I know a grandma who is.
It might take her two and a half days to do it, but she can get it done. It sounds impossible to take a book of 381 pages and fold it, but Cathy Gomez does just that. Not only does she fold it, but she makes beautiful artwork out of it.
I met Cathy Gomez at Three Bees Boutique when she brought in these beautiful books and told me she folds them—not cuts them—into these beautiful pieces of art.
Gomez explained, “It’s called book folding. I came upon it when I was watching HGTV and they were doing a home improvement show. When they finished, they showed this den, and on the desk was this book that said HGTV. I paused the TV and zoomed in and the pages were sticking out. Oh my god, a whole new world opened up when I saw book folding.”
So Gomez got a pattern, measured it, cut the tiny pieces… The whole bit. This is very tedious work and takes a lot of patience. As a grandma, she has patience and tenacity. As a book folder, she has a lot of talent, patience, and tenacity.
“I bought a pattern and I watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to do it. I botched a lot of the first books, they did not come out very well,” said Gomez. “But little by little, I kept at it. I like to do puzzles and things. I’m a retired grandma. I’ve been retired from the State of California now for almost ten years. So I started doing it.”
Gomez has given this art/craft to many family members as gifts. Before you know it, everybody had a book, either a sports book or Mickey Mouse book or whatever it was. But then Gomez came upon Three Bees Boutique and met Lisa Pankulics-Green, the owner. Lisa is the busiest bee in Grand Terrace and recognizes talent and value when she sees it.
“Lisa asked me to make her one, and then she asked me, ‘Why don’t you sell them here?’” said Gomez. “Well, I thought about it. I love her boutique and the beautiful things she has there. I felt my books would fit right in.”
Gomez continued to share, “One book takes a good two days of me really going at it eight to ten hours a day. Which I don’t have a problem with; I’m retired. I listen to audiobooks and I sit there and I fold and get up every now and then. But it’s about two days, two and a half days to make one book. You got to cut and measure and peel back every page so the pattern sticks out on the front of the book.
I’m a puzzle person and a person that, once I start something, I’m gonna finish it. So if I start a book, I’m gonna finish it. I get focused on stuff. And I like doing it, it keeps me busy. I don’t like sitting around watching TV or doing nothing. I’ve watched my grandchildren since they were born, every day. But as soon as COVID hit, I couldn’t go over and stay with them anymore. But that’s how I started. This is new for me, I’m gonna say six months, seven months.”
“I never saw anything like this until you walked in the door with them,” said a Three Bees customer standing nearby.
Gomez answered, “That was me, too. When I saw it on television, I went, ‘What is that?’”
“Now every family member or friend that I’ve given it to, they’re amazed, they’ve never seen anything like it. I made books for my grandchildren’s teachers at the end of last year. It was an apple with “Ms. Bush,” I actually put the teacher’s name in the center of an apple. The teachers were amazed, they were showing it to the principal and all the other teachers at the school,” Gomez said as she beamed with delight.
These books are unique. It’s a very unique craft. It’s a very unique gift.
Gomez retired ten years ago from Caltrans where she worked for 38 years. She loves being a grandma and keeping busy. She is also a busy bee. Gomez went on to say, “When the pandemic hit, I crocheted. I used to love to crochet with my grandma. But everybody has something crochet, so I got a little tired of crocheting; I wanted to find something else. This has kind of taken the place of just sitting there, keeping yourself busy. I don’t like to not be busy.”
You can find this unique gift at Three Bees Boutique. If you’re looking for something unique for someone unique, or something special for someone special, Three Bees Boutique is the place to go to meet someone like Cathy Gomez—a special grandma that likes to be busy and make this world a better place.
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