JOLLIETEXTILES

Merry Christmas to all of you that have time the day before Christmas Eve to be looking at blog posts! I have hastily put this concertina book together, making it from old Christmas cards. I’m sure this idea has been used before, but once I thought of it I was so excited I had to do it, even though time has been very short. Now I have done it for the first time I can see that it is a good way to recycle old cards, particularly those that have a bit of glitter or texture on them. Concertina books are really difficult to photograph but below are two shots of the folded sides – one bright colours, the other pale and muted – all Christmas flowers.

Most of the images are made from homemade stamps, but I have also used a pretty commercial stencil that seems to come in useful on everything I do! I’ve also used the ends of cardboard scraps and bubble wrap to make pine needles and berries, plus some simple hand drawing. The flowers and trees I’ve chosen to interpret are holly, hellebores, yew, pine and mistletoe.

The concertina book isn’t quite finished as I have made a list of poetry quotes appertaining to the relevant flowers. I’ll be writing those on one evening, using a fine liner pen and swirling the quotes around the foliage. Keep hold of your Christmas cards as when time allows I will make another little folded book from greetings cards and post a simple tutorial.