Notes by Margaret Beech (No January Meeting)

While browsing through the compendiums and other assorted bits, I came across my Ideas and Inspiration Notes for the first NORBAG workshop I did in 2001. It’s as relevant now as it was then and there are lots of new members who may find them useful and informative. 

 Make yourself some personal workspace and tidy-up frequently. You will uncover ideas/folds you had forgotten about. 

 Collect anything that prompts an idea. 

 Make a scrapbook of simple folds that can be raided and improved upon to provide the basis of a book or an addition to a page. 

 Make and display the list of exchange themes and look at it frequently to plan and prepare books in good time. 

 Use the children’s section of the library for any creative subject/children’s poetry. 

 Use all waking time – and some sleeping time – as valuable thinking time. Never waste a moment. Train yourself to make a book in your head. Techniques can be worked through and problems solved. 

 Plan ahead – think ahead. 

 No experience is ever wasted. Make everything work for you. 

 Don’t expect to have an idea that will equate to your finished book. Expect it to evolve and grow. Take an idea for a walk. 

 Always have a Plan B ! 

 Keep a copy of everything you make. Keep relative items for each book in a ziplock bag. 

 Re-read your bookmaking books frequently. Some ideas or structure that you overlooked before may leap out at you. 

 A soapstone marker pencil (actually for dressmaking) is perfect for marking dark papers. It’s easily removed with a soft cloth and can be sharpened with a regular pencil sharpener. 

 A wallpaper edge roller is excellent for putting extra pressure on folds and glued surfaces. 

 Use a photocopier shamelessly for reducing/enlarging templates, lettering etc. 

 Re-cycle. Use old map book pages to make a book about travelling. Use old brown paper bags – crumple first, then smooth, polish with shoe polish, highlight with gold stamp pad for a wonderful effect. 

 Use a calculator for difficult math when measuring for books. 

 Try combining several folds or structures within one book.