Handmade Books from Cyanotype Prints

I’ve been making Cyanotype prints for 5 years and like many of you fellow cyanotypers I have a stash of good and not-so-good prints. I love the challenge of turning my prints into handmade books. It can take several months for an idea to come to fruition.

I joined The Handmade Book club 4 years ago and it has taken my book binding skills to new heights. Each month Ali shares new bindings and has guest artists. Check it out here.

I am sharing a few of the books that I’ve made over the last few years using my Cyanotype prints.

Collaged Cyanotype Handmade Journal

This book took several months to complete. I had a vision but I just couldn’t execute. It kept getting put back into my “i love it but I don’t know what to do with it” pile. Then one day, It all came together.

Details: This journal is 5 inches high and 5.5 inches wide. The cover is cyanotype print on handmade water colour paper. I collaged cyanotype leaves on top after I repaired the rips with waxed linen thread. The book is covered with several layers of tinted Matte Medium to protect and make it super durable.

The spine is made from papyrus. I had experimented with the ancient paper and cyanotype a few years back. It was a bit of a fail but I kept the papyrus prints because you never know. Right? The paper has a rough surface that separates when bent so it has a lot of matte medium on it. Its super durable now. The binding is a Lattice binding.

Cyanotype Journal on Handmade Kagzi Paper

This journal was a bit of a cheat. The journal was premade and I made a cyanotype print of a fern on the cover. The print washed off the kraft colour tag on the cover so I covered it up with a bit of collage and a great quote. I love how bold the fern print is on this journal I use it for water colour studies.

I purchased my Codex Journal from Curry’s .

Double Exposure Cyanotype - Handmade Journal

I created a cyanotype print on top of a gel plate print and was gifted with this amazing print. I added a layer of gold foiled text on both the front and back covers using Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo and foil. Inside covers are cyanotypes done on old atlas pages.

The binding is a simplified Secret Belgian Binding. I sold this book a few years ago. I love looking at the photos as it was one of my first made from Cyantype prints.

Paint, Collaged and Gussied up Cyanotype HandmadeJournal

I paint many Cyanotype prints with gouache and watercolour paints. Line work was created with a Gold Sakura pen. This particular painting wasn’t working for me so I started fussy cutting out the leaves. Before I knew it a book was born. Several layers of matte medium make the cover durable.

Inside covers are cyanotypes with fussy cut leaves added. The inside papers are mixed media paper and it has a cork fabric spine. The book measures 8 inches long, 5.5 inches wide.

I offer my books for sale several times a year and I offer classes.

Follow me on Instagram @engelbelle for more inspiration.