Title: Kyle's Cowlick or Wyatt's Whiskers
Sent this one along to my friend Laurence, fellow mail artist from IUOMA who sent me a tiny, handmade, personalized journal. I'm not sure how she knew that I also adore tiny journals but I hope she likes Kyle/Wyatt as much as I do her work.
You can do quite a bit with handmade mini-books! In fact, there is book that has chapters categorizing the different kinds of books you can make called How to Make Books (go figure) by Esther K. Smith. My favorite is the easiest and quickest: the insta-book.
1. Using any kind of paper your little heart desires fold it in half horizontally.
2. Unfold, then fold again vertically.
3. Fold each flap back toward the original vertical crease so that there are four sides and three vertical folds.
4. Unfold those two fold and there should be four squares/rectangles on either side. Using a pair of scissors (unless you have mega paper tearing skills) cut along the middle crease from the folded side, NOT the open side, to the center of the squares.
5. Open up where you cut and flip down the sides next to each other and there should be four double sided pages that look like an even plus sign from above. Fold it again into itself and you have yourself a freakin' quaint mini-book blank and ready to be filled with drawings or collage materials or sweet nothings or to do lists or addresses and phone numbers and ANYTHING.
I would recommend checking out Esther K. Smith's books for more ideas. A few of the designs are complex and require actual book making materials but oh, the things you can create with just a piece of paper!
I conjured one of these babies for my aunt and uncle out in Michigan and they geeked out over it. All I added was a black and white nearly stick figure level drawing on each page explaining to them why I have been out of school a year and still don't have a big girl job and spend all my time on crafts. Perhaps they were just glad to see I'm doing SOMETHING with myself, even if it is this.
On that note, I should mention that these sentiments are not my own (I do no feel I'm wasting my time!). I think that arts and crafts and, most specifically, mail art are the most worth while pursuits in a era such as this. Let's face it: technology killed the paintbrush. Now we can create sharper images with photoshop and transmit messages as soon as we think them via email or phone. The sanctity of the post is exactly the sort of thing I like to have in life as a reminder that not everything about our daily selves needs to be as fast-paced as possible. Taking the time to write a letter forces you to 1) spend some time with yourself 2) focus energy on creating your own something rather than consuming what others have made 3) acquire satisfaction from having actually put forth effort instead of finding the easiest way to accomplish a task set before you. It also shows your recipient that you cared enough to take a moment out of your day to think about them and how/what they are doing, which is just plain nice, don't you think?
Currently:
Listening to Could We by Cat Power
Reading Good Mail Day by Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler
Drinking water from the nearby natural spring (in Hungry Horse, Montana!)
Working on a List Book for little bro's graduation present (congrats to all the new grads of 2013!)
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