So I took my family camping up at the south end of "The Box" on Tonto Creek. What I thought was a gentle stroll across about a hundred yards turned out to be more like a three hundred foot tall sheer face of cactus and other unmentionables. But it sure was gorgeous.

Cable Canyon

So here are some really old picture of a great adventure long ago. Cable Canyon, which I recommend for those not abashed to a decently long day.

Oh, so long ago, I had an adventure that I can't find the post for. Here are some pics.

Havasupai

Havasupai... I don't know what happened to my old post about this trip, but it's not here. And I can't let one of the greatest trips of my life go unrecognized. I regret that I have only a couple of pictures of Navajo Falls, which don't include any of the secrets of what used to lay up behind the big falls, or the cave that you had to swim into. One of the greatest treasures of our generation is now gone thanks to a careless rancher's dam upstream. Anyhow, I hope these pics bring back fond memories for those who love this place. Thanks to Dave Staub for taking us there, and Ben and Stephanie Gunn for being our trip buddies (despite my foul language, lol) and mostly my wife for being so adventurous.

A Book For Eva

A week or so ago, I made two books out of home-made cooked paper and cardboard, one for Eli and one for Wesley, and Eva immediately asked: "Can I have one?" Of course I intended to make her one too, but I expected to be able to have a little more time before she felt bad about it. Then two days ago, I was quickly making Japanese stab-bound books out of all my scraps (perfect for foreign language vocab/flashcards) when Eva came in and grabbed the first one she saw and said "Is this one for me?" My heart melted and I said "You bet! You can have any one you want." So she grabbed the two smallest ones, much smaller than all the others, and declared her ownership. Unfortunately, those had a writable page area of about .5 inches by 2.5 inches, not ideal for a two year old to use in developing her creativity.

So I managed to trade her some chocolate to have those two back, and I resolved right then to make her a book in the next hour or so. I basically made a concertina out of a purple chocolate bar wrapper, and sewed in a three section text block, 42 folios total, with hemp. Its only about 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches, but she liked the smallness, and at least she can draw little pictures in this one, which she already has...

More Sandia Pictures

Here are two more pics of Sandia Crest. I can't believe how the sunsets light the mountain every night! I actually had to DESATURATE the above image after increasing the contrast a little bit, because it looked like a neon sign... Unfortunately  I was at an intersection during the best light, but its still a fun picture. I also like the second one...

Recent Books

So, I have made a few book recently and thought I would share some pics. The very first one I made was for Jed Stout. I only put four sheets in per section and realized afterwards that the hemp I used was so thick that I should have used eight. But I liked the cover stitching.




Then I made some others, and then I made one for my wife. Its the best one so far, but it's bound too tightly, so it has a desire to stay open.


       



Here are two others. For the gray one, I should have used better paper for the text block. But I've been carrying around the cover since Michigan. Got the cover paper at Hollanders a long time ago.





For this last one, I actually made the cover paper myself, and dry-brushed it with aluminum. I messed up on stitching the covers on, so they have a desire to skew themselves a little. But it turned out pretty. And I actually tried a technique to wax the cover, taught to me by my bookbinding teacher long ago but never attempted. It actually worked well, and I'll definitely be doing it to some of my books like this in the future.