Tiny Books & Boxes Review

The weather on Saturday, September 11 was sunny and perfect (except for the heavy traffic caused by the CU/Texas A&M game) for our first in-person program since the world shut down. We met at Margaret Stookesberry’s, outside on the patio.

 You probably already know that Margaret is the Master of Folded-Paper Projects. This one was based on a workshop with Carol Pallesen at Ghost Ranch. Margaret had all the materials precisely pre-cut and the directions printed out.

 Even with the directions, we needed Margaret to guide us through the steps so that we ended up with a neat mini box and lid, folded to hold together with no glue needed. Margaret suggested that this is a good use for old calendars and other saved decorated papers. The box can be made in any size, as long as you start with a square piece of paper. Once you learn the system, you can easily become addicted to folding boxes.

 To go into our clever little box, we made a mini book, with a brass hinge and leather cover. For the pages inside, we learned a good method for accordion-folding a strip of paper.

 Finally Margaret shared the “Clothesline Alphabet” style, which she used for our name tags. Basically, you write mono-line capitals and then connect the top and bottom of the letters. To finish, you color the spaces between letters with watercolor pencils which you can then blend with a wet brush.This ‘clothesline alphabet’ is handy for casual-but-interesting lettering.

 We all enjoyed getting together and learning something new.

 Report by Alison Richards