Happy Birthday SMPL

Happy Birthday SMPL

December 2015 marked the 125th Anniversary of the Santa Monica Public Library. The Library celebrated from November 2015 through January 2016 with programs and special events that “honor the library’s position as a connecting point – bridging the past to the future, bringing community members together, and plugging library patrons into the resources they need to read, connect, relax and learn.”

I was honored to lead a bookmaking program for families and folks of all ages on Saturday, January 12th.

Sat, Jan 9

Make a Fan-Style Memory Book Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 11:00 am Main Library, Youth Activity Room, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard For families with children and adults. Commemorate the library’s anniversary with a memory book in this craft workshop.

Let the fun begin!

After folding their accordion spines, participants added covers and pages to create their books.

Our first hour was spent learning how to create the book structure and doing so, then…

we got to the fun part (well, it is ALL fun…)…what to add to our books.

Colorful, glittery stickers were in abundance.

The folded “fan” book (which has some similarities to the  “Flag Book“) can stand up on a surface in a star-like shape…

so that the pages can be seen from different vantage points, and used to great effect for display. Great for a centerpiece, and to display photos on.

Participants enjoyed a multitude of foam sticker letters.  Has spelling ever been so fun?

Here’s our line-up of stellar assistants, two library pages (yes, they are still called “pages”,) and a volunteer.  It would not have been the same with out them!  THANK YOU Perla, Keisha and Cassandra!

More letter stickers, and a layering of color, texture and shapes creates an elegant cover.

This one’s for Mom…(George’s Mom…)

The books become sculptural when three-dimensional elements are added.

     Proud BOOKMAKERS share their completed masterworks…

Displaying an  impressive creativity, use of materials, and sense of design.

One appreciative patron took off on the idea of creating a book to commemorate  “her” library…

This one may be archived by the SMPL…it’s a keeper.

A keeper of memory, celebration, and possibility.

Like the Library!

Happy Birthday, SMPL!

Book eSCAPE

Book eSCAPE

Traveling between the covers…

Long stitch multi-signature book…with button…learned from the great Jeannine Stein.

Signatures are gatherings of folded pages that nest inside each other.

Here you can see the six signatures clearly!

A bit of unexpected “paging” …vintage recipes…

sheet music…

and upside-down maps provide moments of surprise and pause.

Flag Book with Found Writing,  designed as an inspirational sample for teen students.

Vision Book…

“Take action…Like Nothing Else”

The movement of the book  makes malleable meaning of its words.

Type faces and fonts work with color

to underline the meaning…or create new meaning.

“Double Fan Book”,  a model for a life-sized “Big Book” that could be used as an presentation space.

Covers and pages fan out from an accordion spine,

creating spaces between them.

“Windows and doors” are cut into the planes of the corrugated cardboard surface, creating more moment and views.

The parts are stitched / lashed together with hemp chord.

The piece is designed to draw attention to the parallels between books and architectural spaces, and explore the connections between them.

I hope you enjoyed this  Book eSCAPE, and  join me again to travel between the covers and through the sheets…of cardboard and paper of course.

Book Brights: The Moment in Purple and Pink

Book Brights: The Moment in Purple and Pink

Girl gifts…brightness, pinkness, joy, beauty, birthday wishes…in the pink.

She just turned two…

Fan pages.

A theatrical feel…

Purple accordion spine…and pink covers. Purple and pink.

Butterfly.  She turned seven. Fly!

Flag book.

Flag pages attached to pink accordion spine.

Back cover. Purple and pink. Bird. Fly!

Material Girl 3: Many Parts Create The Whole

Material Girl 3: Many Parts Create The Whole…FLAG BOOKS!

The fun and innovative Flag Book  structure can be a powerful  form to express thought, feeling and idea through word and image.

Within the flag book…there can be a

We all know that…

Above are Flag Book front and back covers..with a “found writing” title..which employs  text,  color, the font/typeface, the design, composition, and space between the words for cognitive and emotional impact.

A single word or phrase can pack the proverbial punch, when paired with color and placement.

Putting together “found” words and phrases can yield unexpected poetry…the poetic power of  Found Writing.

Found Writing can help us define our vision (or one of them…)

and give us a hitherto unknown directive of sorts.  We  find that we can advise ourselves…

within the context of numerous ideas.

The layering of words, colors, shapes and text

creates new meanings,

and may tell us something important…

about something we want,

or need

to know…

or experience…

or try….

You may find that you make a promise…to yourself…

That must be kept.

Something new…has been born.

Wave those flags!!!!

 

Material Girl 2: Many Parts Create The Whole

 

Material Girl 2: Many Parts Create The Whole

Preparing for bookmaking programs at the West Hollywood Library, the Diamond Bar Library, the Fairview Library, and the Montana Avenue Library isn’t just a labor of love…it can be pure joy.

The spread of papers of just the right thickness, ready to be folded into the versatile accordion/concertina spine.

Pages are attached to each fold of the spine. More folds = more page possibilities!

A rainbow of front and back covers cut to the same height as the spines.

“Mottled” book pages.

High contrast, and “grey on grey” spine-cover color designs. The effect can be elegant!

The glory of your basic colored construction paper…not just for kids.

Assorted papers…Japanese patterns, parchment, and ‘plain brown wrapper” card stock. Variety is the spice of life…and bookmaking!

Let’s take a closer look at those papers!  Now…what can we do with them?

Front cover design…

Use of paper heart found at “Trash for Teaching” in Los Angeles, on inside front cover.

“Fan” page designs! The pages will be attached to each fold of the spine, and will “fan” out when the book is opened by pulling the back and front covers away from each other.  The “fan” book can also be opened ‘traditionally”,by turning the cover, and moving through the pages by turning them consecutively.

Putting it all together….a family theme.

“Doors” and Windows” can be cut in pages and covers, to reveal the unexpected beneath and behind!

“Fan” pages are attached to the accordion /concertina spine, seen here in a variety of colors.

“Heart” openings on the “fan” pages  (“Windows/Doors”) reveal surprises behind and beneath…which can deepen and expand the theme of the book.

Cardboard shapes, another treasure found at Trash for Teaching, create a slight three-dimensional (“relief“) effect, and can be used to create visual frames for photos or other treasures added to the book.

Don’t we all?!!