Folded Books

Thanks to Christine Plummer's intensive mini workshop, we finished Friday evening with a really useful little fold-out book and the know-how to make lots more.  The beauty is that they can be made any size or colour, portrait or landscape, with or without pockets, .....

Starting with a large sheet of strong paper, we followed strict guidance on folding and tearing it in order to achieve a continuous 'concertina' shape.  (Inevitably, some of us didn't follow the guidance strictly enough and ended up with two separate concertinas - but that just means we will make two books, instead of one, though!)

Then we covered end boards either with some rather nice waxed paper provided by Christine or with our own special papers, and our little books were already starting to take shape.  

They just need finishing off at home with embellishments - and contents, of course.  

One idea to take away was to record a visit or holiday, by sticking in photos, maps and memorabilia, but the possibilities are endless ....

Recent Recycled Books Workshop

We had a great time sticking, stitching, tearing paper and assembling our books - a bit like being at play school again.  As well as the benefit of her experience, Christine fortunately provided us with a kit of materials, or we might have been spent an awful lot longer at play!

Christine Plummer showing us how to line up our book signatures for stitching

A small sample of the results from the workshop can be seen below.  What a great feeling to be able to produced a completed article during the workshop and not have to finish off at home.  The books are a great opportunity to use up those stashes of hoarded and recycled papers, and there's plenty of opportunity for customisation.

The previous evening's mini workshop to make gift tags had got us warmed up to the task, and there's now no excuse for not bringing all those lovely bits and pieces out of the closet.