TomSwede Report post Posted March 30, 2008 Not producing any finished items I have an itch to post something so I finally snapped some shots of this bookcover of mine. Did it 6-7 years ago. This is THE book to have if you're interested in Viking mythology. Björn Collinders translation (to Swedish) of Snorri Sturlassons book Edda. Written somewhere between 1200-1241 AD in Iceland. The cross is not an inverted cross. It's a cast from a relic found in Icelandic grave. Iceland was always mixed heathen/christian and proclaimed christian sovereign from the start but heathen traditions were allowed to practice at home but not socially. The cross is believed to symbolise the mix between the two cultures and on top theres a wolfs head causing the inverted apperance. The back piece of the cover is made from a picture of Snorris statue in Iceland and I kinda forgot to flip the transfer so the lettering got inverted. Didn't notice until after I started carving the letters,,,bummer..well I blame it for being possessed by pagan gods, lol. Someday I'm gonna re-do it. It's my most important book. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zman7458 Report post Posted March 30, 2008 nice work there. I like the way you made the back bone look wood grainish (if thats a word?). Ive been working on a book cover for my notepad for work just to get in some practice before I start my main projects. I decided to do mine in 3 parts so I could get some sewing and lacing practice in, although I do prefer the all one peice look like yours. again nice work! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leatheroo Report post Posted March 30, 2008 i really like this tom, the color is great and the statue at the back is so different Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beaverslayer Report post Posted March 30, 2008 Great looking cover Tom, adds some real character to the book. Ken Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmilinJim Report post Posted March 30, 2008 That's really nice work Tom. Have you any more of local interest? At least local for you. Like to see more JIm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spider Report post Posted March 30, 2008 I love the antique broken in look and this has it all over. Good looking stuff. I have wanted to make a book cover but I don't read much so I would have to make a laptop cover instead. lol Oh well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Myriam Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Love this, Tom. Excellent work! The old finish look adds a lot of character to the piece and I just love the color and design. I'm curious, what thickness of leather did you use? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomSwede Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Hey you guys, alot of thanks!!! Zman, you just go ahead and get those lacing experience, a cover like this one is very easy and straight forward to make so you'll make one later with ease. Tooling is another matter, can be complex can be simple. Woodgrainish is now a word. Well to get the back woodlike was the most important thing for this book since the viking world belief system is dependent on a very special tree called yggdrasil and now you know why a decorated tree is common use at x-mas, originally a viking tradition. I bent the grainside backwards (when wet, I think) and got alot of cracking and then the antiquing did the rest. So simple. Leather thickness is 1/8" and the cover of the original is just inserted under those flaps. That' why they are kinda short otherwise it'd be to hard to tuck it in. Spider, your spot on as usual. I was after the broken in look. I didn't induce any buckles and scratches but paid no attention to try and keep avoiding them either. One thing not showing here is the ending of the bookmarker braid. I just tied it up so that the 3 strand points away from each other to get some similarity to a ravens claw. I often refer to viking myth (Asatru) as raven lore 'cuz ravens is very important in this belief. Spider might remember those magpies on the bootstrap, no accident I choose a crowbird for that design. Smilin Jim, I've done lots of viking stuff (celtic too) but it's sold. I'll check my personal stuff to see what's there, at least one giant bracer is here somewhere. Would you like a history briefing aswell?? The giant one is from a runestone and I can't rememder wich stone. Hard to look up, about 2500 runestones in Sweden. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCOUTER Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Hey Tom! That really looks like something old! (more then 7 years) I like the aged look, makes it look like something you would find in a church! Very Nice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomSwede Report post Posted March 31, 2008 Thank you Scouter! Back then I could very easily produce this look, but it's very hard now and I just thought it was the Tandy antiquing to blame for this but lately I have used some of the old leather that I have in a sealed box and they just take antiquing and colours in quite a nicer way so I'm starting to think there's something going on with the newer leathers I get from my dealer. I was going to reproduce a similar look n colour as with my stirrup flyreel bag but darn it, it is impossible to get that reddish look with newer leather. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
