Oh I just couldn't wait to have a go at the Decorative Edge lesson over at Elizabeth's Altered Book Lover Blog. Was going to do the buttons but the page I wanted to use was already decorated and didn't have any reinforcing card on the edge. It did have some ric-rac ribbon, and having looked at a link to Ingrid Dijkers "Over the Edge" journal photos, I decided to make it a beaded edge. I cut the edge of the page (and the previous one) along the ric-rac and punched holes with my Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite. Had I realised I was going to do this I would have positioned the ric-rac better but as it was I had the dilemma of either leaving a space at the top or making a hole go over the top edge. I went with the latter. I had no idea how to attach the wire at the top, especially as I was going to be doing blanket stitch to add the beads, but I just fiddled a bit and carried on. Didn't know how to finish off either but ended up winding the wire around the last hole which looked decidedly better than the beginning so I went back and tried to copy this at the top but didn't really have enough wire there. Anyway it is done and I LOVE it and now want to add beads to ALL my pages - LOL.
13 comments:
I must admit BJ, I love the look of the beaded edges myself, it reminded me of a class I took with Dyan Reaveley where we made a canvas book and edged the cover with beads but they were in a wide strip - I think I prefer your way of doing it, it looks very pretty and stylish! A x
Oh BJ!!!! his is absolutely gorgeous, I can see why you want to do all the pages :D. Must have taken you an age to do it, HUGS xxx
OOOOh I love the beaded edging and may have to try that as it's right up my street!! Gorgeous.
Juliaxx
ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my, I LOVE the beaded edge, this of all things makes me want to fix my book just so I can do this too, cause I am soooooooooooo copying you! lol waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)
BJ this is absolutely stunning, I can understand fully why you would want to do all your other pages too lol. I love the delicate pretty effect you have so beautifully executed, patience of a saint my lovely.
Huge hugs x x x x
Blanket stitch is just the perfect way to attach the bead edging! Just enough wire so it doesn't look all jumbled up. These beads have a lovely delicate color! Yes, we are really having fun with this!
I also love your page. You did a fantastic job. Like you, I guess we will have to pay for a class if we want to know how to begin and end the buttons or beads on pages, because I also had no idea how to start and end. Unfortunately, I felt the lesson she gave my class was a bit lacking, but I couldn't expect her to give away all her secrets.
I agree that this is one fantastic way to decorate a page.
I was just explaining to Elle (on her blog) how I thought in my experience, thread is not heavy enough to hold the buttons. I told her I believe you need the wire to keep the buttons sort of aligned. You might want to chime in on that, even though you didn't use buttons. I think you can use thread if you run a blanket stitch through the holes like you did, and add a bead, although it would need to be a smaller bead than the ones you used. I like how you had so many beads that were the same color and size. I don't have that many beads OR buttons that are all the same size and color. Your edge is fantastic.
Don't worry. Even I can bake clay!! I just have no idea about the British oven temp system, which doesn't appear to be either F or C.
Very pretty beaded edge, and the stitching is fantastic, holds them neatly in place.
Yes BJ, yours was the lovely page I saw earlier and mentioned in today's homework. As a replacement for polymer clay, you might try AIR DRY clay, which is something I've never worked with. Apparently, you can remove a small portion of this stuff, use it however you choose (beads, cookie cutters, molds, stamping, etc.) then allow the piece to dry for a day. It hardens similar to polymer clay. The ONLY DIFFERENCE is, it only comes in white, so you must paint it. And I KNOW how much you LOVE paint (JOKE).
Have you ever heard of packing tape transfers? You get a magazine image, affix it to a piece of clear packing tape, image toward the sticky part of the tape, then burnish. Next, you soak in water, then remove the paper. The ink from the image remains. You then affix it to your page. The piece is clear on the back, so the rest of the page shows through. That, among several other techniques is what I will be demonstrating.
Since you are not sure what this technique is, it might be something you would be interested in. I promise to try to get to pop ups, since I've never done one, either.
I left you a message earlier today, but I seem to have encountered some kind of suspected virus that caused Blogger to delete my blog. SO, for several hours, my blog was only a memory. I ran virus software and found the problem, then when I returned to the internet, learned my blog had been deleted. I had to send Blogger my phone number to be reinstated. What a mess. Just so I could keep my blog. If I didn't like it so much, I would not be here right now. I'm shaking so hard STILL from this ordeal that I need a few minutes to gather my thoughts. Once I've got my head on straight, I'll send another message. And YES, yours was the blog I talked about in the homework assignment.
Let me begin by saying the fumes are supposed to be harmless, but here is what Wikipedia has: "The safety of using polymer clay is the subject of controversy, specifically the long-term effects of exposure to the phthalate esters used as plasticizers to keep the clay soft and workable until curing. For a summary of the issues and relevant research, see Phthalates.."
I know you should have a dedicated oven for the clay OR protect your oven using one of the methods I suggested. Although I've read you can get by with it a few times if you have a self cleaning oven, I would NEVER advocate it. I've seen several things on the internet lately I disagreed with. One was when I was the flour out of my fabric. One web site advocated letting the flour go down the drain. I would NEVER do that, since at some point along the way, the flour will harden again and cause problems, whether it's on my end or further along the line. It just doesn't make for good information or instructions.
So how is it you got my message, but it doesn't show up on your blog? Maybe once I post this it will show up.
Here is an example of a few transfers I made using clear book covering. That is the stuff librarians used to stick on the dust jacket of books to keep them pristine. I'll show it on my blog when I create a few transfers:
http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2010/03/transparent-life.html
Here's the message as I got it by e-mail:-
Bleubeard and Elizabeth has left a new comment on your post "AB - Lesson 15 - Decorative Edges":
Yes BJ, yours was the lovely page I saw earlier and mentioned in today's homework. As a replacement for polymer clay, you might try AIR DRY clay, which is something I've never worked with. Apparently, you can remove a small portion of this stuff, use it however you choose (beads, cookie cutters, molds, stamping, etc.) then allow the piece to dry for a day. It hardens similar to polymer clay. The ONLY DIFFERENCE is, it only comes in white, so you must paint it. And I KNOW how much you LOVE paint (JOKE).
Have you ever heard of packing tape transfers? You get a magazine image, affix it to a piece of clear packing tape, image toward the sticky part of the tape, then burnish. Next, you soak in water, then remove the paper. The ink from the image remains. You then affix it to your page. The piece is clear on the back, so the rest of the page shows through. That, among several other techniques is what I will be demonstrating.
Since you are not sure what this technique is, it might be something you would be interested in. I promise to try to get to pop ups, since I've never done one, either.
A blanket stitch! Brilliant. I just luv the edge as the individual beads are so noticeable but in a subtle way. Lovely!
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