A Collaborative Vision

As many of you know, Lynne Hoppe and I are stepping into a collaborative journey working on a book exchange process. She starts a book, I start a book, we begin creating on a few pages and the cover, swap books, work over and with what the other person has done, start a few new pages, exchange and continue adding to and layering - interweaving each other's images until we feel complete. The results will be two undoubtedly fabulous books filled with sharing, exploring, creating, learning, and having some fun!

So here is a bit of the process. The book is 6"x 6". We used 40 pieces of paper to create 20 pages. Each square was joined to the next with a strip of folded paper, which created a hinge. I began by creating pairs of pages - hinging the binding edge.

I then flipped the stack over hinged the opposite ends to create an accordion book. We did not want to work in an accordion style book, however. We wanted the feel of a bound book that we could open flat, so we used tabs of paper which we folded in half, and glued in between the hinged folds on one edge - the binding edge of our book. The photo below shows where I had begun the process on the left.

In the mean time, I had started to work on covers for the book. I decided I wanted a hard cover, which I made by cutting bookbinders board, which I paper machéd.

Here are the results of it all put together - I love it!!

As always, click on any picture for a better view.

I have to say - I actually thought an adhesive bound book was going to be easier than stitching. I was absolutely 100% wrong. I have done all glued books before, but never quite this large and detailed. I do love the results, am thrilled that I have this one, but I can guarantee you won't be seeing me creating this style of a book again any time soon - if ever!

Oh yeah, I added ties, since I'm sure it will be bulging in no time, right Lynne?!

Maybe my book can be contained :^)

Oh, and another thing - I also decided I really wanted to have a theme for my book. I've done others with no theme or focus. Two fell to the way side without completion, and the one I've shared with you was often a struggle for me, because I felt so scattered through out the creating process. This time I wanted to at least begin with some sort of path for myself, and when I thought about it a pair of eyes popped into my mind, looking back at me. So that was it - Vision will be the theme.

Lynne liked that idea as well, because we can take it in so many directions. After all, anything we 'see' can fall into the category of being a part of our vision. So at least to start us off, we'll be sharing our visions; being visionaries; envisioning... okay you get the idea!