I have been working on a commission for a Library nearby and part of it has involved capturing the achievements of the Friends of the Library over about a decade.
I decided to print these onto 'library cards' and we spoke about gradually increasing the vibrancy of the colour each year to indicate growth and a positive future.
I decided to see how each of the colours my computer and printer can create using the Crayon part of the colour selection.
It was a good experiment - screens look very different to papers; and different printers make the papers look different as well.
So I have printed out each of the colours and now keep them in an envelope so I know what they might look like and what to choose next time.
Of course, what I really loved was how they all looked together!
And now to the Give Away part of this post.
Back some time ago I realised I had passed 500 posts and not noted, recorded or remarked upon it. So I thought, oh well, I'll wait until I hit some other number. Today I have posted my 555th blog post (at 5.55pm), which seems like a very nice number indeed and cause for a celebratory give-away.
I am giving away a wee pack of goodies - a hand-stitched journal, a copy of Flight and some peace pebbles. All you have to do between now and next Monday 5 November (Australian time), is to leave a comment telling me what it is about books that you like.
I will do some random selection process, probably involving Barry, some scraps of paper and a bowl of sorts and let you know next Tuesday who the winner is. I'm clearly still in the mood to celebrate books after such a happy weekend!
I decided to print these onto 'library cards' and we spoke about gradually increasing the vibrancy of the colour each year to indicate growth and a positive future.
I decided to see how each of the colours my computer and printer can create using the Crayon part of the colour selection.
It was a good experiment - screens look very different to papers; and different printers make the papers look different as well.
So I have printed out each of the colours and now keep them in an envelope so I know what they might look like and what to choose next time.
Of course, what I really loved was how they all looked together!
And now to the Give Away part of this post.
Back some time ago I realised I had passed 500 posts and not noted, recorded or remarked upon it. So I thought, oh well, I'll wait until I hit some other number. Today I have posted my 555th blog post (at 5.55pm), which seems like a very nice number indeed and cause for a celebratory give-away.
I am giving away a wee pack of goodies - a hand-stitched journal, a copy of Flight and some peace pebbles. All you have to do between now and next Monday 5 November (Australian time), is to leave a comment telling me what it is about books that you like.
I will do some random selection process, probably involving Barry, some scraps of paper and a bowl of sorts and let you know next Tuesday who the winner is. I'm clearly still in the mood to celebrate books after such a happy weekend!
To think those goodies could be mine. Yum
ReplyDeleteWhats not to love about books? I see them as encapsulated potential just like eggs and seeds, contained within them are infinite possibilities joys yet unknown and with a good book it can take many readings to fully gain an understanding of what is inside, the context changing as I change and grow. Books have to be my most favourite thing in the whole world. x te
So .... loving books - many complex ideas and emotions, also very simple too.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE paper in all its forms and the way in which it can be so many things.
A printed book holds so may emotions over time and life.
Childhood books which still remain in ones thoughts for the pleasures,smiles and sometimes tears that they gave.
The amazing creativity of bookmakers, the beauty of a chosen typeface, a layout, a book jacket.
The tactile pleasure of holding books - it just goes on and on.
Thinking of some of my books the first physical reaction is to smile.
I'm hoping that maybe the special treasures of your give away may fly over the seas to me.
Love Diane.
Is it cheating to say I like everything about books - the way they feel in the hand, the secrets they contain within, the way they look on a shelf or lying on a table. I know I can't envisage a life without books.
ReplyDeleteBooks are our tickets to the treasures of the imagination. They are physical, satisfying the senses, and intelectual, taking us to places beyond and within ourselves. I am grateful that I have been born in an age when books are so developed and diverse.
ReplyDeleteChoosing one thing that I like best about books would be nearly impossible... is it the stories and ideas contained therein... the beauty of the words and the language... the feel and smell of the papers used... the covers and bindings... the look of the type, fonts, graphics, overall design... their ability to transport you elsewhere or cause you to search within yourself ? Sorry, I cannot choose, but I thank you for your generosity with this lovely giveaway and ask that you please put me in the running for it.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Helen
Congratulations on your 500th and your 555th posts! I enjoy your blog so much. It is full of beauty and inspiration. Thank you for sharing so much of your self!
ReplyDeleteAs other commenters have mentioned, books are loveable in so many ways! I will just choose one to share. I like books because I can make them :) I am sure you understand; I still get a thrill every time I finish a book!
I think the thing I like best is summed up in the quote "If there is paper there may be books. Dangerous books, gunpowder books, book that could burn away the castles of the mind and change the colour of the sky." (Frances Hardinge - Fly by night) The idea that something so simple and so innocuous looking can potentially contain such power.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many things I love about books is that now that I have begun making them, I see they are really easy to make and there is room for unlimited possibilities in the making. Rather like the fact that there are books ABOUT an unlimited number of things. I also love the feel of a book, and the smell of it. I am one who will NEVER become an e-reader...I like holding a book, turning the pages, etc. Besides, if I were to stop bringing books home from the library, my cat would be devastated ~ i.e., no interesting non-home smells to wonder about. In terms of being a new book artist, I love that books are (relatively) small works of art, meaning I can make and collect a lot of them without wondering where or how I will store them. And I'm also able to combine many creative talents and skills into their making.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely give away.What do books mean to me? Wow, not a day goes by without me picking up several thumbing through, reading,sometimes making one. What would I do without them.
ReplyDeleteI like how a book carries a world with it, a place to explore and a different way of seeing life.
ReplyDeleteOh, books, glorious books! The one thing I can't live without, my entire life is visible through my book shelves. From the books of my earliest years, school and college years, my fads and fancies, my passions and loves. And the books I make, and that others have made, all fill my home and life with such joy and delight.
ReplyDeleteAnd Fiona, I can see why you are delighted with your colour experiments. They look stunning together.
HA! i love the BOOKNESS of books.
ReplyDeleteBooks let you travel the world or explore the worlds of your imagination without leaving home. There is always a book that will suit your mood or help you to get out of a bad one.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 555th post! And what a wonderful way to celebrate with your friends and followers.
ReplyDeleteI love books - the textile quality of holding a book in my hands, feeling the heft of the thing, the texture of the paper and covering, seeing the fonts that have chosen to convey the words of the author, hearing that little swish of the page turning, feeling the air move as the page does...
And then there are the stories within. Those magical gatherings of thoughts and words that can transport us outside ourselves and into the worlds and lives those who exist solely on the pages of the very book we're holding and reading, yet which, in those most exquisite moments, seem more real than our own lives.
The covers are beautiful! I like the randomness and the consistency of the patterns. Thanks for the post! (LyndaJolly@live.com)
ReplyDelete555 posts! You should be getting a present instead of hosting a giveaway but I am rubbing my hands with glee at the idea of maybe winning.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I can describe what a book means to me. So many different things that it's almost a conceptual work of art in itself. A magical physical object in the digital era. Turning the pages equals the passage of time, page after page, day after day... Reading the lines is taking a plunge into the depths of human thought. Holding it in our hands is like grabbing a handgrip that will prevent us from falling into the awe-inspiring current of imagination. The printed text is beautiful in a way that we can best perceive when we open a book written in a language we don't understand. Then we really appreciate the presence of those signs.
And of course then we read it...
its too easy and a tad boring for me to say 'i like everything about books'(which is the true answer) - if pushed I think its the IDEA or POSSIBILITY of books that I like best - what they may contain, what they may create, what they may transmit.....
ReplyDeleteps congrats on 555 (which when typed looks like a big snake hissssssss)
AAAAAH, books are a ticket to wild, wondrous places that you can travel to without a passport. They are the scent of summer, the ache of a mountain climb, and the hidden cave of secrets. When you hold a book, it brings you into another world that is yours alone, shared momentarily by the author. A world without books would not be a human world. Books keep me grounded in life while also letting me soar. Books are necessary.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed this post :(
ReplyDeleteFor the very first time I am reading a book on my iPad - it has made me realise just why a Book, a proper book is so special.
You can see the whole wonderful journey that is a story in your mind as you hold the book, feel its weight, know how many pages you have left - if you want to go back to a particular passage the book often opens just where you want it to....
Then when you have read to the end and its on your bookshelf you know it's there whenever you want to read it again.
Hi Fiona,
ReplyDeleteI love books they make me sad, happy, excited and enthused depending on the subject matter inside, but most of all the anticipation of the mystery each book can bring as I turn the tactile crinkly pages. Cheers Valerie.
For me, books are potential. Whether what lies within is fact or fiction, pictures or words, or crisp, white pages begging me to fill them, it is all about possibilities. How luxurious!
ReplyDelete