LEPORELLO (ENDLESS BOOK) BINDING TUTORIAL

Natalie Ratkovski announced a new project for 2014: An Endless Book.  Painters, photographers, scrapbookers are invited to create an endless book: 52 pages of illustrations without borders or edges, one illustration per week.  At the end of the year each of us will have one panoramic "image".

Image by Natalie Ratkovski

Before starting the project one needs a Leporello bound notebook.  I chose to use paper bags for mine - easy and perfect for collages/scrapbook pages I am planning on making.

The name leporello is derived from the opera Don Giovanni. Leporello was his manservant. He kept a record of Don Giovanni's female conquests in a book. At the end of Act II he spread the book across the stage. It's an accordion fold of unlimited width. Pages are joined to form the accordion.

Мини скрап альбомы из бумажных пакетов очень популярны на западе. Я уже давно хотела попробовать сделать подобный скрап альбом, но всё никак не доходили руки. "Почему бы не совместить бумажные пакеты и лепорелло?" - подумала я и получился вот такой вот мастер-класс. Итак, книга лепорелло из бумажных пакетов. 

Вам понадобятся: бумажные пакеты, клей (можно использовать любой, но я выбрала двустороннюю клейкую ленту, которая не коробит бумагу) и ножницы/кисточка для клея.
 

Для начала, согните дно пакетов как показано на фотографии.

For the "endless" book you will need to connect the top of one bag with the bottom of the second one.

Для создания бесконечной гармошки один пакет будем склеивать с другим.

Here you can see white strips of my double-sided tape:

На этой фотографии видны белые полоски двусторонней клейкой ленты.  Всё что нужно сделать - приклеить "верх" пакета между двумя "клапанами":

Note: add "pages" on both sides of the block.  Adding bags to one side only will cause your block to be uneven.

Совет: добавляйте страницы-пакеты и к началу и к концу блока, таким образом ваш блок будет более ровным и его не перекосит в сторону.

Time to make covers:

Для обложек нам понадобятся два прямоугольника из плотного картона, чуть больше по размерам чем сам блок (у меня получились 24смx14см).  Их можно обтянуть тканью или обклеить бумагой.

Готовые обложки просто приклейте к последним страницам блока

This is how your paper bag leporello bound book will look like.
I am anxious to start An Endless Book project in January. I hope I'll be able to keep up and will share weekly pages with you, my readers. 

А вот как книга лепорелло из бумажных пакетов выглядит внутри.
Я с нетерпением жду начала проекта Бесконечная Книга.  Надеюсь у меня будет достаточно времени чтобы не бросить затею на пол пути.

Note: If you are making this projects with 52 pages your block will be rather thick.  You can leave it under a thick book/weight overnight before attaching covers.  What you see on my photos are only first 13 pages of my endless book.  Since the back cover of my block is attached with a temporary glue I will be adding pages as the project continues.

Внимание: на фотографиях показаны только первые 13 страниц лепорелло.  Блок из 52 страниц должнен получиться гораздо "выше".  Прежде чем приклеить обложки, готовый блок можно подержать под прессом.  Я планирую добавлять страницы во время проекта, поэтому заднюю обложку я клеела неперманентным клеем. 

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More bookbinding tutorials at SAS-does:

COPTIC STITCH BINDING: part1 and part2
LONG-STITCH BINDING: part1 and part2

MINIBOOK HOW-TO {part 2}

This is the second part of the minibook how-to series.  If you've missed the first post please read it here: MINIBOOK HOW-TO {part1}

In the first part I discussed 3 elements that help you to get started: an idea for the mini, choosing dimensions and binding for your book, and the selection of paper.  Today I want to talk about 3 other important aspects: style of your minibook, materials and embellishments for the project, and the photos.

1. STYLE
The style of your mini will be often dictated by the overall idea of the project.  While I had to put my 100-day minibook project on hold, I am currently working on 2 albums for one of my customers.  There were almost no restrictions for the project and while it's tempting to go "crazy" and creative I have to keep in mind the overall style: the albums are for 2 young girls and their mother, a talented photographer, asked me for a vintage-y style.  I know that she is a big fan of the 50's and 60's so I am trying to keep this feel throughout the albums.  You can see how the paper selected for one of these albums is dramatically different from the materials for my 100-day mini and the Europe minibook.

Before selecting your paper and embellishments, before making the first page of your mini, think about the style.  Here are some of the possibilities:

vintage, modern, artsy, clean-and-simple, messy, elegant, romantic, childish, exotic, folk

If you are struggling with finding the style think about the main idea for your minibook (see part 1):

If you are making an album for your child it might be bright and childish.
If you are working on a travelling book you might lean towards romantic and messy feel, or maybe a completely opposite: clean, structured, and modern.

Finally, if you can not pinpoint your specific style, or if you need more ideas do the following exercise:

write down the theme of your minibook.  Let your mind wonder to come up with as many associations (words) for this idea as possible.  Write all of them down.  Use this list to help you select paper, embellishments, and other materials for your project.

2. MATERIALS
The theme of the project will serve as a destination.  Once you know where you will be going it's time to pack!  Time to select the paper (see part 1) and decide on other materials.  You can choose to be minimalistic and use only paper for your mini.  Or you can choose to incorporate ribbons, buttons, paperclips, and other ephemera.  In fact, you can make your whole mini with materials other than paper: fabric, cork sheets, wood veneer .... 

Material itself can serve as an inspiration for your project.  I like to collect some (all if possible) of the materials beforehand.  This selection is not final and it gets revised during the creative process but having it ready from the beginning helps me to work on the page layouts and it reminds me of the theme I've picked for my project.  
If you are like me, seeing a new collection of embellishments or finding a forgotten set of die cuts can easily tempt you to rethink the whole project in order to incorporate these new element.  With the pre-made selection at hand this temptation is somewhat easier to manage.  It's also faster to find the necessity brad in the pile of selected material rather than to dig for it through the whole stash.
Using similar materials throughout the minibook unifies your project.  I've wrote about this last year in the post about my August minibook.

3. PHOTOS
There is more to photos than the 6x4 format.  Even if you don't have a photo printer at home (I don't yet) you can experiment with different photo sizes.  Here are some of the possibilities:

Combine small and large
I love small photo formats so instead of printing all my shots 6x4 I minimise some of them and get four on the 6x4 canvas.  These little 3x2 images are super cute and I get four of them printed at once.  Sometime I used them on their own, other times I combine them with regular-sized photos.

Square
Square images are extremely popular, mostly because of Instragram.  But even if you do not take your pictures with a phone or do not bother having an Instagram account it is easy to crop any of your existing photos to make a square. And you can have so much fun with the square format: alternate between big and small images, combine big rectangular (6x4) photos with small square ones, or use a mosaic of small square shots for a fun collage.

Fake Polaroids
I've shown fake Polaroids I used for my August mini before.  It's a bit of work but the result is extremely cute!  Follow my POLAROID DIY tutorial and add some vintage style to your next mini.

No matter what photo style/size you choose try to stick to one or two per project.  Having too many different images sizes can end up looking messy ... and not in the fun artsy messy way.

Hope these suggestions will help you with your next minibook project.  And I would love to see what you are crafting, feel free to share in the comments.

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A year ago: SEPTEMBER PALETTE
Two years ago: LECHATELIER LINE - ROSE CARD

MINIBOOK HOW-TO {part 1}

This week I began working on 2 minibooks and thought it to be a good opportunity to talk about the how-to's of a minibook making. While the process is creative and there are no precise instructions feel free to use these steps to help you with your project.

 
1. IDEA
Having an idea helps with the material selection, the colour scheme, and with deciding on the dimensions of the minibook.
My first mini is about my Europe trip and the second one is a 100-day countdown to my birthday. 

2. DIMENSIONS and BINDING

Ring minibooks are fun and simple. You can keep adding pages or choose to reorganise them at any time. Ring binding doesn't require any preliminary work, simply punch the pages and slip the rings. Or you can choose to bind your minibook. Decide on the type of binding (coptic or long-stitch work great) and the number of signatures. Bind it now or wait to stitch the book once it's finished.
As for dimensions choose whatever is comfortable for you. Make sure that chosen dimensions work well with your images and content.
I will be using ring binding for my 100-day mini while European minibook will get a nice long-stitch binding.

 3. PAPER

This is the most exciting part. If you are new to minibooks and scrapbooking start with a paper pack. You won't need to worry about matching colours and designs since papers in those packs go well together. Most paper packs come with matching embellishments that could be handy when decorating your minibook.
Or you can mix and match papers yourself. Try keeping the same theme and colours so your finished album feels "whole".
I am very excited about the Europe mini. I decided to use a mix of scrapbooking papers and random papers for my stash.  I will be also adding lots of ephemera and papers collected during the trip.

For the 100-day minibook I will be using scrapbooking paper from different paper packs: "Carefree" and "Fresh" by Authentique and Ambrosia by Basic Grey for a nice mix of brown, blue, grey, red, and orange. 

I will be sharing more "in progress" pictures and would love to see your creations.  Leave a comment with a link!

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Looking for more minibook inspiration?  Here are scrapbook albums and minibooks I've shared in the past:

SIMPLE ORIGAMI BOX

As a paper crafter I absolutely love origami. In fact, my paper crafting journey began a long long time ago, when I would spent my evenings after school folding simple origami models or indulging in kirigami (I didn't know the proper term for my hobby but turns out it was exactly that).

Recently I've been getting back into my favourite paper folding and while I practice intricate and at times frustrating origami models I will share with you some simple origami projects.  I have about 7 different models of boxes that are not only fun to make but could be used for organising, gift giving, or as decor objects. 
Today we'll begin with a simple origami box you can use to store buttons, paper clips, push pins and other little bits and pieces.

• Begin with a square piece of paper.  If you do not have a square paper you can easily make one out of a rectangle, just follow these or these instructions.

• With a patterned/coloured side down, fold your square diagonally once and then once again.

• Flip the paper onto its white side and fold it vertically and then horizontally.

• If you follow folds you've just made you should have no problem collapsing your square into a triangular Waterbomb Base (yes, this is the official name!).

• Place your triangle pointing towards you and fold in 2 side flaps.  They should overlap but corners should not touch opposite sides.

• Fold the bottom part of the triangle following the line created by 2 flaps.

• Turn the model over and repeat on the other side.

• Fold flaps inside each other on both sides.

• You are left with a final step of giving your model some volume, but spreading its top and folding in the bottom.  Please be extra careful not to rip the paper, specially if yours is thin.

Your box should now be ready.  

Time to fill it up with little treasures!

Let me know if you have any questions and stay tuned for more origami models.

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A year ago: PURPLE GARDEN
Two years ago: WEEKEND COLOURS

HANDMADE STAMPS FOR PERSONALISED STATIONERY

I've been meaning to try stamp carving for quite some time. There are tons of tutorials available online and I can't stop admiring beautiful handcrafted stamp designs on Pinterest. Eric caught on my stamp-carving interest and got me a Speedball set: carving knives, linoleum, and a carving block.
At first, I was a bit hesitant, not knowing what to carve. I would've loved to make some intricate designs but they definitely require practice. So I've opted for simple shapes and easy patterns which were fun to make.  The more I looked at these "exercises pieces" the less I wanted to part with them.
And then I had an idea: why not use these simple shapes to personalise my stationary!  I got my ink pads ready and began stamping away.

SIMPLE SHAPES

Rectangles, triangles and even stars are easy to carve and would add a graphic touch to your cards, paper pads, and invitations.
Hint: Try coordinating several colours.

LINE PATTERNS

These are a bit more time consuming to make but the final result is so cute!

Hint: For unique patterns try free-hand carving.

CHEVRON/DIAGONAL LINES

Chevron patterns are still in fashion and you'll be happy to know that they are extremely easy to carve.  Use one chevron stamp on its own or create a multicoloured design by stamping several times.

Hint: Use masking tape to block out parts for a rectangular look.

JOURNALING LINES

Originally I was planning on using simple lines only for journaling.  My father-in-law was watching me stamping samples for this post and after a while said: "Why won't you stamp those lines again, perpendicularly?"  I tried and absolutely loved the idea - getting more use of a simple stamp is always fun!

 

TAGS AND LABELS

Tags and labels are ridiculously simple to carve and they could be extremely useful for decor, gift wrapping, stationary, and scrapbooking.
Hint: Try combining different stamp sizes

And here you have it; 5 easy handmade stamps that can be useful for all your paper projects.

Have you tried making your own stamps?  I would love to see your creations!

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A year ago: WHITE AND RED GARDEN

Two years ago: OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES

ROPE WRAPPED EGGS

My last black and white decor project happened by accident as I was testing materials for a bigger craft idea. I will be sharing the bigger project some time in April, meanwhile here are rope wrapped Easter eggs (can you say it fast 5 times?)

There are several different ways of attaching a rope to an egg shape. You can use a hot glue gun, a double-sided tape, or get messy with wood glue. I am yet to try the first two methods but here is a scoop on the wood glue technique.

SUPPLIES: Styrofoam eggs (I have used leftovers from my textured eggs), rope, wood glue, brush, white gesso or acrylic paint, pins.

INSTRUCTIONS: Measure a length of rope by loosely winding it over the egg shape. You do not need to be precise.
Prepare the glue solution by mixing 2 parts water with one part glue. For one egg you will need less than 1/4 cup of the glue solution. Soak you rope in glue, making sure it gets saturated and wet thoroughly

While the rope is soaking prepare your work area: lay a piece of wax paper on the table/craft mat, get several pins ready, and you can even wear latex gloves for this one. Squeeze excess water out of the rope, using a pin secure one of its ends at the base of the egg, wrap rope tightly around. If you notice that the rope does not lay nicely use pins to attach it. Continue wrapping and securing until the egg shape is fully covered. Cut the excess rope.

Your egg will now look like a porcupine. Leave it to dry in a well ventilated area. It will take up to 24 hours for glue to fully harden and you will need to rotate the egg after several hours. Make sure the glue is completely dry before continuing.
Wood glue will give your rope a yellow hue. You can cover it with white acrylic gesso or acrylic paint. Use a small knitting hook or a skewer to hold the egg while painting and drying.

And here you have it; fun and messy Easter project!
I have to give credit to Eric for suggesting I use wood glue and for taking that beautiful last shot.  Thank you, my love!

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A year ago: WEEKEND COLOURS
Two years ago: MAKE IT THURSDAY