Origami Books

I spent a lovely day in a bookmaking class with local wonderwoman Jody Alexander. She is a gifted artist and excellent teacher. We made a very clever structure called the Origami Travel Book. This structure can be made very simply, as a card, for instance, or as a more complex book. It also adapts to any size paper.

The essence is the teal colored section above, which is a rectangle folded to make several pockets; a few blank pages are sewn inside. The bigger sample holds three of these sections, sewn into a cover of luxurious handmade paper that looks like old leather. I couldn't figure out how to show the inside and the outside simultaneously, so you have to take my word for it--there are many many pockets to stash little paper souvenirs, and lots of blank pages to write on.

There are unlimited possibilities for embellishment--using stitching, collage, decorative paper, maps. I am eager to try this at home; it will be big fun to go to the paper store first!