SIMPLE FLAG BOOK

The flag book is one of the most dramatic book structures and yet it is quite simple to make. For our September workshop Carol DuBosch will share her experience with making flag books. The book has an accordion folded spine, and the flags are attached to the sides of the accordion folds. She will provide instructions for a small simple book and demonstrate making one in our class. Carol also plans to show many of the flag books that she has made over the years with a wide variety of content, subjects and materials.

Materials:

• 1 1/2 sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" card stock
• ruler
• pencil
• scissors
• scoring tool
• glue stick

When:   Saturday September 12 at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:  On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    By Sept. 7 to Dolores Guffey to receive the password

Questions:  Carol DuBosch  abcdubosch@frontier.com

Zoom questions:  Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

 ATTENTION LOCAL NORBAG MEMBERS

At the next local in-person meeting on September 26, Dolores Guffey will teach a "Drum Leaf Pocket Structure" inspired by Hedi Kyle. The workshop will be held at the Eureka Center for Spiritual Living, 239 Buhne St. Eureka from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT. An email with all the details (including photos) will be sent to local members a week or so before the workshop. We will also have "Show & Tell" as well as the ever popular "Freebie Table". Please come so that we can start planning our local workshops for next year.

FLAG BOOK WITH PULL-UP ENVELOPES

Our February 2024 valentine month workshop will be a wonderful little flag book with many envelopes to hold messages or small pieces of art. Our instructor will be Kris Nevius. Templates and paper suggestions for the envelopes and inserts will be sent when you register.

SUPPLIES FOR CLASS:

• Accordion Cover: 2" x 18" grain short
• Envelopes: 6 envelopes for inside of the book and, optional, 1 or 2 more for the front cover and inside or outside of the back cover.
• Inserts: one for each envelope
• Belly Band: 5/8" x 8 1/2"
• Envelope folding guide: (on the envelope template page) and insert guide (on the insert sheet)
• Thread: 8" or so for each envelope. Waxed linen is good.
• Attachments for pull string: beads, at least 2 per envelope. Or use a 3/8" circle punch or 3/8" square punch to punch out 2 circles or squares per envelope. Or just cut out small squares.
• Tools: scissors, Exacto knife, ruler, pencil, cutting mat, awl, bone folder, corner rounder, glue stick or other glue to glue the envelopes, scrap paper to glue on.

PLEASE DO THIS BEFORE STARTING TO MAKE THE BOOK

Print out:

• Envelope template page onto cardstock or acetate
• Insert page onto cardstock or heavier scrapbook paper or the like. Add content if desired.

Cut out:

• Accordion cover paper: Mi-Teintes works well for this.
• Envelope template and envelope folding guide
• 6-8 envelopes, using envelope template. Use a paper that will fold easily, but not tear easily. Kris used paste paper done on Arches Text Wove.
• Inserts: 6-8. Use a corner rounder on all 4 corners if desired.
• Insert guide (on insert page)

Keep envelope template handy for reference during class.

When:  Saturday, February 10 at 10 a.m. PST

Where: On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:   Dolores Guffey by Feb. 5 to receive the password & PDF's

Workshop questions: Kris Nevius, krispaperstudio@gmail.com

Zoom questions: Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

Arowana and BIMA

 

Our November workshop was all about a fish named Arowana. Our instructor, Edge Gerring, was very familiar with Arowana and knew just how to cut Arowana apart and then bring Arowana back together into a very “fluttery” flag book. It was a fun workshop and maybe a little more complicated than other workshops so not everyone completed their structure during the allotted time. So, we only have one example to share and it comes from across the big pond. Many thanks to Edge and to Margaret for sharing.

Margaret Beech (England)

Shapes of Things to Come is the title of the current exhibit in the Sherry Grover Gallery at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) in Washington. This exhibit will continue until February 15, 2023. Here is the introduction to the exhibit:

"The future of the book is here. These works from the Cynthia Sears Artist's Books Collection bend convention, break tradition, and steer a bold course for the future of artist's books. This exhibition features more than forty local, national, and international artists working in diverse formats, materials, and themes."

Here is a sample of some of the wonderful books on display. 

Transpose, 2021
 Islam Aly (Egypt)

Inside Chance, 2000
 Linda Smith (Arizona)

Socrates, Know Thyself, 1999
Stephen Daiber (Massachusetts)

Old Growth: Beneath the Forest Floor, 2015
Lucia Harrison (Washington)

Slices, 2004
Emily Martin, (Iowa)

Take Me, I'm Yours, 2019
Laura Russell (Oregon)

50 Revolutions, 2015
Helen Hiebert (Colorado)

Living With Tassels and Trims, 2019
Robbin Ami Silverberg (New York)

This is the book that goes with the jacket pictured above and 
here is the artist's description of the two pieces:

"I stumbled upon plastic bags filled with samples of textiles, tassels & trim when we were cleaning out my mother’s closets after she died. The remnants found in those bags were pieces of her story: dreams of creating a space and place, a home that defined beauty, projected refinement, and what she would have clarified as happiness.

The result is a cloth book with richly embroidered text & patterns sewn onto a wooden clothing hanger. The text focuses on the idea of ritual as movement and movement as reading. Each copy has a unique case made from clothing, which becomes the protection of these words instead of the human body. The viewer must ‘undress’ the book in order to read it."

Margaret Beech - Workshop - Part 2

On Saturday, April 28, Margaret Beech gave a workshop. Part 1 was put on the blog in early May. Now you will see the remaining pictures from her workshop. We started at 9:30 am and continued until 4:00 pm with a book exchange in the middle. We have already shown the Two Color Cut-out Maze book and the Origami Box with a Tato “Lid”. Margaret also presented a Double flag book and a 12 Pocket Wallet with Strip Tease Binding. Margaret admitted that it was actually an Australian reverse piano hinge binding but “strip tease” sounds so much more fun.

Margaret Beech

 12 Pocket Wallet with "Strip Tease" Binding

For the "origami" wallet, we started with a piece of text weight paper and folded it. 
We cut out a tab in the upper left and right so that the tab would fit flatly when finished.

We folded all of the flaps inward.

We flipped the unit over, folded it in half and tucked the tab
 under the diagonal folds. We made two of these little wallets.

We took another paper and made an accordion with an "m" shaped unit. 
The mountains will be inserted in slits in the spine of the wallet.

When the mountain fold is put through the slit in the wallet,
 it is locked into place with a locking tab.

The outside of the wallet also has the diagonal folds
 and we slide the ends of the accordion under them.

This is a view of the inside.  A variation would be to make the wallet (or not)
 and slide a signature in the reverse piano hinge and use a separate cover.

Double Flag Book

Margaret also made a double flag book. She sewed two accordions together forming a honeycomb of sorts.

Two strips are cut and folded for the accordion pages. 
One valley (shown) is sewn to the mountain fold behind it.

 

Look closely and you can see the pamphlet stitch that connects each fold. You can see the honeycomb formed below. If you try this, make sure to sew before you start putting on the flags.

 

After sewing, we put on the flags. Make sure that you put the flags
on the accordion so that the pattern is pleasing to you.

And then there were lots of samples!

 

The center flags are from boxes. The top and bottom are pictures.

Valerie looks like a very happy camper!

These flag books are displayed next to the Tato boxes.
  What a myriad of colors.