Imperfection - Ink Drawing

Inked with micron pens on cartridge paper, added a little pink pencil for colour and effect.
This one's going to my Artfire to be sold as an original, no prints on this one, thus, pardon the watermarks.

"My imperfections make me who I am."

*

Finished 'Mum Book

As promised in the previous post, though a little later in the evening than anticipated.

Finishing up the binding and tying that badboy off!

Book photo!pr0n! XD

Little bit of scale, it's actually quite small and cute ^^

My only reall little issue with this book is that the bindings ended up slightly looser than I'd have liked, and the fact the covers are attached just by the tapes is a little disconcerting.
Still, I'm really happy with the colours and the visible threads look really pretty.
I've already started my next book project but since it's a little bit of a secret, I won't be able to show any progress photos until the very end.
Thanks for keeping up with my bookbinding shenanigans!


*

Chrysanthemum Book Update

It has a name!! XD

Last night I worked a little more on the cover boards and made the holes in the signatures. Tonight I hope to start threading the bindings.


Coverboards and end papers. This particular style of book doesn't join the signatures with the endpapers. The fabric is, of course, vintage silk.


Signatures folded into quartos, ready to be threaded.


This is the ribbon and pale yellow thread I'm going to use. Not sure how I'll get around the fraying ribbon ends problem yet.



*

Japanese Stab Bound Mothers Day Gift

A little late with the photos of this but I gave it to my mother right after I finished it, then realised I'd forgotten to take photo's of it. By the time I did remember, mum had already stashed it away where she hides all the random things I make her.

This past mother's day, I wanted to give mum something handmade. I decided on a Japanese stab bound book with vintage silk covers and silk thread for the binding. The signatures (the bundles of pages) consisted of off-white, acid free cartridge paper interspersed with earth toned sheets of handmade textured paper.
I wanted the whole thing to last a long time so I made sure everything I used was archival or acid free, including the paste.

The silk I used had a gorgeous embroidered chrysanthemum.

Mum, of course, loved it, even though it wasn't till after I gave it to her that, in my haste to get it done on time (it was still late by the way), I'd forgotten to add the endpapers... very much an F in book making there.
Still, she didn't want to give it back so I could add them, she said she loved the way it looked as it was, it gave it a more authentic 'handmade' feel.
Mothers. Gotta love them. XD


*

Catching Up on Crafty Things

Today looks like it has the past four days. Like this:

So my goals today (because weather doesn't really allow me to go anywhere other than my room which is the warmest place in the house right now) are to get a few more book making things done, since it's fast becoming one of my favourite crafts.

I'm trying my hand at stitching over tape bindings today, i've already had a go at basic codex and Japanese stab bound (more about that in the next post) with relatively decent results.
These are yesterday's efforts at getting the signatures ready and cutting out the cover boards, as well as choosing the materials for the cover and tape bindings.
Notice the candelabra? I prepared during another blackout (out of sheer boredom I might add), they're coming fast and frequent these days, one per day at least this week.

So getting more on this done is today's goal.
That and working on a pen drawing I was also daft enough to start by candlelight last night. Night photo fail there. Sorry. ^_^



*

Macaron, Thy Name is Frustration. And Yum.

I'm never one to shy away from trying out new recipes and cooking techniques even though I am by no means a culinary expert, far from it in fact.
However, I am not clueless to the difficulties of this particular little cookie recipe, I've known for some time now, through research and watching even some of my favourite online chefs having trouble with it, that it is a troublesome little biscuit.
In a way, I probably ended up hijacking myself in that I became absolutely paranoid about even trying to make French Macarons (not to be confused with Macaroons, coconutty chuncks of not-Macarons), to the point where I made any excuse under the sun to not make them, even going so far as calling them my 'Achilles heel' and 'arch nemesis of cookies', even though I'd never even attempted them. Sad? definitely.
Anyway, today I'd promised myself I'd do something creative, and what do I do when I tell myself I need to do something creative? I procrastinate, usually by cooking.
But this particularly cold, grey and rainy day I finally resolved to attempt the Chocolate Macaron.
Chocolate Macaron with chocolate cream filling to be exact.

I won't bore you with the written details except to explain that there were two attempts made; First one that was done with utmost care and a billion butterflies in my stomach that amounted to THE most epic cookie fail I have ever had the misfortune to lay (almost teary) eyes on.
And the second attempt, where upon I was so mad at myself for the first fail that I practically threw the mixture together, adjusting the original recipe to what I thought would work under my circumstances and, to my surprise and delight, the damned things worked. Irony can be sweet and rather tasty.

Anyways, on to the pictures!

The Ingredients list for the cookies:
Icing sugar, egg whites, cocoa, castor sugar, almond meal.

All set and ready to go, wide eyed and so very naive.

EPIC FAIL. My eyes, they bleed.

Batch No.2...

Yeilded much, much better results. (lookit that little 'foot'!! *geekout*)

Yay! Trayful of Macaron-y goodness!
Sure, they're not perfect, but I'm pretty damned happy with them.

Cookies paired up to be filled.

Chocolate Cream filling. Oh lawdy so goooood.

Ingredients: dark chocolate, heavy cream, glucose syrup, a tiny bit of butter.

Icing those babies.

Macarons!!

Oh yeah. :D And they taste even better.

My culinary life is now complete.
Almost.




*

Laptop LIVES!!! & Pencil Goth-loli Madness

W00t! The return of laptop was marked with a busy and awesome week long visit from Nayu-Roia and much family mayhem.

Lappy waited quietly for my return ^^
And, as promised a certain fussy med-student (you know I sez it coz i luvs you):


Akiko if she were to be dressed by Elle (who's a goth and would see goth-loli/kimono cutie potential in an unsuspecting Aki... this probably only makes sense to one other person XD). Drawn at work in trusty brown paper sketch book between running around and serving customers.

And I would say more except it's rather late and freezing cold and I have to work tomorrow, so off to beds for me. Night!

*