101 things to do with books
Actually, the title is misleading, even if it is catchy. I don't have 101 things to do with books. I've just discovered one new thing.
I'm usually pretty picky about my books. When I buy a book, I write my name, the place of purchase, the date of purchase and the price in the front. I use that information when I add the book to my catalogue (ie database). I store my books away from direct sunlight and dust them regularly - nothing else in my house gets dusted. I don't cover my books but I also don't dog-ear pages or crease the spines.
I'm very careful who I lend my books to - I have a mental list of people I'll never lend a book to again because the spines came back creased. There are people who are no longer part of my life because not only did they crease spines, they bent the book backwards. I shudder whenever I think of it happening.
I have shelves full of books that are quite old but, apart from slight discolouration around the edges of the pages, look brand new. Even after they've been read a few times.
From the above list, I could almost label this post "Book Law According to E E Montgomery".
I had to share this with you so that you could understand exactly how difficult the activity with the book actually was for me.
I made a handbag out of a book.
It took me a long time to do it - about six months. Five months and twenty-nine days of that time was spent convincing myself I could actually cut the pages out of the book and throw them away. Twenty-two hours was spent cutting the pages out and reading a lot of them just in case there was information I couldn't find anywhere else and had to keep them. After that, the project was super-simple.
I really didn't have a clue how I was going to accomplish my goal so everything is a little rough. I haven't stitched anything - it's all glued. I didn't measure anything so there are odd little folds where there shouldn't be. I couldn't work out how to make a clasp so there's no way to close the bag. When the holes were drilled for the handles, the drill bit caught some of the fabric and tore it so there's another fold that defies any attempt at precision.
The final product is a semi-usable handbag that makes me smile every time I see it. What do you think?
I'm usually pretty picky about my books. When I buy a book, I write my name, the place of purchase, the date of purchase and the price in the front. I use that information when I add the book to my catalogue (ie database). I store my books away from direct sunlight and dust them regularly - nothing else in my house gets dusted. I don't cover my books but I also don't dog-ear pages or crease the spines.
I'm very careful who I lend my books to - I have a mental list of people I'll never lend a book to again because the spines came back creased. There are people who are no longer part of my life because not only did they crease spines, they bent the book backwards. I shudder whenever I think of it happening.
I have shelves full of books that are quite old but, apart from slight discolouration around the edges of the pages, look brand new. Even after they've been read a few times.
From the above list, I could almost label this post "Book Law According to E E Montgomery".
I had to share this with you so that you could understand exactly how difficult the activity with the book actually was for me.
I made a handbag out of a book.
It took me a long time to do it - about six months. Five months and twenty-nine days of that time was spent convincing myself I could actually cut the pages out of the book and throw them away. Twenty-two hours was spent cutting the pages out and reading a lot of them just in case there was information I couldn't find anywhere else and had to keep them. After that, the project was super-simple.I really didn't have a clue how I was going to accomplish my goal so everything is a little rough. I haven't stitched anything - it's all glued. I didn't measure anything so there are odd little folds where there shouldn't be. I couldn't work out how to make a clasp so there's no way to close the bag. When the holes were drilled for the handles, the drill bit caught some of the fabric and tore it so there's another fold that defies any attempt at precision.
The final product is a semi-usable handbag that makes me smile every time I see it. What do you think?
No comments have been added yet.
