Fifteen small 
books made 
from 
almost nothing

Another mountain of scraps!

Every page I made for Celestine's Certificate of Authenticity book left  behind: scraps in four different sizes.

Nearly half of a page’s perfectly innocent paper destined for the trash.

Not under my watch!

I remembered a tray of spray pigments that had sat untouched for a year.

Three complementary colors called my name.

I started spraying. Color landed wherever it pleased.

I lifted the top layer of scraps. Sprayed again.

Lifted. Sprayed.

Soon, the entire mountain was transformed  with splashes of color.

Next, I reached for a stack of spent printer paper and my favorite glue.

Scrap by scrap, I arranged and glued down the colorful pieces across the spent sheet—overlapping, abutting, colliding.

No pattern. No ruler.  No guidebook... Just whatever pleased my eye.

Fifteen ordinary sheets of discardable paper became fifteen completely new sheets of handmade, upcycled paper.

Into the book press they went, where they were flattened into sturdy, even sheets.

Then came the sewing machine.

I folded each sheet in half so that both the top and the underside looked the same and stitched all the way around the edges with contrasting thread for a little attitude!

Next, I deckled the edges, giving each cover a soft, irregular, wonderfully tactile finish. 

But a book cover needs something to hold.

I went hunting through the studio again.

And there it was: a forgotten stack of loose-leaf paper whose edges had quietly turned light umber with age.

Perfect!

I cut the pages to size and gathered 22 sheets for each journal, creating 44 blank surfaces ready for r whatever  deserved to be on them. 

Then, long- stitched the pages to their covers.

Because I can't seem to leave well enough alone, I added an old-looking pearl over the binding knot.

And one more thing.