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I received an interesting question from bookarat, who asks:
What I wonder – how can you use starbooks? Are they just beautiful book objects, or can you use them for journaling or album purposes?
Although they are beautiful book objects to be admired, I’ve also seen them used very creatively. Check out this link:
I love how she cut through the layers of paper and integrated photos…now that I think of it, this looks very much like the book I attempted to make without the instructions! Had I taken a few more moments to do proper research, I could have saved time and headaches (and paper)! As I said in my earlier post, I never learn…
I got the instructions for my first star book (from a few posts ago) from a book called “Books with Girth” by Cherryl Moote. She made an absolutely amazing star book with cutouts and calligraphy. Check out this page - the book in question is called “Nursery Rhyme Silhouette Star Book” and it’s about 3/4 of the way down the page. I don’t event want to think about the amount of patience required for making this book…
So as you see, star books can be used like any other scrapbook or journal – you can add pockets, embellishments, journalling, photos, anything really!
One thing most good instruction books tell you is when you’re making a new type of book for the first time, always make a maquette from scrap papers first; that way if you make mistakes or need to make adjustments, you’re not wasting your good papers.
Do I ever follow these instructions? Noooooo……
And so I’ve spent approximately $20 on paper to make a star book that doesn’t quite form into a star shape…
Here’s what it looks like closed:
Don’t get me wrong – I love how it looks, the colour combinations, the way it fans out, etc. It’s just that it’s supposed to completely fan out so that the covers touch each other. You see, I couldn’t find instructions for this book, so I carefully studied several photos until I had it figured out… I got it right for the most part, and it would take only a bit of tweaking for it to be perfect, but in the meantime I’ve spent a good chunk of money on a book that won’t open properly. And I can’t take it apart to redo it.
Lesson (grudgingly) learned.
However, I do believe I’ll send out this book for a swap I’m participating in on Swap-Bot. The challenge is to make a book that is MORE than a book, something that is interesting and interactive. I think this will fit the bill perfectly if I add a few pockets and some tags…
On Saturday I took part in my very first Crafternoon Tea at nathalie-roze & co. Although I didn’t sell tons, it was a worthwhile experience nonetheless – I got to promote my books to a very interesting and interested crowd, and I was able to meet and mingle with some pretty cool crafters, namely le petit pig and soap scum. I never cease to be amazed by the sheer amount of talent and creativity out there – it’s very inspiring and makes me want to try so many new projects…except the pesky new day job keeps getting in the way…and yet it’s the pesky new day job that allows me to finance the new projects. It’s a sad, sad situation, I know.
Be sure to stop by nathalie-roze’s Crafternoon Tea where I’ll be one of the vendors…
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MINI Crafternoon Tea
WHEN: Saturday June 23rd from 11am to 5pm
WHERE: Nathalie-Roze & Co. – on the side patio and back garden
WHAT: A hip outdoor crafty fashion market and charity tea-party
Expect over 20 local craftista-designers selling their fab limited edition merch at wallet-friendly prices (lots under $30) – many items are eco-chic, creatively incorporating vintage and/or recycled materials. Peruse wearables and gift items including unusual handcrafted jewellery & accessories, quirky-cool clothing, unconventional paper goods, dreamy organic soaps & lotions, plus lots more handmade crafty goodness.
Highlights include: onesies made from vintage t-shirts, reusable shopping/tote bags made from recycled sheets and drapes (no more plastic!), knitted purses made out of t-shirt scraps and gorgeous summer tops and brooches made with vintage silk scarves, sock toys, vinyl LPs morphed into journals, clay jewellery and other inspired wearables.
ALSO: a stellar raffle (over $400 worth of prizes), a discount craft supply & fabric table as well as lots of sweet eats – scones & cream, cupcakes, gourmet tea (iced or hot) and lemonade served in the back garden.
Proceeds benefit the Woodgreen Community Centre.
Vendors include local faves and newbie talents:
Kari Lynn Bianchi, Sweetie Press, Kim Kutner, B. Skin, TLC/Echoes in the Attic, Naynu, Kate Johnson, Le Petit Pig, House of Hsueh, SLO, Jules & Annie, Little Brown Wren, Sally Girl, Peach Berserk, Sally Girl, Rat Girl, L’Ammie, Melissa Clemente, Soap Scum, simply. by amanda, Paper Muse, Toronto Craft Alert, Church of Craft and Rat Girl (& other guests).
For more info and vendors pix, visit: www.nathalie-roze.com OR call 416-792-1699
No, I haven’t gone AWOL – I’ve been working on a few different projects, the first of which was a commission from my new boss. She asked me to design a memory book for her parents’ 50th anniversary. Here’s what I came up with:
I’m not really partial to green, but this Japanese chiyogami paper is so amazingly beautiful – and the inside pages are just as wonderful, although it’s hard to see their fabulous colour. I kept the stitching on the spine simple so as not to distract from the cover paper – I’m so thrilled I got all the holes straight!
I also created a number of pockets so they could include letters, photos, CDs, and other mementos in the book. I’m extremely pleased with it – I had a vision in my head of what I wanted it to look like, and it came out pretty darned close to the vision… By the way, do any of you know of a tool that can create round corners on chipboard? The scrapbooking corner rounder I own could never cut through chipboard, but I’m hoping there is something out there that can create beautiful corners…
Another reason I’ve been so busy – next weekend I’m taking part in a craft fair at nathalie-roze & co, and I barely have any inventory at all! Almost everything I have made recently is in stores, hence the need to start producing new stock. And produce, I did! Here are the results of this weekend’s bookmaking blitz:
I must say I am impressed with myself, although I’m in much pain (my shoulders get very sore and stiff when I craft all day). I’ll make a few more books throughout the week, but this should be the bulk of it. I’m really looking forward to this craft fair; I just hope the weather holds up (the tables are outside)…
There have been a few Papermusings sightings in the blogosphere…
- Lee Kottner’s blog
- TJ Book Arts
- Craft Tutorials Blog (In the links section, under “Box”)
- Whipup
- WordPress’ Growing Blogs (I’m #33!)
Thanks to everyone who has mentioned my blog – I’m really flattered!
In the case of the Craft Tutorials Blog and Whipup sites, I had submitted my accordion box tutorial for consideration and was thrilled when they accepted it!
I haven’t been posting as much as I should – I’ve been working on a commissioned book… Photos to come soon…
I’ve just uploaded a new tutorial explaining how to make an accordion box, like the one pictured here:
You’ll find it by clicking on my new Tutorials page, in the top right-hand corner of this site. I hope to add other tutorials soon…
Have fun trying this great project and don’t forget to send me photos of your finished boxes at papermusedesigns[at]yahoo[dot]ca
Thanks for the great run. You’re still the best in my eyes.
We’ll get ‘em next time.
This coming Saturday, the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG) is organizing a book arts fair. I attended a CBBAG book arts fair about 3 years ago, when I was living in Ottawa, and really loved it. It was small, but the exhibitors were very interesting – there were book artists, marbled paper, handmade paper, art supplies, etc. This is THE place to go if you’re interested in learning more about bookbinding!
I’m not exhibiting myself, but I’ll be a happy visitor…
Here are the details:
CBBAG Book Arts Fair – June 9, 2007
St. Barnabas Church, 175 Hampton Avenue at Danforth Avenue, Toronto, Ontario (accross from the Carrot Common, at the Chester Subway Station)
Free to public – open 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Instead, I get to travel twice a day on an overcrowded train filled with smelly, sweaty, crazy and/or obnoxious people. It’s that much more interesting when we get stuck in an underground tunnel for several minutes at a time…
There are, however, a few things that bring a reluctant smile to my face during my (mis)adventures in commuting:
- The entertainment: Today it was an accordion player doing his own rendition of “Satisfaction” – fun stuff
- The subway staff who announce the next stop over the intercom. I swear, some of them are secretly voice-over actors – they sound like that movie trailer guy who was in that Geico commercial too. Some mornings they really crack me up, they take it so seriously.
It’s not yet 4:30 pm Saturday, and I’m feeling very creative and productive. This morning I made the following refillable notebook:
On the inside left cover, I made an accordion-like envelope booklet to hold receipts and business cards:
After hanging out at Urban Scrapyard for a while this afternoon, I came home and made my very first star book:
I love the look of this type of book, and you can cut openings through the layers to make it even more interesting. I found the instructions for this book in Cherryl Moote’s “Books with Girth”. I bought this book a few months ago and really love it – the projects are fabulous, the instructions are clear, there are many, many types of books to make. All in all, a great investment.
Check out the Events and Workshops page (in the top right corner) – it looks like June is going to be a very busy month for me!
I have several workshops booked at Urban Scrapyard, as well as a mini craft fair at nathalie-roze & co. Should be lots of fun!
If you’re in or near Toronto, be sure to stop by!
