Death of a Book

I have never been a person who could destroy a book. I've put old books in a yard sale. I've given used books to friend. I've donated books to charities, but I have never destroyed a book....until yesterday.  Yesterday afternoon, I came across an art journaling page. The author of the page cut out words from a book as a way to share her thoughts. The look was eclectic and creative--just my taste. She used an older book and the yellowed, worn pages added to the overall look.  I set out on a mission to find a book that I didn't want any longer. When I came across a stack of old paper back book, I questioned whether I could actually destroy a book. It was against my nature. Books are precious. I can't help but think back to the days when Monks wrote every book by hand. They labored over copying the words letter by letter. The intensity of this labor--their patience--their committment--the history of a book is far too important to be destroyed.  After much pondering, and internal struggle, my weaker side gave in and I picked up a pair of scissors and started cutting. The end goal was to find the words to make this quote: "Sometimes, it is so hard to find what I am trying to say".   As I scanned across the pages of the book, the process became more about the word search and less about destroying a book. Soon, I was cutting phrases and words to use later on other projects. There is a piece of Catholic guilt that still stirs within side of me, but the happy little artist is please with the way my project turned out. So just as God closes a door and opens a window, I killed one book to make a new one. Hey, it's the only justification I can live with.

My second project this weekend, brought me outside of my comfort box. I recently purchased a book called "Rebound". This how to book shows amazing ideas for using the extra-ordinary items found around your house to cover a book. Items include, ceral box, potato chip bags, and old sweaters. I found the sweater book to be intriguing.  Although, I didn't have a sweater to use, I did have a velvet jacket that has been in a give-away pile for months. I cut out the front panel of the jacket and hand sewed the edges for a clean look. The signatures include my handmade paper and 20lb typing paper. There are six signatures and they are bound with a long stitch. The long stitch would be much easier to implement, if I had a set of four hands.