Finally...

Yes, I have finally managed to put the first book in the post to Celia! Why has it taken so long? Well apart from the fact that each book used 26 different shapes of cardboard and 14 pieces of paper to cover them, all of which took a long time to measure and cut out, there was also the trauma of cutting and recutting the text and the fun-and-games of general flooding and dampness because of the relentless rain we've been having here. Plus the joys of children/parenthood/partnership/housework... need I go on?










Excuses aside, though, it has been a wonderful, frustrating, fun, tiring, learning experience that I have really valued. I have learned a lot, from the importance of sub-millimetre accuracy when measuring to how to use sandpaper and a block to smooth slipcase edges down before gluing to how quickly glue dries in this climate to using old etching plates as weights while things dry! I hope that all of this new-found experience will permit me to make future books and their slip covers more quickly and effectively. As it is, I am very pleased with the constructed element of the books: I had no pattern, just some free-hand pencil drawings that I measured up, and I had to work problems and solutions out as I went along.





















I'm not sure that the final result has worked quite as I wanted it to, but that may be because I don't have much in the way of lighting that could be used to cast darker shadows through the lettering in the way that I'd hoped. But here are some pictures... bear in mind that the bridge piers are only 6cm tall.















Each bridge has two boxes, one for each pier. They are constructed internally to provide support for the pier (with or without the text attached), so that when closed the piers won't rattle around and possibly get damaged. I'm concerned at how well they will travel!












I put in an instruction sheet to explain how to put the whole thing together...

So there it is. What do you think?

The joy of text

It's taken me a while to post these pictures, partly because I've been recovering from the trauma of recutting the same text a total of six times! But the results have been worth the effort.





A chronological photo of my efforts, oldest on the left...











As you can see from the photo I have been refining my technique, and the materials used. The first effort was using an ordinary craft knife on Tru-grain, which is used in silk-screen printing. The second effort was on the sort of clear polythene I use for wrapping prints. I used an X-acto knife, or its equivalent, but I felt the result was too flimsy and it was very difficult to work, so I recut it all again on Tru-grain using the better knife and I would have been happy..... but! I got to a web page about paper cutting, through a devious route via a Blogspt 'blog of the week', and saw just what can be achieved with a little more patience and better motor control, and I realised that what I'd done so far was clumsy and that I needed to do it again.

E voila!















This time I cut two versions, both of which I will use. I decided that as I'm entrusting the whole enterprise to the wiles of the Australian postal service I ought to have a second one at home as insurance, and that anyway, a second one would allow me to exhibit it here. Unfortunately I had to cut the two versions separately because it was impossible to cut through two layers of Tru-grain along such narrow lines, but I am pleased with the results. The poem is much more legible, and the weight of the lines and the weight of the materials are appropriate. It took about 10 hours of solid work to cut the two pieces of plastic! And I have bruised fingers and strained elbow and wrist joints in commemoration.

Building bridges