Technique
- Using a mat cutter and a self-healing mat,
cut 2 pieces of 1/8” book board 4 ¼” x 6 ½” for the front and back cover.
Make sure the covers match in size. Trim if necessary. (Or use Volcano
Arts' custom board cutting service)
- With a pencil, on the wrong side of the
front and back covers mark one piece of book board as the cover and the
remaining piece as the back and also indicate the top position.
- Sand all four sides of the front and back
covers with 400 grit sandpaper.
- Round the corners on the fore edges of the
front and back covers with 400 grit sandpaper.
- On the right side of the cover, with a
mechanical pencil, mark the position of the window 7/8” down from the top
of the cover and 2 ½” in from the sides. Place the frame within the marks
and trace around the outside edge of the frame.
- Use a push pin, or needle tool, to punch
small holes in all four corners of the window.
- Cut along the inside of the pencil marks
with a craft knife to cut out the window.
- Using a ½” paint brush, cover the right
side and all four sides of the front and back covers with the
primer/sealer. Let dry.
- Cut 2” x 2” square of 1/16” book board as
a backing for the window.
- Cut image to be placed behind window 2” x
2”, positioning the image to fit into the 1 ½” x 1 ½” frame.
- With gel medium and ½” brush, adhere image
to 2” x 2” book board. Let dry.
- Using a ½” brush, coat the top of the
image with a thin layer of gel medium. Let dry. Coat the image again with
a thin coat of gel medium in the opposite direction. Let dry.
- With a craft knife and self-healing mat,
cut 2 end papers 4 1/8” x 6 3/8”.
- Using a 1” brush, apply the bronze paint
to the right sides of the front and back covers with a pouncing motion.
(The pouncing motion is used to create an irregular pattern that the
patina will follow.) Let dry.
- Using the ½” brush, paint the sides of the
front and back cover. Let dry.
- Fill a small spray bottle with about 2” of
blue patina.
- Using a 1” brush, apply a second coat of
the bronze paint to the right sides of the front and back covers with a
pouncing motion. While the bronze paint is still wet, no more than 4
minutes from applying the bronze paint, spray a light coat of the blue
patina onto the bronze paint. The bronze paint will start to patina. If
after a few minutes it does not look like you have as much patina as you
would like, spray again with a light coat of blue patina. Let dry.
- Pour the blue patina back into the
original bottle. Clean the spray bottle with water because, over time, the
patina will clog the spray bottle holes.
- With the ½” brush, paint ½” around the
outside edges of the wrong side of the front and back covers with the
bronze paint. Let dry.
- With the ½” brush, apply a thin layer of
primer/sealer onto the right side of the front and back covers to stop the
patina process. Let dry.
- With the ½” brush, apply second coat of
the primer/sealer onto the right side of the front and back covers. Let
dry.
- With an ultra fine permanent pen, on the
outside of the brass frame, mark the top center position for drilling.
- Find someone to hold the frame in a set of
pliers while you drill a 1/16” hole in the top of the frame with drill or
Dremel. (A drill press, or vise, really helps for this step.)
- With a wire cutter, cut the head pin down
to 1 ¼”.
- Insert the head pin into the drilled hole
from the top of the frame. Make sure the head pin does not fall through
the hole. If it falls through the hole, discard and use a head pin with a
larger head.
- Using the flatnose and needlenose pliers,
create an eye pin and wrap end of wire to fill the distance between the
eye and the inside top of the frame. With the wire cutters, snip the extra
wire. (I don’t know how to describe this process, but I think you taught
my mother this technique.)
- Attach the charms to the eye pin with jump
rings.
- On the wrong side of the front cover, use
a ½” brush to place gel medium around the window.
- Position the book board-backed image
behind the window and press to adhere. Cover with wax paper and place
under something heavy to dry flat.
- With Ultimate Crafters Glue, attach the
end papers on the wrong side of the front and back covers. Use a bone
folder or Teflon folding rib to ensure that end paper adheres to the book
board. Cover the front and back covers in wax paper and press under
something heavy overnight.
- Using a computer and printer, print nine
pages of blank recipe card fronts onto cardstock. (Word
file)
- Place the printed recipe cards back into
the printer so that you can print on the back of the paper and print nine
pages of blank recipe card backs. (Word file)
- Print index tab inserts onto cardstock. (Word
file)
- Using a craft knife and self-healing mat,
cut nine 4” x 6” index tab pages from cardstock.
- Using a craft knife and a self-healing
mat, cut printed recipe cards down to 4” x 6”, leaving a 7/16” margin on
the left side of the recipe cards, and cutting the two cards apart ¼” down
from the last line of the top recipe card.
- Use a plastic ruler to vertically center
the 1” index tab inserts and the mark cutting lines.
- Use a craft knife and a self-healing mat,
to cut the index tab inserts along the marks vertically. Use the plastic
ruler to cut the first horizontal index tab cut 1/8” below the printed
last tab. Cut the remaining tabs, 1/8” below the printing. Cut the top tab
5/8” tall.
- Use a bone folder or Teflon folding rib to
fold the index tab inserts in half horizontally and place the folded
inserts into the self-adhesive index tabs.
- On the right side of the front cover, use
a pencil to mark the position of the eyelet holes, 1” from the top and
bottom of the cover and 5/16” in from the spine edge.
- Use a hole punch, or a Japanese screw
punch fitted with a 4 mm tip to make the holes in the cover.
- Place the cover and back together, wrong
sides together. With a pencil, mark the position of the eyelet holes on
the back cover.
- Use a hole punch, or a Japanese screw
punch fitted with a 4 mm tip to make holes in the back cover.
- Feed an eyelet through one hole, from the
right side to the wrong side, and place the cover right side down onto the
bench block covered with a scrap of cardstock to protect the front of the
eyelet.
- Put the nubby of the eyelet tool into the
tube of the eyelet.
- Hit the end of the eyelet tool with the
light hammer or mallet until the eyelet has flared out and is lying flat
against the book board. The slower you do this (the lighter your blows)
the less chance you'll have of splitting the eyelet.
- Repeat with the remaining eyelets.
- To create a card punching template, use a
craft knife and self-healing mat to cut a sheet of acetate to 4” x 6”.
With the spine sides lined up, center the acetate below the cover
horizontally. Use an ultra fine permanent marker to mark the placement of
the holes and the use a hole punch, or a Japanese screw punch fitted with
a 4 mm tip to make holes in the template.
- Use the template as a guide to punch holes
into the index tab pages or recipes cards with a hole punch or Japanese
screw punch fitted with a 4 mm tip. Generally, you can punch through 3
cards at a time.
- Place the self-adhesive tabs onto the
blank index pages by removing the back adhesive first, then lining up the
clear tab and pressing down to affix. Remove the front adhesive and press
down. I find it easiest to place the first and third tabs and then
position the center tab in between the two. If you want the tabs in
alphabetic order, be careful about the order of the tab placement.
- Insert the brass frame into the window. If
the frame is loose, remove the frame and place some gel medium around the
outside edges of the frame, and then reinsert the frame.
- Insert the loose leaf rings into the
eyelets.
|
Supplies:
- 1/8”
book board cut 2” x
2”
- 1/16”
book board, two
pieces cut 4 ¼” x 6 ½”
- 15 sheets of 8 ½ x 11” cardstock
- 1 sheet of decorative paper for end
papers, two pieces cut
4 1/8” x 6 3/8”
- 1 sheet of acetate to create card punching
template, cut 4” x 6”
- Image cut 2” x 2” to fit behind 1 ½” x 1
½” window
- Wax paper
- 2 jump rings
- 1 head pin (head must be larger than
1/16”)
- 2 charms
- 4 large 1/8” Dritz eyelets***
- Two 1” loose leaf rings****
- Nine 1” clear self-adhesive index tabs****
- 1 ½” brass frame*
- Soft gel semi-gloss
- Ultimate Crafter’s Glue
- Modern Options primer/clear sealer **
- Modern Options blackened bronze metallic
surfacer **
- Modern Options blue patina** (Must use
blue patina with blackened bronze.)
Tools:
Figure 1: Cut frame and painting process
* Available from
www.artheaven.net
** Available at Michael’s or Home Depot
*** Available at yardage shops
**** Available at office supply stores
|
