Because Creativity - A beautiful handmade book, with Sally Jupe

"making art with love for people you love"

Books are portals, doorways to adventure, apertures into the mind, gateways to other worlds. They capture moments and share memories. They are art.

And none more so than this, created by Sally Jupe. A picture book with a difference, pages glued and carved, ink and watercolour transforming paper into trees and flowers, sleepy foxes and rabbits peeping from their burrows.

Sally shared a glimpse in Notes in January, doing what she loves — working small, in the detail, creating an altered book for her daughter.

I was enchanted, and I am sure that you will be too.

I have always loved to draw, paint, garden, make books and used to create miniature model gardens from plasticine! My mum was a seamstress and taught me to knit, crochet and sew from about four years of age and my dad could turn his hand to making and repairing anything as well as a part time sign writer, using oils and gold leaf to create beautiful signs. They both missed their true vocations but it meant that I had such a variety of skills to take forward with me into an art career.

I achieved the required grades for art college but I had also been advised to apply for an apprenticeship in a drawing office just in case I never got into art college. Both letters arrived on the same day in 1974. The job offered £7 a week and meant I could support my family who were poor. I was also offered a place at art college. I chose the job. I do not regret choosing employment over art college, but I have often wondered how different my life might have been had I followed my true heart.

Part of my training as a draughts person in the early years was to be very precise and accurate, and that suited my love of drawing and detail. Even though I quickly climbed the corporate ladder in engineering and became a chartered engineer and college lecturer, I constantly dreamed of one day getting to art college and even took some evening classes in graphic design. As time passed, the 15-year-old girl’s dream of making art for a living became buried.

The plan to retire to Spain ten years ago was meant to fulfil my dream of being able to create art full-time. Again, life throws you curveballs and, let’s just say, things went badly wrong after only 18 months, and creativity had no place in my new world. I had to once more get a job and care for my sick husband. As he became well again just over two years ago and things improved financially, I have had the headspace to create once more.

As well as writing, I thought I wanted to earn a small income from my art, and so I retrained once more through online courses and learned whatever new tech I could find. I researched all the art supplies that were out there and found the iPad for making lots of digital art. I also filled journals and sketchbooks with drawing and painting. I took free art courses from abstract painting to pattern design to children’s books. I entered art challenges and followed trends. I was desperately looking for my ‘style’ as it is said you must have one to be successful, and I guess I thought art college would have taught me.

However, as I reviewed 2025, I realised I had spent so much time learning so many different areas of creativity and was trying to fit into moulds that were not what I truly loved. One day I was looking through the thousands of photos on my phone for something, and what struck me was that I kept stopping to look at certain photos of artwork I’d done over the last few years. It occurred to me they were all the same type of artwork, fine illustration.

I had seen some altered books on YouTube when my husband was ill and instantly fell in love with them. I remembered them being made from cheap sketchbooks or charity shop books, so I thought I could do that and it wouldn’t matter if I messed up. I watched videos over and over to see what they did. It wasn’t a course, just watching the films of processes.

Our daughter has always been my best friend and rock, especially during the challenging times recently. She has a love of beautiful, handmade things that she finds in artisan shops in the UK. She buys me wonderful small gifts. I wanted to give her a similar, handmade gift for her birthday, which I could not buy here, or afford to buy online, and I thought I would try to make her my first altered book. Once I had glued the book, the pencil sketches literally poured out of me for the idea. It is based on her love of nature and growing flowers in her garden, like poppies and foxgloves, and also a fox that had recently come into her life. It was as if my 15-year-old self had truly been resurrected!

As I inked, carved, and coloured the book, I could hardly sleep without thinking about it until it was finished. When it was finished, I felt so proud that I had done it for her but also to prove to me, now at the other end of my life, that I still had those skills and creativity. I realised that making art is not about thinking how you can make money or following trends. It is about making art with love for people you love or know will love your art. Because when you do that, the art just follows. I have rarely shared my work before and have been blown away by the reaction to this tiny work of art here. Some people have even asked if they could buy one or if I take orders! My daughter has yet to see her book, but I am very hopeful she will love it too. And I have already started another one.

Thank you, Sally, for sharing this glimpse into the art of altered books. After seeing Sally’s book, I fell deep down the rabbit hole and have been daydreaming of my own — thinking about which forgotten volume I might glue and what small world I might carve into its pages.

It’s on my creative bucket list!

You can find Sally at Ten of Cups on Substack, where she’s sharing more of her writing and art from her mountain home in southern Spain…

and @marksandmotifs on Instagram…

With wishes for endless inspiration,

If you would like to support this creative adventure, you can buy a handmade gift from my Etsy Shop, Ink and Oddments, or upgrade to a paying subscription.

For anyone choosing an annual paid subscription I would love to send you an art print from my collection, as a thank you for gifting my creativity another moment of freedom to explore and create, for joy alone.