Unusual books

Lately I've been haunted by the idea of elongated books. I'm trying out new proportions, stretching, distorting, searching for the unusual. The idea came to me after seeing a book with uncommon dimensions in the collection of a friend. It was a prayer book, slender and long as it was meant to be hold in the hand. It felt really pleasant and special to have it in my hand so I instantly wanted to create one like it.

A book made out of a vintage glasses case.

Another, made of some very cracky old leather.

And here's one I just finished. My favorite so far, and pretty unusual I'd say.

This last is made of old leather from a Portuguese chair. I had only a small piece which I got from a friend  and used it as it was. It has beautiful irregular edges and the circles are marks left by the nails used in upholstery.

I'm going to play again with this idea for sure. Perhaps try something on horizontal, don't know yet. I like them as objects but can't help to wonder, are they practical too? I haven't tried one like this yet, so I might just go ahead and keep one for myself...  

  

Saturday Fair Finds. What a good day it was!

Yesterday morning when I heard the alarm clock ringing for the fair I was soooo sleepy so I decided better I don't go anywhere. Trying to go back to sleep I started to have all these images with great vintage bags and other people were buying them, and then the question: what if this week is THE week? Because very rarely, there are some amazing Saturdays when I find incredibly many things to buy, like the fair would know exactly what I need. So I decided to get up after all and go, and guess what, yesterday was one of those days!

A gorgeous suitcase full of stamps from where it traveled, 
from the customs and hotels in Europe

Two hand bags in pretty bad state but with healthy leather
and beautiful wear patina

It is precisely this type that I'm happy to find, because if I buy beautiful old things that are in good state I can't bring myself to use them as materials for my books, so I keep them for my "collection" which has already way too many bags.

I also found a very old frame and a few other metal hardware for my books. Then we went to "celebrate" the score with some grilled sardines which are very traditional from Portugal and sooo delicious!
 

Souvenirs

Last week my boyfriend had to go away for a few days to a meeting. I love when he goes on his trips for two reasons. First, I get to have the house all to myself for some time and second... he always brings me something nice and special from his trips. These wonders came from a street fair in Brussels. The leather suitcase is simply breathtaking, and the bottle… so peculiar! I’ve never seen such a thing before, does anyone know what this glass bottle dressed in leather was used for? Unfortunately it does not have a top anymore.
So maybe there are others who like to receive more girly girl stuff, like perfume for example, but that’s me, and nothing else would have made me happier :) Although yeah, some chocolate would also have been good…

In the Mood for Books

I’m back in my workshop after being away for like 5 months...? And I have such a mood for making big solid books!! These are my latest creations. I’ve been thinking on how to put them together for a long time. During these last months I’ve been accumulating -- searching and gathering all hardware I could find to use on my books. But it’s really difficult to find vintage fittings that would suit best, so for these two books I mostly used new hardware with antiqued appearance but why not? I’m quite happy with the result.

Amazing Vintage Finds

Bucharest is a great place to go on trips looking for vintage stuff. That’s what I’m doing while here, and look at the treasures I found this Saturday at the flea market!

A treasure from a trip to Lisbon

Last week I went in a very short trip to Lisbon. The weather was awful but I was really excited by the trip as I wanted to buy bookbinding supplies (very hard to find otherwise) and to go to my favorite fair from Portugal: Feira da Ladra. That is the fair I went to every Saturday for almost three years, before moving to the north of Portugal.
Saturday was raining, at the fair people had everything covered in plastic foil and I was already getting disappointed that after walking up and down those streets several times I was still unable to find something nice. And then there it was: one of the most beautiful bags I ever found! The man who sold it to me even made me a deal on the price because it was raining, haha. I was so happy! So here it is. Beautiful!

And another book

Yesterday I finished one more book. This one is so dear to me. I made it for my Etsy shop but this is one of those books that are just so hard to let go :)

 

Saturday's Fair Finds

Saturday is the most exciting day of the week for me: the day of the Flea Market!! In Portuguese, Feira da Vandoma, from Porto.

I love going there each time I can, it’s really like lottery! Look at my finds from yesterday:

A very vintage tool bag which I bought to use the leather for my next books but now I'm not sure anymore, it really looks great just the way it is.

An interesting agenda from 1914, it certainly smells like an oldy! It has mostly blank pages inside but also a few writings from different time periods, including some anachronistic entries, from which I suppose it was used by someone who randomly marked important events from his/her family history. The agenda starts with the sentence: “My son got divorced from his wife according to her wish”. There are other interesting entries, and this got me thinking, apropos of today’s blogs and information sharing… how would this person feel to know that his/her journal will be sold at the fair and read by anyone (like me), and how, on the contrary, most of us today are willingly keeping open journals and can’t wait others to read them :) It’s quite a change, isn’t it?

And finally, I got something else that is worth being shown. As my boyfriend said when he saw it, this is a Cobra-Zebra leather hide!! It is actually painted and I don’t know why I bought it, I will probably not use it for my books but I guess it is not something that you see every day :)