Next steps

After I had worked out how to get my pages prepared for binding, I turned my attention to the covers.  I knew I wanted to use aluminium as the covers - it is light, yet a metal, sturdy, yet not too overwhelming. The colour would also match the shim I was using to bind the edges of the burnt pages.

I decided I wanted the back cover to look a bit like the burnt pages themselves.  So I did a sugar-lift etching to get the look.

First of all I painted the sugar solution on in a manner that was similar to the burnt page look. Kind of.

I let that dry, then covered it with bitumen. And let that dry. Patience Fiona, patience!

And loved the way it photographed from above - could become my new profile picture!

Then it was boiling water to get the sugar to lift (hence sugar-lift!), and into the etching solution, a copper sulphate and salt mix.

I wanted to use words on the front cover so I drew them onto the aluminium by hand - very freely - and then coloured them in with shellac. And let it dry. Then the front cover was popped into the same solution. Here is my test run...

Lucky for me and my patience, they both etched as I wanted, so I didn't have to repeat the process!
And then it was onto choosing which thread to use when binding it all. I can feel the finish line edging closer with this book...