Book ’em, Again

In a previous post, I showed a book made using a coaster and the Cinch easy binding machine from We R Memory Keepers.

Here’s a different style made using the Zutter Bind-it-all:

I first covered chipboard with a pretty wrapping paper from the Paper Source, making pretty front and back covers.

Here are some inside pages:

I LOVE adding envelopes to these books.

I use this book for samples — here some samples made playing with (then) new inks:

Here’s another book, made using lots of envelopes:

And the cover of that book:

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Book ’em … the Easy Way

I love making little books for various occasions — some I keep, many I give away. But I also love taking the easy way, which I found using two machines: the Cinch by We R Memory Keepers and the Zutter Bind-it-all. Both are good and easy to use.

Here are some projects:

First, this one was made using the Cinch and coasters I picked up for $1!

Here’s a look at the inside and a close-up of the cover:

(I used a lot of scraps to make the inside pages — yay for using scraps!)

Stay tuned for a Zutter-bound book!

Thanks for visiting.

Thanksgiving Fun

Ack! How did Thanksgiving get so close?

If you have children coming to dinner (or even if you don’t) check out this great Thanksgiving Activity Book (from Penguin):

It has everything you need for a crafty event, from easy-to-make decorations (including a turkey centerpiece), stickers, games, easy recipes, and more.

And here’s an easy Thanksgiving card:

For the above card, I stamped and black embossed an old Hero Arts stamp (probably discontinued), colored the wheat using Sparkling H2Os, and just kept layering card stock. Fast and easy!

Thanks for popping in!

 

Meow… the Book

Last year I made a going-away booklet for a friend who loves cats. This was so fun and easy! I gave all our co-workers pages to decorate, then put the book together using my (We R Memory Makers) Cinch binding machine.

Take a look at a few of the pages:

The front and back covers were made the same way. I cut down chipboard to 5×6 and covered them with pages from an old book. I cut out these fabulous cat pictures from a piece of Cavallini Vintage Cat gift wrap (bought at the Paper Source). The pages were edged with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress ink.

Here’s the inside of that cover:

And the back cover, inside and outside:

Here’s one example of an inside page. I used scraps to create the background then stamped this Magenta cat, cut her out and glued her on.

(for more on this mosaic background technique, go here and here.)

This was such a fun project, and a true labor of love. Sadly, I didn’t take any photos of the book when it was put together. Bummer.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Stitch In Time … Creates A Book

I recently learned a new book binding technique, and it’s so easy and fun that I’ve been going crazy making books! You start with a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock (I used Close to My Heart’s For Always Paper), trim it and score it for the spine.

Take a look:

I haven’t decided what to do with the book … give it away? Use it as a journal? So I left the label (cut using Spellbinders’ die label 8) blank.

Here are closer looks at the spine:

And some of the inside pages:

(The details: Paper, embellishments from Close To My Heart. I used three small Zots dots to adhere the metal piece, which is from the Mini Medley Accents set, as is the paper clip on the inside. The rose is from the Love Blooms set C1511 embossed in Stampendous! PEARLustre Moonstone.)

After finishing the book, I had a few scraps leftover — just enough for a card and a tag, which I’ll post tomorrow.
Thanks for coming by!

Book ’em Dano!

While writing an article about bookbinding for Crafts ‘n things magazine (April 2012), I had a chance to explore various bookbinding techniques and kits.

One of the easiest kits I found was from the Paper Source*. (There are similar kits available from other sources.) The kits come with the matboard cut to size and the text block assembled. You get to do the fun part — decorate and assemble!  This, of course, is too simple for purists, but for a beginner such as myself, it was a perfect way to get started — so fast and easy to put together and so satisfying when completed.

I started with two simple accordian books:

Then worked my way up to journals:

I used PVA glue, which is fast drying, flexible and acid-free, and book cloth for the spines. I was so pleased with myself!!

The other newly discovered products that I really liked (again, discovered in the course of researching my article) are these weights, called Heavyweights™, to weigh down projects while they are drying:

Heavyweights™ come in various sizes and configurations, including a flexible version (can you see the blue bag in the back?). They are on the pricey side, but they are so smooth and, well… heavy … that if you do a lot of these types of projects, you will find them useful. Because they are so smooth, they won’t mar the surface of your project. The flexible bags are great for mixed media projects because they bend. I also use these on cards.

Here’s a better picture of the flexible weights:

My adventures in bookbinding continue… stay tuned for my experiments with the Zutter and Cinch coil binders! I could easily be addicted to these!

Thanks for stopping by!

*disclaimer: I sometimes work at Paper Source.

Paper Paper Everywhere

I love paper. I love the colors, the textures, the possibilities. The trouble is, I love paper so much I’m often afraid to use it. So I have piles of paper. This week I decided to change that. I decided to use some stash!

And I found the perfect surface — this mini book from Close To My Heart:

The papers are from the Close To My Heart My Recollections Stella collection.

Here’s what I did with it:

A closer look at the closure flap:

And the inside pages:

It still needs to be decorated, but it’s ready when I am! A little tidbit …. I made the paper a bit too snug on the flap of the book, so I used this great weight from *HeavyWeights TM  to make it bend to my will. These weights, made for book binders, are a little pricey, but are so useful. I used to stick my cards under books and bricks and other miscellaneous items, but these are much better.  I especially like the flexible weights.

But back to my paper. Here’s what I had leftover:

Tempting though it was to save the scraps, I was determined to use them so I didn’t have to put them away! Come back Friday to see what I did with the leftovers.

Thanks for stopping by.

(*Disclaimer: I received complimentary HeavyWeights to review for Crafts ‘n things magazines, when I wrote about book binding.)

Fabulous Finds Friday — A Crafty Mystery

I know, I know… I promised you some Valentine’s Day cards. But I’m too excited about an upcoming book — a perfect pick for a Fabulous Finds Friday. It involves friends, food and crafting. How can you lose?

My colleague  and fellow writer, Mollie Cox Bryan, has penned a delightful mystery, called Scrapbook of Secrets, about an investigative journalist who becomes a stay-at-home mom in picturesque Cumberland Creek, Virginia. She joins a scrapbooking group and the scrappy scrappers become involved in finding out why a young mother seemingly commited suicide. The friends discover that Maggie Rae was a closet scrapbooker who left behind more than a few secrets, and her suicide starts lookng like murder.

Who can resist such a crafty plot?

Mollie, a mother of two girls, is a food writer and cookbook author who loves food, murder mysteries and scrapbooking — not necessarily in that order. Scrapbook of Secrets is set to be published Feb. 6 by Kensington Books. You can find more information here.

She said the book idea came to her “when I was going to a lot of scrapbooking events and was blown away by the generosity and quick friendships of other scrapbookers. I wanted to write a story about the power of women’s friendships.”

Mollie is currently working on book three of her Cumberland Creek trilogy — so there will be more scrapy good reading to come. You can see more of Mollie’s work at her Website/blog, molliecoxbryan.com. (We’ll have to get Mollie to do some rubber stamping!)

Isn’t she adorable?

Thanks for stopping by … and stay tuned for some Valentines. Really.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Crafty News

There’s so much craft goodness around… here are some Fabulous Finds:

I don’t use a lot of stickers (hey, I’m a stamper!), but Jolee’s has two new dimensional sticker collections that I find enticing: Around the World and Steampunk.

Around the World includes borders, frames and titles highlighting European travel (especially London and Paris.)

The Steampunk designs are inspired by Victorian-era industrialism and made to look like polished brass, iron, wood and leather.

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Advantus – whose  company brands include Cropper Hopper, Tim Holtz Idea-ology and Sulyn — has acquired Cosmo Cricket, the paper/embellishment company started in 2006 by Julie and Eric Comstock. Check out their wares at www.cosmocricket.com.

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C&T Publishing has a  new website, PatternSpot.com, where crafters can buy and download project  patterns for fabrics.

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Lifestyle Crafts (owners of QuicKutz dies and the letterpress machine) has some new holiday dies, including this cute feather and headband set (which of course can be used for non-holiday projects!):

And this witch set:

 Thanks for stopping by! I’ll have a mid-week treat (no tricks!) for you, so pop in again for some Halloween cards.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Flower Power

Flowers say so much, don’t they? “Flower Power Papercrafts,” by Julie Hickey,  features a garden full of cardmaking ideas using flowers.

The book has ideas for 50 cards and gifts, all incorporating florals, categorized into “themes,” such as Vintage Vogue, Contemporary Chic, Floral Fairies, etc. 

This is one that really caught my eye — so simple, yet so elegant.

This is a slight variation on the card shown in the book (which uses two squre punches to create a long rectangle along the right hand side of a square card). In my version, I punched a circle at the top of the card, then punched out two sizes of daisies from the same cardstock. Starting at the edges, glue the daisies onto each other until they cover the hole. I added Ranger’s Liquid Pearls to the center of each daisy, but rhinestones or flat-backed pearls would be pretty, too.

Here’s a variation, using a square punch. (Square and round punch by McGill.)

On this one, my medium flower punch actually broke right in the middle!

I glued on the three flowers that I had left — because I was impatient — and ran out to buy another flower punch. But my friend Jean convinced me that the card was kind of cool just partially filled. So I left it that way!

I want to try another variation using pearlized paper — maybe gold, ivory or pink.

(Love sentiment by Stampin’ Up!; Heartfelt Wishes by Hero Arts)

The book is published by David & Charles.

And if you like making invitations, “Paperie for Inspired Living,” by Karen Bartolomei is full of ideas, advice and inspiration to create invitations for any occasion. It’s more of an invitation book than a stamping book, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use stamps instead of the computer-generated images. The book is also full of invitation tips.

The publisher is Potter Craft (Crown Publising.)

Thanks for looking… and have a Fabulous Friday!