My latest creations, 17 April 2011

My latest creations, April 2011

Please Note that I can make books for special occasions, corporates, events, etc or can customise according to your wishes.

Please Contact Me with any Enquiries/Orders

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For more pictures and detail, please go to the Handmade Books page

In Lak’ech
Phoenix

Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed. ~ Joseph Addison ~

 

DragonRose’s Pressie!

DragonRose's Pressie! Note the Dragon on the clasp and the Rose in the 'o' of her name

 

Well now that my housemate has received her pressie I can say that the look on her face when she saw it made all the cuts on the fingers worth the effort … I think she likes it

I had always meant the first leather journal to be for Sharon, and had to duck and dive a bit over the past 2 days as I planned and made her journal so that she did not have an idea that it was going to be for her (and she should feel VERY priveleged, ‘cos now I REALLY want one!)

I must say that I am chuffed with the outcome; even tho’ it is not perfect, it has character, and to me that is important in handmade goods, and more especially leather. What I like about his journal is that it is an unconventional size (the pages are 1/4 A4 and the cover a bit bigger)…. it fits snugly in the hand and just begs to be used, and the heavenly aromas of leather combined with coffee (the pages are hand coffee-stained and hand-torn), are a heady delight! And of course the one thing about leather is that the more you use it the better it becomes; as it gathers marks, stains, nicks, etc it becomes a good fit, like an old pair of denims … aaaaahhh!

I added a few more symbols than I may normally do, but as this leather journal was for Sharon aka DragonRose, I wanted to include the two symbols for her alias, and then also included a cross on the spine as a kind of ‘weight’ for the bookmark, to honour her Christian beliefs.

 

Showing the long-stitch on the spine and the little cross (used as a kind of weight for the plaited bookmark made from hessian)

 

All journals can be custom-made to the client’s requirements regarding design, fabric, size, personalisation etc.

Please check out the “Handmade Books” page for other samples of my work, and feel free to contact me regarding any queries, orders, etc.

Anyway, I guess there is nothing for it but to make the next one for myself whilst I am still practising, otherwise I might just steal Sharon’s *evil grin*

Keep well until next time!

In Lak’ech
Phoenix

 

First Leather Journal

LEATHER JOURNAL - FRONT

Well, I have just finished making my first leather journal… and what a trip it was … had some problems because it is the first time I have ever worked with leather, and have learned some valuable lessons:

• Thick leather is difficult to work with
• I need to get various tools to do different jobs
• Keep fingers out of the way of stanley knife
• I did some things back to front
• I will do some things differently in future
• I LOVE working with leather

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 1

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 2

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 3

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 4

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 5

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 6

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 7

FIRST LEATHER JOURNAL 8

Currently the journal is still in clamps for the final bits to dry, then I will look at it again tomorrow to see if I need to do some final tweaks, but I was too excited about what I created to wait until then to post… will post better pics on the “Handmade Books” Page tomorrow.

In Lak’ech
Phoenix

 

Gratitude, Sensuality & such things

Gratitude Journal Lorraine

Well, it is amazing how repairs and renovations can just make one’s head feel like cottonwool, and make you totally incapacitated when one works from home…. 3 weeks later and I can just about get back to work on my creations again.

The above is a Gratitude Journal which I made at about 4-30 am last Sunday, as a birthday present for a friend. The paper is really beautiful and feels really soft and sensuous in one’s hands (and as I am a person driven by senses, I love something to just feel GOOD in my hands).

Here are some of the journals I have made to date, unfortunately I did not get around to taking pictures of the earliest ones which are now either sold or at an outlet to be sold:

Some of my Hand-Bound Books

For more books  and details, please go here

My next challenge lies ahead of me this weekend, and I cannot WAIT:

Leather for covers

Did I mention how sensual I am? I LOVE feeling different fabrics in my hands (as I love food-fusion), and cannot wait to make my first leather covers… just thinking of having a leather-covered journal which can wear with age, get nicks and marks on it, and oils and whatever, and acquire a personality of its own, like a really comfortable pair of jeans …

Well, enough of me now, before I become totally out of hand *grin*

Have a great weekend, all

Namasté

Phoenix

Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth
plants something in his soul. ~Thomas Merton ~

 

Earth Hour 2011

This Earth Hour 2011: 8.30pm, Saturday 26 March, celebrate your action for the planet with the people of world, and add more to your Earth Hour.

From its inception as a single-city initiative — Sydney, Australia – in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global symbol of hope and movement for change. Earth Hour 2010 created history as the world’s largest ever voluntary action with people, businesses and governments in 128 countries across every continent coming together to celebrate an unambiguous commitment to the one thing that unites us all — the planet.

Sign up to earthhour.org, switch off your lights for Earth Hour 2011, and share the positive actions you will sustain for earth beyond the hour.

Namasté
Phoenix

“I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place in you of light, love, truth, peace and wisdom. I honor the place in you where, when you are in that place, and I am in that place, there is only one of us.” ~Mahatma Gandhi~