View Finder

I love making my own books. Over the years I have shifted away from using complex binding methods and now generally use more simple -- and sometimes purposefully wonky -- bindings. That was the case with today's book, which was inspired by windows and the changing views as we look through them.

Using the border die from the Vintage Brocade Die set from Spellbinders, I cut double-sided, decorative paper into 7 ½ x 2 ¼ inch strips. These will serve as the pages of my book. I love the curved corners and plan to use these in landscape mode.

I also cut black card stock into two strips using the same die. These will serve as my back and front covers.

The Spellbinders Scratched Lines Texture Plate was used to add some texture to the front cover piece.

Using dies #1, 2 and 3 from the Spellbinders A2 Curved Matting Basics B die set, I cut windows into each of the pages in random locations. This led to the book's title View Finder. 

As you turn the pages of the book, you will be able to see through each window onto the subsequent and previous pages. This will add a lot of dimension and interest to the book.

I will put aside most of the pieces from the cut window to use in another project but I will hold onto four pieces to use to decorate my cover.

Sorting through my stash of found objects and embellishments, I chose a vintage watch face to be the focus of my cover design. I also used both a vintage element and a circle die cut from Spellbinders Standard Circles Large set to stack with the watch face.

I selected a number of other elements, mostly metal, to use as well.

Trying out several different designs, I finally settled on one and glued the pieces to the cover. For a finishing touch, I randomly splattered the cover with some white paint.

Using waxed linen thread and a needle, I bound the book using a simple Japanese Stab binding.

The book is now complete and ready to be used as a journal.

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Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 Spellbinders® Grand Calibur® Die Cutting and Embossing Machine
GLLD-007 Spellbinders® A Gilded Life Vintage Brocade Die
GLT-001 Spellbinders®A Gilded Life Scratch Lines Texture Plate
S5-172 Spellbinders® Nestabilities® A2 Curved Matting Basics B 
S4-114 Spellbinders® Nestabilities® Standard Circles Large

Cross Promotional Partners: 7 Gypsies Postale Paper Pad

Other: card stock, assorted embellishments, vintage watch face, needle, thread, paint, adhesive

Monarch Book Cover

Monarch

I often use vintage book covers to create new books from scratch. In my stash is this beautiful cover, with naturally-aged marbled paper and leather accents. It seemed to me that elements from Spellbinders A Gilded Life collection would be the perfect match.

I started by cutting and embossing pewter foil paper using the Petite Monarch die.

With a love of metal accents, I decided to attach the die cut using both adhesive and metal brads. I lined up the die cut to the leather edge of the book cover and marked six holes with a pen using the pre-cut holes in the die cut as a guide.

Using an awl, I created holes through the cover to allow for the brad prongs.

Both glue and the metallic brads will hold the die cut to the surface of the book cover.

I distressed the die cut by running a sanding block over the embossed surface and adding some matte black paint using my fingers.

Using Spellbinders Antique Corner die,  I cut and embossed the same pewter foil into a beautiful, filigreed shape. My idea was not to use it as a corner though.

I used the Antique Corner die cut as a template and cut the same shape out of a piece of hand painted paper that I had. 

I backed the die cut with the paper and then distressed the foil as above, with a sanding block and some matte black acrylic paint.

I adhered this piece to the edge of the book cover, opposite to the side of the Petit Monarch die cut.

At this point in the process, there is how the book cover looked.

Continuing to embellish the cover, I used 5 elements from Spellbinders A Gilded Life Relics -- 2 of the same elements from set A and 3 of the same elements from set B.

These elements were glued horizontally onto the points of the Petit Monarch die cut on the edge of the book cover.

To match the aged looked of the book cover, I distressed the Relics using a sanding block and a bit of iridescent bronze acrylic paint.

My next step was to create corners for the book cover using the same handmade paper I had chosen earlier. I cut out 2 corner shapes using 1 die from Spellbinders Gold Corbels and Accents set.

These were then glued onto the upper and lower right corners of the book cover.

The last element for the book cover was created by using die #1 from Spellbinders A2 Filigree Delight. Two pieces of pewter foil were cut and the outer portion of the die cuts saved. In addition, a vintage book page with Latin text was cut into 2 pieces using the same die, but only the inner portion of the die cuts were used for this project.

The foil was distressed with a sanding block and the paper was altered with dye ink.

The two parts of the die cut were put together and both were adhered to the book.

Now complete, my project - titled Monarch - will now be waiting to become the cover of the next hand bound book I make.

Monarch

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Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 Spellbinders® Grand Calibur^® Die Cutting and Embossing Machine
GC-015 Spellbinders® Grand Calibur^® Junior Magnetic Placement Mat
GLLD-001Spellbinders® A Gilded Life Petit Monarch Die
S2-072 Spellbinders^® Shapeabilities^® Antique Corner Die 
S4-432 Spellbinders^® Shapeabilities^® Gold Corbels and Accent Die 
S5-177 Spellbinders^® Nestabilities^® A2 Filigree Delight Die
GLR-001 Spellbinders^®A Gilded Life Relics A
GLR-002 Spellbinders^®A Gilded Life Relics B
GLF-001 Spellbinders® A Gilded Life Foil Pack

Preferred Promotional Partners: Tsukineko® Memento Dew Drop Dye Ink Pad, Imagine Crafts® Inkblushers Sponge

Other: vintage book cover, hand painted paper, vintage book page, pen, awl, metal brads, sanding block, acrylic paint, adhesive, scissor

FinnTastic

I recently had the pleasure of taking a workshop from Anna Dabrowska aka Finnabair aka Finn aka creative genius. 

You may know Anna from her spectacular artwork that graced the cover of November/December 2012 issue of Somerset Studio.

Luckily for me, Anna traveled from Poland to the USA to teach and stopped off at Little Bird Creations Studio in NYC. The workshop was called Grungy Spellbook and Spellbook Pages. And Finn absolutely cast a spell over me.

She generously provided us with so many art supplies and materials that we were all able to leave with a doggy bag of treasures - all of which were designed by Finn herself.

Finn's creative style really resonated with me as she takes whatever object she is working with and alters it to make it her own. Look at what she does with simple thread here...

We used one of the books that Finn designed as the basis for the project. We created front and back book covers using the embellishments that she provided, objects that we brought (my usual stash of rusty washers, watch parts, gears, etc.), and paint. And more paint. We ended up with a garden of textural delight.

Although the idea was too add the objects to a relatively small section of the book cover, I got possessed and obsessed and couldn't stop. I ended up filling up almost the entire front cover.

Happily, I gained control of myself for the back cover and was able to be less impulsive. This allowed me to actually create a design for the embellishments.

After we finished the covers, Anna took us through several different techniques to create the inside pages for our books. When they were completed, the idea was to cut them in half and glue them in on facing pages. 

In the end, I decided to leave my pages uncut and outside the book. Call it an artist's prerogative.

Finn was a wonderful instructor, really bringing out the creativity in everybody. She provided helpful and honest feedback in the most supportive of ways. And she shared an endless number of techniques that I know I will adapt in my own artwork.