Designed a modern miniature book about color, the first in a series, called Pink + Green. It’s ten pages perfect bound, and measures five picas square (.833 in/21 mm). I made all the photographs; my daughter drew the cat when she was like three or four.
(Actually, she drew the front. I made the back view when I had it printed on fabric at Spoonflower to make stuffed loveys :)
These are the flat pages and covers, ready to be scored and trimmed.
Text blocks folded and glued, waiting to dry.
First cover on. After they’re really dry, I’ll clamp them in a press and square up the spines. And when they’re all crisp, I’ll brush a light coat of varnish on the cover. They’ll be lovely on the shelves with other books about local history and… rocks. Waves. Tides. Fossils? Bee-keeping? Native plants? Marine mammals, fish and invertebrates? Cookbooks? Plate tectonics?
My two-year-old granddaughter was here last weekend, and she is of course very interested in the Sea House Warming Hut. I had moved all the really delicate things out so she can explore and interact with it (supervised). She made sure to close all the windows “so the raccoons don’t come in”. She is a tremendous appreciator of my work :)
We did painting together. This one turned out to be the base for a trail map of the area I’m working on.
I’m drawing over it with fine tip markers and water color pencils. The little folded jaws-thing is a scaled mockup of the pop-up map it will become (sans cover). I learned this technique from Map Art Lab by Jill K. Berry and Linden McNeilly. It’s a great book; I especially appreciate their List of Resources for Arty Cartographers. Recommend!
I’ll finish the map art in Illustrator, adding names and legends and neat lines.
Realistically, I expect I’ll use a combination of hand-drawn things and copyright-free stuff I glean from the internet and other sources to fill the bookshelves. Because, you know, time.
Finally, and thank you for reading (or skimming) this far, check out my About page. I’ve actually sort of worked on it a teensil, and have added a PO Box to my contact information. Progress!
nancyland.com 
Lovely projects! Your granddaughter must adore visiting. :)
Why thank you, B! Yes, she does like visiting. She’s like a demolition derby of investigation and wonder, and full of remarkable insight. She recently observed there’s no color at night, specifically blue, (her favorite).
That book looks sooo professional and the map is a cute idea. I would never think of that. I totally understand your grandaughter’s ‘supervised’ visit. Over the years some of my younger cousins have touched/played with my dollhouse and I was on pins and needles reminding them to be gentle. She’s adorable.
Thanks, Bennie! It’s a fine line between comfort and concern *sharing* with young children, but it’s so interesting watching her explore the tiny world.
The book is amazing! Love the images you used. They translated very well into a small scale. My little one spotted my in progress room box….”mama dollhouse. Play puhleeeeeez”. How can one say no to kids and minis?
Thank you, Kat. Making miniature books is a fun way to repurpose the one million photos we all have. And, we are fortunate to have so many well-designed dollhouses available for young children (if only we could afford them). Their appeal is universal :)
Ah the building inspector is in. I hope the Warming Hut met with her approval ;0P
I believe so. It was scrutinized from bedrock foundation to rooftop (why not have the furniture on the roof?) with the final assessments delivered while slowing rotating the whole build on its turntable round and round and round.