Teeny tiny pop-up book!

My latest fad is including stamps in my books. I was given a huge bag of stamps by my generous father. Included in amongst the many pretty, colourful interesting stamps (more on their fate in another post soon) were some of the drabbest stamps you can imagine.

This photo is one of a new edition of three books featuring these dull stamps. Postmarked in sheets of twenty or so, these Indian stamps are poorly printed on bad paper and en masse just look like a dirty maroon blur. However, when you inspect them closely, the design is of some kind statue of a three headed lion on a plinth, under an ornately decorated archway.

So I was inspired to make them into a tiny little popup book only 4cm high, which comes with its own little slipcase and ribbon tie. If I say so myself it is cute as a button, and brings out the latent beauty of the stamps very nicely. At $15 (inc p&p in NZ) it's the perfect stocking stuffer, or gift to slip into an long distance card or parcel for a stamp lover, or India-phile.

I've got another 2 sheets of stamps from Sri Lanka featuring a "Kandyan Drummer" some in pink and some in purple. These don't have quite the same drab low-tech charm of the Indian stamps, but I think they will be just as much fun in the pop up format.