A number of years ago I created a small book about Cooper, Fletcher, Bob and the Ball Machine. Came across it the other day.
Click on image for larger version
Page 1
Pages 2 and 3
Pages 4 and 5
This is the archive for the ‘books/cards’ Category
Cape May Wetlands Card
Several years ago, on my birthday, we went to Cape May, NJ and visited a wetlands park there. Beautiful, warm spring day, Sunny with a breeze that russeled the tall grasses. We walked through the grasses and emerged to a swan floating in a small body of water.
This small accordion card was a reaction to a perfect day.
(click image for larger view)
Today I Saw a Swan by Beth Emmott.
The center page is cut out with the two sided swan attached to a thread. The decorative corners of the pages are a nod to Victorian Cape May.
Accordion Post Card Book
This is a very fun book I learned to make in a Book Arts Class in 1994 at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I’m sorry I don’t know the instructors name as she was quite wonderful.
The book can be viewed in two ways. If you open the book in a normal fashion, each page consists of 3 separate cards but each page turns as expected. This can be seen in the third image. If, instead, the covers are pulled apart, the cards flip to create a single image, in this case a color wheel. The fourth image is a close up of the image, (the covers would extend to the left and right).
Standing Color Books
Lying Flat, (opened normally and covers pulled apart)
This is a variation on an accordion book as the cards are attached to an accordion structure, with the top and bottom cards going in one direction and those in the middle going the other. I was teaching Color Theory at the time so that became the topic of my book.
The Distaff Side
Since I’ve been blogging about handmade books, esp. accordion books, I thought I’d show one I made several years ago for my Mom. Titled “The Distaff Side”, it lists known women in my mother’s family and the number of children they had. A distaff is a tool for spinning fiber and since this was historically women’s work, the female side of the family is called the distaff side. (click on image for larger view.)
The Distaff Side
This structure is based on an accordion book with separate back and front covers, allowing it to be read front to back and then continued back to front on the other side. The first side features my mom, her mom, two grandmothers and a great grandmother. Each image opens out to reveal additional information about each women. The back side lists known women alternating with block prints of a distaff.
Accordion Books
Here are some close ups of joining pages and of cover treatments.
Click on the images for larger views.
1. Here the pages are cut with extra paper at one end to over lap the next page on the back.
2. This uses medical paper tape available at drug stores to butt two pages.
These joins are done after the pages are prepared and cut to size.3. The pages of this book are prepared and placed in a separate cover which has two folds giving three parts: back, front and an inside flap. You can glue your first page in place and glue the inside flap over it but sometimes it’s nice to leave it loose.
4. This shows the page glued to a separate front cover and covered with a textured endpaper.
One and four are Canson paper, two and three are computer paper with a heavy paper for three’s cover.
Accordion Book
My friend, Sally, asked me about accordion books and I think an image explains it better than lots of words. She asked about a 16 page book and this is a 6 page one but I think she’ll get it!
I made this years ago for another friend, Mary—we met when we were 13, and I was riding my bike trying to get up nerve to say HI to the new girl and found out later if I had gone past her one more time she was going to throw dirt balls at me! We’ve been best friend ever since!
