Springtime in Paris Altered Book with Paper Clay Stamped Spine Tutorial

Its springtime in Paris and my homage to the season is this altered book.  Unlike other altered books I’ve shown you, I’m using decorative images and paper to hold the pages together rather than gluing them to each other; a big time saver!

I’ve shown you how to stamp on paper clay and how to mold stamped clay to a bottle, so how about stamping clay and molding it to a book spine.

TUTORIAL

Clay Spine

Since it takes a while for paper clay to dry, I started by making the stamped piece for the book spine.  First, I rolled out paper clay on a piece of wax paper.  You could also use a non-stick craft sheet or tin foil; anything that keeps the clay from sticking to the surface.  I used a brayer to roll out the clay to a thickness of about 1/8” thick.

Next, using a yummy damask clear stamp, I pressed the stamp firmly into the clay.

Carefully remove the stamp from the clay revealing the pattern which will become more prominent when colored.

Next, I trimmed one side and the top and bottom of the clay using a metal ruler and X-acto knife.  I used the X-acto knife to trim away some of the clay on the right side.  After the clay dries I will sand away any remaining excess clay.  

Note: Paper clay shrinks when it dries so keep that in mind when deciding how much clay to trim away and what stamp to use.

Since I wanted the clay to curve around the spine of the book I needed it to dry in a curved position.  I wrapped wax paper around the second book (which is the same size as the book I altered) to protect the book from the moisture in the clay.

To help draw the moisture out of the clay, I wrapped the end of the book with a paper towel.

I used a pair of C-clamps to keep book closed and the papers in place.

Next, I carefully molded the clay around the spine of the book in the same position as I will attach it to the altered book.  Notice the cracks.  You may find that your clay cracks some when you bend it.  Personally, I think it adds to the vintage look of the book.  If you don’t like the cracks, use your finger dipped in a small amount of water and gently rub out the cracks; be careful not to rub out the design.

Let the clay dry (could take 2 days).  After a couple of hours, you might want to lift the clay piece off the paper towel to allow the towel to dry and then place the clay back on the book.  Paper clay likes to curl or warp as it is drying.  Once the surface feels dry, you can place a light object on the surface to keep it from curling as the back and insides of the clay continues to dry.

If you have never worked with paper clay you might want to use just a small piece and experiment so that you can get a feel for how long it takes to dry in your climate and how to prevent warping.

Once the clay is completely dry, you can sand away any excess or rough areas.  Once I sanded the clay I painted it with pale yellow acrylic paint.

Next, I used Walnut Distress Ink and a sponge to add more color and to make the pattern pop.  The picture below shows how it looks although unlike in the picture, I did this before attaching the clay to the book.

Originally, the plan was to stop coloring the clay after applying the ink but I then decided (after I attached the clay to the book) to add Inca Gold Gilders Paste to the raised parts of the design.  The gold complimented the other gold accents on the book.

Altering the Book

I started with an old Readers Digest Book (I have tons of them).  I choose one with a yellow cover as I am not going to cover the edges and I thought the yellow would coordinate with the other colors.

Next, I removed the front cover using an X-acto knife.

Once I decided on the size of the shadowbox, I cut a hole through pages in the book.  The depth of the hole depends on the embellishments you intend to use.  I used a piece of sandpaper to sand away some of the ragged edges.

I stamped the front page of the book with the same stamp I used to create the clay spine.

Now the fun starts and you can begin adding images and paper in the shadow box.  Anything you want to attach to the back of the shadow box should be done before combining the pages.

For this altered book, I did not glue the pages together to keep them in place.  Instead, I used decorative paper and images glued to the first page in the book and then wrapped around the pages and glued the last page in the book.  I did this on the top, bottom and right side of the book.  This keeps the pages together and saves you the tedious job of gluing each page to the next.

Once you have the images glued to the top, bottom and right side of the book you can glue the last page to the back cover of the book.  If the spine of the book separates from the book when you remove the cover, you can glue it to the spine of the pages (which is what I did for this book).

Other decorative elements that I added to the book is the Dresden hardware, lace and ribbon.

Next, I glued the clay spine to the book.

To make the woman and girl appear dimensional, I cut out a second version and used double-stick foam tape to attach them to the book.  It was at this point that I decided the clay needed the gold accent to balance the gold hardware.

In the corner of the book, I added the crinkle paper ribbon.  I love using this type of ribbon because it is lightweight and holds its shape.  I tucked the ends of the ribbon in between pages of the book and underneath the clay.  I also added Dresden myrtle, white stamen and a little bird.

The fern garland is tucked into the shadowbox and some of the leaves are glued to the front of the book.  I added variegated roses for color.

Since the clay did not wrap all the way around the spine and to add a decorative element I bent and attached brass filigree. 

 

Christmas Wishes Shadow Box Book with Tutorial

In this piece, Santa’s just been down the chimney delivering toys to all the little girls and boys.  As soon as I saw the Tim Holtz Christmas Wishes Worn Book Cover I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I thought this book would make a great shadowbox book with a vintage fireplace scene surrounded by toys from Santa.

On the inside cover, I framed paper by braiding the mini pine and berry garland with the tiny red tree garland.  The “Night Before Christmas” poem on parchment is just something I cooked up for the project.  Please feel free to download the image below and use it in your artwork.

Making the Shadowbox

The shadow box is made out of pieces of chipboard.  Two of the pieces measure 6 ½” by ¾” and two pieces measure 4 ¾” x ¾”.  These measurements create a box that just fits on the inside back cover of the book.  With the depth of the pieces being ¾”, it gives you room on the other side of the cover (where the poem is) for bulkier embellishment and still allows for closing the book.  I painted the edges of the chipboard then covered it in paper from the St. Nicholas paper pad.

Next, I glued the pieces together and then backed the box with more paper from the paper pad.

The final step was to glue the box into the book.

The Chimney

The chimney is made from chipboard.  Two of the chipboard pieces measure 2” x 1 ¼” and two pieces measure ¾” x 1 ¼”.  I inked the edges of the chipboard then covered it with paper.

To create the look of snow on the chimney, I first used white paint.  The paint was almost dried out which made it easier to apply it thickly.

Once the paint was dry I used Glossy Accents to add an icy look.

The final step was to attach Santa to the chimney and to glue the chimney to the top of the shadow box.  I used color pencils to make his suit a darker red.

The Inside Details

At inside top of the box, I used a combination of borders that were in the paper pack and ribbon.  I added toys, stocking and the clock images that came from various collage sheets.  Hanging from the fireplace are mini stocking ornaments.  I also used various buttons and holly picks.

The logs are made from sticks and topped with orange and red Dazzlers (from Glitter Art Institute) to look like glowing embers.

 

The fireplace mantle is a chipboard die cut that I covered with paper.  I also cut an extra strip of chipboard to create a top for the fireplace.  This gave me room to put items on the top.  I used 3 layers of foam core tape to attach the fireplace to the back of the shadow box and to make it pop off the back.

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Here come sassy ladies in their fur coats and baby it’s cold outside!  I imagined that these ladies are out shopping, meeting friends and having a great time in the wintry holiday weather.

This piece is made from a door album with the pages hinged together to create an accordion-folded display.  I love using architecture for a backdrop.  By hinging the doors together rather than assembling them as a book, it allows for the use of large dimensional embellishments, plus you can see everything at once.  I’m thinking this would make a great display on a mantelpiece or bookshelf.  

I also decided to go with nontraditional holiday colors and a design that was more winter oriented as I can image leaving this up beyond Christmas.  I took my color inspiration from the door book and the Glistening 6 x 6 paper pad with its blue, grey, tan and cream color scheme; a perfect way to show off lots of snowflakes.

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE COLLAGE SHEET

This sheet is filled with 1920's women dressed in coats.  Also included are snowflakes & birds.

Design Details and Paper Embellishment Tutorials

In addition to walking you through the construction and design of each of the doors, I will also cover how I created the paper embellishments.

The size of each door is approximately 10’5” x 7.25”.  The set comes with six doors and each door has a different design on each side.  My first challenge was to choose the sides I wanted to use for the front and to narrow it down to 5 doors (I like odd numbers).  Next, I laid them out in order and marked the placement of the hinges.  Using paperweights helped keep the doors from shifting as I marked the holes.  I placed the hinges so that they covered up two of the three holes in each door.  I used embellishments to cover up the remaining hole.

I punched the holes and attached the hinges to the doors with brads.  To dress up the hinges I added a brass snowflake charm to the brads (before inserting them into the holes).  I only added the charms to the brads that would be seen after all of the embellishing.

Door #1

The bulkiest embellishments I used were bottle brush trees.  Before attaching them to the door, I cut away almost half of the base and the bristles on the back of the tree.  These mods allowed the trees to sit flush against the door.

To make the ladies pop, I used a frame and paper cutting technique.  First, I resized and printed a frame from my Antique Frames digital image set.  The frame is round in shape but I enlarged it and stretched it into an oval.  Next, I cut two different pieces of pattern paper from the Glistening paper pad.  The pieces are slightly smaller than the frame.  One piece serves as the background (tan and white snowflakes) and the other serves as the piece that curls out of the frame (blue-grey snowflakes).

Using an X-acto knife, I precut lines in the center of the blue/grey paper to facilitate tearing.  Only cut the center section of the paper and not towards the edge where the fame will cover the paper.

Next, I flipped the blue/grey paper over and glued it to the tan/white piece.  Glue only around the edges of the paper.

Glue the frame to the paper.

Tear back the pieces of the blue-grey paper.  Tear off the excess at the ends and curl the paper over the frame.  I also inked the edges of the paper.

Now the frame is ready to attach the images of the ladies.  I finished dressing up the piece by adding the miniature pine cones and ribbon.  Also, notice that this door has openings cut in the top which allowed me to attach a clock to the backside of the door.

Collage Sheets Use

Vintage Frames Digital Image Set – The frame

Tick Toc Collage Sheet - Clock

Door #2

This was one of my favorite doors because so much of it is cut out.  On the backside of the door, I attached a scene of blue curtains and a table.  On the table is a Christmas tree.  This is one of the tree charms you saw me use for the Advent Calendar project.  I used foam core tape on the window scene to separate it from the door adding depth and creating space to accommodate the tree charm.

The swirls at the bottom are painted blue then coated in Twinklets Diamond Dust (one of my favorite products) using Glossy Accents. 

The wreath and gold bird at the bottom are from my Bejeweled collage sheet.  I added depth to the jewels in the wreath by applying Glossy Accent.

COLLAGE SHEETS USED

Bejeweled Collage Sheet - Wreath

Door #3

Of all of the doors, this one is probably my favorite design.  I think it is because of all of the snowflakes.  Some of the snowflakes and the birds are from the new collage sheet.  Again I’ve used a frame from my Antiques Frame Digital image set to accent this lovely lady.

One type of snowflake I used was made from chipboard.  I painted the snowflakes blue and coated them in Diamond Dust (using Glossy Accents) to give them sparkle.

The tassel at the bottom is one that I made from the paper pack.  Below is a quick video showing you how to make a paper tassel.

COLLAGE SHEETS USED

Vintage Digital Image Set

 Door #4

I attached several different types of snowflakes to this door including the paper snowflake sprays before attaching the image of the lady with the hatbox.  After attaching her, I added more snowflakes to finish the door.

The snowflake looking sprays are made from paper.  Below is a short video on how to make them.

Door #5

This is probably my favorite door as I love its color and style and of course the cutout at the top.  The sassy lady sitting on the hatboxes in the snow is perhaps waiting for someone to come home and let her in?  To this door and the first door I attached chipboard lanterns.  The candles in the lantern are made from beads and the flame is yellow paint.  The snowflake sequins are attached using Glossy Accents.  I used my finger to apply paint to the raised areas of the wreath and attached gold beads and a reindeer button.

On the backside of the door behind the cutout, I attached the grill workpiece that came from the transparency.

I hope you enjoy this project and stay tuned for more seasonal project ideas and tutorials.