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Showing posts with label Handmade Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Handmade Books. Show all posts

Saturday, August 14, 2021

SEA DREAMS - HANDMADE BOOK WITHIN A BOOK - VIDEO TUTORIAL - NEW COLLAGE SHEET

For this project, I demonstrate how to make two books, a large book that contains a mini removable book. 

The inspiration for this project comes from the Sea Dream 8x8 paper pad and the Poem by Nathanial Hawthorn titled “The Ocean”.  You'll find a printable version of the poem further down in this post.  I love the paper's design blending sea life with flowers.

I have created a new collage sheet, “SEA DREAMS” for this project and used the sheet to decorate the mini-book.


To decorate the large book, I used various fern and seaweed type die-cut chipboard which I colored and made dimensional with the use of paint, microbeads, and embossing powders.



Along with how to construct the book, I’ll share with you other ideas for embellishments, such as taking an embellishment that is too small for the scale of the project and turning it into something that is the right scale.

In the video tutorial below, I’ll walk you through all the steps to create books like this for yourself.

SEA DREAMS COLLAGE SHEET - NEW

These vintage sea-themed images are perfect for collage projects, mini books, handmade cards, labels, and coasters.  Click on the image below to purchase this collage sheet.

VIDEO TUTORIAL

Saturday, October 19, 2019

SPELL & POTION BOOK - NEW IMAGES - VIDEO TUTORIAL

Halloween would not be complete without a spooky book of spells and potions.  The overall size is approximately 9" x 7" and made out of out of heavy chipboard. To give the book texture, I’ve used a crackle technique which I cover in the video tutorial.  The skull in the center is made with polymer clay using a mold.
For this project, I’ve created a new set of Magical Book Pages to complement my older collection which gave me a total of 27 magical pages to work with (there is also a new mini version that can be used for a miniature book.)  
To fill out the book, I used blank distressed looking pages to which I can add images over time and paper from the Cosmos 12 x 12 Scrapbook Paper pad, which I also used to line the inside of the book.
I’ve used beautiful hardware to connect the chipboard pieces.  In the video, I’ll show you how to transform simple hinges to elegant ones.
I used various techniques to distress the pages and will demonstrate a lemon juice and heat gun technique which give pages and authentic burnt look.

NEW COLLAGE SHEET & DIGI IMAGE SET
This collage sheet contains 14 pages of spells, incantations, enchantments, potions, and magical symbols.  Included are: Summon a Dragon, Conjure a Storm, Memory Charm, Forget, Healing, Reveal the Truth, and Dream.  This set compliments the first Magic Book Pages collage sheet.  To purchase this sheet, click on the image below.
This set includes 14 pages sized 7” x 5” that are perfect for creating a book of magic.  The pages contain spells, incantations, enchantments, potions, and magical symbols.  Included are: Summon a Dragon, Conjure a Storm, Memory Charm, Forget, Healing, Reveal the Truth, and Dream.  This set compliments the first Magical Book Pages – Large Version digital image set.   To purchase this digital image set, click on the image below.
VIDEO TUTORIAL


Detail Supply List 

If you are interested in making a mini version.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

House of Horrors Handmade Book - New Image Sets - Video Tutorial

Just in time for Halloween, I have a spooky book project for you titled “House of Horrors.”  I’ve packed in lots of creepiness from my new image sets and other embellishments.  The book is constructed using chipboard haunted house and tombstone shapes which makes it easy to assemble and decorate.
The house is full of spooky pictures of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches, skeleton people, and headless women.  Inside you’ll find a trunk full of creepy doll heads.  Behind a gate is a vampire with her coffin.  The brickwork was made using a plastic mold and paper clay.  I’ve used lots of candles on the pages, as I think they add to the creep factor.

A house of horrors would not be complete without ghouls.  Below is a cavern with a bloody guillotine, a barrel of dolls and skeleton heads, a skeleton in a cage, and a bloody clawed coffin (made from a chipboard coffin book.)
Below are more of the spooky portraits, and note the ghost in the mirror about the dresser and the doll-headed spider climbing down the wall.  To add trim to the walls on several of the pages, I used black Dresden along with spiderweb and bat die-cut chipboard borders.
On the back of the book, there is a shrouded skeleton walking through a graveyard with blood flowing from a fountain (I have the fountain image for you further down in the post.)  I used paper roses with their stems twisted together to make a vine.  A blood-red moon and bats complete the scene and, of course, more candles.
I choose to bind the book using some spider web ribbon from my stash.  In the video tutorial, I show you an alternative method of binding the book.

NEW COLLAGE SHEETS & DIGI IMAGE SETS
This sheet contains 9 unique spooky portraits of ghosts, ghouls, vampires, werewolves, and more.  There are 4 different sizes for each portrait for a total of 36 images.  These images work well with 1:12 scale projects and smaller as well as the houses in Grimsley Village.  To purchase this sheet, click on the image below.
 

These sheets are filled with all kinds of spooky and creepy images to decorate a haunted house.  These images work well with a 1:12 scale project and the houses in Grimsley Village.  To purchase these sheets, click on the images below.
 

This half sheet contains 38 unique candle images that work well with a 1:12 scale project and the houses in Grimsley Village, and my other miniature projects.  To purchase this sheet, click on the image below.

This image set is filled with all kinds of spooky and creepy images to decorate a haunted house.  These images work well with a 1:12 scale project and the houses in Grimsley Village.  Included are all of the images from the House of Horrors #1 & #2 collage sheets, the images from the Spooky Portraits, and much more, for a total of 100 images.  To purchase this image set, click on the image below.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL


FREE IMAGE
Feel free to download this image and use it in your art.  Right-click on the images and select "Save Image As."

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Alice in Wonderland "Down the Rabbit Hole" & Four Alice Themed Domino Books Plus a New Collage Sheet & Digital Image Set

 
Cut up a Pringles Potato Chip can glue it back together cattywampus, and you get Alice falling down the rabbit hole.  To create the effect of Alice and other objects free-falling down the hole, I used wooden dowels and double-stick tape to suspend and anchor the images and items to the back wall.
Cobblestone paper, window and door images, leaf ribbons, ferns, and mushrooms decorate the outside.
In the front at the bottom, you’ll see the White Rabbit waiting impatiently for Alice at the door.

ALICE DOMINO BOOKS
If you are looking for a smaller-scale project, you might want to create an Alice-themed domino book.  Domino books are so easy to quickly put together.  I’ve created a new Alice-themed collage sheet filled with domino panels that are sized for standard 1” x 2” dominoes.  In addition, there is an Alice domino digital image set. I also have 4 sample books to give you some ideas.

This sheet contains 40 Alice in Wonderland-themed panels that are sized to fit a standard 1” x 2” domino.  These panels work great for domino jewelry and books.

This set contains all of the images in the Alice in Wonderland Domino Books Collage Sheet, plus an additional 13 images for a total of 53.  All of the images in this set can be re-sized for your project as they are high-resolution (300dpi) PNG formatted images. 


I chose to keep the dominoes the original white color for all of the domino books.  I thought white worked well with the images; leaving them white was less work (great if you want a fast project).  I used ribbon and paper tape to add color to the dominoes' sides.

6 Impossible Things Domino Book
On the front of this book, I used one of the panels from the collage sheet, a couple of images from the Tea Party Alice Collage Sheet, or you will find the same images in the Tea Party Alice digital image set, plus a layered mini pink flamingo sticker.  I can’t look a pink flamingo and not smile.  Also, notice the raw brass box feet attached to the bottom of the dominoes.
Inside the book, you’ll see two of the panels from the new collage sheet.
Below is a side view of the book.  I’ve dressed up the sides with diamond paper tape and attached the hinge to the outside of the dominoes.
On the backside is another panel from the new collage sheet.

It’s Good to Be Queen Domino Book
I think this one is my favorite of the bunch.  Dominoes may be small, but many surfaces add dimensional elements.  Before attaching a panel from the collage sheet, I glued place heart stick pins.  One of the stick pins is threaded through a puffy heart bead.  On the bottom, I’ve used bronze White Rabbit charms as legs.  
Inside the book are two images from the collage sheet.
On the sides, I used a red velvet ribbon.  I ran it through my Xyron machine to attach the ribbon, which applies dry adhesive that won’t bleed through the ribbon.  You’ll also notice that the hinges are hidden and can only be seen from the side view.
On the back of the book is a panel from the collage sheet.

Down the Rabbit Hole Domino Book
On the front of this book are acrylic flowers, a key, and a clock that surround a hole that Alice is falling into.  The flowers and key are from the Alice in an Altoids Tin Kit from Alpha Stamps, which is full of Alice-themed embellishments.
Below you get a better view of how the front is put together.  I used one of the background panels from the new digital image set.  I cut a hole in the panel and peeled back the edges of the hole.  Next, I glued the panel to a piece of decorative paper and cut a slit in the hole, which is where I inserted the partial image of Alice.
I used ribbon for this book to decorate the edges and attached two bronze 3D White Rabbit charms.
Inside are two panels from the collage sheet.
The hinges are hidden just as with the “It’s Good to Be Queen” domino book.
To hide the hinges, glue them to the inside of the dominoes before adding the panels.
On the back is another image from the collage sheet.

Tea Time Domino Book
This book is different from the others in that it has a ribbon on each that acts as the closure, and inside are accordion folded pages.
Notice the metal chair pendants attached to each side of the front domino and the teacup and saucer on the top.  Inside are a series of panels from the collage sheet.  You can have as many panels as you like as long as it is an even number.
Below is a side view of the cup and chair.  You can also see that I used gold-striped paper tape to decorate the sides.
On the back is a White Rabbit panel from the collage sheet.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE (altered Pringles can) TUTORIAL

Start by cutting a long rectangular hole on one side.  I found that the nutrition label edges were a good guide for the long sides of the hole.  Leave approximately 1 inch on the top and 2 1/4 inches on the bottom.

Next, you are going to cut the can into 3 pieces.  The top piece should be approximately 3 inches tall, and the bottom piece should be approximately 2 3/4 inches tall.
To make the can cattywampus, you need to cut the middle piece at angles on each end.  First, insert the middle piece at an angle into the top piece using the top piece and the middle piece.
 
Mark a cut line on the middle piece using the edge of the top piece as a guide.  Note how I have used a clip to keep the pieces in place so that I can mark the cut line.
Next, repeat the same process with the middle and bottom pieces.  You should have two angled cut lines on the middle piece.  Cut away the marked sections on the middle piece.  NOTE:  I made the angle on the top more severe than the angle on the bottom.
Below you can see the three pieces.  The bottom and top pieces are cut straight, and the middle piece is cut at an angle on the top and bottom.
Next, paper the outside and the inside of each piece.  I used cobblestone scrapbook paper on the outside and an image of a library from the Steampunk Time Machine digital image set.  Notice that I painted the top and bottom metal rims brown.
Glue the pieces together, matching the edges.  To hide and blend the seams where the pieces are connected, I cut out stones from the paper and glued them on the seams.  Notice how I added windows to the outside, which can be found on the More Old Windows Collage sheet.
On the inside, I cut strips from the library image and used them to hide the seams on the inside.
To attach the images and object inside and to give them the appearance of floating, I used wooden dowels and double stick tape to pop them out from the walls and to secure them in place.  I cut the dowels at various lengths.  When you attach them to the wall, think about the angle you will be looking at as you view the piece.  Use this to determine where to attach the image or item so that you will not see the dowel when you look in the opening.  For smaller items like the card and teacups, I used double-stick tape. 
At the top, I used sheet moss, leaving a small hole for Alice to fall through.  Notice the Cheshire Cat sitting in the moss.
At the bottom, I’ve added a door from the Mini Old Windows and Doors collage sheet, the White Rabbit, and trees from the We Are All Mad Here collage sheet.  I also used mushrooms and ferns.  The base is a round box lid from my stash covered with hedge scrapbook paper.
Climbing up the can is stitched leaf ribbon that I ran through my Xyron machine, which applies dry glue that will not bleed through the ribbon.
COLLAGE SHEETS - Down the Rabbit Hole
Mini Old Windows & Doors Collage Sheet – Door Image
Time Machine Digital Image Set – Library Image
More Old Windows Collage Sheet
or
Old Windows & Doors Digital Image Set - Window Images