ZOOM!

We’re officially Zoomers! NORBAG held its first Zoom online meeting on June 13 attended by 37 members. It was an international meeting with 2 members from England, 9 from 6 different states, 17 from Humboldt County, and 9 from other areas of California. We’re very grateful to Celeste Chalasani for organizing and hosting the meeting.

We started off by taking turns introducing ourselves. What a treat it was to finally put faces to names that we’ve known... sometimes for many years. It was also fun to see some impromptu "guest cats" who wandered into view. Thirteen members sent photos of books they had been working on to Celeste who created a PowerPoint slideshow. Each person was able to give a description of their book, the materials, and/or the inspiration for the structure. Several members had just finished taking Helen Hiebert’s online Flexible Book Structures 2 workshop so they shared photos of some of the projects completed in the class.

Members with a large screen can see a maximum of 25

participants at a time and scroll over to see the rest of the group.

Margaret Beech described some of the photos she shared.

All in all it was a positive experience and one we hope to share again. Our member from York, England, Margaret Beech, has offered to teach a Zoom workshop for us on July 11 so watch for more information in the July newsletter. Please contact Dolores Guffey (contact information in the newsletter) if you have any suggestions, would like to offer to lead a workshop or host a sharing session and she will help to coordinate the event.

Many of our out-of-town members also belong to book art organizations in their local areas. We love to hear what other groups are doing and how they are coping with the challenges the Coronavirus has presented. One activity currently underway with the Puget Sound Book Art group is a collaborative project. Thirty-six members signed up for the “Staying Home” project and were randomly put into six groups of six. Each participant was directed to make a small blank book (4” x 6” size), create an artwork on one page of that book and mail it to the next person on their list. That person would add their own artwork to a page and then mail it to the next person and so on until all six books were completed and each participant would keep the last book they received. Ideally this should take about six weeks with a goal to finish by July 19. The hope is to actually share these books in person later this year. The following photo is the cover of one of those books.

The artist who created this book has invited

the other five group members to also add

artwork of their own to this cover.

Be sure to look for more information in the newsletter and future blog article about our next Zoom meeting in July. Thank you to Bobbie Hayes for sharing her Zoom photos.

MORE PROJECTS AND ZOOM

As we begin the fourth month of dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic most of us are slowly moving into a more open environment. Who knows what the new normal will actually turn out to be, but for now it's refreshing to hear that many of us have been coping with isolation by making some beautiful book art and sharing it on various platforms. One can see wonderful examples on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Zoom meetings and other online classes are also becoming more popular since we haven't been able to meet in person. We hope you will continue to share your projects with us as we all strive to move forward and remain healthy.

NORBAG will hold its first Zoom meeting on Saturday June 13. This meeting will not have a workshop but rather a chance for our members to get comfortable with Zoom and meet and greet other members. It will be hosted by Celeste Chalasani and she will do a PowerPoint presentation of photos our members send to her. These photos could include books they've made for the exchanges (yet to be exchanged) as well as any projects they've been working on. In other words, your basic "show & tell". Please refer to page 1 of the June Newsletter for information and tips for using Zoom. 

WHAT:  NORBAG Zoom Meeting

WHEN:  June 13, 2020 at 12:00 pm Pacific Time (US and Canada)

RSVP:   YES, to Dolores by June 10 to receive information on how to join the Zoom meeting, along with the password. For the PowerPoint presentation, please send photos in JPG format to Celeste by June 10. Contact information for both Dolores and Celeste is in the newsletter.

Here are some examples of how our members have been using their "free" time.

  

This photo is a collection of books Bonnie Julien made in Helen Hiebert’s Flexible Book Structures 2 online class. The six week course included the following projects: Momigami & stained Tyvek, Expandable File Folder, Book Light, Pocket Book, Envelope Photo Album, and Scroll-a-Notebook. For more information about Helen’s classes here is a link: https://helenhiebertstudio.com/shop/product-category/class/

Michele Kamprath has been busy making some lovely books using monoprints. She watched Sally Hirst's Monotype Mayhem classes and came up with some wonderful prints.

Secret Belgian binding

This Secret Belgian binding book was a birthday gift to Michele's son.

Monoprints galore

This book features many of the monoprints.

Margaret Beech has sent another one of her fun book structures. She called this structure a crazy fold, but if you have a copy of the NORBAG compendium, vol.3 pg.20 you’ll find it listed as the "Whirligig" book.

This book was made several years ago by Dolores Guffey for a book exchange.

The "whirligig" part way opened

Here is what Margaret shared. "This time I am sharing my Crazy Fold with you. This is very easy BUT requires maximum concentration when measuring up. It's fun to make and it's up to you how you decorate the pages. In the illustration I simply used papers cut from old books but you could use decorated papers, music paper, write some quotations or verses of a poem or even old map pages. The fun really lies in the unraveling and the way the book folds up again. You will need to keep it under control so might need to make an envelope to hold your fold."

Margaret also said that you could cut from a roll of wallpaper lining paper (or even some leftover wallpaper and your crazy fold will already be decorated). It's best to cut a longer length than needed once you start to measure. If you need to get rid of the natural curl of the wallpaper or lining, simply place the roll into a sink full of warm water. It doesn't need to remain long and you will see that the paper soon flattens. Just drip the water off then lay flat on a towel until the paper is really dry and you will be all ready to begin. Margaret said that this is not a good way to flatten brown paper from the roll however.

Margaret sent this piece "to give you encouragement 

if you are whiling away your days with creative stuff.

I find it's a wonderful way to spend time, and the things

we make give pleasure to the people we share them with."

FRIENDSHIP BOOK and ONESIES

Since we, and most of the world, are staying home in hope of flattening the curve of coronavirus cases, this blog will strive to offer suggestions and projects from some of our members. We will try to update the blog every two weeks, so be sure to check in for new ideas as well as information about when regular NORBAG workshops will resume. Remember to scroll down for previous projects sent by our members.

Let's celebrate friendships with another one of Margaret Beech's contributions. This sweet book can be adapted to suit any occasion, but Margaret's friendship theme works very well during this time of sheltering in place. As soon as Margaret sent these instructions I had to try it so I made this book to send to a dear friend.

Here are Margaret's instructions and templates. You can click on the photo to see a larger version of the image.

At least two of our members enjoy making tiny structures. Randi Parkhurst has been designing 1" structures that Edge Gerring is calling "Onesies". Here is Randi's house model with a tiny box. These two are each made from a single sheet of paper with Randi's box template following.

Randi's house model and box

Randi's box template

Randi also designed a 1" accordion book with different cut-outs. Here is the template followed by some photos of her colorful little book.

Randi's accordion template

Randi's "onesie" accordion book

Edge shared some photos of her Onesie house and its template as well as photos of her accordion book.

Edge's "Onesie" house

Edge's copy of the "Onesie" house template

Edge's tiny accordion books

Thank you to Margaret, Randi, and Edge for sharing your great creations.

MAY CREATIVITY

Since we, and most of the world, are staying home in hope of flattening the curve of coronavirus cases, this blog will strive to offer suggestions and projects from some of our members. We will try to update the blog every two weeks, so be sure to check in for new ideas as well as information about when regular NORBAG workshops will resume. Remember to scroll down for previous projects sent by our members.

 A former member of NORBAG emailed with a request about sending some cheer to long-term care residents experiencing isolation. She wrote that "in this time of uncertainty, we need human connection more than ever! But many of our older adults are experiencing isolation on a deep level. In order to protect residents and staff from exposure to coronavirus (COVID-19), long-term care facilities have temporarily stopped welcoming visitors. This means that residents are not able to see their families and friends...and since many of them do not use social media or teleconferencing apps, they have little or no connection to the outside world. They could really use support!" She asked if our members would pledge to send 10 cards to long-term care residents who need encouragement. "Whether it is a postcard with a pep talk, a construction paper creation, all contributions would be welcome!" A separate email has been sent to local NORBAG members with information on how to join this cause, but we're sure this kind of support would be welcome in any community. This is a great opportunity to share your artistic creations with people who are truly isolated. Many of our members are already making cards using their own paste, marbled, or eco-dyed papers so please consider sharing some of these beautiful creations with others in need of support.

Now to share some photos of what our members have been doing...

Watercolor leaf print cards by Michele K.

Biophilia by Michele K
(EO Wilson coined this term for basically the human love of nature)

Biophilia sewn over straps

Random by Michele K

Artist Trading Cards by Edge G

This is the back of the ATC cards...mixed media collage
 inspired by a You Tube video by Lorrie Marie Jenkins

Eco-dyeing by Randi P.
These latest prints were made using techniques from
Jane Dunnewold's book, Best of Both Worlds: Enhanced Botanical Printing

This print has sting added

Grace B. made collages using cut-outs from copies of the rock print and collage work
done by Dolores G and Lynne G shown in the previous blog article. Grace is 90 years
young and a charter member (25 years) of NORBAG! 

Another of Grace's new collage prints

Collage by Grace B

Bonnie J is taking Helen Hiebert's online course Flexible Book Structures 2.
The book on the left is a book light and the other two are expandable file folders.

Book Light opened and illuminated

One of the expandable file folders...the green cards lift out

Bonnie's pocket folder book. It has six slots on the left,
 plus two large slots underneath.
A slim book is just visible coming from one of those pockets.

Front of the pocket book. It closes with velcro dots,
 the brad is just for decoration.

Back side of the book has an envelope pocket
 that has been sewn with a sewing machine.