Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Custom Artist Journal for My Grandma

This artist journal is a custom order from my grandma. You can click on the photos to see them larger.



She wanted a book that she could carry around with her so the book is slightly larger than 5" x 7" and it's about 1.25" thick. She requested that the book have an assortment of papers so I included the following paper types: Mohawk Superfine 80lb Smooth soft white, Canson charcoal paper in blues, cream, pale yellow and green.


There's also Lokta heavy weight and light weight papers in red, purple, green, pumpkin, pinto and sand. There are also embossed papers and papers with leaves, flowers, and thread inclusions. Papers are from all around the world (Nepal, Thailand, Japan, Canada and the U.S.)


The paper will be great for all sorts of mediums.


She wanted the book to look used and old so I took a honey colored cowhide and with the help of my dad we antiqued the leather. The pages were deckled to give it a handmade and more used/old feel to it. As she uses it, the page edges will get worn and look older. The cover has a bit of deep red to it and I used maroon linen thread to sew it.


My grandma said I could burn anything I wanted into the cover (a bunny, a flower, her name) and so I put her name on the spine and I put the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland on the front cover. She mentioned "a little rabbit" when we talked on the phone so I'm hoping she's ok with a full cover illustration. I put an old button on the cover and braided linen thread for the closure. I placed a skeleton key on the end of the thread but I'm not sure if that will stay. It's heavy for such a tiny key so I'm not sure I like the feel of it. It's removable so I think I'll let her decide on that one.

The book is sewn in a longstitch style which allows the pages to open flat (and even fold back in half) so it's wonderful for artwork as well as carrying around.


It really is a beautiful book with beautiful paper. 

1 comment:

littlewrenpottery.co.uk said...

Wow beautiful book I love how all the pages are different!