This may not appear to have moved on from the last photo, but it has. The books have content and it takes time because they are larger. The two opened on the top contain copies of sepia photographs of family and friends, the smaller one has a selection of my hand carved stamps. The ones used as hinges have copies of old family letters which can identify the writer - a guessing book for family.The scroll is a calligraphic sampler. There is more to this level than meets the eye.

Solar Printing Workshop. I haven't done this process before. Using a softish water soluble surface over metal, and a process of selected exposure and washing, I ended up with the print above. My first solar print. I have lots to learn, even what is considered a desired print effect.

I am always surprised by printing, part of it's charm, and the lines, I know I like lines, so I am trying to fit in more printmaking before it is covered by the mundane.

This series of photos has nearly caught up to where we are at the moment. These are a more muted restrained set of boxes and books than the earlier ones.

We have been going for a while on this project now, still looking at Randi Parkhurst's video but having to compromise with structures and proportions, finding individual solutions. The previous post's books and boxes are on the left hand side of this shot, in a box. Once again there is a hinged book, a concertina swing book and a tiny pamphlet book. Some of these books still need content, but we forge ahead with the structures.

The next section looks like this.

The purple book from yesterday's blog is in the left hand side box and contains what I have made to date. There is now another hinged book sandwiched between two concertina boxes with books. It is so hard to hold back, this is so addictive.

The longish box on the left is where we started. It is now joined by a hinged book with covers that stretch over the whole structure. Diane and I can tell at this stage that our books are going to end up with completely different proportions. It is the first time I have sewn over tapes. A word we used often at this stage was organic, a euphemism for when things did not quite meet up or were not plumb or true.

After watching a video of Randi Parkhurst, http://vimeo.com/7694315 paper artist and book maker, Diane and I both thought we would like to attempt to make a similar construction. So together we set about to do just that and after watching the video, minutely, frame by frame, Diane suggested we start with the smallest set of boxes and books. We agreed to meet each week, also constructing independently at home, buying nothing new, using only what we had stored. (This was hard and I failed early on) I had saved the soap wrappers from many gifts and thought they would be ideal for highlights and features. The concertina in front lives in the small box to the rear right, and will contain Randi's details. The other concertina has two covers and contains words to do with patience. This is the beginning.