I decided to make a box for the little book, The Tally Keeper’s Folly.  I had a very old wooden cigar box that was just the right size.  Some one had painted it black and scratched their name on the top – Bertha Wright.  Sorry Bertha, I had to cover up your name!  I painted the box with acrylics several times before I decided on the dark red for the top.  I’m going to finish up the edges with some antique gold acrylic – just haven’t done it yet.  I used the cover of a very tattered book I had for the cover of the box.  I really liked the front graphics – and they already had just the right amount of wear on them.  I had a large sheet of paste paper I’d made years ago, and decided to use that to glue a title over the books original title which was The Peep of Day, which is pretty neat, but it wouldn’t work for this!

On the sides of the box I used strips of the paste paper to put a line from the verse which is on the back of the book.

I sanded the letters a little so they didn’t look so harsh.  I ran the paste paper through the printer cut to 8.5×11 size, and then printer the lines spaced apart so I could cut them out.  The cigar box is about 6×8 inches.

I used the paste paper to cover the inside lid and came up with another verse for it.  I lined the inside of the box with antique silk sari ribbons that I ironed flat and tacked together over a piece of cardboard.  I also used a scrap of sari ribbon on the front of the book.

The little book fits perfectly inside!  Now a few touches of gold here and there and I send it off to the Illahe Gallery in Ashland, Oregon for their April 6-28 show of Artist’s Books.