As creatives and artists, we love our collections of items that we use for art-making and as objects of inspiration. This artist's book was inspired by the 16th-century Cabinets of Curiosities, also known as Cabinets of Wonder, which were collections of notable objects. The objects that might be included were mostly from natural history, geology, ethnography, and archaeology, to name a few.
We will create a hard-cover book and a frame with compartments that will hold your personal collections for the cover of the book; the interior of the book will have four signatures. The book form and cover of the book will be completed in class. The book size is 6 inches wide by 8 inches high and has a 1-inch wide spine.
 

Materials Fee $25 cash  paid to instructor at beginning of class includes:

Canvas frame
Pre-cut Matt Board for the cover of the book
Pre-cut paper for the pages of the book
Materials to make the compartments
Papers to paint on for collage fodder
Collage materials
Matt medium
Gesso
Plaster of Paris
Yes paste

Supplies Needed  to bring for Class:

Scissors
UHU Glue stick & Krazy Glue with a brush
6-strand Embroidery floss: I used neutral colors
Book-binding thread
One large paper needle for binding
Bone folder and a small awl
Acrylic paint: whatever color you like. For this book, I used neutral colors: cream, tan, gray, white, and black. This will be for painting the frame of the cover.
An inexpensive big and small paintbrush or two
Exacto knife and a small cutting surface.
Pencil and favorite drawing tools:
½ a yard of a cotton print or a solid for covering the board boards and the spine.
Small collections of items: These are suggestions, and you do not need to bring all of these items. You decide what you want your “collection” to be, bits and pieces from nature, shells, sticks, pebbles, feathers, buttons, mica chips, small doll parts, metal pieces, old keys, small collage materials, paper & fabric scraps, small envelopes, tags, photos, tiny glass bottles, etc, etc. I also used some Tim Holtz tissue paper and old handwritten letters for collaging on the cover frame.
Binder clips to hold the frame to the book cover while drying
Paper clips to hold pages while binding
Paper towels, palette, and water container

Optional:
Apron & gloves
Blow dryer, light, and extension cord: I recommend the blow drier.
Journal for note taking