While sorting through some old back-up CDs, I found one that had pictures of some of my first books. Here’s a sampling of what I was making about 4-5 years ago:
My friend Kelly’s first job after college was with Lenox, the fine china/dinnerware company. She was a product and pattern designer, and one piece she made was a particular favorite. She asked if I could use the pattern to make a book for her friend’s birthday. So I did!
The bright blue pages worked well with the muted cool colors on the cover.
The following book is a journal that I made for my friend Lynsie. She was moving to Tennessee, and I wanted to give her a book where she could record her thoughts/plans/fears/triumphs. The cover paper had white waxy dots and was then dipped in bright blue dye. The spots covered by wax remained white.
I used a blue and green plaid for the paste papers, and bright blue paper for the pages.
I added a chipboard letter underneath the cover paper to give it an embossed look.
As you can see, I used to do ink transfers for the logo, rather than white labels. I’ve since updated that process in an effort to be more efficient time-wise.
If I remember correctly, this is the first suede-covered book I made. My dear friend Mikie wanted a chocolate brown/pink combo, and this was the perfect solution.
I made an extra-long hemp bookmark that could also function as a tie-closure.
LOVE this stripey paper! I wish I had more of it! There’s another shot of the ink-transfer logo.
Even the pages were pink!
THIS is my favorite part of bookmaking: seeing the recipient’s happy face when they unwrap their gift! 
This last one is the biggest book I’ve ever made. Each panel was roughly 12 x 12, making the finished piece 36 x 12. It was a tri-fold with a leather strap tie-closure.
Words don’t really do this project justice, but I’ll try.
I made this book for a musician friend. He always learned songs by ear. He could learn the music really easily, but always struggled with the lyrics. So I made him this “kit.”
I put together four CDs of songs that he’d been wanting to learn or knew bits and pieces of. The four spindles on the right panel held the CDs. The two left panels had pockets into which I slipped the covers of a notebook. (think Trapper Keeper/binder) I had taken the time to hand-write the song lyrics from the four CDs, and every page of the notebook was filled. Yes, I’m crazy.
That way, my friend always had the songs (to learn by listening) and the lyrics (to actually LEARN). And the whole thing was perfectly packaged in one neat book.
After I had assembled the book, I used the ink transfer method to add lyrics all over the covers. It turned out really well, and took me a LOT of hours.
I wish I had pics of this finished! (**kicking myself**).
