The Great Triathlon Challenge Three: Angel's Lore ENTRIES & RESULTS

Entry #19

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: The overall theme for my triathlon pieces has been my doll's character going out on his own to study and experiment in another nation. In round 1, the wings constructed represented his experiment, with developing his own version. Round 2 showed the workspace, inspired both by the country he lives in and that which he's visiting. In round 3, I am now concerning myself with his family back home.
The concept I took was to tell his story in the words of those closest to him, on whose lives he's had the most impact, in the form of a gift given before he departed. The design inspiration came from the similar books he used to make for the sister who created this one, a very simple leatherbound journal in which each family member could write their own story (with some illustrations provided by the organizer). Thus, they offer their encouragement through the pages while he's away.
Materials used were kept very simple this time; little more than paper and leather. I chose linen paper because I wanted a more "hand-made" feel, and torn linen paper produces this result beautifully. The leather is a thinner piece from prior projects, already dyed long ago, so dye is not included this time. The scrapbooking paper used as endpapers was chosen due to the small print that matched well with the overall theme. I used a simple five-hole-pamphlet stitch to bind the pages after creating them in Photoshop, then used a modified version of the same stitch to sew the pages into the book. Lastly, for the photo (and a photoshoot to be posted later), I wrapped the book as a gift to be opened.


Entry #20

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I stitched the pages together in small groups to create small booklets. Each booklet was then sewn together to make the one book.
For the cover, I cut out three little bits of cardboard to make the back/front covers and the spine of the book. This was then covered in the leather and glued down.
While that was drying, I filled in all the pages. Once that was done, I glued the pages onto the exposed cardboard spine, and also glued in some purple end papers to disguise the rest of the cardboard.
Last, I used a few dots of gold paint to disguise a small hole in the leather.


Entry #21

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: My concept is based on my character's story. He has become king, and there was a book made to commemorate that with the various stages of his life.
For this challenge, I used some scrap leather to make the cover, and a medallion for decoration. On the inside, I punched holes in folded cardstock and sewed the pages together, then glued them to the endpapers and cover.
The writing is done with calligraphy pens (thank goodness I took the class in college!) and drawn and colored in with watercolor pencils.
The gif was the hardest part to make, as I used over 25 frames combined in Photoshop. I hope it was enjoyable to read!

Entry #22

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: At the moment my only doll is Olive, so this book tells her story up until she meets the next doll on my wishlist! Now that Olive has a book I will have to make one for each new addition, to continue the story. Hopefully one day we'll have a library! As a kind of historical document I wanted it to look like the old-fashioned books with gold edged illustration plates that you can see in the treasures of the British Library. I started by drawing the illustrations full size and then shrunk them down on a computer and coloured them in. I printed the pages with the text of the story and then mounted each illustration on a blank page. For the last page of the story I included a hand-drawn fold-out map of the places mentioned, just like in my favourite children's books. I stitched all the pages together and fixed with glue before adding the hard covers (made from covered cereal box card) and curved spine (made from slightly thinner card). I added vintage decals to the end papers and made my own decal for the front cover - a vintage looking photo of Olive with gold edging and glitter lettering.


Entry #23

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I wanted an authentic looking leather bound book with metal edges, hinges, and closure to go with the gothic look of the other items. I decided on a short poem of how my doll came to life as I transformed her into an angel, using the heart and wings motif from my actual wings throughout the book. I wrote the text and did sketches based on photographs and edited the layout on my computer, then printed onto cream coloured paper after working out the layout needed to get the pages in the right order in the signatures.

After printing I carefully cut and folded the pages and sewed them into signatures, before gluing to a scrap of muslin. I then made the cover from scrap card, covered it in leather I'd dyed black, and made the edging/corners/hinges/closure from copper tape, which i embossed with a crochet hook and used black paint to give an antique look to. After it was all assembled, endpapers were cut and glued into place to make the inside covers look neat. Small magnets were added to the closure.

For the photo of all three things together, I decided I wanted to do something funny, as her just reading the book was a little boring, and I thought it would be funny to have a gothy fallen angel doll be scared of spiders, so I quickly drew one and posed her as if she were about to squish it with the book.


Entry #24

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: Lena as a character dates back to somewhere around my junior year of high school, so for her book I wanted to sort of go back there and make something reminiscent of the notebooks that I carried around back then; stickers for the bands I loved, gel pen doodles, worn corners from months of use and abuse.
Aside from being inspired by my notebooks from high school, I also included some nods to her character in the design of the front and back covers; MCR sticker as a note to her namesake, the keyboard because piano is her most notable talent, treble clef because she sings soprano, and the panda because one of her imaginary friends is a trouble making little panda bear.
I used velum with sheet music printed on it for the end papers as another nod to her musical talents.
For the story I wanted to keep it kind of short and to the point for the sake of making it readable, and to do that I decided to have it read a bit like a children's book; with the "long ago" being another nod to the song she's named for.
As far as the actual construction of the book goes I used plain white printer paper for the pages, they're sewn together and then glued into the cover.
I attached a piece of shimmery black velum to the outside as a decorative spine/to add stability.
All photographs, "band stickers", and artwork were printed on photo paper and attached with rubber cement.
After all the content was written and decorations attached I distressed the front and back covers with a pair of scissors and a sanding block.

 

In the third Triathlon challenge, members were asked to create a book about their favorite doll using only repurposed materials and a budget of $20. Enjoy!

Please vote carefully. You must vote for five different entries. If you vote for any entry more than once, ALL FIVE of your votes will be thrown out.


You may assign one vote to one entry for each of the following questions:

Which narrative did you enjoy the most?

Which book demonstrated excellent book-binding technique?

Which book showed the most creative use of materials?

Which entry best developed the concept over all three challenges?

Which final Triathlon photo is your favorite?

Keep those ideas in mind.
Click on the links to see animated GIFs of the entire book, and find out what the contestants used to make their books.
Jot down your favorites for each question.
Then follow the link at the bottom of this thread to place your votes! The voting form will show the front view of the closeup of the book cover.

Entries:

Entry #1

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Finster needed something old and ravaged from which life was emerging, just like his shrivelled wings and decrepit aerie from the first challenges. We thought about it, him and I, and we decided upon a journal that we would prepare for you, dear voters. Finster scribbled a few pages about himself and I added some sketches, to offer you a little insight into our lives.

The book itself is made of cardboard, old yellowed stationary, and a stained piece of leather donated by a friend years ago. The technique I used to assemble it is pretty basic, but I added a caterpillar stitch to decorate the cover a bit, and turned the creature's tail into a braided rope to hold the journal closed. Once everything looked nice and pretty, I destroyed my good work with markers, pencils, lots of water and some fire. There's nothing like fire to age a book. Now it even smells old... but you'll have to take my word for it.


Entry #2

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I used a basic accordion fold binding technique to make a fold out book with a very allegorical and simplified illustrated story of my doll with her wings, and what she means to me.


Entry #3

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Concept: Guide for N.O.A. type 07. Short explanation on parts and functioning and explanation on ASCENSION, to become an organic being. Once the book is Activated (Red light) it starts the process towards Freedom.
Construction & Materials: Made a mockup of my book to measure the size and also sketch my ideas. Book's size is 7cmx5cmx1cm.
Built my cover and back cover together and sculpted a head at the best of my ability+time to emulate my doll with her eyes closed (sort of a lusis sleeping faceplate). I added the studs and face-up before pasting it on my cover then add the filligre ornaments in cold porcelain and added some pearl ex powder and mod podge to seal and to put it together on my cover. Painted it silver and added the net painted silver on the previous challenge.
For the pages I superposed materials and layers of the different papers noted as well as I hand drew and colored the images, materials are sewn, pasted and perforated together. My sheets were all double the size of my book in width and folded in half. Once all my images were finished I sew them to bound them to each other and to my front and back sheet papers. I added the same material of my sheet papers, red cardboard to the inside of my book. Pasted my bound soft cover to my front-back hardcover and let it dry. Then stretched the pages before taking the pictures.

Entry #4

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Pirate pop up rules!

Entry #5

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I made the book as a journal that is part of a performing arts school final project that is part of her grade and has to be turned in as an explanation of her final project/performance.


Entry #6

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: A pop-up bestiary of some of the winged creatures on The Blue Planet. ^_~ I should not have used watercolor paper, it was too thick to work well. I had the worst time getting things to cooperate and bloody hell, it does show. >_< Egads. . .

 

Entry #25

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: The concept of my book was the result of a soul shutter "Whaaaaat?!?" when faced with the prospect of writing. However it was my lovely resin family, smiling at me benignly from their various perches, that cajoled me to instead document the month I've spent on this challenge in my own, rather childish, way...
Would that I could have created a magnificent story to suit the crystal wings I had so carefully grown for my muse...
Would that I had some sad tale to breathe life into my glittering Mucha-esque cathedral niche...
...but alas, it was not so!
Instead I turn to a children's book... with a dose of humour and not a small dab of rue.


Entry #26

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: Doyle's story is his rise as a respected tailor/fashion designer, so I wanted to cover the book in fabric, not paper. The gold fabric used for the spine tape and the endpapers is the same fabric that I used to make the pillow in my niche. For the tapes, I sewed it into small tubes and ironed it flat, so that it would not fray or have any exposed raw edges. The red brocade pulls in the same black and gold scheme as my niche, with an extra splash of color.
The book is bound with a modified coptic stitch that leaves the spine tapes exposed to show the herringbone pattern of the stitches over the tape. In order to have enough signatures to develop the pattern, I needed to only have one page per signature, so I used cardstock as the page base so it would be sturdy/thick enough to do so. I chose black because of my black/gold color scheme.
The hook and eye clasp on the center spine tape was sewn on by hand.
The brocade is glued directly to the chipboard, and the endpapers were made by first gluing the gold fabric to cardstock. That way all raw edges are tucked under. They were also treated with fray-check, just as a precaution, as the brocade in particular is very fray-prone. I used Fabri-tac when gluing the fabric, which is acid-free
The illustrations were drawn by me in pencil, then scanned in and colored in photoshop and printed back out on the same printer paper as my story text. The individual pages were cut out and applied to the black cardstock signatures with acid-free PVA.

Entry #27

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: In this one I decided to write a journal seeing through Seth's perspective. I've skipped over a lot of information so it wouldn't become too long.

I know that most people wouldn't be able to read my writing so I decided to type it all out. I stitched the the inside of the book and then glued it to the cover. I then glued the passages into the book. After, I decided to add a button and leather for a little detail. I also added ribbon to make a bookmark for the book.


Entry #28

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: First i drew the picture outlined it and colored it in with colored pecil and watercolor. them put scrapbook dicuts and washitape etc on it. then i bound it with violet embrodery thread. them wrote and drew pictures in pencils in the inside.

Entry #29

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: Concept:
I always wanted a Pipos cat doll, so I was delighted when I got my Heero (Hieronymus). But he looked so sad! And pink! He just seemed to be too much of a downer for photos. I thought maybe his eyes were too dark, so I got him some taxidermy eyes. Not enough. I thought it was because he was pink, so I airbrushed some nice cat-ish colors. He still seemed sad. Then finally I decided to go for it, and went at his mouth with an exacto-knife.
Boy am I glad I did! Once his face was sanded and repainted, he seemed to come alive. He became so joyful and so full of mischief that I just couldn't keep my hands off of him. Suddenly he was going everywhere with me--constantly posing with other dolls, standing on one foot, rolling around with a yarn ball--and all the while making this face that ranged from the picture of sweet innocence to utter mischief.
And that's what this story was about. I don't make up characters for my dolls until I have spent a long time interacting with their resin form. They get their personality from the way they interact with the world--be it face-planting during pictures or kicking during posing (Hieronymus does neither--he's well-behaved, obviously because he wants to prove he can be the star of every photo!) So to me, the faceup doesn't matter so much as how the doll is in the world...but then sometimes a doll like my Heero comes around and proves that if you change the face, you change how you act with the doll, and suddenly they seem to spring to life.
There's something similar that goes on with people, too. You act the way you do because of your lifelong experience. But if you make some huge change, people with act differently towards you, your experience will change, and then the way you act will change, too. I wanted this to be the "moral" of the "children's book"-style Angel Lore I made for my doll.
I hoped this complex story told simply would resonate with some other doll owners, because I think a lot of us experience this bizarre contradiction between their doll's character, appearance, and physical resin embodiment. I wanted to capture how the three of them all came together to shape my most darling, absolutely spoiled kitty, Hieronymus, while still making a fun kiddy-book for him to enjoy in his new cat condo.
Construction technique:
I started by making a mock-up version on note cards folded in half. I numbered the pages, then did a rough sketch of the illustration and text. When I took this mockup apart, I could see how to do my page layout. I made all the text and page numbers in PowerPoint, printed double sided, then cut the pages out with a paper cutter.
I bound the pages together with needle and thread using Japanese 4 hole binding. I wanted my book to look like a modern hardback, so I printed the cover out on a 4x6 photo semi-gloss photo paper. I glued 2 pieces of cardboard cut to be 1/16 of an inch larger than the pages on three sides. Between those pieces, I glued a spine. I folded the cover up over the cardboard as nicely as possible.
Finally, I attached the pages to the cover using a colorful page with one side glued to the cardboard and the other glued to the first page in my book.


Entry #30

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: The cover is made of cardboard covered in foil and the silhouette is a mirror image from a drawing in the book.
On the cover there is trims and lace used for part of her outfit accessories.
There is no story just drawings about my doll, how she was put together - clothes, eyes, wings and the triathlon.

 

Entry #13

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I wished to tie together all three weeks and make a story that explains the wings and location. The basic idea is that she is running from an angry mob for stealing. She runs into the local woods to hide and finds an opening under a tree. Said tree takes pity on her and offers her protection and a home, melding them together forever. As she is released from the tree she grows branches from her back and the ability to hear the tree. He encourages her to use her wings and wishes that she finally feel the freedom and belonging that she deserves.
I wanted the outside to be as simple and to have as little bulk as possible, in order to pull back the pages easily to view them lighted from the back.
I ended up using the coptic stitch.

Entry #14

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: The story of how Dragon came into being.

I photographed and wrote the content and laid it out in InDesign. The story was laser printed and a variation of "perfect binding" was used to bind the book. The end papers where washed with a mixture of water colours and Pearl Ex pigments to highlight the scale-like quality. The cover of the book was distressed and adorned with old filigree beads and findings and an old dragon pendant I've had for over 20 years. An old opalescent cabochon was used to represent the orb and was also used in the photostory as Dragon's transformation eyes. Brass spikes line the spine of the book and mirror those found in her wings and crown.


Entry #15

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: The concept is that this is Anya's own personal journal. It's messy, and smudgy, and just as inane as any journal I ever wrote as a teenager (Note, because it's a journal, she's written on the endpapers too. I know I do with my sketchbooks!)
Construction is simple - two signatures sewn together, drink carrier cardboard cover then covered in paper skimmed off of another piece of cardboard.

Entry #16

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Pieces of paper were folded over to make the pages, then sewn down the center line with needle and thread. A paper with a printed design was glued to the first and last pages to make a cover. Images and lettering were drawn by hand.
The book tells about how an angel works to help keep birdies safe

Entry #17

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: My concept was steam punk to begin with, and then veered off into a story about my doll and someone close to her that has pasted away. I used some fabrics and glues and wires and papers from around my house, and used a standard book binding technique to sew the pages together. Then I bound them in the vinyl/ faux leather and decorated the book. This was my first time binding a book. My doll is called Ariadne, and these challenges have allowed me to greatly adapt her story. She is my oldest doll, made in 2007, and got me into the hobby. Her look and personality have changed immensely since then, but she's still my Ariadne.


Entry #18

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I used this bookbinding tutorial: Den of Angels
Wanting to tie the previous two challenges together I used the book to tell where and how my doll got his wings and what the big round showcase he's placed in is supposed to be.
I tried to use similar materials/colours as in the previous two to create some sort of cohesion.

 

Entry #7

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I wanted to make a book that would tie in visually with the other elements that I'd made and help explain why I chose this doll. She's my jewel, so she deserved a precious setting.
I carried on the art nouveau theme with covers wrapped in patterned scrapbook paper. I trimmed down my pages, inked in the wording and illustrations, then went back and colored them with the pencils and pastels. The pages were sewn to the covers with gold embroidery thread. It's finished with "lusis" stamped in gold on the front cover.


Entry #8

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Wanted to make a sketchbook of my doll's favorite things, wings and cats.
I used printer paper for pages, scrapbooking cardstock for endpapers, leather for the cover, ribbon for the bookmark.
Traditional binding of folio and signature with pamphlet stitch. Leather cover was embellished using a foiling pen.


Entry #9

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: My book is the story that ties all three challenges together and explains why my doll lives in the niche she does. I like the idea of her as an angel because perhaps she can't speak, but her character is a presence that has been in my mind since I was a kid and will probably be there forever . As the niche was decorated like my grandmother's garden (with a humming bird, her spirit animal) it was important to me to include the idea of loved ones like Luna passing, not being seen, but still being in our hearts. Even if parting is a sad event, I think the memories and experiences are happy and beautiful like spring flowers.
The technique to make the book was setting a text block (sewn and glued) made of signatures into a hard cover.


Entry #10

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: The content is all poems written by me(personaly)
The children of the Exalt, made a book for their mother, so show their love.
I first cut the Squares of paper then painted/Glued the covers on Depending on what was needed. then i punched the holes for the string to go though and then put the string though.Tied it and added he tassels.Then i wrote the poems and added a few shapes and draws to should what little children would do,


Entry #11

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: The pages are made of card stock. I took pictures to make a photostory, printed the pictures, put the book together and took more pictures of the pictures to make a GIF :P The book id bound with thread.


Entry #12

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I used my old sketch paper to make the the book section and used the concorde paper for the cover, i glued the book sheet one by one so they can stick together...
i used colored pencil to draw the book story
and te last part is decorate the book cover using clay and other items

 

Entry #31

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I thought, since she was a little patchwork angel, it would make sense if the book she was reading was a journal written in her own words. The story is a little piece of Rhiannon Yamamoto's history--that is, my doll's character. I decided to phrase it from her point of view, and have her older brother add paperclipped photos to one side so that in years to come she can remember what she was trying to draw.
To bind the book, I did the traditional sewing it together, then gluing it to the cover.


Entry #32

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: Since Gwalchmei is a Dark Age prince, I obviously (:P) wanted the book to have a manuscript look! I wrote his story up to age eleven (he is supposed to be eleven in his doll form) in Celtic minuskels and gave it antiquated images inspired by the Book of Kells. The paintings are done in pen and watercolour; the text and its small illuminations are done in pen and ink.
There are many more pages in the book, but they remain blank as yet because, well, Gwalchmei's adventures are mostly in the future...
I don't have parchment, sadly, so the book is written on Japanese paper with a texture that looks somewhat parchment-y (up close; sadly, you can't see much of it in the photos). It is bound in a cover of cardboard covered with heavier Japanese paper that has flower leaves in it. The endpapers have a parchment design to refer to my beloved old manuscripts.
The binding technique is simple Japanese stab binding. Gawain's book isn't a gospel, so I didn't think ornate binding was in order.

Entry #33

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I chose to create a journal, given to my doll by his sister for his birthday. They live on a very small, very remote island... there are rumors of a treasure hidden there, but the boredom is overwhelming. He dreams of traveling to exotic lands, rather than being groomed to take over the family business, and one day he decides to make his own way in life, leaving he journal behind. The story picks up several years later when the crew of treasure-hunters he's taken up with return to search for the island's treasure, and he ends up testing a new invention - gliding wings which double as a radio antenna when they're in storage. His first flight out the highest window in his family's home doesn't go so well!
The journal was created entirely from materials I already had on hand. I used a modified five-hole pamphlet stitch to bind the signatures together. I made the cover with remnants of leather over cardboard, and hand-painted the lettering on the journal in gold. I used metallic silver cardstock for the endpapers. Photos and other ephemera were pasted into the journal, the writing was printed before binding.


Entry #34

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: My concept was a childrens picture book, since my doll is from far away and can't read very well yet.
I started off with the illustrations, which are papercraft and were made by using a woodcut knife to cut out layers of paper to make the images.
Then I either printed or hand-wrote the story (the printed ones are much neater!) and glued the printed pieces onto the paper I was going to use.
I've never bound a book before so I used a tutorial on how to bind leather journals. You stitch the papers together down the fold, and then you put these papers (called signatures) together, and then you stitch them together too, and then the cover is glued on.
For the cover, I used the cardboard from a Wii U controller box, and covered it from the material from an old scarf.
All in all, it went much better than expected for a first try!

Entry #35

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I created the outer cover with cardboard and covered it with handmade papers. I used the white card as the pages and sewed them in segments and tied them together.
I used the wire to shape an S and an M and the wire flowers to shape an a. I then placed them on the front cover and added two butterflies and a feather.
I used a blue stamp pad to edge the papers and the book cover.
My concept is the story of Sam's life and flowers and feathers and butterflies to represent the beautiful personality he has.


Entry #36

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I wanted to do a doll-sized book, and I really wanted it to be blue like the niche\display if possible, and WOW was I lucky enough to just happen to have the EXACT same color leather in my mom's fabric scrap collection! It was PERFECT. I also wanted to incorporate the gold from the wings into the book, but the gold pens I used on the wings didn't work very well on the leather so I had to get a better gold pen. I printed out the pages of my short story, cut them, and sewed them together. The illustrations were hand-drawn by me originally, but were scanned and cleaned up on the computer before being printed out on the final pages. I glued the origami end papers onto the leather and cardboard cover, and it was done!

 

Entry #37

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: My little angel wanted a comic book where she would be the hero.
The concept was just a simple comic book, but filled with funny and meaningful content.
The construction was a little tedious, trying to get the pages the same size as well as adding the cover. The pages were made long width wise, and then stapled and folded in the middle. Then the cover was put on to hide raw edge.

Entry #38

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Concept: I've always wanted a book with driftwood covers. This is actually from a stump in our back yard, so it's even more personal.
The story is a short and sweet version of my doll's story. He was the first and only for a while, then got neglected as more dolls arrived. He's still the favorite, even though he doesn't get as much attention as he used to.
Materials: Bits of wood from a decaying stump in our back yard, some paper I made with the help of a paper making kit, some photos printed poorly on our ancient printer - enhanced with orange hair ~_^, one photo printed in full color on a good printer, colored pencils for hand written words for the book. Kleenex box bits for the endpapers. Leftover bits of paper from cutting out the printed out photos, used as reinforcements for the folds of the pages. Thirty minute epoxy to keep the fragile pieces of wood intact, and some polyurethane to make the wood a little shiny. Ooo, shiny! And a needle and some thick thread to sew it all together.
Construction: Coptic because it would work with the covers and help the pages lay flat for photographing. And gratuitous use of my husband's power tools. I feel like Rosie the Riveter now!


Entry #39

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: He doesn't have much story , so it is mainly a picture book / scrapbook . The book is made from sets of papers stitched into signatures and bound into the cover by glueing the front and rear endpapers to the back and front of the signature block .The cover paper is glued over the cover boards , including a very narrow piece for the spine .
Filled with collage ,drawing , paint and hand printing .


Entry #40

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I thouth about old writing pads that archeologists used in 20s, but in modern version. I think I wasn't able about! XD

Entry #41

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I wanted to tell the story of how my angel got her wings as they are obviously mechanical in nature and not organic.

I cut the sketchbook paper to size, folded each piece in half and stacked them evenly. I applied glue along the folded edges with a paint brush in many layers. I then cut the card stock into the correct size, including the width of the book's spine and folded it into shape. I glued the bound pages into the cover's spine and glued end papers onto the insides of the cover and the first and last pages.

I took pictures of my dolls acting out the story, shrank them and printed them at a do it yourself photo kiosk. I cut the pictures out and glued them into the book, adding masking tape at the corners for stability. I painted the tape gold. I painted details onto the pictures. I painted the edges of the pages gold. I wrote the text in by hand and decorated the pages with pencil crayons. I cut a window out of the front cover and drew a picture on the front page to show through the window. I painted a gold frame around the window.
(The book binding technique I used is explained here, under "Method 2 of 5: Binding Your Book with Adhesive":How to Bind a Book )

Entry #42

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Concept:
The life-story of Drax, Turn of the Century Coney Island Human Wonder, Inventor and Magician.
Materials Used:
Card, foamboard and a scrap of leather. A mix of watercolours, acrylics and pen for the artwork.
Construction Technique:
1 loop of thread at top/bottom to attach the end papers to the signatures + Standard technique for pop-up books (glue each signature to the next to enable flat layout.)
Leather glued around two pieces of foamboard and then cover glued to end papers

 

Entry #43

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I went through mom's fabric stash for a nice fabric for the cover, and found some black pleather. My doll's character lives in a world with a pre industrial era industry, so black pleather fits in perfectly.
Then I got out my tablet, and drew illustrations for the pages, and figured out how much text would fit into the pages next to the pictures. Reducing the story that is currently 40 pages and nowhere near done (which is in fact printed out on the paper on her wings) to five tiny pages was a challenge, but I finally managed it.
Then I used mom's print shop program to figure out how to layout the pages so that they would print the right way to be made into signatures, used mom's paper cutter to cut out the pages, then followed a bookbinding guide to string the signatures together and attach them to the cover.
For a finishing touch, I sketched two more drawings on the endpapers.

Entry #44

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Back before the information age. actors kept scrap books with photos and newspaper clipping to show to prospective employers
papers sewn together at back and glued to fabric covered cardboard and then decorated


Entry #45

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I wanted to create a book that would show how important my favorite doll is to me. Not to mention choosing colors & patterns that suited the personality I've given her. The short story inside simply shows that when I'm down that this particular doll has the power to cheer me right up!

For the binding I went with a 4-hole Japanese Book Bind. I found a lovely tutorial online that made the whole process very easy. It makes for a very pretty & clean looking book bind. Aside from the few scrapbook papers & wax thread I purchased everything else used were items I already had at home and I simply wanted to utilize what I already owned. I managed to keep from purchasing new items during the first 2 challenges because of all the items I had squirreled away~ For the last one I decided to buy a few things because I really wanted to make a book that would last.

In all these challenges I wanted to bring out the beauty of my doll that I see everyday. She is a winged beauty who has color bursting all around her~

Entry #46

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: saddle stitch book with pages made of tracing paper, laser engraved card stock image pages and laser cut lettering added with spray adhesive. Cover being pearlized card stock embellished with a laser cut herringbone pattern in colors consistent with the wings and vitrine.
My overall concept is being watched by fallen angels


Entry #47

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: *Spoilers! Watch the GIF first!*
From the beginning, I wanted the wings, the set, and then whatever came at the end to tell one single story, in this case, a tragic love story. The wings are strapped to my doll's back, because they are not his own. They were won in battle, and are being worn as a badge of victory. The head of his foe he has fashioned into a helmet, which is kept with his weapons in his private aerie. When the 3rd challenge was a book, I knew I had a chance to explain all the background details in my first two entries. The book needed to look like it could have been made in a forest, with lots of natural colors, fibers, and such. It was made by his lady love. I chose stab binding because of the beautiful patterns it made on the cover, and because I didn't think wood elf ladies had a lot of printing presses hanging around. The patterns on the front and back have been burned in with a wood burning tool (from the 70's! Eek!). All the papers are natural fiber paper from my own collected journals. The front emblem was created by using a Dremel to carve the leaf shape in the wood, and then layers of super glue and key shavings (you can ask the people at Home Depot to give you the leftovers in the machine garbage tray!) were built up as an inlay. I wanted it to start as the journal of their relationship, then become the story of his revenge. I hand made all the small toys and pieces, from wire fishhooks to bloody bracelets, and sketches. His handwriting shows his mood, and I tried to make the lady's handwriting at the beginning and in the letter look different (much neater!). I wanted his exultation to be a climax as he successfully avenges his lover, but I wanted to end on the idea that he is still deciding how to move on from there. I am so pleased with the final book, and will cherish it as a memory of the contest and my most beloved doll.

Entry #48

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I got inspired by the my dolls true story of how I got her and what inspired me to make the particular wings that I did. I used a very helpful book binding guide on DoA to make sure I did it properly. I painted each picture by hand with watercolors, transferred them to my computer, then retouched, cropped, and printed them onto miniature pages, which I then cut accordingly. I knew that I wanted the book to be in the style of a childrens storybook, so I used soft pastels and simple language to convey that.

 

Entry #49

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials ~ purchased materials
Inspiration: I stayed in the urban/torn/worn down part of the look.
Punked wings, worn down niche and a worn/torn book.
It fits my dolls attitude I suppose. Not going by the rules and trying things that are different. Creating beauty out of chaos.
He used the book in a fight.
"Sorry about the book. It kinda had an accident a couple of years ago. Used it in a battle with my arch nemesis. Threw it at him, but he kinda roasted it along with my sanctuary. Still hope it will repair itself"
materials:
colored thread, metallic paper, scrapbook paper with text
adhesive pearls, carboard lids, copy paper, mini studs
doll photo's, sticker (travel), teabags, ink pad, spraypaint gold
brads
construction:
cut out shape of book from cardboard, glued pieces to paper.Cut pieces from it to make it uneven. Glued metallic and texted paper to it. Tea dyed copy paper twice. Crunched and spraypainted it. Cut pages, cut out photo's. Abuse photos with knife / tear them. Glued trimming (abused) to photos. Wrote text. Smudged edges with inkpad. Glued paged together and into the book. Glued studs (spraypainted) and thread to the spine of the book. Added sticker and knifed it.
Braided thread for the outside closure and for the bookmark. Made hole for the tread. Dented book shell with hands and scissors. Added adhesive pearls. glued tread to backside. Glued brads (one bend) to front and back. Used inkpad on the edges and to smudge it. Wrote letter.

Entry #50

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I went for an old styled/aged leather book look and added pictures to help the audience read along with the story.
I used a traditional binding technique for the spine- sewing the pages together and stiffening the spine with glue.


Entry #51

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: My book is intended as a story for young 2nd generation and beyond Pukis to learn their history; an answer to the "where did I come from" question that youngsters often ask.
I used the gold vellum paper to cover a piece of scrap filler cardboard. The text was typed out on the computer with a square left empty for the illuminated letter in the first paragraph. I drew the illuminated letters by hand then scanned the pages, shrunk them down to size, then saved them as jpeg and printed them out. The pictures were also scanned, shrunk and saved.
I used the sketch pad paper to make the pages, sewed them together then glued the text pages and pictures in the proper order. I then used the end papers to cover the inside of the book cover and glue the pages to the cover.
Adding the leaf trim to the front cover, leaf punch outs to the back cover and the text banners to the front and back end papers completed the book


Entry #52

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: For this challenge, I decided to tell a simplified version of my doll's character's life. I used butterfly imagery to tie the book in with the other challenges.
For construction, I glued some of the scrapbooking paper to cardboard for the cover, and used the computer paper to make the book with accordion-style pages. I used a piece of ribbon glued to the back cover to hold it closed.


Entry #53

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I wanted to do something for my egypt concept, so I tried to make a book with paper, paint and pencils. I used coffee to make the pages more ancient. After I decorated the pages of the book, I bounded it with a needle and thread.


Entry #54

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I wanted to make a cute small fairy tale for my winged cutie :3
At first I made the pages: two double-page was sewing and the all of the double pages was been glue at the middle to the cardboard cover.
I made a little paintings for the story, and than I painted the pages and I glued the small paintings in to the pages.
And than I made a little decor to the cover.

 

Entry #55

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: For the scale of my book, I was inspired by the Codex Gigas, which is a very large medieval manuscript, measuring about 4 feet tall. I wanted the book to have a hand-written feel to it, as it was intended to be a written lore/mythology of my doll.
Not being much of a traditional artist, I decided that most of my book would be written. So I wrote up my story in Word and then set up my page layouts in Photoshop.
To bind the book, I used the traditional sewn signature method, separating the printed and trimmed pages into signatures of 5 full pages each. I made 4 signatures (80 pages total), sewed them together with needle & thread and then bound the sewn signatures together with PVA glue. Then I made a spine tab from brocade and glued it onto the bundle of signatures.
I made the cover from the cardboard package mailer, and glued the leather over the spine. I leveled the surface of the cover by gluing index cards to the rest of the cover, and then glued the beige scrapbook paper over the rest of the cover. I glued the tabs down into the cover, and then used the second scrapbook paper to make the endpapers.
Once all of that was set, I trimmed the amber crystal from the center of my bead and glued the decorations onto the cover, wanting to keep the cover relatively simple and not exceedingly embellished.


Entry #56

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: This was my first time to bind a book, but it was an interesting experience! I wanted to go for something bigger, but that might still be held by dollies and also matching the white paper theme from the last 2 rounds. The story was written using text and illustrations (watercolor). I think this story could resemble any doll's story.


Entry #57

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: He is supposed to be kinda futuristic and a book doesn't really go with his theme, so I figure what happens when they would try to make a book. (and it might end up looking like a child drew them as they are out of practice actually drawing) I cut the paper to size, then i took a pen and wrote the simple words on the page then took q-tips and painted. After they were done, I took the clear tape and made the pages and used thread to bind the pages together. I then cut apart a toilet paper tube and then bound the pages between the covers. then I covered the covers with aluminum foil and tape. No glue was used, only tape. It's actually a bonus the book looks like a shackle.

Entry #58

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I wanted the book to be simple so I used cardboard and paper with glue within the spine to hold it together. The paint colors are the same as the colors used for the niche. Also, I painted the cover to look like an old book. I chose to hand write my story out in cursive so it would appear like old script. I don't necessarily view my story in the present day, so I wanted the overall feel of the book to be older.


Entry #59

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: I wanted to tell the truth of how I got my doll, so I wrote the story as told from the doll's perspective. Since my wings were made of fabric, I decided to bind the book in fabric and include pieces of fabric on every page, incorporating it into the illustrations. The cover of the book itself is simply made from cardboard, with the pages glued to the spine. In order to make such a tiny book legible, I chose to type and print all of the text.


Entry #60

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: My story concept was to create an excuse for Nero's wings shriveling up over the last few weeks. And I thought it would be more fun to do it in rhyme.
The materials are all the little decorated papers that rRabit encloses as a backing in its cellophane clothing and jewelry envelopes. I've been saving them for awhile because I thought they were just too pretty to throw away, and figured I'd find a use for them someday!
The text was printed on computer paper.
My binding technique was a modified accordion.

 

Entry #61

Inspiration:

GIF of book ~ repurposed materials
Inspiration: Concept: Patchwork ragdoll; colourful, cute & fun, with a sewing theme!
I wanted to make a book that was for my doll, about my doll and also very much "her". I tried to keep it simple and cute looking, so I chose a patchwork heart shape for the design. To make the pages I drew a heart on to card, traced around it onto coloured paper, cut out the shapes and glued two paper hearts together (so the pages would have different patterns on each side).
Coming up with the words was probably the trickiest part! I wanted to tell that even though she's a missmatched, funny little hybrid, who's far from perfect, I love her. Which I think is what this whole competition is about, showing everyone just how much we love our dolls! When I was finally happy with the words I wrote them down and drew stitches on each page for a nice detail. The book's cover is paper-covered cardstock with real thread stitches attached one by one, the same as her Aerie (and the stitches on her body too!). The pages were stacked up and the book was bound with dental floss. The cover was glued to the end pages, and finally I cut a strip of washi tape to be the spine of the book. (Fun fact! The patterns on the cover of the book mirror the patterns on her face!)

 

Playing for Fun


Inspiration:

GIF of book
Inspiration: A high fashion model John Fairfax is highly sought after by the photographers for his otherworldly beauty. His face has graced many magazine covers, as well as art gallery walls. However, he doesn't take himself too seriously. It's all just for fun, isn't it?

 

Please vote carefully. You must vote for five different entries.
If you vote for any entry more than once, ALL FIVE of your votes will be thrown out.

You may assign one vote to one entry for each of the following questions:

Which narrative did you enjoy the most?

Which book demonstrated excellent book-binding technique?

Which book showed the most creative use of materials?

Which entry best developed the concept over all three challenges?

Which artistic Triathlon photo is your favorite?


VOTING IS NOW CLOSED!