Two weeks ago, we worked on a how to create the cover of our art journal using dew drops and a dew drop canvas. This week our how to is all about assembling our art journal!
You will need the following ingredients (or similar):
Heavy board for cover and spine
Covering for book – I used book binders cloth, but you could use paper or fabric
Mixed media paper for interior pages
Book binders tape (masking tape will work too)
Liquid Adhesive
Eye-lets – 3 red
Crop-a-dile
Ribbon – 2 yards
Butcher twine – red approximately 18 inches
Charms – I used Tim Holtz’s Milagros
Bookbinding thread, awl, needle and thimble
Instructions:
You need to determine the size of your finished journal. The one I made is: 7 1/2 x 6 x 2 1/4 inches
Cut two card covers and a spine. The covers were 7 1/2 x 6 inches. The spine is 7 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches. Remember when you tape the covers you will leave space for the cover to bend into a book.
With book binding tape or masking tape assemble the cover pieces on a large flat surface. Make sure the spine is equally spaced from the covers. (Sorry about my “ratty” looking ruler)
Once your cover is assembled, you will need to figure our what to cover it with. Good options are fabric or book binding cloth, which is thin cloth adhered to a paper background. I cut my cloth about two inches larger than the cover all the way around. This is to your aesthetic and doesn’t need to be exact.
Adhere the covering to your art journal cover. First completing the actual cover. Then you will need to prepare that part that is adhered to the inside of the cover. You will take a metal straight edge and cut with scissors or a knife the corners.
Once the corners are cut fold the sides in and adhere, using liquid adhesive. Let dry thoroughly.
Now the fun begins! First, I chose paper to cover the inside of the front and back cover, adhering with liquid adhesive. I always finish the cover before I prepare the signatures for the interior. Next I used my Crop-a-dial to chomp through the cover in three locations, the spine 1 inch down and centered, and each of the covers 3/4 inch in and centered vertically. I added large flat eyelets in red threading them through the right side.
Next I cut the ribbon in half and threaded it through the eyelets as if it were the top of a tag.
I tied the charms to butchers twine and threaded them through the spine. I glued the twine to the inner spine, which will be covered.
The final step is preparing the signatures and placing them in the book. You will need to select a paper size that when folded and nested is right for your book. My folded pages measured 7 1/2 inches long and 5 1/2 inches wide. I cut 15 x 11 paper in half and folded into 4 signature, which each have four pages.
You will need to poke holes with an awl in your signatures. Be careful not to poke your finger and use a thimble.
I sewed my signatures to a piece of the bookbinder’s paper which fits the area of the spine that was not finished yet.
Finally, I adhered this piece of paper with liquid adhesive to the spine. I weighted the edges with various products and let dry for 24 hours. You really want to make sure this part is adhered well.
Finally you can glue the Dew Drops Canvas to the front. I ended up adding a few more diamond dew drops to make the leaves spill onto the cover.
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