead as part of the design, but nixed it.

On the back cover, when I was doing a wash of translucent buff paint, I used stamps in the wet paint to create further depth and detail.

The most disappointing part of this project was the laser transfer paper.  I’ve heard other people rave about using it in mixed media projects, and perhaps for a purely ornamental piece it is fine, but my books are meant to be functional.  In time, with even moderate use, the paint and photo will flake off, leaving only a beige muslin cover with some braided cord for detail.

The angel statue image was dramatic enough that it felt done with an orange and a blue butterfly (the cut-out and the stamp) to make the front and back of the covers cohere stylistically.

I had the inside of the crow from the stencil, so I adhered it to the cover, hoping it would serve as a focal point.  Unfortunately, it got lost in all that black, so I did the spiral design with red paint marker.  Then, to make sure the edges didn’t buckle from the glue, I laid wax paper over it and put a weight on it. Uh oh. The edges of the crow stuck to the wax paper, and lost some of their culture. I”m not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but I’m leaning toward the former. Not yet sure how to fix it, but I may yet tinker with this.

The metal work on the back was to satisfy my “stuff for the fingers to feel” urge. I started with medium weight aluminum sheeting, and looked up latin phrases on the internet. I think this one means something like “I strive to improve.” Latin isn’t just for webtemplates anymore!  After I found a good, short, phrase, I picked a font from my calligraphy book and used my incising tools to impress the metal.  The glue on the back should keep it from flattening too badly, I hope.  The inks are alcohol-based inks, good for non-porous surfaces.  I believe that with time the ink will get rubbed off everywhere but the letters.

I began this book by putting black gesso on to some printed calico in what I hoped were random patches.  Once that was done, a book on photo transfers inspired me to attempt to transfer a photo. I found a photo of a landscape, and transferred it onto the cloth using a thin layer of white gesso.  The colors were too bright and white for the mood, but a thin wash of color dulled it down. Sanding it dulled it down further.

The crow on the back is black gesso from a stencil i cut, highlighted with paint marker. I’m not sure what I originally planned to put in the rectangle.  By now I knew what the mood of this piece was, and I hoped to find text to write there. I’m a writer too, but I usually get very self-conscious using my own words on my pieces.  Shweta Narayan, a fine poet who happened to be a Clarion 2007 graduate with me, posted a draft of her poem “Epiphyte,” on her livejournal and graciously granted me permission to use it on this piece.

At one point in the poem, she references “bottle glass eyes.” so I used the bronze charm piece and a photograph of a dark child’s eye with an epoxy sticker.  Going through old toys we found one of those dynamo lettering tools, and I fed some copper tape through it (used for stained glass).  It looks like it says “elate,” but it doesn’t, not quite.  I love the copper color though, and think it suit well.

The end papers are flocked brown and black with a victorian design.

This is one of the books whose cover creation I chronicled in an earlier post.  I started with scraps of cloth glued down on paper (a sheet from a manuscript) and layered washes of color over it in acrylic.  For the final details, I used a mixture of blue acrylic paint and gel retarder and commercially made rubber stamps.  I like to have a tactile focal piece on the front, so I used the buttons with letters on them.  The mixture of letters never seems that great, so it’s a Scrabble-game challenge to come up with a meaningful word.

Most of the making of this book I chronicled in an earlier post. I finished it with the weed-stamp on the back, using acrylic paint mixed with gel retarder (plain acrylic paint doesn’t work here, as it is too dry.)  The face on the front is a linoblock I cut of myself using a photograph as a reference.

I made the epoxy stickers by pouring drops of epoxy on some printed wrapping paper and the cover of a catalog, then cut them out once the epoxy cured.

This is one of the books whose cover-creation process I chronicled in an earlier post.  I finished up the green washes with blue acrylic printing, using commercially purchased rubber stamps. It feels a lot like cheating to use someone else’s art, but the commecrially produced rubber stamps are so convenient for so many techniques.

Once I’d begun to glue to the cover to the boards, but before I finished gluing the flaps to the inside, I sewed a line of green seed beeds along the edges of both covers.  Beading takes more time than virtually any other technique, but when you’re writing in a book, or thinking about what to write, it’s nice to have something tangible to play with.

For the inside end papers, I got my kids to show me a technique they’d learned in their Tempe Arts Block classes they took this summer.  This is a very traditional style of end paper, though I believe that originally they were done with oil or alcohol based paints on a layer of water. We used food coloring on a layer of shaving cream.  You don’t wash the shaving cream off, you just scrape it, so the paper has a faint oily sheen to it.

Apologies for the formatting errors on the earlier posts.  My husband just updated my site for me, and it appears there’s a technical glitch.

This is how I attach the covers.  It’s not the final step, but anything bulky that gets glued (rather than sewn, for example) to the outside goes on after this.

Top left: I cut a strip of matboard to protect the spine and, after figuring out which part of the cover I’m going to use, I align it and glue it to the cover.  Then I glue the front and back boards of the signature block to the cover as well. (I know I’m not using the proper terminology, but the proper terminology is counterintuitive and not accessible to laypeople.)

Top right: I trim the cover to match.  This is one of the more difficult steps, and I’ve often gotten it wrong. 

Bottom Center: I fold the cover in on itself for a dry fitting.  It took me several books before I figured out that this step was necessary.  If the cover material is too thick, for example, if I’ve used too many layers of cloth, this is where I curse and regret.

Bottom Right: some epoxy “stickers” I’ve made, potentially to use on the red face book.