I made this! Halloween Album

Here is the Halloween book I told you about, from when Jodi and I got together a few weeks ago. I took some of the skills I have learned from Jodi and combined them with the Coptic book binding I taught myself and some new ideas to make this Halloween scrap-book.
I love the holiday and I finally got to make something for it in the paper area.
Jodi would not let me put bats all over the houses we made at Christmas for my family. I know there is good reason behind this, she always has those.
I just have a hard time seeing that from my point of view. I mean, don't you think that everything should have skellies, bats, and wicked cool fences and ghosts and pumpkins, candy corn and witches all over it, all of the time?
See, I knew there would be tons of you that agreed with me. After all, the colors for Halloween are just divine, right?
I can see Jodi in my mind, shaking her head right now and not in that up and down "yes" fashion either. ;-P

I used this monster colored green paper with crows(ravens) all over and spider webs too for the covers.
I used my thin chip board but double-sided taped 3 pieces together.
This is quarter sheet of paper book, 4 1/4" by 5 1/2". I then covered with that awesome green paper.

Like so.

Double sided tape to adhere.

Covers done on the outside. Chose very cool raven paper for the inside.

I used Distress ink to age the edges of the outside and the inside of the covers.
Gives it that spooky feel!

This is a full sheet 8 1/2" by 11" of card stock scored down the length in the middle.

And then scored down the middle of it the other way! Jodi learned and shared with me about the ball stylus on the score board. It works great, better than my bone folder. Howard carries these in the www.ClayFactory.com  of all sizes. We have double-sided, like this one shown, and single sided too.

It is folded and holes are poked in the middle fold. This is the page opened up here. This is one signature in the book. I did this to make pockets to hold things.

I used the Big Bite to punch the holes in  the covers for the eyelets.
I make a template to make the holes 1/4" in from the edge on the cover where I am going to make the holes.
I lay the template on my score board and make the scores evenly spaced so I can see them.
I will have to make one later so you can see how I mark and place the holes.
Another tutorial!

Here the holes are punched in the cover.

Here you can see the eyelets and the binding. The pages are in.

Here is a different look at them.

I glued two pages together either on the side or on the top and made pockets to put things in. I made the page on the right a diagonal pocket.
And the one on the left a side pocket. I glued another piece of paper to the front on the left to make another pocket for the Happy Halloween tag.

The pocket on the left is a top loader and I glued the side together to do that. The pocket on the right is a top loader too and then I used another piece of paper to make another pocket on the front. With the tag in it.
I am going to stop here because Blogger is throwing a tizzy, too much going on for its poor little brain to handle.
I will continue this in the next post!
You can see though, I am having big fun! You can also see how a lot of techniques come together for even more fun for unique twist. I love when that happens.
Have a great weekend yall'

Hi, I'mmmmmmmmmmmmm back!

This has been quite a week. So I decided to take the time off to fully be in the week.
I hope you all have had a great week and I missed you.
I got back from my friend Jodi's after book making and staying up all hours, going out with her and Jimmy to dinner at BJ's with Mojito's (Yum) with no major problems. I had a great time, which is probably the only reason I kind of slid through the whole week of interesting changes.

I would go over it for you but, I would rather not rather not relive that week again. Everybody is alive and well, so it is all good in the end.

I taught Jodi how to do the Coptic binding to the best of my ability. She liked it and we each made a Halloween Scrapbook by combing the Coptic book binding with Scrap-booking. I mean, it had to go there, right?
These are the cutest books, I will show you those at a later date.
What I wanted to share with you was this book I made with a closure on it.

I glued some clay pieces on the front.
Jodi bought me a new toy, it is called Big Bite. It made those pretty little holes you see in the book above. I am in love with this thing, beats the heck out of an ice pick any day!!
That is how I made my holes in the books before. Sets eyelets too. ;-D

Nothing better than a tool that does a great job! I have a bunch of other things in mind for this baby too.

Coptic binding on the edges with waxed linen beige cording.

Craft paper pages for journaling or artwork.

But... tiny! Isn't it cute? 2" tall by 1 1/2" wide.
I just had too.
I set the eyelet on the back for the string to tie the book closed with my new tool too.

I just tied a piece of the waxed linen through the eyelet with a square knot and bam! you have part of a closure.

That cording ties around a brad and a circular piece of card stock to make the closure.
The hole for the brad was cut with the Big Bite too. The big bite is not just a hole punch, it cuts through chip board and multiple layers of chip board like butter. It also has a long reach on it which makes it perfect for books.
Have a great week everyone. Be well, and breathe.
Did any of you have an all out crazy week last week?

My Coptic bound book

I told you guys I was making a book. I wanted to show you what I did.
This one is the first one I did. It has a nice cover. I learned a lot.

I used chipboard for the covers. I only have thin stuff, so I taped three sheets together to make it more like a real book.
This is some hand-made paper I've had forever.


I love the way the covers turned out.

I used some scrap paper I had for the inside cover.
I had this colored card stock that I rarely use so I made the inside papers out of it. There are some orange petals in the paper on the cover and I thought it would look better than it does ;-D

It looks OK with the back inside cover.
Another piece of scrap.

Here is the stitching that I used per the YouTube instructions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHAJyzzb4EE
I think that the heavy-duty thread I used is not heavy enough for this job.
Down by my thumb I pulled the thread too hard and ripped one of the pages (called stations by the man who was teaching it).







Now this one is my second attempt and I took my time and went through things thoroughly. I liked doing it enough the first to try again.
I really like learning old school things that may one day become a lost art. Plus I believe that building your body of knowledge or skills will only help you in the long-term.
It also given me a great appreciation of modern conveniences and technology.

This is the spine of the 2nd book. I used a much thicker cord, it is waxed linen I have had for an age, I knew it would come in handy one day.



Worked beautifully. I also used curved upholstery needle this time. What a difference a needle can make.

I used a creamy yellow card stock for the pages this time.

I used the great green sage paper with leaves and stems painted on them. This is the inside back and front cover.

My stitching looks so much better with this waxed linen and it stays in place when you pull it there. It also does not seem to bind, knot, or tangle as much as the other thread.

Pretty neat all the way across the spine.

The book opens nicely and will lay flat on the table too.

This is the back inside cover.
Book laying flat.

I used a great craft paper for the outside covers. I am so very happy with the way this came out, I am making another one ;-D

Wednesday updates

I am still not feeling up to snuff, but better. Madi and I lay around a lot. There is just something about having a cold during hot weather, it doesn't feel right. It is supposed to be cold and rainy so you can drink chicken soup and get better. You know the whole bathrobe wrapped up to your neck, thermometer hanging out of the side of your mouth, droopy eyes, slippers and blankies all over you.
Not this cold, not this time.
So no Wednesday Wonders again :-(

I wanted to remind you I have a piece I am giving away on the Mary's Graces Blog
http://marysgraces.blogspot.com/2011/08/token-of-love-give-away-from-marie.html

The giveaway is over on Friday 08/18/11,  you might want to go check it out if your are interested.

Since I had to stay home this weekend and not go play at Jodi's house, I brought out the paper and started to play.
I have always wanted to learn Coptic book binding, I did.
I did OK too.
My friend Meredith makes wonderful books, Coptic binding is one of her specialties. I have always admired them, it is a neat technique and she does a great job.
You can see her book and paper art gallery here http://www.mereditharnold.com/MeredithsWebsite/books-port1.htm
She also teaches in the Seattle area and will teach a class for it if you get enough people together.

I will take a picture of my little book and load it up here later.

I went to google and did a search for Coptic bookbinding and up pops,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHAJyzzb4EE

This one is for Coptic bookbinding with hard covers. There are other wonderful videos under the same search for doing different covers, images, and a plethora of info to keep you or me busy for days ;-D

I am going to do this again.

I have also listed tons(OK, lots) of stuff in both of my stores.
http://www.mariesegal.etsy.com/
http://www.thehoarderscloset.etsy.com/

Also I don't know if you know about this web page and group, but if you are an Etsy seller of handmade or vintage, this might be a wonderful source for you.
It is called Etsy Lush http://etsylush.com/
They also have a team on Etsy, you can check it out here.
http://www.etsy.com/teams/8706/etsylush
It is totally run by volunteers, donating what I am sure is massive hours of time, to promote sellers on Etsy
Thank you guys!!
They also started doing individual pages for the people who get their things listed.
 
Here is my page
http://etsylush.com/author/mariesegal/
It also helps me keep track of what I have submitted already ;-D
That kind of tool always helps me. It is also nice to be able to share it too.
Thank you guys, again.

I hope you have a great day.
Be well and it is almost Friday ;-D