Tea Book: Three Steps Forward
You know what comes next: 2 steps back.
I tend to frequently tackle new technical challenges, and they don’t always turn out as I had hoped. Such is the case with the mixed media tea book I’m working on.
This was the plan: an accordion book on heavy paper, with partial fabric collages. Overlaid would be another accordion book made from acetate (transfer paper.) The images on the clear acetate would complete the composition.
Click any image for a larger view
Well, many hours of fiddling later, the whole plan was coming together, as can be seen above.
Then I realized that it was just all too cumbersome in an accordion format. I knew it needed the rigidity of pages stitched together, back to back. Like this.
However, when I tried to insert the clear accordion pages into the rigid pages shown above, it just didn’t work. There was too much bulk. Too much to make the book close, too much to maintain the alignment of the acetate images, and too much to easily stitch through. Darn it!
I quickly realized I could cut the acetate pages apart and stitch part of each onto the appropriate page. But that meant unsewing the pages I’d just created! Grrr. I felt sorry for myself for a little while several hours, and eventually picked the sewn pages apart.
Now, I’ve started working on integrating the acetate imagery directly onto the pages and things are finally going my way. I should have it completed soon, and I can’t wait to show you the finished product!
Ellen Lindner
