A Really Cool Marginal Note

Diana asked if my posting these calligraphy/illumination projects is tempting me to get back to those hobbies. The answer is a resounding, emphatic NO! They are a lot of work, and I've become accustomed to one-layer cards that generally come together in ten minutes or less if I'm lucky. Call me lazy.

Now, bookbinding...that's something I've done off and on for years and truly love, but it doesn't have to take three months like that Psalter for my mother did. I've unearthed several small books that I want to share over the next few days. Today's is, like yesterday's, inspired by the middle ages. It combines calligraphy, rubber stamping, and heat embossing for (I think) a pretty neat effect.

First, the story behind the contents of this book. I found this quotation taken from the margins of a medieval Irish manuscript: "Pleasant to me is the glittering of the sun today upon these margins, because it flickers so."

I loved the idea that a scribe got bored copying a book and took time to share his personal observation in the moment. That quotation inspired this book, which uses a very large background stamp with an early medieval script and some Celtic knot stamps. I chose black for the book because the metallic ink and embossing would show up so beautifully and glitter in the light.

Clean and simple and black exterior of a simple hardcover accordion book.

The entire book, open. Click to see it bigger.



Pages 1 and 2. Title: Marginal Note



Pages 3 and 4.
Gold and bronze embossing combined
with a silver calligraphy pen...sparkly, no?

Pages 7 and 8. Isn't the style of the F and K charming?
Descenders rather than ascenders...scripts can be so engaging and interesting!

My book is stylistically very different from an actual medieval manuscript (well, they weren't accordion books for one thing!), and because the marginal note is the most important thing, I made it the biggest thing...much bigger than the Latin text of the "book" to which the marginal note was added. I scattered random knots around simply because that's what the Irish scribes often did, filling an empty space with some pretty or whimsical image. Obviously those scribes were far more artistic than I will ever be.
If you are interested in making books, I heartily recommend THIS BOOK by Alisa Golden. It's the first of many bookbinding books I bought and one of the best, with very good instructions. There are a few supplies the average papercrafter would have to add to her/his stash before starting serious bookbinding (as opposed to, say, flippant bookbinding!), and like anything, it gets easier with practice.

Fine binders study for years as apprentices to masters...needless to say, I don't do fine binding! Artist books, however, like the ones shown in Golden's book can be very accessible and fun.

I hope you're enjoying these unusual posts. If not, rest assured I'll get back to posting cards soon. After all, the new OLW is posted at Jennifer's BLOG, and I just HAVE to play along!!!!