Seth Apter Mini Book

This week I have been working on a tiny book. I joined in with an online workshop with Seth Apter.  With the current situation so many classes are now online. living somewhere without local craft shops and venues offering bookbinding and other paper craft workshops this is one positive effect of the virus. Opened up possibilities for me. Nothing is all bad. It is strange learning online but it is good to make something new.

I have made books before but the binding system was new to me and Seth is amazing at loosening up your inhibitions and encouraging experimentation. His class was very reasonable and he is such a gentle and clear teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the two hours sped by. I have enjoyed collaging lots of tiny pieces onto the pages. I have used lots of tags, cards and backgrounds that 'failed' now these torn into tiny pieces are proving treasures and can shine in their new life.

I made an effort to use papers that I tend to hoard. The endpapers are old Graphic 45 Nature Sketchbook paper. There are some tiny snippets of Stamperia paper too. I bought it ages ago and have not used any.  I also used paper from 7 Gypsies Mariner paper. This book is only 2.5 inches square so it is easy to find places for lots of small scraps.

I also cut into my rub ons (Tim Holtz Idea-ology 'Remnant') I also tore up a beautiful illustration from an old dictionary or encyclopedia. it had illustrations of birds eggs in lovely subdued colours complete with fig numbers. I am not sure what is so satisfying about fig. nos. but I know I am not alone in being drawn to them I think I must have at least 5 stamp sets with them in.

 I used Izink Ice by Seth Apter, that golden colour is it. It is translucent gel like paint. Very satisfying to use. Its in a bag like cake frosting and you can put it on with a spatula. it drys really quickly and goes on easily over everything so its great to use on collages to pull elements together. I tried to play with some mark making and stamped  pieces of text or patterns to add details over the layers. It is very mediative making abstract work without a set outcome in mind.

I even managed to use some postage stamps. I have hundreds of them but I hardly ever think of using them. There is some gold embossing powder scattered throughout. I have been drawn away from my favorites
by Tim Holt's new glazes and all the techniques from his weekly demos but I had a lovely time drizzling and dipping into gold,  Rangers Antiquities - verdigris and Seth Apter's Baked Textures (Beeswax and Aegean sea).

That amazing bright green is more Izink Ice it really does look jewel like. Ive a tiny piece of one of my favorite tapes here too from Tim Holtz Design Tape - Remnants.

On some pages I ran some paper through the big shot to emboss it to add even more texture. I love the look of the gold embossed torn edge
on this page.

The final page and endpaper. I took my time and enjoyed each page. I am probably going to go straight on to making another one now this is finished. If you are interested in the workshop I will put a link to Seth Apter's page. I think it will be available soon or maybe even now.

Here is the spine, heavenly embossed in all the colours above.

The back cover (left) and front (right) The front was actually my first page but I decided the beeswax embossing made it to stiff so I used it as a cover and made another page for inside.

It is an age since I made a book so I am linking up with Mini album makers for their June Challenge.

As I have used up all my old background papers I am linking up with Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Somewhere else I have not been for a while. They are challenging us to make your own background.

Thank you for visiting hope you are staying safe and well and enjoying your creative time.

Seascape flag book Tutorial

Finally it was cool enough in the studio to return to my flag book. The bright sunny pictures show how hot it is. This photograph was taken at 8.00pm!

To make a similar flag book you need:
2 pieces heavy chipboard  6"x7" for covers
2 pieces of patterned paper 7' x 8" to cover the front and back covers
2 pieces of patterned paper 5 3/4 x 6 1/2 " to decorate inside the front and back covers
1  piece card stock (I used a blue colour to match my flags)  12 " x 6 1/2 "
Paper cut or torn into 6 strips lengths of approx 12" long x 3 1/4" high

The chipboard covers are each covered as separate pieces. I used some long horded 7Gypsies Mariner paper.

I added lots of deep sea Seth Apter embossing power to the edges of my covers

To make the spine I creased at; 1 1/2",  2 1/4",  3", 3 3/4",  4 1/2",  5 1/4",  6",  6 3/4",  7 1/2",  8 1/4",  9",  9 3/4",  10 1/2"  Folded along the creases to form an accordion with 1 1/2 inches unfolded at each end this is used to attached the spine to the covers.

The accordion spine is attached to the covers right up to the edge of the boards leaving a small space top and bottom. I forgot to photograph this step but check out the links below if you want to see detailed instructions. At this point I added patterned paper on the inside covers.

To make my flags I decorated 2 A4 pieces of paper. For the top row I tore the sheet into strips. I wanted a sky and horizon line. Using distress stains and inks to create a light sky with a range of blues I then added a darker horizon line along the bottom of the strips with salty ocean stain.

Once dry I tore the strips into shorter flags and added stamped details in manganese blue archival ink and clear embossing powder.

For the bottom row I wanted to suggest the depths of the sea.  I used distress ink archival ink and stencils on the whole sheet .

Again I then tore it into strips and stained the white exposed edges.

I added archival stamping with clear embossing to give it shine, layers and texture.

Finally I tore the strips into shorter flags and finished off the edges. Before gluing in the flags I finished the cover. I added more deep sea embossing to the inside covers.

The covers were then decorated with lots of stamping and clear heat embossing. I made an embellishment using a stamp from Paperartsy Eclectica ESA06 by Seth Apter. I stamped onto patterned paper, embossed and then edged it with treasure gold to create a metallic edge. I used this to attach a ribbon tie for the book closure.

The ribbon wraps around the closed book and ties on the front cover holding the book closed.

With the cover finished I then attached my flags.

If you want to try making a flag book you can of course simply use patterned paper or decorate your flags however you want.  Avoid media that is very dimensional as the flags have to move past each other and you dont want them to catch. Also you want them to lie flat when the book is closed. My book only uses two sets/rows of flags you can have as many sets/rows as you like. There are lots of tutorials for making flag books. Lizzy Wurmann has a good video; LINK or this tutorial on scrapbook-crazy.com is also good:  LINK

I am glad to be organised enough to join in with Mini Album Makers again this month HERE

Also joining Fashionable Stamping for the first time - their current Challenge #136  Seaside