When I was in Brisbane last month, I stumbled upon this book and decided to order it when I got home:

How could I not buy it? It marries recycling with bookbinding. Old and new interests brought together.

There’s a book made out of an old hot water bottle…

… and one made from a bathmat. The cover image is a book made of used up shop loyalty cards…

… and there’s a project using old colour-by-numbers artwork.

Since the materials used in the projects are often unique, you could never replicate them exactly, but you could certainly make something similar. I’m always more likely to diverge from instructions anyway. At the end of the book there is a gallery of books made by artists to use as inspiration.

Even before the book arrived I have been collecting materials to play with, from old postcards to scraps of window fly screen. But there are some basic bookbinding materials and tools I really need to get hold of before I launch into this hobby. I suspect some shopping is in order…