Things to Do With a Recovered Book

Click the title of this article above to see what I wrote in a recent newsletter about recovering an old book. Now, here are some ideas of what to do with this gorgeous paper masterpiece.
1. Sew some new pages (made from folded cardstock) back into it, with waxed linen. Decorate the outside with beads as you attach the pages.
2.Take one of those metal page attachers (long skinny, with two prongs that reach up and you slip a long metal piece over both of them and then push each one down flat...clear??...we sell them here.) and attach cardstock in waterfall fashion (each successive page is a bit longer than the one on top of it, and make a photo album.
3. Use the "bind-it-all" machine to create a "booklet" with the right size pages for your cover, and glue in the last page to the back cover. (Now these pages can be anything..all envelopes, sheet music, old postcards...) Be sure the coils you use will fit inside the closed book.
4. If it is a thin book cover to begin with, use it as a double frame for photos, to stand open on the mantle.
5. Be crazy and put in paper that is too big for the cover so it sticks out on the sides or top.
6. Add pages that are folded so that when you open the book, the page folds out, or up, etc .
7. Glue the bottom of a properly-sized-for-the-book box-just the bottom piece (after you have painted or covered it to match the book) onto the back cover so that it becomes a book box.
8. Make an accordion fold that just fits the top and bottom edge of the book, about 4 folds, each about 3/4 inch, and as long as the book is wide. Glue this into the book to create a big accordion holder, for important papers, or love letters (well, if you are going to do love letters, I would throw in a perfumed hanky or two, just for effect.)

So, now I am inviting all of you to make additions to this list. Just go to the comments area below and throw in your two cents. I would love to see some new ideas!

Please give me your feedback!

I am writing now about the bus trip and the newsletter that I send out every Wednesday evening. If you do not get the newsletter, you can sign up for it on the website, www.absolutelyeverything.com...just go to the "news" page and take it from there.

My newsletter for tonight, for which I am seconds away from pushing the "send" button, is long-ish. But that tends to be my style. Please let me know what you think...too long?...too stupid?...not enough pictures?...pictures are too big...I will listen to everything you say.

Also, we had what I would consider a very successful bus trip last Saturday, among our own store and four other Mass stores. I have been hearing great reports about it all...even the other store owners were pleased...apparently none of my customers threw any of the tantrums they are so famous for displaying here...but that's another story.

Thank you to our wonderful "bus mothers," Gloria and Barbara, and to the other four stores for opening up to all of us. I am pretty sure we will do it again. Please let me know if you liked it, what you would change, what you would keep the same. I am happy to hear from riders from the other four stores, too. I have to say that I truly enjoyed meeting everyone and loved all the enthusiasm. There's nothing quite as nice as when someone else really loves exactly what you love.

This Week in Kate's Neighborhood!

We have had a very exciting week here...Robin Beam, from Ranger, was here all week, and this past Saturday was the five-store Bus Trip. God bless Robin for being here to help with everything. She ran the make-and-take table, teaching everyone her trademark "bandana technique," which we were all quite taken with. In addition, she taught 3 classes, decorating assorted chipboard elements with paints, inks, etc to create flying creatures, owls and birds, as well as a 16-month calendar. As a bit of icing on the cake, Robin created a "tableau" on our artist's wall, called Kate's Neighborhood (as I said in my newsletter, Eat your heart out, Mr. Rogers...altho I did love Fred Rogers.) Check out the photos for some for the details.
If any of the students would like to tell everyone about Robin's classes, feel free to leave comments at the end of this blog. Robin's "bandana technique" can be seen on the chipboard pieces, where the chipboard was covered in the new Ranger pigment inks, stamped with the pigment black ink, dried, and accented with the new Ranger white pigment ink pen. It really livens up the images.
Additional tidbits and samples of Robin's art can be seen on her blog, www.pearlesq.blogspot.com. Robin has promised to return for melt art and jewelry fun, hopefully in October of this year.

On April 19 & 20, we have Wendy Vecchi visiting the store for four classes. Check out her art at her blog! If you go back in time a bit on her blog, she talks about coming to our store, and shows a few photos of her projects. Other views can be seen in my newsletter coming out on Wednesday, April 9.
Wendy is very talented and will be sharing lots of her grunging-up techniques with us.