Accordian Books

I really enjoy making small books such as notebooks, matchbooks, stitched books and books with small pockets and pop-ups. From making the first proto-type the possibilities are endless and you need very few tools either.
There is such a great range of papers and cardstock available today to make hand made books with. I have used pre-printed gift wrap and good quality cartridge paper to make this small accordian folded book but I also like to dye my own paper and use batik papers too.



You will need:
1 sheet A3 cartridge paper
1 piece of card stock
1 sheet fancy paper (for your book cover)
pencil
scalpel or similar cutting knife
ruler
bradawl
cutting mat or board
good quality paper glue
thin ribbon (not shown)
sharp scissors (not shown)



First, cut 3 pieces of card stock, using a ruler and scalpel. Accurate cutting is key here. 2 x 3" square (8cm) and 1 x 1" x 3" (3cm x 8cm). Next cut a piece of your fancy paper 7.5" x 3.5" (19cm x 9cm).



Cover each piece of card stock with an even coating of glue. I have used a gel glue but, if your paper glue is a particularly thick kind, leave it for 30 seconds to dry slightly before placing it on the fancy paper. I position the card stock on the paper "by eye" but you may want to measure the position and mark lightly with a pencil on the back of the fancy paper.
Make sure you leave a tiny space between each piece of card so that folding the book cover will not overstretch your paper.



To avoid smudging the glue onto the paper it is advisable to make your book in stages. I place the book cover under a heavy weight (such as a book or the cutting mat) and allow it to dry for 30 minutes. If you do not press your book flat the thin glue will cause it to warp and become misshapen.
Once the glue is thoroughly dry, use sharp pointed scissors to carefully snip the edges of the fancy paper, as shown above. You should also make a small vertical cut at each end of the book's spine. as shown below. This will prevent the paper from bunching around the spine.



Carefully fold down and glue the paper edges over the card stock, taking care not to over-wet the paper with glue. Resist the urge to fold the book yet, instead place it under a weight for another 30 minutes.



Once dry, cut two lengths of thin ribbon and glue these onto the inside of the book, back and front, as shown above. Leave to dry whilst you make the book pages.



Constructing the pages. You will need to measure and cut two strips of cartridge paper 2 3/4" (7cm) x the length of an A3 piece of paper. Draw a guide line on the back of each paper 2 3/4" in from the edge and score your pencil line with a bradawl. Take care not to press too hard with the bradawl or you will tear the cartridge paper.
Now fold the paper along the scored line. Your first fold will be a mountain fold (as shown above) and the pencil mark will be at the back of the paper. This pencil mark won't be visible when the book is finished.

This is how you fold accordian-style pages. If your first fold was a mountain fold then your next one will be a valley fold (the shape of the fold is self-explanatory). You won't need to measure and mark each fold with a pencil and bradawl as long as you fold CAREFULLY and accurately. Fold both strips of paper in this way until you get to the end.

You should have a small strip of surplus paper at the end. I call this piece the "tail". Cut the tail from only ONE strip of paper, you will need the other one.

One strip of paper won't give you enough pages for your accordian book so you need to join two strips together. Take the "tail" from one strip of paper and glue it to the second strip. Make sure that you glue a valley folded piece to a mountain folded piece and that the tail is at the back of your paper (you don't want the tail to be seen when the book is finished). As shown below.

Once dry, fold all the pages together. They should spring apart as you let go to form an accordian.

Nearly finished! Glue the back of the first page to the inside of the front book cover. The first fold facing upwards should be a valley fold. Make sure that your page covers the edge of the ribbon. Press it firmly and leave to dry. (Don't place it under a weight or you will squish the book cover).

Repeat the process by gluing the back page to the inside back cover and leave the book open to to dry.

When dry, carefully fold the pages up and tie the ribbons together to hold them in place.

Voila! You have just made a delightful book that you can fill with drawings, notes, photos or collage. Here are some sites you can buy handmade books.

Kupokiley

Staceyhandmade

Giftshed

More about Sources of Inspiration

Anything can become a source of inspiration for design. It can be a color, texture, shape, abstract, realisitc, organic or man-made. I am fortunate that my daughter works in an old fashioned sweet shop and looking at the many jars of sweets, stacked in rows, is a great source of inspiration (not to mention the delight in eating them).
The colours of these licorice torpedoes make them so appealing to the eye. The combination of their glassy look and synthetic colours were the inspiration behind this glass candy dish. Fortunately, Bullseye makes opaque glass that reflect the artificial brightness of this candy and placing the different coloured glass squares together was great fun.

I'm not a big fan of candy - I prefer chocolate myself but I am rather fond of licorice. Again the bright colors of Licorice Allsorts proved to be a source of inspiration, particularly as each bright color is bisected with black.

I have attempted to make these Allsorts cufflinks slightly more sophisticated by using deeper or more subtle colors than those in the candy, including turquoise blue, red, vanilla and soft blue. I hope that the "fun" element in the design hasn't been lost in translation. I really like these cufflinks and they look great on a white dress shirt. The studs are silver plated.

Finally, this dish is again inspired by candy but the colours are slightly different. Instead of opaque glass I have fused transparent glass onto white. By separating each coloured glass piece with a tile of white I prevent muddy colour combinations occuring. As transparent glass is see-through (obviously) it is going to reflect the colour underneath. Without the white tiles the amber glass fused to green would make a nasty brown, the turquoise on the amber glass would make a dirty green.

All this glass is available for sale at my Etsy Shop. 

Glass Cabochons

Cabochons are actually gemstones that have been shaped and polished rather than facetted. This gives the stone a softer and smoother appearance than facetted gemstones have. Most cabochons are oval or round in shape.
Fused glass cabochons are glass nuggets that have not been made up into jewelry yet. Like the gemstones they also have a smooth, rounded shape which is due to the firepolishing they receive in the kiln. Once at full fusing temperature all sharp edges smooth down as the glass first pulls itself up and then slumps.


Buying fused glass cabs is a great way to create your own jewelry as they have many possibilities. They can be set, like gemstones, in precious metal or metal plate pre-formed settings to make rings, earrings, pendants, brooches or cufflinks. By grinding a ridge along the glass with a dremel (drill) they can be wire wrapped and they can be glued to bails or cufflink posts. Cabs can also be set in precious metal clay (PMC) or glued to magnets or even fused to compatible glass art.


All my cabs shown here are compatible to Bullseye (COE90) glass. They are available in sets of 4, 8 or 9 at very reasonable prices and all shipping is free. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5116357&section_id=5094061

Promotional Ideas

Apart from business cards there is a huge variety of promotional items and ideas to be bought on Etsy. Here is a selection of promotional goodies and the etsy shops where I bought them.

• When I send out items from my shop I like to enclose a small note book. The original book was sent to me by http://kupokiley.etsy.com/. Kiley makes beautful handbound books and will also make books to commission .
• But a blank notebook is not a promotional item unless it has my URL on it. So I commissioned a rubber stamp, made for me by http://onefourzero.etsy.com/. I love this stamp and stamp it onto EVERYTHING in red or pink ink.
• The car bumper sticker was really good value for money, made for me by http://byleedesign.etsy.com/ and has my avatar and my etsy address in large letters on a red background.
• One of my best ever purchases has been promotional buttons (badges) made by http://kittycrossbones.etsy.com/. I was lucky enough to buy these on her birthday and got 100 for the price of 50. I ordered 50 with my designs and 50 to promote the Arts Factory where I work. I also won free magnets and these look really great. Kittycrossbones also sells stickers, scratch cards and notebooks.
• Finding pretty paper to make book covers is a pain so I was pleased to find washi paper for sale on Etsy. I bought some lovely decorative paper from http://jasminejewels.etsy.com/. check out her origami papers too.

I have a Treasury on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php?id=1178943335316U5116357
My name is Red