Always been a fan of miniature books (or books in general, and miniatures in general).
I think I fell in love one vacation in Italy in the late ’60’s and agonizing about my (sparse) souvenir money and how best to spend it. When I stumbled on one of these, that was it.
They usually held a strip of tightly folded up mini photo cards of whatever tourist spot you were in. The next few years, I would collect those with a passion. In school I would not only write my own short stories, but attempt to make it into a mini booklet, with small handwriting and stitching. In the ’70’s my mini booklets would be a little bigger, but I remember picking up a few no bigger than 3” - with gold edges no less!
In mid 2000 I found Paperminis, and I made a whole library load full of books - in a room box the size of a shoe box - most of which have pages with text and pictures.
So it should come as now surprise I’ve been plotting how to accomplish making miniature books with the Glowforge since I bought mine more than two years ago now. I have some mobility limitations so sewing paper spine or leather was out.
First I worked on this notebook with a living hinge, that was a start.
Then covering a block with engraved leather looks ok too, but no readable pages.
Finally, I had not one, but two lightbulb moments…
Engraving on double sided cardstock to reveal the white.
Secondly, I thought of Levenger’s Circa system which I’ve been a fan of for years. What if I can design my own rings?
So came a lot of testing of rings, of card stock, of leather…
I had the most difficulty with the gold paint on leather. It kept leaking out. I finally used blue scotch painters tape with much better results. I picked the story of The Princess on the Pea, because I love a good fairy tale, and it was short.
To top it off, I added a wooden cover design to protect the booklet. Through a trade with @ElsieH , she did a mother-of-pearl inlay for me that looks stunning. Thanks, @ElsieH !
My dream of being able to create a miniature booklet you can read and turn the pages - all made on the Glowforge - has finally been realized!
Darn, forgot the quarter pic… the pages are 3" high.
