Artist Trading Cards and The Cube

One day I was slowly cruising through an Architecture Digest magazine and came upon an sections involving 'Interesting Finds'.  As I gazed upon the 'Finds' I realized I could incorporate the design into my bookbinding and book art.  One of these 'Finds' was The Cube, a desk designed by Lella and Massimo Vignelli.  The original Cube was made from red and black leather provided by Poltrona Fau, the company that supplies the leather for BMW, Ferrari and Maserati. 

The Cube was constructed of two parts: a writing surface and a supporting rotating Cube.  Since I was very much into artist trading cards, I decided I could create a model of the Cube, using my bookbinding and box making techniques.  The final product consists of three parts: 1) the Cube is used to store artist trading cards, 2) the desk top, when expanded, is used to display the cards at a trade, and 3) the supporting leg holds a book used to record  traders' contact information.  

My Cube was published in the ATC Quarterly, Summer 2009. 

Boxes

As I create books and more books, often I find I am left with 'little pieces' of book binding materials that are too big to dispose of, so I find myself creating smaller versions of books and boxes.  I started playing one day with the various 'left-over shapes' of material and my creativity kicked into gear.  As you can see, these gift boxes are not the basic square and rectangle.  I have used leather to line the insides and cover the outsides, recycled old earings, buttons and incorporated parts of peacock feathers.  Most often the recipients of these boxes use them for jewellery or stationery.  It's always nice to know how my creations are being used. 

 

Craft Fairs and Vernissage

Hi There :  I was able to complete this photo album/sketch book for the craft fairs.  I was at City Hall on April 29th and at the Britannia United Church on May 2.  My friend Catherine was visiting from Vancouver and helped me out.  We had a great day talking to visitors about the hand made books.

On May 6, I attended a vernissage at a new gallery in Westboro, called the Exposure Gallery, for contemporary Canadian Fine Art Photography.  The exhibit was on a Rare Book Series by photographer Chyrstia Mycyk.  The books, which are housed in the National Archives,  dated back to the 17th and 18th century.  Chyrstia captured the 'experience of living - the physical evidence of life' in the books and their owners.  A very interesting exhibit, especially for book lovers. 

Sweet Woods Trading

Sweet Woods Trading

Silver Touch

I have been working on this book all week and finished it today. It was such a pleasure to create. When in Germany a couple of years ago, I found this fabulous silver crepe-like paper. It is delicate to work with, has a textured surface, and when glued and smoothed out with the bone folder the texture changes and it feels like silk. The small indents that occured when working on the book cover have a patina like quality and when used, it will continue to develop. I am often inspired by architecture and when reading about it or watching a show about architects and their designs, I usually come up with my own book designs. In the centre of this book, I have created a city scape using the same silver paper, copper foil, miniture photos, a red film used in photography and a drawing. When the centrefold is opened up, different views and colours can be observed through the windows. I have used an 80 lb. recycled drawing paper for the text blocks and there are 70 pages in this book. It measures 8.25 x 12.25 inches (21 x 31.1 cm).

Recycled Jewel

Olive, my friend, brought me a couple of large necklaces to recycle into my books. Voilà - the necklace, made in India, hangs freely in the cover of this book. Its fuschia and green colours blend nicely with the purple and gold paper and sparkly book cloth. I used a traditional binding technique with a twist - the book cloth on the spine was cut so the stitching could be seen. The text block was made from a heavy recycled paper and the book contains 50 pages.

Polka Dots

I created this book from a beautiful paper with artistically designed circles, some of which are gold embossed. I used a glittery purple book cloth, and braided cotton threads for the closure around the recycled key. A soft leather is part of the binding and key closure. The text blocks are made from a heavy recycled paper. There are 70 pages in this book.

Tri-Cover Book

I used a heavy cotton paper for the cover of this book. The design is abstract and done with black pigment pens. The third flap on this book can be used as a book mark. The closure is a pink satin ribbon with two pearlized buttons. There are 40 pages in this book.

Craft Fair II

This little bookl has 120 pages. The cover is a heavy cotton paper and is adorned with a colourful abstract drawing. I use India ink pens and gel pens (to get the shimmer) to color my drawings. The book is bound with a fuschia coloured waxed thread in the tradition bookbinding stitch.

Feel Good Book

I created this book from a soft piece of leather left over from my leather tooling days. It was also used to make my son a pair of mukluks when we lived in the north. Now it is a small booklet with craft paper pages. I drew the design on the front with pen and over time, with use, it will mellow and eventually fade. The leather is lined with a coloured abstract drawing - so pictures on the outside and the inside - a feel good book :>))

Carpe Diem

It was one of those days where I needed to create something different. I used the theme of 'Carpe Diem' - it went along with my mood - and created this accordion book. I used my scrabble letters and realized I had used up all the Rs and Ps in another project. It was okay because I was forced to engage my creativity to create these two letters. The first two pages of this book have an ink blot design which I turned into a sun dial. There is an envelope with fragments of a peacock feather. When pulling on the string a hand emerges from the envelope. I drew a sun goddess and on the following pages I wrote 'seize the day' in a number of different languages. The second last page has the tree of life in gold leaf and the final page has a real leaf with single words appropriate to Carpe Diem activities. This book was fun to create and I had a great sense of satisfaction when it was completed.

Spring Fair

I created this soft cover book using a brightly coloured designer decorator cotton. The closure includes two pieces of a recycled Dior necklace and a satin braid. There are 50 pages in this book and it is 6 x 8 inches (15.2 x 20.2 cm). These soft cover books fit comfortably into a computer bag, large handbag or carry-on bag and are good for the traveller who likes to keep notes, journal, or sketch.

Creating this journal was particularly joyful thanks to the beautiful bright colours and dynamic design.

Craft Fair

This book was created for a craft fair at City Hall. I used a blue and gold braid, suede leather for the closure and a blue broadcloth or the exterior cover. The cover is lined with a multi-coloured argyle designed cotton. There are pockets in the front and back for small papers. The book has 48 blank pages made from recycled paper and is 6 X 8 inches (15.2 x 20.2 cm).

Soft Cover Journal

I created this journal for a friend. She gave me a pastel coloured linen that had been marbelled and a beautiful sage green piece of suede leather. I created the flap closure with the leather and tassels and used a satin braid to complete the tacket binding. The journal has 48 pages and is 8 X 10 inches (20.2 X 25.3 cm)

Hello and Welcome to Sweet Woods Trading

I find myself being propelled into the world of blogging so I can share my art and craft of bookbinding and box making. Over the Christmas holidays I found some beautiful cotton paper and decided to create small journals, the kind you can carry in your purse or computer bag. Always on the lookout for ways to decorate a book, I tried drawing on the cotton paper and found it to be very compatible with my India Ink pens. The colours of the India Ink are visually satisfying, while the texture of the paper is pleasing to the touch. The black pen on white paper offers a clean and simple contrast.