Books as sculpture? Huh?? I don't normally think so, unless you include those stacks of books and magazines that end up on my coffee table or the side of my desk.
But I definitly think so when I look at my Star Books. These are the most beautiful books, IMHO. They have an interesting shape, and stand open on your table or bookshelf to proudly display their contents.
In addition to displaying a lovely star-shaped sculpture, they are great because:
- they can be made in almost any size;
- you can create one based on a theme (or not);
-
it can be a miniature scrapbook of a special event.
Here is the first star book that I made, which is essentially a piece of art- no particular theme.
Starting with the cover: This book used a regular weight decorative paper. I've also used embossed paper, and you could certainly make your own paste paper, or even use cloth for the cover. It is standard Davey board, covered in a traditonal way.
In the class that I took, when I first learned about star books, I recall that some folks had a hard time with sewing the binding, which is a Coptic stitch binding. I have to admit it is easier to learn by seeing someone demonstrate it. But once you have learned the rhythm, it is not too bad. The great things about it are that it looks pretty- it looks like a chain stich, so the spine of your book can be exposed. But also, and most importantly for this particular book, it allows you to open the book up 360 degrees or lay it flat without damaging the spine. (And one of these days I'll put up a tutorial!!)
In this book I used a combination of rubber stamping (with stamps from many different sources), decorative papers, pockets, envelopes and embellishments
I'll show a few more pages here, but you can see the whole thing by going to the Gallery, found on the right side of my blog, or by clicking here.
I do teach classes on star books. If you are interested in participating, just sign up for my newsletter to stay apprised of times and dates!
Keep creating!
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