Birthday, Box and Stationary

I've been pretty sick lately, I've had a nasty flu that's put me out of action for over a week (suspected whooping cough for a while but not sure now, hope it's not!)

I've been unable to go to work, doctors orders, and am on strong antibiotics that leave me with a perpetual bitter taste in my mouth, ew.

It also happened to fall on my birthday, of course, but it's nothing new as I've always had crappy things (mainly illness or accidents; broken bones, hospital stays, asthma attacks, flu's, bugs and infections etc) happen around the time of my birthday.

The upside was that this year I spent it with my wonderful family, and even in my disgusting state at the time, we had a lovely birthday breakfast :)

<3They even bought me a kumquat plant! Yum!

To stave off the boredom while at home I've been making stuffs, mainly books and birthday presents.

This one is a stationary set, printed with my own hand made stamps with matching envelopes and sticker seals. I even made the a box for them this time! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, even if it is a little rough around the edges.

I then wrapped it in some of my hand-dyed lokta paper i've been saving for special use :3

Mandatory doggy approval.

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Chunky Book

Finally finished a little chunky book that's been waiting to be finished for some time now.

Here is the pre-finished-chunky stage:

And the finished book! Yay!

Happy chunky book in my happy chunky hand! :D

Materials used:

110gsm cartridge paper book block

red waxed linen thread

gold paper end sheets

maroon silk paper spine

pearlescent paper with an asian inspired print

rice paste, bookbinding glue, cheese cloth, bond paper and pre-made end bands.

Dimensions (width x height x depth): 8.5cm x 11.4cm x 3.2cm

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Woodless Watercolours

Haven't had much of a chance to create anything finished, other than books. I'm all into the bookbinding at the moment :D

Had a little play with some Mont Marte Woodless Watercolour Pencils at work, they're very different from traditional watercolour pencils, they require less precise control thus I found it rather challenging! However, they have a lovely effect and some beautiful lush colours; fun for splashing about with messier, looser work.

This was done at work in the spare 10 minutes before I started, so yes, not that original. ^^

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Lino Print Girl

Quick post before work.

I've been messing around with lino printing lately, this is my second attempt. First on this particular type of lino.

And this is after printing and worked over with pantone tria markers and white paint.

Apart from gouging out my finger tip with one of the blades, I think it turned out ok for a first try at this style of work. ^^

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Bunch o Books

Just to show that I haven't been completely idle on the bookbinding side of things...

I've recently started a new job and its been a bit hectic on the adjustment side of things.

So far, I'm loving it, but I'm keeping my hopes on the down low until after my 3months probationary period... I hope they keep me! XD

I'll post some photos of my workplace later :3

Thanks for sticking around!

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