The first books exchanged

 When I returned from Sydney I was greeted by a parcel from the UK in which I discovered Annwyn's first book of our exchange.

The first intrigue was on the back of the parcel where our Border Force people had requested Australia Post to open it! What subversive materials or contents lay within I wondered? What on earth would make this parcel suspicious?  I'd suggest nothing; and that perhaps, like the explosives residue test at airports, it was just a random selection.

So I'll show our two books together here, and soon I will take you through the ins and outs of creating mine.

I was delighted to discover that in fact the book was not dangerous.

So beautifully wrapped and presented. I love the anticipation when one is faced with an item that has been cared for in this way - when somebody has taken the time to pack and wrap beautifully. The whisper of 'preciousness' wafts before me.

Annwyn titled her book Shape defines Purpose and you can read some more of her thinking on her blog here. 

We had sent each other papers to work with - outside our usual comfort zones and I was so happy to see how she had worked with some braille paper I had sent her, on the covers. So muted, and the dots felt part of the pattern, not an obvious addition.

The printed plate references a piece of lace from her collection (her blog post with photos of it here) but the way it displayed caught my attention from the get go. Looking at it this way and that.

So we have each done something outside of ourselves, yet also really true to ourselves.

My book is an unbound book. I love unbound books for all sorts of reasons; most of all because they allow people to create and re-create the story as they interact with them. The sequence and narrative is not defined.

Mine is called The Shape of Things I - and refers to my uncertainty about not being able to see the shape of the year; the shape of the months ahead, and no longer feeling certain where the way markers are; or if they will stay there.

The book comes in a linen pouch which you followed my angst about here! Hand stitching part of it saved me.

The multiple, unbound pages (16 of them) tumble out like puzzle pieces.

You get to try and make a poem, or to make sense of them.

Placing them this way and that...

I have so many thoughts about this book...will do a post on them soon.

It is great that we have managed to exchange our first books - and there are more underway!