Zines and Books

I have ventured into the world of zines - mini zines at the moment. Zines are self-published magazines. They can vary in size and length. Mini zines are made from one piece of 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. I have done three zines so far with topics of Mail Art, Embossing Powders, and Quotes.
As seen in the photo below, the one piece of paper for a mini zine is folded and then cut in the middle. Pretty easy! Getting the text facing opposite directions is the challenge.
This is a shelf of my hand-made books. A couple missed out on the photo opportunity and you can a see a few without covers yet. Actually the tallest, thinnest book in the middle is a book I wrote and illustrated in 3rd grade and it was bound by my teacher (I went to the Young Author's conference in Indiana with it). I really love taking the Book Arts class offered through the local Parks & Rec Department!

More Book & Paper Class Projects

Below are some photos of recent projects I made in my Book & Paper Class.

We just learned the buttonhole stitch binding. I did one plain with the basic rectangle "buttonhole" opening on the spine. Then I did one at home with an octagon opening that flows over to the covers.

This is the octagon cover open. The cover is sewing pattern paper base with inks and rubberstamped images.

I continued the octagon theme by dry embossing my paper (first page of each signature) with an octagon design using a Sizzix textured plate.

One of the woman in the class showed us how to fold a square piece of paper into a box and a piece into a lid without cuts or adhesive. The square for the lid is just a tad (~1/8") larger than the square for the base. Fun and easy.

I am glad we finally did image transfer in class. There are many methods and I did the matte medium technique. Once the medium dried, I just peeled off the image - typically, it is soaked in water and the paper is rubbed off. I don't know why my first try just peeled so easily.

These lovely embellishments were made by taking bottle caps and other metal (open) charms, inserting an image or object, and then my teacher filled them with resin.

A guest instructor came and share various ways to use inks to color background paper. These papers were crumpled, straightened out, and then ink pads were swiped across them with the process repeated several times (crumpling and different color applied).

Paper and Secret Belgian Binding

I have always loved paper and books. I still do and prefer to feel the paper as I turn pages when I read. I was even a librarian for a while. I have tried over the years to take a paper-making class. Unfortunately, either my schedule conflicted or the class was canceled due to lack of participants. A few months back I saw a small paper making kit at an art store and promptly bought it with the coupon I had. A few weeks ago my husband was unpacking his "war room" (what he calls his office) and came upon some very, very old files. He shredded the documents into 2 big boxes - one he took to the recycling center and one he left at home for me. Then I had no excuses for NOT breaking out the paper-making kit.

It turns out shredded documents have a lot of text that turns the slurry gray. I added some solid colored party napkins to change the color. Below is a photo of the more-fun-to-use-recycled-from-bills paper I made. The sheet on the far right is more chunky and you can see some of the shredded text. I added some glittery bling to a couple of the sheets to add sparkle. I barely made a dent in the box of shredded paper! I also found some other fun additives for paper (sparkly stuff, botanicals, etc.) so I have plenty of options for more to do. It's just finding the time and space to make a wet mess in the process. [You can click on the photos to see a larger image.]



When I saw the Cultural Arts Center offered a Book & Paper Arts Class, I wanted to register but had to wait a year since I had another Monday night class. I have been thoroughly enjoying the class. Each session is 6 to 8 weeks long and goes all year long.

Recently we learned the Secret Belgian Binding. The binding wasn't well known and is supposedly Belgian. Hedi Kyle was the one who examined an old book with the binding and figured out how to do the stitching. It can be a bit challenging at the beginning (holding all the parts together and keeping constant tension) but the pattern is basic.

For the cover, I chose a soft flock with paper backing. I have gotten very tactile lately and love the feel of it. I picked a thread that would show against the cover color since the stitch is interesting and decorative.

One of the nice things about this binding is the book lays flat when open - perfect for journals or other blank books for writing.

For my end sheets, I used some textured wallpaper samples.

Book & Paper Arts Class Projects

French link stitch. It's hard to see the stitching because of the design on the ribbon I used. You can click on the photo for a much larger image with a better view of the stitch.

Abecedarium (ABC...Z book) - collaborative accordian pocket book by whole class. We each did 2 or 3 letters of the alphabet and made pages that fit into the pockets. I haven't made the book covers yet...still deciding on design.

I did 3 pages: K, R

and T (two-sided page with removable ticket). Rather fun to make since the pages are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" - the same as ATCs (artist trading cards).

Long stitch box book (use any box: cake, mac & cheese, playing cards, etc). I used an old Swedish playing cards box. I also did some over-stitching to make it look fancy.

The last group of photos are marbleized paper. I tried various colors and design styles. Unfortunately, I didn't put enough alum on my paper so some of the colors washed off and aren't as vibrant as the paints were. As example, the 2nd photo has some pink color - that was bright red before the rinse stage. Oh well.