Quirky Concertinas 2

Evening class at MN Center for Book Arts. We made 3 concertina books. Two are here. The first one was a standard type of accordion book with a wrapped cover. It can be made any length but we did a smaller book with only two sections (to learn hinges).

The second book had some cuts to make pop-outs. There is most likely a technical name but I have no idea of what it is. This can also be made longer. Georgia (the instructor) had some examples in different sizes that were clever and beautiful and quirky. Her version of the one like this had small paintings put in the pop-outs and then text on the "normal" sections. The small paintings were all hand painted and then glued in, same with the text. Now I'll have to start painting very small paintings if I want to try that. The finished book size can be from very small to very large and the pop-outs can also vary in size even within the book. The only thing to remember is to not make the pop-out so bit that it will stick out of the book when it's closed.

The third book was called something but I can't remember. It looks like these photos are glued in but they aren't. Besides making the regular book and covers and hinges, you make pleated pockets for the photos or text blocks or paintings to slide into. The book ends up sort of thick because of the pleated pockets and despite that, it's still very charming. The backside can be attractive too if you use colored paper because of the X pleat pattern. And I think you could also write back there. Maybe riddles or something.

I'm now a bit inspired again to make some little books. I'll have to check my paper supply and then do some ripping. The paper Georgia used for the first two books was a bristol weight that she bought at Anchor paper, 11x17". She said it was the weight between regular paper and cardstock. The third book was made from Stonehenge Aqua 140 gsm. This is a paper Roz doesn't like for books and now I see why. It cracks at the folds and doesn't make a crisp edge.

Things to remember that I haven't already written:
--Take any class Georgia teaches. She's an excellent teacher at MCBA.
--Any paper could be used for the covers. I could use my handpainted scraps.
--Book 3 boards were 5x5" and the strips were 5". I would make the strips 4.5" high so that the endpapers were more like a regular book.
--Make a template for the frame openings. It was very tedious to measure every square.
--For the two end pieces that attach to the framed section, remember to add 1/2" on one end do that you don't need to make a hinge.
--Our instructions were to connect the end pieces to the frame piece when we were done with the frames but maybe I'd attach the covers to the end pieces before joining the frame. And maybe even let it sit under weights first and then the frame pleats won't get squashed.
--Take measurements of book 2 and where the cuts were. I think I lost my instructions (as usual).