a siege of cranes

i was really taken by this story - A Siege of Cranes by Benjamin Rosenbaum - which has elements of a folk tale, a fairy tale and fantasy to it, and i decided it would make a good next book project (if you scroll down further in my blog history you will see a previous story of his i used for another book). the book itself has an accordion fold binding and stretches out to 13 feet when fully extended. Lis Timpone, an artist from new york, who i found through her 'lucky day' blog graciously consented to let me use some of her gorgeous illustrations for the text.

i have not yet worked much with illustrations in the handmade books i do (the desnos books i have designed have had illustrations of one sort of another done by artist friends sarah and elise) but these fit the story so well. the book is wrapped in gray wool felt and tied with some leather cord. i wanted it to feel like the main character of the story had created this book as a record of his journey. i have some elements of bone and tribal jewelry i am trying to integrate now with the finished piece.