Word is Google will be dropping

 several accounts that haven't had activity in some time .... I want this to stay active so I am doing this post in hopes it will keep them from dropping it ....

Wish me luck!

I have had a request

Sorry this is a long post because I couldn't get the photo's to load any other way ... I have a couple of YouTube video's of this type of book, one is with Graphic 45 paper and the other is this 7 Gypsy's paper
https://youtu.be/eprVlPLOn28  and https://youtu.be/riMzAMpY4dI

Supplies needed … ok so I forgot a couple of things … one of my “Technical Tools” – it’s dental floss for braces usually found in the grocery store over by the tooth paste, you will see a photo later in the instructions and a Crop-a-dile

6 - 8 ½” x 11” cardstock/water color/Bristol weight paper (I used linen cardstock)
12” ruler
metal ruler and score tool – to score pocket and pages
pencil
your favorite adhesive – I used mostly glue stick the rest was redline tape
scissors
14 Pony beads – found in the kids section of most craft stores
2 – 12x12” decorative paper – for outside of book cover (I used 7 Gypsy birds from Aviary line)
2 – 12x12” color coordinated paper – for inside of book cover (I used 7 Gypsy ledger from Aviary line)
2 – color coordinated papers – for large tags & accents (I used Tim Holtz, numbers & tickets) this is for the finished look
1yd of ribbon 1 ½” wide (also if you what to have some narrow ribbon for small tag or something)
punch or edge cutter die for pocket page edges (if desired)
2 - 6x8” matt board/chip board/back of a watercolor tablet
2 – ¾”x6” same as above
1 – 1 ¾”x6” same as above for spine

Instructions … first you will take 3 of the 6 cardstock papers and cut them to 7 ¾”x10”, now take and punch or die cut your edge (if you choose to do this), then score ¾” from the other end and score from the right side 2 5/8” and 2 ½” from the left side … now put glue/tape on the middle bottom edge about 1” each side of the middle, keep the end edges free of glue/tape because you will be punching holes thru that part, this will form the pocket pages, when you fold them they should overlap an 1/8” and you will glue that down being careful NOT to glue the pocket closed but to have the bottom ¾” scored part glue/taped shut in the middle so things don’t fall thru ….

See photo’s below to help understand :

The other 3 pages will be cut to 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" and scored ¾” at one end … of course if you don’t want to make pocket pages or mix them up then just decide which you want to make and complete all 6 the same way …

IF you choose to make the pocket pages then you will want to cut a 4 ½”x6 ½” decorative or color coordinated paper for the joined side of the pocket to help cover the joint

Time to cover your book cover … using 2 of the 12x12” papers you will butt them together (but not tape or glue together) … I wanted a certain design on my front cover do I had to figure out the placement of that so I folded/creased the paper some so when I turned it over, so the side I wanted to show was face down, I would know where to butt my papers together 

now adhere your matt board/chip board to the paper starting with the 1 ¾” strip (this should fall in your middle of the butted papers) then on both sides leave a slightly generous 1/8” space before you adhere the ¾” strips again leave a generous 1/8” space then adhere the 6x8” front and back  … now trim around the book cover so you have about ½” larger than the book … if you stand it up with the light shining inside of it you can see the space between the strips that form the spine and turning/bending part of the front … also this will give your book a chance to dry in the correct position after gluing …

See photo’s below to help understand ..

Now lay it down and take the corners and fold them over at a 90% angle so you will know where to trim the corners so you don’t have too much bulk in the corners after you have trimmed the corners you will press the cover paper down to the inside of the book cover and adhere all around …

before your glue dries stand your book up and gently bend the fold back part of the front and back cover and let it finish drying in the position … if you feel like you need some reinforcement in the fold back areas you can use “Painters PAPER masking tape” mine is white and about 1 ½” wide, it’s NOT the same as painters blue tape … as you can see from the next photo’s I did use some because the 7 Gypsy paper seemed a little thin to me …

at this time you will cut your inside book covers so they butt against each other in the middle of the spine and are about 1/8” short of the height and width of the book cover (this will give you a nice looking inside with a little of your pretty paper from the outside cover showing … again after you have glued them in place you will take and gently bend back the folding part of the front and back to let it dry …

oh I forgot to tell you if you follow my instructions your pocket pages will be just a little smaller than your plain pages, I think this makes for more texture and interest in the book … it’s now time punched holes about 1” up and down from the bottom and top of the books 6” measurement … then I took one of the plain pages and put it behind the back cover to mark the places for the holes and punched that and used it for the guide with the other pages/pockets

now to the binding … it’s the fun part … get your 14 pony beads, 1 ½” wide ribbon, 2 “Technical Tools” (dental floss for braces) see photo

begin by treading your ribbon thru the dental floss loop and from the back outside to the inside back thread the hole and then the pony bead … do this with both holes

pull the ribbon thru totally leaving the pony bead next to the back cover now thread thru the holes of a page then a pony bead and pull thru again …

this will leave a pony bead in between each page and in between the back cover and the last page then eventually when all pages have been done the same way there will be a pony bead in between the first page and the front cover …. 

gently pull your ribbon up very snug on the front cover of your book and tie a knot then a bow and you are finished with the basic book …. because my outside paper was a collage look I didn’t need anything on the exterior spine to hide the butting up of the papers so if you need something pick one of your papers the book is made of and cut a strip that will cover the spine only … it’s so cool that you have a book with all that space to put all those 3D ephemera things we love to add to the pages whether it be used to hold photos and journaling of a special event or just a beautiful hand made book for any reason … 

now you just start decorating your pocket pages with all that 3D ephemera we love to use ... 

have fun

I tried to upload a PDF file of this but it wouldn't take either so, here is a link to the file (I hope) if you want to print this out .... 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18XFr0ETE_wQNBtadpajxuyvEP_gUpCKFPZ9gmE-8x6A/edit?usp=sharing 

2015 ... well it's been awhile

Life keeps getting in the way of what I want to do ... and someone hijacked my online site for the classes I had gotten together soooooo now I am going to have to rework all the things that were up there and maybe even change the format ....

I have decided to  rework this blog since I am no longer able to do physical Altered Book Retreats .... It will now be mostly slide shows of my work over the years ...

at a later date I may add something else or put up another blog with actual online classes ... in the mean time enjoy the slide show and hopefully get inspired ... Linda

Slide show of some of my Altered Book work

2012 is here

I just wanted to let all of you know that I will not be doing a physical retreat this year .... BUT I am working at getting an online workshop/classes site together so you can still learn some of my tricks ... it will take me another month or so to get everything in place so be patient ... I sure will miss seeing all of you and having face to face fun but hopefully we can still have some of that thru the online workshops ... when everything is in place I will post a LINK on this site and my regular art site The Art Sook ... Linda

2011 AB Retreat ...

Well I guess by now you have figured out it probably isn't going to happen in 2011 .... we have made our move and are about settled, hubby is doing better; BUT I haven't found a place to have it at this time ... I will be looking and let you know as soon as I can get it all together ...... hope you are having fun Altering Books from what you have learned at the previous retreats .... take care and hope to have news soon ... Linda

Life

Ok so life gets in the way some of the time .... hubby had to have serious neck surgery and recovery is still going on; in the mean time we have a down sizing move ahead of us ... SOOOOOOO I will have to get back to y'all about 2011 AB retreat ... check back sometime in late January 2011 by then I hope to have my life settled again ... Thanks for stopping by Linda