Wednesday, May 30, 2012

I have a new hobby and other excuses that slow down my writing

Apparently the knitting, drawing, painting, reading, and gaming isn't enough. I have a new hobby! (I guess I can't really call the writing a hobby anymore since I periodically get paid for it).

Now that I pretty much exclusively read all books electronically on my kindle, I've taken up bookbinding. I quite enjoy it and the books are useful since I write shorter pieces by hand and they do serve as a handy sort of 'Crap, I need a present to give to (insert name).'


This is my latest book. I'm actually making it for a coworker's eight year old daughter, hence the massive amounts of pink. It's scrapbook paper glued around a board cover with canvas I painted pink for the spine. The inside paper is just plain white paper that I sewed together. I actually like the way it turned out, even with all the pink. If she doesn't like it, I'm taking it back.  ;p


This is the inside front cover of the same book. I always glue something in to cover the board and the edges of the cover and I just rather liked this soft pink. The colours were all picked by the father, by the way.


This one I made for me and will write a story in once I think of a plot. I glued the doodads on the cover to it. They've only fallen off twice. Apparently the solution to that is 'more glue'. This one is lined. It's just high smoothness photocopier paper that I can run through a printer. The spine is this lovely velvet paper that makes fantastic spines since it doesn't tear or wrinkle.


Here are the other books I made since I don't want to inflict them all on you one at a time. The top one and the purple one are made from this gorgeous Japanese paper that I can't remember the name of. Makes fantastic covers. 

I've been wondering if people would like to have one of these. I'm pondering running a contest where the prize is a handmade book with something in it. Maybe some writing or poetry or both, I dunno. I don't know if anyone would want it. It'd be a contest prize, but that makes me wonder what sort of contest to even run.


In writing news, I've passed the 41k word count mark in THE OMEGA, which is still crawling along as glacial speed. I haven't heard anything about Dorchester yet.



4 comments:

  1. Good to hear from you again. I love hand book-binding and have done some in my past. But yeah, too many hobbies get in the way of my real art as well as my "hobby" of writing. And I am weaving again so that is pretty time-consuming. Would love to make a piece of art that is woven, painted, collaged, and bound into a book-ish form containing poetry and stories and other words.

    Take care, Laurie and keep on doing what you do.
    Linde Dunn

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    1. Wow, if you do make a woven, etc book, I definitely want to see it! That would be awesome.

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  2. Ooooh. So pretty! And shiny! I would absolutely love to have one. :D

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    1. Great, that's one vote for a contest! :) I'll keep musing on it.

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