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Books
Tag Page Book

By: Bea Rosenleaf
Trail Blazers
Mixed Media Team Designer

This book is actually a boo-boo! Yes, a mistake.  I almost did not use it for this project because it didn’t work the way it was suppose to. However, after much thought, I decided to go ahead and use it to show you how to take a boo-boo and turn it in a Woooo-hooo!!!!  Here you will learn how to transform plain white cardstock into a dazzling background paper as one technique. You will, also, learn how to create Faux Raku with a simple technique I learned from Tim Holtz. Yep, he’s the man!  Are you ready to join me in a fun adventure?  Well, come into my studio and let’s get started!

Supplies:
Matt Board, Book Board or heavy weight Chipboard (Most framing shops will have scrap matt board they are willing to sell or give away)
Crackle Background Stamp (The Angel Company) (retired)
Victorian Vines Background Stamp (The Angel Company) (retired)
Distressed Alphabets Stamp (The Angel Company) (retired)
Cesare Pavese Quote (Inkadinkado)
It Is Not the Destination…Quote (Inkadinkado)
Anonymous Quote (I Brake for Stamps)
Helen Keller Quote (Inkadinkado)
Thoreau Quote (Inkadinkado)
Time is a Gift Quote (Make an Impression)
Swirls V:I Clear Stamps (Autumn Leaves)
Black Noire Palette Ink Pad (Stewart Superior)
Tea Dyed Distress Ink Pad & Reinker (Ranger)
Corduroy Distress Ink Pad (Ranger)
Micaceous Iron Oxide Fluid Iridescent Color (Golden)
Old Stiff Paint Brush
Perfect Pearls (Ranger):
    Forever Blue
    Forever Green
    Forever Violet
2 sheets Oscar Wilde Temptation 12x12 paper (Scrapperdashery)
4 - 8½” x 11” Ultra White Cardstock (The Angel Company)
2 - Inkssentials Mini Mister Bottles (Ranger)
Instant Coffee Crystals
Black Polymer Clay (Sculpey)
Moon Flexible Mold (Amaco)
Cricut Die Cutting Machine (Provo Craft)
Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Shapes Cartridge (Provo Craft)
White Gelly Roll Medium Pen (Saurka)
Doubleheader Blue and Black Calligraphy Pen (Itoya)
3/8” Eyelets (Making Memories)
Paper Fasteners (www.creativeimpressions.com)
All Purpose Hole Reamer (Darice)
Hole Punch (⅛” or ¼”)
Needle Threader
12 Coordinating Fibers – cut to 15” lengths (unknown)
Eire Rub-ons (Prima Marketing, Inc.)
Postale Clear Stickers (NRN Designs)
Class-a-Peel Stickers (Stampendous)
Various Embellishments found in personal Stash
Tim Holtz Fragments – Idea-ology
Crystal Lacquer (Sakura)
PVA Glue (Lineco Books by HAND)
Scotch ATG and Tape (3M)
Paper Towels
Beads for fibers (optional)

Instructions for Paper Finishing Technique:

1.  Mix instant coffee with hot water to dissolve, 1 cup should be sufficient, and fill a mini mister bottle. I used 3-4 tablespoons to 1 cup of water. You will be filling the mister bottle several times during this process.

2.  Place 1-1½ droppers of Tea Dyed re-inker into another mister bottle. Add about 2 small scoops of Blue Perfect Pearls into the same mister. Add water to fill.  Shake well to dissolve the Perfect Pearls. You will need to shake this occasionally as you prepare your sheets.

3.  Place a sheet of white cardstock on a covered, protected table, or in a box top.  Spray cardstock first with the coffee solution. Next, spray solution of ink with Perfect Pearls on cardstock. There should be enough moisture on the cardstock so the solutions will blend and stain the paper. You can pick the paper up and help swirl the solutions.  Let the solutions set on the paper long enough to soak in and create pleasing color, but not long enough to allow the pools to dry.

4.  Take some wadded up paper towel and pounce on top of the cardstock to soak up the pools left on the surface. This will leave nice textured patterns in the colors.

5.  Repeat on the opposite side of the same sheet of cardstock.

6.  Set aside and allow to dry thoroughly.

Note:  If you want a darker finish on the paper, repeat the above steps.

Instructions for Faux Raku Clay Embellishment:

1.  Remove wrapping from the black polymer clay. To condition the clay, work it with your hands, or run it through a clay-dedicated pasta machine until it is soft and pliable.

2.  Once conditioned, make a ball with the clay and push it into the moon mold.  Make sure you push the clay hard enough to get it into the little crevices of the face on the moon.  Break off the excess clay – try to leave a little extra clay on the back to be able to work around the outside of the moon to create a torn look. Try curling a bit of the clay up to give a little extra texture.

3.  Load up the paint brush with the Micaceous Iron Oxide and pounce on the clay moon. You don’t want to put so much on that it covers the details of the face on the moon, but enough to create a nice texture. Wash brush immediately.

4.  Bake the clay according to the manufacturer’s directions. Let cool completely.

5.  Once cool, load brush with the Perfect Pearls and randomly drop on the moon. You do not want to brush the Perfect Pearls unto the finish at this point. Just drop them in various ‘globs’.  Now pick up the moon in your hands and work the perfect pearls into the clay surface. Keep rubbing until it shines. The oils from your hands will ‘fix’ the Perfect Pearls to the clay. Wipe with a cloth or paper towel. 

6.  You have just completed your clay embellishment with a Faux Raku finish.

7.  Optional: You can spray a finish sealer on the piece at this point if you want. I did not as I like the look with out it. Authentic Raku is not real shiny.
 

Prepare Covers for the Book:

1.  From matt board, cut 2 squares measuring 5½” x 5½”.

2.  Decide which side of the scrapbook paper you want to use for the cover of your book. Then make the following cuts from the double-sided scrapbook paper:
    · 2 strips measuring 12” x 5½”
    · 2 squares 7 ½” x 7 ½” for the cover of the book
    · 2 squares 5” x 5” (use the opposite side of the paper for these pieces)

3.  Glue one matt board square in the middle of each of the 7½” squares. Make sure you have ½” paper border surrounding the square on each side.

Designer Note: I use my tape gun to adhere the paper to the matt board. You can use the PVC glue, but it will take longer to dry and the paper may wrinkle. A glue stick will, also, work.

4.  Cut each corner diagonally about 1/16” away from the corner of the matt board.

5.  Fold each side around the matt board to the back and glue.

6.  Adhere the 5” squares to the back of each 7 ½” square making sure they are centered.

7.  The covers are now finished. Set aside for later.

Prepare the Accordion Spine for the Book:

1.  Take one strip of the 12” x 5 ½” scrapbook paper and make 1 ½” accordion fold along the strip. This will give you mountain folds ^, and valley folds V.

2.  Repeat with the second strip.

3.  Glue the two strips together with the PVC glue. Cut off the last flap on the right side of the strip. This will give you seven (7) valley folds.

4.  Attach the folded strip to the front and the back of the covers.

Hole Guide Template
 

5.  I cut out the template and glued it to a medium-weight piece of chipboard to give it some stiffness.

6.  Fold the template in half so that it will nest down inside the valley folds on the spine of the book.

7.  Use an awl and punch the holes as indicated at the circles.

8.  Place the template into the first valley fold at the beginning of the book. Make sure you place the “T” at the top of the book. Punch the TOP hole only.

9.  Place the template into the second valley fold and punch both holes. Repeat until the last valley fold is reached.

10.On the LAST valley fold, punch the BOTTOM hole only.

Prepare Tag Pages:

1.  Using the Cricut, cut 12-5¼” tags. Use the Bevel Top Tag and cut 3 per sheet from coffee stained cardstock.

2.  This cut produces 2 holes in the top of the tag. The holes will not correspond to the holes in the book, so you will need to punch a hole in the middle of the tags.

3.  Use 6 tags with the top of the tag to the left (these will be for the top pages). Stamp with the crackle background stamp and Corduroy Distress Ink on the side the quotes will be placed. On the back side, stamp with the Victorian Vines stamp and Corduroy Distress Ink. Stamp or write quotes directly on the pages.  Embellish as desired. (You can, also, use computer generated quotes, or quotes already prepared on vellum and adhere to the tags.)

4.  Take the remaining six tags and set them so the top of the tag is facing on the right-hand side. Prepare them in the same manner as above. Designer’s notes:  I used swirl stamps, rub-ons, stickers, paper flowers, metallic embellishments and other embellishments to decorate my tag pages.  Some of the swirls I further enhanced with the White Gelly Roll Pen, or I underlined words to emphasize certain feelings.

To Attach the Tag Pages:

1.  Attach various lengths of fibers to each tag. Decide what order you want your tags in and stack them in that order in two piles. On the top row of tag pages, the tops of the tags face to the left. On the bottom row of tag pages, the tops of the tags face to the right.

2.  To place the first tag, poke the needle threader through the bottom of the first hole at the top of the spine. Thread the fiber through the needle threader and gently pull through the hole.

3.  Using the PVC glue, carefully place glue along the top 1¼” to 1⅜” of the tag and adhere to the spine of the book.  I set the tag along the spine and lightly marked a line across the tag where the spine would sit, then placed the glue. You do not want to get glue beyond where the edge of the spine is or your pages will glue together.  Be careful here and pay attention! Repeat with each of the top row tags.

4.  To place the bottom row of tags, the steps are the same as above, except you will be placing the tags on the back side of the fold used for the top tag (see photo for clarification).

Finish the Front Cover:

1.  Adhere the Class-a-Peel stickers in the upper right-hand corner and lower left-hand corner of the cover.

2.  Stamp the word “Quotes” using the Distressed Alphabet stamps and Black Noir Palette Ink Pad, making sure you leave room for the fragment pieces to fit over them.

3.  Use fragment pieces that will fit over the letters and glue them in place using Crystal Lacquer.

4.  Take the Faux Raku clay moon embellishment and adhere it in the lower right-hand corner of the cover using Crystal Lacquer.

5.  Set aside to dry for several hours.

6.  Sign your work!

Proudly display your tag page book for friends and family to enjoy.

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