Maybe you remember back in December, early in the Cups o’ Kindness days, when I explained that I’d been designing and making sigils for myself as part of a Fodder School project. Sigils, as a quick reminder, are (basically) symbolic representations of personal intentions. I created five sigils based on five personal mantras I have for myself: uplift, protect your peace, look for hope, be the light, and make it so.
I thought it might be fun to share my “sigil project” with you ( it’s really so much more than just those sigils, though) . . . because now it’s finished!
So the project was really . . . to make a tiny little book that would fit into a tiny little tin (think Altoid tin-ish size). I’ve always loved tiny little things, so this project really appealed to me. In Fodder School fashion, we made/designed/assembled all of the various elements to create our tiny books (one of these elements being those sigils). And . . . y’know . . . I realize I am only going to overcomplicate this if I go any further down this explanation path. (Because there is A Lot . . . ) And this isn’t an art-technique-y kind of blog. So I will quit right here and just show a couple of pictures . . . with minimal explanation. Here goes:
Tiny book.
In a tiny tin.
Made from a collection of “personal ephemera” (journal pages, notes, doodles, poems, family photos).
Dyed in a pot.
Assembled as a book.
Embellished with stitching, stamping, stenciling.
And bound up with a piece of ribbon also dyed and stamped.
My book was inspired by those sigils and the mantras they represent, as well as a lot of other favorite mantras and words. (If you look closely at the pages, you’ll notice many of my former “one little words” appearing here and there).
I rather like the “grungy” look of the whole thing. It’s not my usual style, and that makes it kind of fun and unexpected. Whimsical . . . but a grungy kind of whimsical.
I’ve included a few photos here in this post, but if you’re curious and you’d like to see more, you can find a lot more photos in my Field Notes. I’ve also got a really, well . . . a really not very well-done (but short) . . . video “flip-through” of the whole book there, too. I have zero experience making videos, so it’s pretty terrible. But if you’re interested, it will give you an idea of how the whole thing works together. (Squint, and keep your expectations low.)
(Oh. And that photo up there? It’s my mom-as-a-little-girl with her mom and her grandma, who happens to be knitting a sock and didn’t put it down for the photo. Which I love.)
So.
How about you? Have you made anything interesting lately?
I love this!
Oh, Kym!!! This is magnificent! It is so beautiful and I love the “grunge” factor! And the stitching… mmmm, delicious! What a masterpiece! Thank you so much for sharing it with us today! XOXO
That’s very very cool. I like the grungy look of it too and I think you included some marvelous details about your life and outlook. Well done!
This is interesting! I’m afraid I would have lost interest in making this project myself along about the dyeing step, but it’s wonderful to look through yours. I love the photo of your great grandmother who didn’t put down her knitting. Well done!
I love that photo too…as well as the entire book. I enjoyed your video Kym. I don’t think I have the patience for something like this, but I do love yours. “Don’t push the river” and “follow the thread” – love both of those. Such a fun project Kym!
This is a fascinating, highly personal object that certainly should be passed down. I love the entire project, especially the picture. Thank you for sharing it with me, Kym.