Kathleen Scranton, an artist from Coventry, fashions vintage hard-cover books into distinctive purses. As guest speaker at the Granby Woman’s Breakfast meeting in March, Scranton described the process she follows during the 10 to 15 hours required to bring about her unique form of magic: transforming old books into purses, purses that many would also consider pieces of fine art. “I find the books before they are tossed away, recycled or simply forgotten,” Scranton proclaims.
The first step involves removing the book’s pages. These pages are bound and accompany their “mother” book cover when it is sold—a nice touch, ensuring that a purchaser will retain the original content in paperback form. Book binding materials, artist’s tools, a professional glue gun and adhesives then come into play. Fabrics for lining the book purses are chosen to enhance a particular book’s color scheme and persona. All purses are waterproofed. They range in cost from $115 to $265.
Purse handles are important style statements, says Scranton, who has accumulated a hundred handle options such as leather straps, wood, chains and linen cord. Handles, like linings, are specially chosen to coordinate with each purse. For example, Album of Dogs sports a Chewy® dog leash.
Scranton has been repurposing vintage books for 14 years. She has sold 6,000 purses since she started her business, BeeZbyScranton®,in 2010. At the conclusion of her presentation, audience members flocked to the table where a selection of the distinctivecreations were on display. Included were Jane Eyre, The Giving Tree, Pride and Prejudice, Misty of Chincoteague and Peter Rabbit.
Scranton’s website is BeeZbyScranton.com and she can be contacted at 860-742-1804.