Wednesday, 20 July 2022

Book binder cover A6 - 451F by Kim

Book paper ignites at 451 degrees Fahrenheit - apparently. 

This A6 was designed as a cover for a purchased notebook.

I reached for my ultra sharp X-acto craft knife - I was going to do some serious damage this time! 

I took the A6 front cover, and with the craft knife cut grooves and notches in the surface and top edge. These were the bits that will end up as charred wood. Make sure the design is random and varied - no two pieces should be the same. Once I was happy with the shapes I base coated the front and back covers with DecoArt Lamp Black, inside and out.

To get the wood effect I first dry brushed Burnt Umber, halfway up the front, and all over the back - don't divide into planks yet, cover the whole area.

On top of that I dry brushed Burnt Orange to add texture and vary the surface, with a light dust of Oyster Beige in places, and to highlight the 'charred' bit at the top. I dry brushed some Lamp Black from the top to make sure it was really dark.

To add the 'planks' I painted in the detail with DecoArt Media Paynes Grey, adding splits, nail holes, and the gaps.




I wanted the spine to look like an old leather-bound book, so I found one (we have all sorts of stuff in our house!) and scanned the spine. I measured the binding spine in the kit and reduced the scanned image to fit, then printed it, and stuck it on.

 


The back, front, and spine were joined together with a hessian strip. When finished the cover fits perfectly an A6 notebook, which is how this one will be used.

As a nod to the book that influenced me, Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel, Fahrenheit 451, I added a wooden plaque to the front cover.

Thanks for visiting - where do you find your inspiration?

(Take extra care when using sharp craft knives)

Products:

Tando Creative Book Binding Cover (A6)

DecoArt Americana Colour

DecoArt Media Colour





Friday, 8 July 2022

Christmas in July Advent box by Sarah




I know its way too early to mention the C word but i wanted to get a head start on making myself my very own advent calendar. this year, one that i can fill with goodies like Miniature Gin and fancy treats, 

Materials










Paint in red blue, black and gold
Script stamp
Blank ink pad
Bakers twine
Small brass draw knob
Selection of Christmas scrapbook paper
Black A4 cardstock
Star shaped buttons
Gold Glitter
Beads

Instructions

I began by building my boxes. I love the PVA glue that Tando sells as its very fast drying. Once the boxes were dried, i gave them a couple of coats of red paint and laft them to dry over night. 






Next i cut some black cardstock to the size of each panel. i distress the edges of each piece and ran some gold paint along each edge.

I then took a selection of christmas papers and coordinated palin papers. I trimmed them slightly smaller than the black pieces. i again distressed the edges and added gold. I glued them to the boxes.





Next i took some Tando stars. I painted some in red, and black, I also covered some in blue paper. Once dry, i sanded them down to give them a shabby look. I also stamped them with a text stamp. 





I then took some advent numbers and covered them in fine gold glitter and added them to the front of the boxes. T then added small draw knobs then randomly glued stars all around the boxes. I tied star buttons and small Tando stars to the draw knobs with bakers twin to finish. I added large beads as feet to soom of my boxes too but i havent decided on my end configuration yet some they may be removed in time






I hope i have inspired you to make a start on your advent project. 

Sarah















Tuesday, 5 July 2022

Hexi Tuesday - Hexi-Tag by Bernadette

 




Good Evening Everyone,

I've had quite a bit going on at home, work then holidays over the past couple of months and haven't been able to make as much with Tando products as I would like.  So when I decided to settle down and make this tag, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had bought some Andy Skinner rice papers and knew they would be a perfect match with a Tando grey board tag (I used a size 10 tag, my favourite size, for this project) and some hexis from the bag of solids and frames 

https://www.tando-creative.co.uk/HXGNS2022.html

https://www.tando-creative.co.uk/TAGS180X100.html


I started by choosing the hexis I thought were the right size for my tag. I chose 2 solids the same size then a smaller one with a frame (not sure you can see very well in this picture, but the smaller one with the frame is the one in the middle)



Then came the boring bit, painting everything with gesso.  It's a good thing it dries so fast, I'm really impatient and bad at letting things dry properly but I wanted to make sure the colours on the rice paper stayed vibrant and I find that using gesso underneath rice paper is the best way to go.



I then painted the little hexi frame with black paint and added the rice paper to the tag and the solid hexis.  To adhere the rice paper to the tag and hexis, I used distress collage medium with a brush.



To add a bit of texture to the corners of the tag and some of the hexi corners, I used Tim Holtz transluscent grit paste.  The top photo of the 2 above show the grit paste just after it was applied - it is white and dries clear.  The second photo shows a hexi when the grit paste is dry and I have added some ground espresso and bronze distress crayon.  I also added some rub ons,


I sprayed a piece of ivory cardstock with a mix of distress sprays to use for die cutting.  I used weathered wood, rusty hinge, vintage photo distress ink sprays and added some uncharted mariner oxide spray.  I then did some die cutting using Tim Holtz Sizzix cogs and numbers dies.




I had a play around with everything I was using for the tag before deciding where I was going to stick everything down.  I added some Tim Holtz ephemera gauge pieces and a photo booth picture.


Final touches were the addition of the rusty wire through the tag hole and adding some vintage photo ink to the edges of everything before it was stuck down.

I would love to see anything you create if you have been inspired to have a play with a tag and some hexis.


Bye for now

Bernadette xxx




Sunday, 3 July 2022

"A" Size Book Covers

 


Materials


"A" Sized Book Covers and Pre Drilled Spines

Set of hexagons

PVA Wood Adhesive

Scrapbook paper, graph paper, scrap paper

thread

beads

Bee print outs for decoration

Large needle


Instructions

I began by choosing my papers. I had a collection of scrap book papers that i just love. It has a nature theme of flowers and bee's and i knew it would go great on this series of little books.

I lay the covers and spine out on a piece of paper for each one with a slight gap between the spine to allow for the bend and closing. I then trimmed and sanded around the edges. I used a awl to poke through the pre made holes again.. I used patterned paper to cover the inside of the covers but i left the spine blank.

I used bees and hexagons to decorate the outside of the covers. The eagle eyed amongst you may notice the tags i made for Hex Tuesday earlier in the year using the same papers which i used to embellish the larger books





I made signatures from scrapbook papers, old graph paper, scrap paper etc to make little junk journal type books. I used the pre drilled holes in my spines as guides for the holes. Having the holes already made is so much easier when it comes to the binding process, thanks Di xx





To finish i added beads to my thread. I had intended to document our summer holidays and garden  adventures but my daughter has stolen the books already. Looks like i will be making another set soon 





Sarah