Tuesday 6 April 2010

Bookbinding Altered Element Design Team Project

paper & fabric
available from
Altered Element




As a new member of the Design Team over at
Altered Element
online shop

UK based art & craft materials for mixed media, creative textiles, paper crafting,

jewellery making, altered art, felting and more.


I was sent some beautiful paper & fabric to create a step by step guide
Pics of goodies used for books from Altered Elements:



What could be better than a mini notebook pictorial ...


Materials can be obtained from Altered Element:

Card / thick paper:

Bazzill Smoothies Cardstock A4 (can trim to required size)

Fabric:

Crushed Velvet Fabric - Off White/Pale Ivory

Scrim / muslin

Adhesive:
Glue Stick

PVA Adhesive Super Plus - 150ml

Stamp pad:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye

Elastic Band (to hold book pages together while you work)
Cutting Tool (to trim paper/card)
Scissors
Pencil (to mark with)
Bone folder / smooth object to press card folds
Glue brush

Note: can be any size you prefer
quite an easy format to use so no set size guides have to be followed
ones that are stated is the size I use for mini books (bag size)

Ribbons / lace can be used as ties or to adorn
Altered element also offer wonderful metal page corners
I will be adding pictures of book using these at a later date -
I think they really add to the antique eye candy!
Another extra goodie cosmic shimmer mister sprays- use ancient copper for pages,
a gentle spray across the pages, then rub ink stamp across page edge once dry.
yummy!

(These following photos are books made with
my own fabrics & scrap paper)



measurements here are in Inches










scrim (muslin)




















creative workshops

Bookbinding 1 - Tools Materials & Techniques - Rhomany

An online class teaching many forms of bookbinding in stages -
ie: Novice, intermediate, pro
Rhomany's class offers wonderful step by step videos & PDF's
well worth joining if you want to create various types of books
& gain knowledge from a professional

There are also many videos available, but I do prefer to also join a class and receive feedback..

Here are a couple, but do browse youtube for more ;-)
Enjoy x





Love & light Trace oxo

Monday 5 April 2010

Ageing techniques

I hope everyone had a wonderful, magical easter..x
Something I wanted to share with you all...
I just luv ageing & distressing everything, lets have some fun ;-)

A complete list of proven ageing techniques for paper and card,
some of these are in use today by Forgers and film makers.

These methods can be applied to the letter that you receive with HEIRLOOM
and WILL make it look 100 years old.


Don't however use them all, I suggest you use one ageing process for the entire sheet and then maybe the Chalk pastel process for the edges of the letter.

1) Walnut ink crystals and water make a great ageing combination. Mix up some crystals with water to the desired level of darkness, and apply to the paper:

paint it on, dab it on with a sponge, dip the paper in it, or use any creative application method you come up with. They're all good! Dropping a few crystals directly onto the dampened paper creates an interesting effect, too.


2) Similarly, tea and coffee can both be used as ageing mediums. As with walnut ink, simply brew tea or coffee to the desired strength, then apply with the method of your choice.
Wet tea bags can be used as applicators for an extra bit of blotchiness.

3) Grab your dye ink pads and apply them to paper directly. Pat or drag the pads across the paper to apply color. To get a little texture going, lay the paper onto a surface with sand or gravel on it (my garage floor gives a great texture if it
hasn't been swept recently).



4) Roll a brayer over an earth-toned dye ink pad, then spritz the roller here and there with a little water. Roll over paper or tags. This can be done in layers using different colors if desired.

5) I love glazes! I do have some Golden acrylic glazes, but I also like glaze medium and plain old cheap acrylic paint. Mix using more glaze than paint, and apply with the tool of your choice: brush, sponge, wadded up paper towels or fingers.
When you're going for age, make sure to choose matte glaze rather than glossy.

6) For paper that looks burned, my favorite technique uses lemon or lime juice and a heat gun. Dab the juice onto the edges of the paper, then heat. The more you heat, the darker the burn marks become. This technique takes a little practice, but the effect is well worth the time.

7) Chalking is a very simple way of aging paper.
Tear the edges of the paper, then drag chalks or pastels along the torn edge. Blend with your finger or a cotton swab.

Cool Wrinkles are good! Spritz your paper with water, and crumple it into a ball, then flatten it out again. If you want it really flat, try ironing it lightly.
Use as is, or apply any aging technique.
To simply define the wrinkles a bit, try dragging a VersaMark pad over the surface.

9) To age patterned papers, try a bit of fine sandpaper or some steel wool.
Rub over the edges of the paper to dull or remove the pattern.



A wonderful article from forum here by
Magicands

Walnut ink supplies uk:
sticky fingers crafts
Gallery Textiles

love & light
Trace
oxo