Get Creative with your Library Weeding

Tape Cassette Lights

This one uses uniform clear cased tape cassettes for a more elegant look.  A mix and match style using coloured tapes could be more fun and offer a record (pun intended) of your musical tastes from way back when. (Source: Make Magazine)

Floppy Disk Notebooks

Love this one. They look bright and unique with a sturdy cover. Be even more environmentally friendly and use G.O.O.S. paper to fill it. G.O.O.S. paper, pronounced 'goose' for those not yet in the know, is Good On One Side papers from you printer's recycling bin.  We found a box of blank black coloured disks in the back of a cupboard recently.  I wish I had known about this then.(Source: Environment Team)

 Globe Lamp or Bowl

Are you like some of my libraries that just can't bear to throw out old globes, even though the countries have changed borders and names?  Try converting them into lamps for your reading nooks or reference work tables. Or change them into bowls to hold scrap paper, pencils, bookmarks, or whatever you have in bins on your counter. They are stylish and great eye candy for the library. (Sources: Happiness Is and Indulgy)

Card Catalogue Mini Bar

Still have one of these shoved in a corner?  Don't throw it away just yet...

I'm all for recycling...THIS is how we Dew(ey) it.

(Source: The Sugar Monster )

Pumpkin Book Characters

• I love this project!  Host a contest between the classes or even for the whole school.  Partner with the art teacher or classroom teacher.
• The theme for the pumpkin contest is “My Favorite Book Character.”  Paint and decorate a pumpkin to look like a book character.  We are using acrylic paints, permanent markers and miscellaneous supplies such as  yarn, construction paper, pipe cleaners, cloth, wigs, old clothes and whatever else you can come up with.
• We are not allowing carving so that they will last longer on display before turning bad.  Another hint is to not use watercolor paint as it tends to run and not cover very well. 
• We were able to pick up small pumpkins for $0.99 at the local grocery store.  You could also use other squash and gourds for different shapes.  

I will post pictures once our entries have been received.  Below are some of the example I found on Pinterest.com

Book Nooks

These are some build-able ideas for any home.  Use a wall, covert a closet, or create a purposeful room divider.  Add a mini oasis to your home, display your interests and that wonderful collection of books.

Source: Kate W. on booksaremyfavouriteandbest/

source: realestate.msn.com

Source: Pinterest.com

Book Inspired Designs

Not just pages on the shelf these days, discarded and new books have been converted into everyday items: furniture, lamps, art, jewelry, purses and bags, and more.   

They have also inspired fashion and decor in other ways.  Here are is sampling of innovative literary-inspired creations. (images from http://pinterest.com/bookpatrol/books-in-design/)

Comic wall; bathroom reader; bookshelf towel and shower curtain

Fiction theme cakes; book wedding cake

fireplace art; books converted into a flower box; book themed phone 

Book lights; book inspired rug, Andrew Martin Bookshelf Wallpaper

(1)Dress made of romance novels; Hamlet tights (2) DIY comic book heels; romance novel cover decoupaged heels (3) mini-book bracelet; literary quote metal necklace; Pride and Prejudice text scarf

wedding dress made from fairy tales; book text tights; book bag; nail art

Book Art by Mike Stilkey

From the official Mike Stilkey page:  Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. His work is reminiscent of Weimar-era German expressionism and his style has been described by some as capturing features of artists ranging from Edward Gorey to Egon Schiele.

Some insight into his work from an interview with Dave Kinsey posted on another blog.

I like to think of my artwork as one giant poem. I never really have a concrete idea of what I'm going to do. I just kind of feel my way through it and it comes out in a way that I don't always expect. I really try not to edit myself too much.

I was painting on book pages for forever, and actually published a book in 2005 titled “100 Portraits” in which I drew one hundred portraits on old book pages. At the time, I was drawing on books, records or anything else I could find at a thrift store. Eventually, I started drawing on the books themselves. I was going to do a project where I just drew on the covers of the books, and as I finished them I would stack them against the wall. It dawned on me that it might be a good idea to paint down the spines of the books instead of just on the covers.

You’d be amazed at how many books are thrown out. I like the idea of reusing all of these discarded items as canvases for my work. I even asked the library up the street from my house if they had any books that they were getting rid of, and they said no. When I explained to them how I use them, they gave me access to a huge dumpster in the back parking lot of the library. The dumpster was filled with thousands and thousands of books. I spent the afternoon fighting with some homeless guy over who got which book from the dumpster.

 

More pictures on Mike Stilkey's Facebook page and official website: mikestilkey.com

Book Sculptures

Book artist Jodi Harvey-Brown offers new life to some great books.  Using the very pages of these books to bring a feeling of living words to the stories.  Check out some examples from her Etsy.com  store under the name WetCanvasArt.

Rhett and Scarlett come to life! "Gone with the Wind" is one of our best loved books, and the story pops out of the pages with this sculpture. Rhett holds Scarlett close in front of the iconic tree while Scarlett's beloved Tara waits for her return in the background. The sculpture is detailed with tall grasses behind the tree, wildflowers under Scarlett's feet and a horse and carriage outside of Tara.

36. The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide by Eva Talmadge

The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwideis a guide to the emerging subculture of literary tattoos?a collection of more than 150 full-color photographs of human epidermis indelibly adorned with quotations and illustrations from Dickinson to Pynchon, from Shakespeare to Plath. With beloved lines of verse, literary portraits, and illustrations?and statements from the bearers on their tattoos'' history and the personal significance of the chosen literary work?The Word Made Flesh is part collection of photographs and part literary anthology written on skin.






Fans of the written word are memorialising their favourite passages or sometimes just a phrase or even a single word in a different type of ink.  The book is a photo essay showing tattoos from literary sources: quotations, images of book art and illustrations, character and author portraits, even definitions and syntax marks.  And just like other tattoos, it's so interesting to see what words and images spoke to someone so profoundly that they felt the need to imprint them on themselves, sometimes as a badge, a memorial or perhaps as a personal mantra. Some of the stories behind their choices are fascinating and inspiring.

The concept of literary tattoos bring me to thoughts of Fahrenheit 451.  The ideas and words within books can change people, sometimes profoundly. Perhaps the literary tattoo is merely the physical evidence of that change, a reminder of our personal evolution. Books introduce us to new ideas, show us how do view life differently, examine the lives of characters and often, in turn, our own.  Literature judges, defends, convicts and frees us.  It educates and challenges and as a result of reading, we change.

Weapon of Mass Instruction

Argentinian art-car maker Raul Lemesoff drives around the streets of Buenos Aires distributing free books to all – titled Arma De Instruccion Masiva, or Weapon of Mass Instruction, Raul will pull over for anyone asking for a free book! Motorcyclists and pedestrians will even take books off his car while he’s stopped at lights.

Bookshelf

As much as I love books...and I do, I adore unique bookcases and shelves.  That lead me to my new favorite blog, Bookshelf.

No wall space?  No problem.

"Take a spin through this blog dedicated to clever creative bookshelves and (didn't realize this existed) bookshelf culture. From what's on the shelves of famous thinkers to one-off shelves, book storage never got so concentrated an examination. Plenty here as well for those who want a good does of interiors eye candy."

A new take on reading by the fire



 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
  Unbalanced perfection

Even a Tardis or two for my fellow Geekoids