Click on the thumbnails to see a full size picture

Sorry to say: I ran out of batteries for the camera and this book was too thick to scan properly, so these are all the pix I was able to get.

The cover was a base of white mulberry paper, already adhered by Bren, which gave me an excellent surface to work on. I used gel medium to apply torn vintage sheet music (and added a coat on top for protection) then blown vinyl wallpaper painted with black acrylics and highlighted with metallic creams and Lumiere paint. The letters are  bottle caps (flattened first with a hammer) then adhered circles punched out of the same sheet music, flooded with Diamond Glaze. I finished off with epoxy letter stickers, stuck onto the surface of the glaze (which had to dry overnight). The bottle caps were stuck onto the spine of the book slightly to one side (following the crease which formed when the book was open, which stopped them popping off). I used a double layer of thick mounting foam, then filled in with black Appliglue so none of the edging showed. This and the foam both allow for some flexibility, so the letters should stay on OK.

The right-hand page of the first spread was cut (also the page underneath, forming the left-hand page of the second spread) about half of the width, vertically. These formed the base for the concertina pages. I cut sheet music the same height as the pages and 4 times the width, folded in half, then half again (vertically) to make the concertina. I glued tags at the back of the right-hand page (top) of the first spread, then on the front of the left-hand page (bottom) of the second - then stuck the concertina in between, covering the bases of the tags and giving a neat finish. I then stuck the third tag on the fold of the concertina, in the middle. Then collaged bits & pieces where I felt it needed it.

Although I haven't been able to show it, the right-hand side of the second spread shows a gel transfer of an image repeated from the main picture in the first spread, and the left edge forms the edge of the secret door (which has a ribbon to open it with). The niche goes the entire depth of the remainder of the book (apart from 3 pages, stuck together, which form the back of the niche and the end of the book. More collage on the back inner cover.) The top right-hand corner of the page hides a hidden drawer. German scrap helps to hide the drawer and provides a nice elegant finish.

This book was fairly minimalist for me: apart from computer-generating the quotes and printing out onto cream paper, cutting out and collaging where I felt it looked good, the "stuff" was fairly low-key - a reproduction of 19th Century painting of an orchestra and some postage stamps. I like to repeat images for emphasis, and feel this entire piece worked well. I was very satisfied with the result - but oh! the time it took for each stage to dry... that's PVA for you! A great glue but a slow dryer (as is Diamond Glaze in the quantities I used it).

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