This was an idea that came from talking with someone I was taking a first aid course with. Originally he was interested in getting a box to hold pictures as a gift for his wife. As we talked about it though we eventually came up with the idea of a wooden photo album and gradually wound up with the idea of making a wooden sleeve that a standard photo album would fit into.
I started by cutting slices from some maple logs that I had available. As luck would have it I stumbled across one that had some really nice figure and spalting in it. I then stacked the wood and waited several months for it to dry. Once it had dried enough I started working the wood. I needed two slices of the wood for each panel on the album and since I had kept track and numbered the different pieces I was able to make each panel book-matched.
The design on the front cover is copied from a tattoo that his wife has. The design was first put into the wood with a scroll saw and then the cuts from the saw were accented with black marker to make them stand out. The different colours were added by using some fabric dyes.
