ink, paper and thread...

add a little glue and you are well on the way to making a book.

Day one of the embroidery workshop yesterday and our first exercise was to make a book with a decorated paper and fabric cover.

One of the aims of the workshop is to use hand and machine embroidery and to work beyond your usual boundaries. My natural inclination would be to stop here, or at the most add a little texture and depth to the body of the cover using (most probably) white thread so that it blends into the background. Maybe a small amount of blue or even red thread for contrast but nothing too alarming.

Do I stick to my usual aesthetic ( simple and fairly minimal) or try to do something different - maybe add some shocking colour or bold texture? The materials requirement list included beads, buttons and lace to embellish the cover.
All of the above which are still sitting quietly in my workbox. All around me there is a riot of colour, texture and embellishment happening. Lace, crystals, heavily stitched surfaces.

I have already taken the bold step of messing up the surface of the accordion pages I am going to stitch into the book.

Crumpled, ink stained and torn - quite a world away from my standard clean ivory pages.

Embellished or unadorned?
Need to think about that one.

Comments

[Tara]

just came across this.. do you know her work??
http://www.mariskakarasz.com/mk_embroidery.htm

[Elke]

Talking as a lover of minimalist design - the unadorned version is beautiful!
Warm greetings! Elke

[Giorgi]

I can really relate, like you I am a clean ivory page girl!!

Can't wait to see the end result. Did you do this class at Primrose?

[babelfish]

I love the simplicity of this one (I do understand the dilemma though...)

[Zelia]

i love your work always:)
i still have that book you made... i can't use it until i find something wonderful to do with it:)

[kristin]

what a beautiful piece...whether embellished or unadorned the result will surely be stunning.