tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71985298255229926622011-07-08T04:56:52.610-07:00no longer the book-a-day blogLiisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.comBlogger1111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-16291655783267075902010-09-27T11:51:00.000-07:002010-09-27T12:15:30.930-07:00

I was making a book a day in 2009, and it was going well. Then my mom was diagnosed with cancer and life became more complicated; the book stream became sporadic and then dried up completely. 18 months later, she has outlived her original prognosis by well over a year, is holding her own with family, hospice help and hired caregivers. One of these days I'll make a book. I had forgotten that as

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-90469362586299742652009-05-07T17:36:00.000-07:002009-05-07T17:42:34.908-07:00

...in honor of the 22:15 I spent on hold today with WAMU or Chase or whoever, listening to Pachelbel's Canon over and over and over...

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-69894236385630238462009-05-07T13:03:00.001-07:002009-05-07T13:03:55.252-07:00

All better now. Email and website fixed.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-9070548149803502602009-05-07T10:53:00.001-07:002009-05-07T11:00:37.114-07:00

Hey, I am still here, my mom is feeling quite well, although it's too early to know if the treatment is working. And, I am still making books most days. But...Due to some glitch my webhosting is not working, so I have no website or email until it gets fixed, which should be in 24 hours - or so they tell me.If you need to get in touch, leave a message here or call, 206-853-2513.Sorry about that.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-64548081427670044692009-04-14T23:16:00.001-07:002009-04-14T23:16:47.489-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-51724160627634507752009-04-14T00:36:00.000-07:002009-04-14T00:38:29.607-07:00

I've been on a kick of rectangular states...such mindless creating. But it results in books! My mom starts chemo on Thursday.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-75476959739610717762009-04-12T23:51:00.001-07:002009-04-12T23:52:14.046-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-91653559205105401952009-04-11T23:48:00.003-07:002009-04-11T23:48:28.537-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-74373247750207942942009-04-11T23:48:00.001-07:002009-04-11T23:48:19.033-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-86313309333177946362009-04-09T23:38:00.000-07:002009-04-09T23:39:20.092-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-77679593846368792922009-04-08T23:00:00.000-07:002009-04-08T23:01:44.571-07:00

It's red.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-55686438523052579012009-04-07T23:52:00.000-07:002009-04-07T23:53:27.912-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-72120585713672896832009-04-06T23:31:00.000-07:002009-04-06T23:33:29.151-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-14053333652543696112009-04-06T23:22:00.000-07:002009-04-06T23:30:33.875-07:00

Some of you know that my mother has been seeing a lot of doctors lately; last Friday it was confirmed that she has cancer. We don't know for sure what the next step is, but so far the oncologist is optimistic, and thinks she would respond well to treatment. We'll know more after this Wednesday.So I am finding it hard to keep up with my photographing and posting. Books are being made daily - that

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-83272082990187495952009-04-05T00:01:00.001-07:002009-04-06T00:57:05.793-07:00

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-55469351480846233602009-04-04T22:20:00.000-07:002009-04-06T00:59:21.866-07:00

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-71957222996050118452009-04-03T23:51:00.000-07:002009-04-06T00:58:27.225-07:00

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-16894621428478841702009-04-02T23:46:00.001-07:002009-04-06T00:56:26.084-07:00

Punxatawney Phil isn't the only weather forecasting groundhog around. Did you know that? I didn't. Well, I hadn't really thought about it, to tell you the truth. Today's book is an introduction to 18 famous groundhogs, along with their predictions for 2009. We'll see who got it right...(Pictures are coming.)

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-45198587497191702082009-04-01T22:59:00.000-07:002009-04-03T00:27:42.876-07:00

A book about "Fools."(Yes, pictures are coming.)

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-36279468421430002782009-03-31T23:54:00.000-07:002009-04-03T00:25:32.425-07:00

I have decided that we need to keep better track of our grocery shopping and food consumption. And of course a project like that calls for a new book! A fairly big one, with room for lists and calculations, and envelopes for receipts and whatever else. So I made one.(Pictures coming soon.)

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-8228673507532472912009-03-30T18:04:00.001-07:002009-03-31T00:08:52.774-07:00

I think, after all, that this is my favorite sewn binding. I learned to call it a 4-needle binding, but I usually do it with just one needle, and retrace my steps to complete the stitching. Yeah, I know; that means absolutely nothing to most people. Maybe I'll draw a diagram one of these days. It really is a cool binding. The sewing is enough, structurally, to hold the book together, but I added

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-27001346635399820882009-03-29T21:53:00.001-07:002009-03-30T02:01:10.006-07:00

Seems I've been doing a number of weird and experimental little book-like objects lately, so I thought it was time for a simple booky-book, with pages and a cover. So here's an 84-page book - seven 12-page signatures and a cover with a nice picture of a field of lupins.

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-57227532891420718222009-03-28T23:35:00.000-07:002009-03-29T00:59:31.443-07:00

Two books in one, sort of. The cover folds in from both sides to the center, where the two parts overlap and interlock. There are pages stapled into both folds, so that they open to both sides. The pages can be closed and layered in many ways: left/right/left right, or left-left/right-right...etc etc. Or you can do all the lefts then all the rights. Or...I hope that's clear.I'm thinking I'll

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-16706675075922606272009-03-27T21:17:00.001-07:002009-03-28T02:42:55.659-07:00

Another boustrophedon, this time with a story.It was a full and busy day, and I wasn't at home much. So I had to make a book in my lap and this is what I came up with. The boustro...is cut and folded freehand from a piece of watercolor paper. You almost can't tell from the images but no two pages are the same size or shape; all folded up it's a pretty eccentric looking thing. But it doesn't seem

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-60963899816146228932009-03-26T23:01:00.001-07:002009-03-27T00:40:24.404-07:00

Two Blank Slates - a very nice local cheese, and today's very plain empty book.

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-82752569259544441982009-03-25T21:59:00.000-07:002009-03-26T00:57:24.925-07:00

Here we have an accordion book doing one of the things an accordion book does so well - present two versions of the same story. It's handwritten on ever so tasteful gray stationery, with very dignified darker gray covers. (If I'd thought of it I would have typed it on the old Underwood.) I think it should go in an equally tasteful gray envelope, but I'll have to make it to fit the book.The text,

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-59397614234009134782009-03-24T19:24:00.000-07:002009-03-25T01:44:31.763-07:00

The biggest blizzard yet, made from a map and single sheet pages about 8x10 inches.might be an effective way to present several separate pictures or documents. A portfolio of sorts.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-9918876902805420692009-03-23T20:56:00.001-07:002009-03-23T22:50:45.935-07:00

Here's another book like yesterday's, but bigger and with different proportions, so that it has what are more like pockets than tabs. I forgot to put something in the pockets so that you could see how they work, but I'll bet you can figure that out for yourself. The triangles lift up to reveal previously hidden parts. Secret Decorations!

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-36843697089639722202009-03-22T22:00:00.001-07:002009-03-23T00:50:49.979-07:00

Blizzard is one of the names I see used to describe this book structure. (Supposedly it was invented during a blizzard.) The spine is one long piece folded as for a fan, but then additional folds are made to the corners of the pleats, along the long, zig zag edges. These folds both prevent the fan from expanding, and provide tabs for holding the folded pages in place. (If your paper is wider, and

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-15241096141166235792009-03-22T00:42:00.000-07:002009-03-22T02:42:10.063-07:00

Oh dear, oh dear. Would you believe I totally forgot about making a book today? Until about 11:44PM that is. We were on our way home from an evening out when I realized I had to work fast. So, I tore up a sheet of paper that was in the car and made a flexagon which I will photograph and post shortly.Flexagons are paper structures that fold and refold in circles...if that makes any sense. Jacob's

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-2561616173137807512009-03-20T23:14:00.001-07:002009-03-21T00:20:28.275-07:00

Yes, I am calling this a book. It's a very simple, sort of a boustrophedon, 8-page (or panel) folded structure made of a single square of card stock. The picture is a collage showing several of its different "poses." Any of the inner folds could have extra pages sewn in, but even as-is I think it's kind of interesting. I might use it for a short story, a poem or more than one poem, or some images

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-76431740822474793872009-03-19T19:51:00.001-07:002009-03-20T00:22:39.817-07:00

I blazed a trail to a sewing machine in the studio. That enabled me to make this little book in about 2 minutes: cut pages, cut cover, sew, tie a couple of knots, clip threads. Fini. Done. That's all.

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-12280556893448975772009-03-18T22:23:00.001-07:002009-03-19T00:18:48.599-07:00

Just what it says: 5 signatures sewn on tapes (strips of paper) and glued onto separate covers that are covered with an old bicycle map of Seattle. The lower picture is a detail of the sewing. A simple book for a busy day.

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-21185034827746114892009-03-17T22:53:00.001-07:002009-03-20T00:17:45.095-07:00

I think this would have been a good candidate for photo rather than scan - but scanning is so quick and easy that I did it anyway. Just ignore the weird blue shadows that the scanner sees when there's a 3-D object involved, ok?This is one easy binding! Even though the picture is minimal, you can probably see that it is simply a pencil, a rubber band, and two holes in a stack of pages. The rubber

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-46236716546060679902009-03-16T23:41:00.001-07:002009-03-20T00:18:43.242-07:00

Sorry about the lateness of this post. I haven't had much time on the computer in the last 48 hours...too much other stuff going on, with sickness in the family and such.Today's book is a quick study in an old form that had its origins in South and Southeast Asia. As I tried to do a little research on palm leaf books, I discovered that a little won't do...there is so much to be said and described

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-62976048835092282702009-03-15T23:40:00.000-07:002009-03-15T23:44:21.068-07:00

A small (1.25 x 1.5 inches) sewn book with an attached cover. I had a bunch of offcut from previous books and I couldn't just recycle it, of course. Tomorrow something completely different - maybe.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-14969849674133017902009-03-14T22:13:00.001-07:002009-03-15T00:36:21.456-07:00

We had lunch at Burgermaster today; this is made from a paper place mat that I managed to keep clean. I should have scanned it before I glued it down and made it un-flattenable. But take my word for it, the name and steer head are in the upper left corner of the mat, and the stone wall and Coca-Cola logo are in the lower right. I sat in the car and folded and tore, then made the covers at home

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-67757859074705794962009-03-13T23:16:00.001-07:002009-03-20T00:18:22.959-07:00

I saw a kids' book along these lines in a bookstore once. Such a simple idea, but one that could be put to creative use. Each page has a flip up (flop down?) section that covers all but a little bit at the bottom. It lends itself to images that are the same but different, or that change to move a story along, or that just create funny effects. The original wasn't an accordion as this one is, but

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-14172920054064502032009-03-12T14:20:00.001-07:002009-03-13T00:47:54.817-07:00

I made another one of the "Lucky" books from a couple of days ago. This time I retrieved my foil papers and made the five little books as originally planned. I like the way it turned out, but have forgotten that special scanner setting that eliminates the weird stripes when scanning metallics. So the book covers aren't really all stripey like that. The needle threader is just part of the image as

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-73504040631142687052009-03-11T21:47:00.000-07:002009-03-12T01:49:59.336-07:00

I spent some time on the Internet today looking for fictional language generators and stumbled across this interactive book creator. It's your basic French-fold (they call it a "Stapleless Book"), and the layout is all established for you. Just fill in the text boxes to create the content for each page, click PRINT, and there's your book. There's even a dotted line to show you exactly where to

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-28039282781954727722009-03-10T19:08:00.000-07:002009-03-11T11:44:50.367-07:00

A simple idea whose execution turned out to be more complicated than expected. The cover is a scan, (two scans actually) of the outside and inside of an old needle case. I printed them separately - so far so good. Then I cut them out individually - not hard. Then I put them together back to back - also not hard once I realized that the thing isn't quite symmetrical and the pieces have to go

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-62151728999413031782009-03-09T17:33:00.000-07:002009-03-10T12:41:56.240-07:00

When you fold a piece of paper, or a stack of paper, in half, it's inevitable that at the inside of the fold you have the same paper on facing pages. If you want a book with alternating color pages this is a problem. Here's an experimental design that solves that problem. Note that the small pictures are just there to illustrate the process, they're not the book in the big picture.Each folded

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-57533325036840444582009-03-08T23:07:00.001-07:002009-03-10T12:43:12.465-07:00

This started out as a way to use the scraps from yesterday, and blossomed into something somewhat bigger. As it ended up, it's a 4-panel accordion with additional pages in the "valleys" on one side. (One side has two valleys and one peak, and the other side has two peaks and one valley; that's the nature of accordions.) So, the two-valley side has pages, and the one-valley side has a layered

Gordon Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00072686007178775968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-87473920394364554282009-03-07T23:06:00.000-08:002009-03-10T12:42:32.832-07:00

Mountains? Clouds? Layers of...something? This occurred to me while I was looking at some pictures of misty, foggy places. I think it has a lot of potential; it would suggest a totally different story done in shades of brown, wouldn't it? Or the ragged edges could be at the bottom - like curtains, or veils or tattered petticoats. So simple, but I like it a lot.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-41653590102653442009-03-06T23:23:00.001-08:002009-03-10T12:35:33.891-07:00

The book for Friday has six signatures of one folded sheet each; they are sewn and then glued (well, taped) into the single, folded, woven cover. The pages and the cover all made of the same lightweight card stock, but the cover ends up being a double thickness - so it's more "cover-y."Much as I believe in simple materials, and try to resist buying every new thing that comes along, I do

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-56901703607456532742009-03-06T00:50:00.000-08:002009-03-10T12:34:51.488-07:00

Some folks have asked about how I plan to handle certain very "shapely" states. Here's some of what I've been thinking.I am depending on "territorial waters" to make Hawaii (and Florida?) easier. Territorial waters can extend from about 13 up to 200 miles out into the ocean, depending on which standard you choose. Thus Hawaii ends up looking sort of like a dill pickle. I saw a book in the shape

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-27522673956840183752009-03-05T21:31:00.001-08:002009-03-10T12:34:15.162-07:00

Double accordion...just what it sounds like: two accordions combined in one book. Slit them all from one horizontal edge straight to the center (no farther!) then turn half of them 180 degrees and slide the slits together. We've all done this at some time or other (usually around 4th grade) to make two flat pieces of paper stand up in a more or less 3-D fashion. The covers are flat panels at each

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-16582221936134963052009-03-04T12:43:00.001-08:002009-03-05T00:39:02.427-08:00

You know, this state book idea is helpful for when I need inspiration, but making them is going to be tricky. I am having to enlarge my source materials to make reasonable sized books, and as I want them all to be at the same scale I have to take care to do the enlarging exactly the same each time. Then there's the distortion contributed by the particular projection of the source map, which

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-40032085228071903192009-03-03T23:28:00.001-08:002009-03-05T00:37:23.874-08:00

This is the kind of book that happens when you are sitting around in the studio visiting with friends. It's made from some of the nifty paint samples that have four different shades of a color separated by nicely perforated lines that fold very well. It's a concertina (accordion) of sorts, but the pages have been glued shut so they are more "page-like." Did I mention that the different colors are

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-1073717559173040052009-03-02T21:59:00.001-08:002009-03-05T00:36:17.656-08:00

There are some days (like today) when I am busy with other things and have no burning ideas for a book. To get me through those days I am starting a set of little books in the shapes of the states. So that will take care of 50 days worth of books, at the end of which I will have a big map of books. They're to be very simple - pages and cover folded and stapled. Washington is hinged at the top,

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-80379240013914674262009-03-01T21:28:00.001-08:002009-03-10T12:43:35.452-07:00

Picture coming soon!I've been fascinated with pop-ups for ages (Who doesn't love magic of a good pop-up?)Lately I've been working in a series of collaborative journals - searching for some new ideas - and pop-ups are on my mind. This was a perfect time to try out some templates that I've accumulated, and since they all open along a fold, like a card, it made sense to put them together for

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-84699269050563591612009-02-28T23:17:00.001-08:002009-03-05T00:35:39.125-08:00

I'm way late posting this, but I really did make the book yesterday - last night after dinner, sitting around at the table, in fact. We had an old friend over who moved from Seattle and hasn't sat down to dinner with us in a long time. After a few minutes it didn't seem long at all.I have a 5-drawer rolling Iris cart tucked under the dining room table where I keep my upstairs supplies. (I end up

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-42323880778808979722009-02-27T23:55:00.001-08:002009-03-05T00:35:02.806-08:00

A uber-simple book for a busy day. You can barely see that its pages are two shades of blue and that it has a sewn binding. No separate covers...what you see is what it is.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-64835480829237601962009-02-26T19:25:00.001-08:002009-03-05T00:34:03.828-08:00

A little book in a matchbox, a matchbox covered with origami paper and with a little doll inside. I cannot tell a lie -- I didn't make the doll today, I already had it. I had made the book in the box and that reminded me that years ago I made little dolls in matchboxes for Valentine's Day; I scoured around and found a few.There is a book/doll set...OK. I went off to double check the title of the

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-64275631491946844792009-02-25T22:04:00.001-08:002009-02-25T23:46:45.005-08:00

An album/envelope/picture and ephemera saver. Pages are 4.25 x 5.5 red, blue and cream; red and blue pages have slits to hold things by the corners and the creamy pages are folded to make pockets on one side; sixteen pages altogether; pamphlet bound. OK.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-30596061409978313342009-02-24T22:16:00.001-08:002009-03-10T12:33:00.206-07:00

Post binding (aka post and screw, screwpost, screwpost binding) is often seen on manufactured scrapbooks and albums. There are two parts, the screw and the post (big surprise), and they come in a variety of lengths. Well, the post comes in different lengths; the screw is the same for all of them. This post is 3/8 inch long. Anyhow, you push the post through holes in your pages and covers and

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-91389343005016264712009-02-23T22:27:00.001-08:002009-03-10T12:30:05.536-07:00

A Japanese style ledger or receipt book, daifuku cho. Once very popular as a travel diary and as a guest register at inns, but most commonly as a merchant's account book. Daifuku means 'great fortune,' traditionally inscribed on the cover to encourage great fortune and success in business.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-14338322033385689942009-02-22T20:16:00.001-08:002009-03-10T12:32:01.579-07:00

Well, I had an entertaining excursion through a whole lot of websites, from the Library of Congress to Library Thing, and all because I thought it would be fun to assign a call number to today's home-made, totally personal Self-Help book. It's a little book of a sort that I make for myself from time to time, when I want to generate some new ideas for rumination and art.I take some free art

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-55762895511531512182009-02-21T23:19:00.000-08:002009-02-22T00:43:09.783-08:00

The book (cover) is yellow. The book (pages) are music. The question, which occurred to me as I was getting ready to cut the cover down to size, is: Is there any reason a book cover can't be larger than the pages? Are there any reasons why you might like a book cover to be larger than the pages?I'm going to sleep on it.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-79915069676216089072009-02-20T21:09:00.001-08:002009-02-21T10:26:21.647-08:00

I can't seem to stop making dolls, even when I'm making books - or collages. So here's a book of collages of doll-like objects. I did it at the studio last night; it was Third Friday and there were some other folks there and a lot of cutting and pasting going on.I do have fun with these particular paint samples. They're about 5x6 inches, a good size to work on. The color names add a special

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-24002179558314582232009-02-19T22:00:00.001-08:002009-02-20T00:52:37.019-08:00

Full title:'Suit - Travesty #2 on the work of the Brothers Grimm.'As promised, another travesty. Eight pages of text from the Travesty Generator and illustrations from various websites of Silly Pictures, Stupid Pictures and Funny Pictures. Can you guess which Tale of the Brothers Grimm this one is based on? (The pictures probably won't help.) I guess I was just in a silly-stupid-funny mood this

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-8708362273524625252009-02-18T19:16:00.001-08:002009-02-18T22:33:24.632-08:00

Yesterday's flash cards weren't the only thing I found at the Dollar Store that day; I found some interesting papers as well. I thought I'd try the French Fold book using paper with a border design, to see how the design arranged itself across the pages. I had my doubts about the oval, thinking the straight borders would work out best. Not so - I love the curves. These papers came in packages of

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-8653534183617095682009-02-17T19:49:00.001-08:002009-02-22T00:44:46.666-08:00

I found these flashcards at the Dollar Store the other day. I'm always on the lookout for unlikely stuff to turn into a book, and I have a particular liking for flash cards and game cards and such, but these cards were especially interesting in that they had two words to most of the cards and they weren't your run-of-the-mill words either.No too-cute drawings of apple or kite - very few nouns at

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-66922770525572108172009-02-16T17:32:00.000-08:002009-02-16T18:58:49.527-08:00

Here's an assortment of little books made from shipping tags. From the top, going clockwise:1. three tags taped together to make an accordion (or a screen?)2. two tags with a paper spine glued on the short end, a small signature stapled in last3. three tags tied together with one string - about as simple as it gets4. the pages are stapled in the fold at the left, the other end of the tag makes a

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-47215263273703515442009-02-15T22:50:00.001-08:002009-02-22T00:45:50.771-08:00

We were cleaning the basement today and I found this old poster of the Pike Place Market - not in the best shape, pretty wrinkled and somewhat faded. It wasn't worth keeping, but it seemed a shame to throw it away, partly because it was printed on some really nice, heavy watercolor-type paper. So, despite my intention to revisit the longstitch book again today, I decided instead to make a book

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-47899850011661732742009-02-14T17:27:00.001-08:002009-02-15T14:40:44.082-08:00

A tidier take on a longstitch. I made the spine first, separate from the rest of the book. As you can see it has five rows of holes (for five bundles of pages - aka "signatures") and six holes each. The holes show up better on this side of the cardboard, which was cut from a used Priority Mail box, but on the other side are all the measuring lines and marks. They show up further down the page. I

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-48446164910569882742009-02-13T23:26:00.001-08:002009-02-15T14:41:47.054-08:00

Very 70s looking, n'est-ce pas? Reminiscent of all that macrame, which I actually wasn't into back then.What's going on here is two things: first, a woven long stitch. This is simply a long running stitch that attaches the signatures to the spine of the book, basting it, as it were. See the red drawing below. After the basting is done you take the long leftover ends (leave some at the beginning)

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-76152907128259880812009-02-12T22:54:00.000-08:002009-02-15T14:42:59.742-08:00

Asemic writing. It looks like writing, but you can't quite read it.Today's book is more about the content than the construction, for a change. Asemic writing is writing that...isn't. It looks as if you should be able to read it but...you can't. It appears to make sense, but...no, it doesn't. Or does it? Here are some examples that I came up with for today's book with explanations of how they

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-86244597504576561012009-02-11T22:17:00.001-08:002009-02-12T00:44:12.697-08:00

A simple book for a long and arduous day.Book 42 does not contain the answer to the Ultimate Question - it's a self portrait deco. It has white cardstock pages and a tan cover sewn with a pamphlet stitch. There's room for seven contributors; everyone gets a two page spread - a whole face. I'm sure that no one I know has a head shaped quite like that, but these are imaginary - or maybe

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-11484672956363292822009-02-10T22:02:00.000-08:002009-02-11T13:20:37.338-08:00

This book was done at 9PM. It truly was!Then I started looking for a blog widget that counts down days. And now it's 2:17AM!So here is a scan of the front of today's book. I know, it looks like a square of paper, but it is a book front. The pages are a cream colored card stock, staggered as on Day #030, and the covers are this brown and pink dotted paper that I can't seem to get enough of these

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-31276734918484308622009-02-09T21:24:00.000-08:002009-02-11T13:19:43.727-08:00

I never get tired of paint samples, especially the names. The best names are the ones that have nothing to do with color; the very very best thing is a whole strip of colors - with no name having anything to do with color. The samples here are all colors of love, romance, kissing, sighing...The construction of the book is probably obvious: a heart-shaped accordion with glued on covers. The

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-63909614884596006032009-02-08T20:58:00.000-08:002009-02-09T01:01:18.339-08:00

Book #39 is a just-for-fun gluebook. It all started with some tourist literature from Portland Oregon that I couldn't quite get rid of. I ripped up the map to make wide narrow pages then glued other bits and pieces to them. Lastly, I scribbled - my own comments and memories but, even more so, Gordon's comments and memories about his home town. It was an nice way to pass an evening and I heard

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-61855843788536820982009-02-07T22:13:00.000-08:002009-02-08T01:52:33.041-08:00

Also highly pink. It just happened that way.This all started because I had a cereal box, a raisin box and another cereal box that nested just perfectly and I thought it would be cool if I could find enough of the right sized boxes to make a whole book that way. And I might still, with 327 days left in the year. But I did (and still do) have a whole lot of identical pieces of cardboard - hot

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-19402028745866733022009-02-06T21:35:00.001-08:002009-02-07T11:23:36.108-08:00

I had some of these Red Envelopes left from the Lunar New Year. Happy Year of the Ox, by the way. They were the perfect size for a small book cover, and I thought I could just slip a piece of cardboard inside to stiffen things a little, and then glue them to the ends of an accordion-folded page block. As it turned out I decided instead to slit the back of the envelope and slip the end panel of

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-42294042142163396572009-02-05T12:43:00.000-08:002009-03-10T12:47:57.527-07:00

Well. This is my new Favorite Binding. It could be called a variation on a Belgian Binding - that kind of variation that happens when you're trying to do something from memory and can't quite remember how. The covers and spine are three separate pieces that are sewn together. OK, more like woven together - the spine just sits there with the threads passing over and under it. The pages are added

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-28843419509817942852009-02-04T12:42:00.000-08:002009-02-08T01:42:13.236-08:00

A four signature case-bound book. (What some folks call a "real" book.) The covers are made from some topological maps of the Skagit Valley; pages are cut from a tablet I bought at SightConnection. SightConnection is the retail store of the non-profit Community Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted. They have a brick and mortar store near Northgate (in Seattle) and also a website here.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-9839686186285183752009-02-03T16:10:00.000-08:002009-02-08T01:43:19.643-08:00

Here are a two more little book love tokens. Love book tokens? Does this have anything to do with Book Lust? Hee! If you take two minutes to make a jig for folding these, you can then make one in about three minutes, so they are a good candidate for mass production. Of course that doesn't count the time you spend looking for exactly the right shade of thread, or the perfect embellishment.I had

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-72070733141290728332009-02-02T21:17:00.001-08:002009-02-08T01:44:39.079-08:00

Today's book is a small, windowed accordion. It's made of three strips of slightly different lengths, each folded in fourths; when they are put together the difference in length translates into three layers with a little bit of space between. I'll probably add something to the back layer to show through the heart shaped windows. On the reverse side, in the center fold, there is one signature of

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-21035105929013792692009-02-01T22:44:00.000-08:002009-02-03T02:51:50.917-08:00

Full title:'The Path - Travesty #1 on the work of the Brothers Grimm.'This is the first of I'm not sure how many so-called Travesties. I'll get into that more as time goes on. Making this tiny little thing was an ordeal, since I had forgotten everything I used to have in my memory about imposition - how to lay out multiple book pages on a single sheet of paper (both sides) so that they are in the

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-41856090506538557312009-01-31T20:54:00.001-08:002009-02-01T01:05:10.530-08:00

Well I thought I'd wrap up the month with a big, wild party of a book. It is Saturday night after all. This was made with all the junk mail I've accumulated this week, plus some free postcards that I picked up at Diva Espresso when we went out for coffee this evening. And I threw in a couple of candy wrappers and other ephemera that were kicking around.There are 7 signatures, each with between 3

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-52509413301482877292009-01-30T21:56:00.000-08:002009-02-01T01:43:34.485-08:00

Here's a picture of the cover of today's book. Unfortunately I am having some infuriating problems with my computer. Can anyone explain to me what to do when my scratch disks fill up?The inside of this book is the interesting part; the pages are kind of unusual. But it will have to wait. Silly scratch disks.OK. Scratch disk gods have been appeased and here is a picture of the inside of the book.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-60083373166921778282009-01-29T23:06:00.001-08:002009-02-15T14:44:08.460-08:00

I wasn't feeling very inspired today, at least not where the book of the day was concerned. It was another good day in the studio, though. That was a happy thing.This is a very basic sewn binding, it goes by a number of names. It's a running stitch - a simple in and out; at the end hole the thread comes out and jumps over to the next signature and goes in, and out, and in and out, and jump and in

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-79824360965936743232009-01-28T18:31:00.001-08:002009-02-15T14:45:43.842-08:00

Oh, I had a great evening in the studio: made good progress on a round robin book project that I'm horribly behind in, did some samples for the Third Friday in February and made this book.This is two books in one, or maybe more like two books in one and a half. The cover (which is cut from an old hanging file folder...beautiful brown paper) is in three parts and binds two sets of pages. I think

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-52797891002728343702009-01-27T21:25:00.001-08:002009-02-15T14:48:00.632-08:00

I'm getting Valentine Fever. We'll probably be seeing a lot of red and pink and flowers and maybe some not-so-flowery books over the next week or two. This one starts with a big square for the pages. (The 12" square sheets of paper that are 16 cents each at JoAnne's this week are great if you happen to have some on hand.) Fold it crosswise both directions, and diagonally both directions. Unfold

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-8005099202042172082009-01-26T19:04:00.000-08:002009-01-27T00:47:29.051-08:00

This book's pages are sewn as shown in the left picture, and then a cover is glued on. The pages are 8.5 x 11 inch paper cut in half crosswise and then folded, so the book measures 4.25 x 5.5 inches. The cover is one piece of sheet music just big enough to wrap around the book. It's glued (with good old Elmer's) over the stitching on both sides and along the edge of the spine as well. You can

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-78647636691836325362009-01-25T22:47:00.001-08:002009-01-26T11:13:04.638-08:00

I was challenged to make a book out of this long, skinny, very sturdy brown paper bag from the liquor store. I do love brown paper! I wanted to somehow make use of it having an inside and an outside, to use it to hold something as well as to be a book. I thought I could create compartments by sewing across the width of the bag, thus sectioning it off into fully enclosed secret hiding places, and

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-77027472325869576342009-01-24T22:29:00.000-08:002009-03-10T12:49:28.979-07:00

I almost didn't post these, I was so disappointed in the quality of the pictures. But I guess they at least show the construction of today's book(s). I started out playing around with the idea of making books out of old calendars, and I had three likable samples by the time I was done. At the top is a boustrophedon, cut along the grid lines - one page to a day. Next is a long accordion with a

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-51063093389488894832009-01-23T22:03:00.000-08:002009-01-26T11:26:51.018-08:00

This Three Out Person is an exercise in found poetry. There are any number of ways to find found poetry; my favorite is to take a piece of text - a page from a book, an article from the news, or some such printed matter - and then decide on a system to select certain words. In this case I rolles two dice, and counted off the words according to whatever number I rolled. The first roll was 11, so I

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-30544652021031720492009-01-22T19:54:00.001-08:002009-01-25T23:30:51.478-08:00

Four booklets in one. Each color is a separate 8-page booklet, sewn together using a similar color perle cotton. Then all four are stacked and the ponytail of threads is tied in an overhand knot, binding all four booklets together. The threads are wrapped, in alternating colors, around the remaining threads, to make a "friendship bracelet" sort of cord. Another knot at the end holds it all

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-67492187773652228552009-01-21T22:06:00.000-08:002009-03-10T12:50:01.258-07:00

Here's a book with a Coptic binding...sort of. I've done this binding before and thought I'd remember how, but in the end I had to make it up as I went along. I'm a great believer in improvisation; the first person who ever made a Coptic bound book, almost 2000 years ago, didn't have directions, and look how that turned out! Really, if it holds together and opens and shuts and the pages turn,

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-83971991636153271492009-01-20T20:15:00.000-08:002009-02-15T14:51:15.245-08:00

OK, again with the accordion books.Is it a bit of a stretch to call this a book? I'm not sure myself...maybe one benefit of making books for a year is that I will zero in on a definition of my own. For now, let it suffice that this structure is included in many books about books, and I like it. This is absolutely without a doubt my favorite design for a fancy one-off greeting card.My original

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-66872509597260352122009-01-19T23:56:00.001-08:002009-01-26T11:16:12.155-08:00

I have a supply of Seattle newspapers circa 1933; they come in handy for a million things, including the covers of Book 18. The covers are heavy card stock covered with paper and glued to the end panels of the accordion. Some people think accordion books aren't really books, maybe because they are so easy to make and a favorite project of grade school teachers. But actually it's a venerable old

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-68941288413969203032009-01-18T23:14:00.000-08:002009-01-19T14:11:33.466-08:00

This is a tiny accordion book with wrapped covers. It's a traditional Japanese binding that uses no adhesives or sewing or anything but paper and some heavy card stock. Very nifty.Unfortunately, it was the most difficult thing to photograph that I have ever encountered. Whether it was something about the book, the materials I used, the camera or the phases of the moon - I don't know. This was the

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-57438631800034986212009-01-17T18:25:00.001-08:002009-01-27T00:54:20.894-08:00

This was a little different: the book construction was minimal - pages and a cover stapled together. Most of the work (and the fun!) was in the content. I don't know what made me decide to do it this way. I guess I just felt like smearing paint around some more. I used some mailroom supply rubber stamps that I got at the dollar store ages ago. They came in stacked sets of three, self inking

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-31612907026205169692009-01-16T15:17:00.000-08:002009-02-15T14:51:44.143-08:00

I ended up scanning this, although photos would have been preferable (I didn't get batteries for the camera). It actually scanned fairly well except for the spine. It's impossible to show the spine without a photo, because you can't flatten it; when you open the book the spine curls up and disappears. Sort of like a potato bug.This binding is sometimes called a Piano Hinge, and it is similar.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-879371213629572492009-01-15T23:33:00.001-08:002009-01-26T11:18:24.789-08:00

Right off the bat I have to say, "Isn't scanning metallics fun?!" That big black oval is aluminum foil. It's the inside cover of the book (shown here open) and it was supposed to look like a mirror. In real life it does a pretty good job. More curious to me than the color are the stripes...where did they come from? No, it is not corrugated cardboard underneath, Go figure.The faces are just like

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-76018711250303275822009-01-14T23:46:00.001-08:002009-01-26T11:19:19.946-08:00

A hand shaped book - tracings of my hands to be specific. As you can see they are double, connected at the wrist, and then sewn with a pamphlet stitch through the fold at the center. There are two pieces of paper, so that means 8 pages when done (or 6 pages plus front and back). I've started to glue in bits about palmistry, and plan to collage it pretty solidly with more information, diagrams

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-7852110201812612432009-01-13T22:21:00.000-08:002009-01-26T11:27:11.869-08:00

I couldn't get to the studio today because my car battery is toast, so here's another whatever's-at-hand book. (Well, they are just about my favorite kind anyway.) It's a somewhat more successful version of Book #002: an accordion spine with pages attached to the fronts of the pleats, in this case some weird cut down envelopes that I had. The accordion folded spine is heavy off-white paper and

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-27761274466445191852009-01-13T12:47:00.000-08:002009-01-26T11:20:07.191-08:00

First Family Cookies! Yes, indeed. The checker at the Ballard Market said someone bought these to sell on ebay. We took ours to the Kennedy Family Christmas and ate them. Made by LIttle Rae's Bakery.

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198529825522992662.post-81740754993889049722009-01-13T00:01:00.001-08:002009-01-26T11:27:27.234-08:00

OH NO! I've been so intent on posting before midnight every day, so that each book would have the same number as the date it was made, and tonight I blew it. I just got distracted and when I turned back to the computer it was 12:00, and by the time I got the title posted it was 12:01. Rats! Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later, but I didn't expect it this soon.Today's book is a deco -

Liisa Mannerynoreply@blogger.com1