I was going to do some wicker. I got out the books and then changed course.
This is the very first book I bought as a reference for wicker back in 1983. I can't believe that I have been doing wicker that long, but I have.
Anyway, it has been falling apart for quite some time. No fun to try to flip through it anymore. So, I decided to use one of my favorite remedies for falling apart or otherwise annoying volumes.
I went and found a small notebook cover, about the right size. Then I looked until I found the infamous, hiding, 3 hole, hole punch. It is never where I think it is.
I adjusted the punch to the size of the notebook holes and went to work. It takes a while, because you can only do a few pages at a time, but now I can flip through it once again.
I glued the cover to the front of the notebook and the spine to the spine of the notebook. A whole new book!
I have done this for years. I don't do it to books that I think may have some value later on. Mostly it is paperbacks that I want to keep in one piece.
Things like the wicker book were not meant to last. The values from a 1983 issue of the wicker pricing guide would be next to worthless.
This is the first one I did. I am sure that some of you have a copy of Mott's Miniatures Workbook. It is the most irritating miniature book that I have ever seen. It was bound like a stenographer's notebook, at the top edge. The people that published it thought that it would be good to make a book that would stand up so that you could read it as you made things.
They didn't think about people wanting to just look through the book. If you do that, you have to flip and turn it around and various other actions to see each page.
I got tired of doing acrobatics whilst reading so I took it apart. I lopped off the top edges of the pages, where the spiral was, with a paper cutter.
Then I proceeded to flip and turn the pages until I had them in the right order for a regular book.
After making sure that everything was right, I used the three hole punch that matches a regular notebook.
This one had a hard cover, so I just put it inside and labeled the outside on the spine with a label maker.
I did this one less than a year after I got the book.
I bought it at Mott's, when they still had a larger museum at the back of Knott's Berry Farm Park a long time ago.
I went in early one morning to look and I was the only one there, besides the man running it...He must have been bored and started following me. We talked about each exhibit as we came to them and he seemed to know just about everything there was to know about each one. He didn't introduce himself, but was very pleasant and fun to talk to.
I bought the book and took it back to the hotel. I opened it and discovered that identity of my guide. It was Mr. Mott, himself. I have always felt very honored to have had a private tour of the miniatures that he made, by the maker himself!
I am sorry that I messed up the book, but it had to be done. My sanity was at stake. Standing on your head to read every other page is no fun.
See you tomorrow.
3 comments:
Hi Casey. I too went to Mott's at Knott's Berry Farm a LONG time ago.
I didn't get the personal tour however or that book. But I did enjoy the visit.
Phyllisa
How cool is that. You meeting Mr. Mott himself. :D
Love how you've restored your books. I should gather all of my counted cross stitch books and pamphlets and do the same. Maybe I should try another miniature stitch pattern? My eyes aren't as good as they used to be, but maybe?
Hope your toe feels better today. :D
Mott's [at Knott's Berry Farm] WAS an interesting place, wasn't it? How sad I was the year that the heirs decided to move the museum/shop away from KBF and downsize in the process. Many of the original displays were sold. An era came to an end. Too bad. I had put a few of my creations [roomboxes] on "consignment" with them around about that same time. It was an interesting experience talking with the next generation...young business-oriented souls. It struck me that they were more interested in starting afresh, and going in a different direction than the generation, or two before them. One person's "dream," ultimately must have become another person's nightmare...the upkeep got to be a bit much for them, so out went the old, and in came the new, as the saying goes. Having been around miniatures as long as you and I have been, we have seen the many changes within this beloved hobby of ours. Many fine artisans have come and gone, leaving their legacies...their art! It's been a magnificent journey. I'm so glad to have been a part of it all. Wouldn't trade any of it for all the pearls on the bottom of the sea. : ) Trust your toe is mending? Those can be quite painful. Best get out your steel-toed slippers to protect it! Frightful how often toes seem to catch on the most unlikely chair leg, or corner of an area rug, even when being careful. Ouch!!!
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