Category Archives: Book Arts

Sites worth bookmarking: Scanned Images, Engravings and Pictures From Old Books

  By sharonb | May 17, 2013 - 5:32 am | , , ,
1 Comment

screenshot of siteScanned Images, Engravings and Pictures From Old Books is definitely worth browsing and bookmarking so make a cuppa and take a look there are some real gems to be discovered.

These images are not only a wonderful design source but they will be of interest to anyone who prints images on fabric, are interested in the book and paper arts or do mixed media collage pieces.

The site houses over 3,000 high-resolution free images which have been scanned from old out of copyright books. Images are tagged and described so it makes for interesting browsing. Take a look particularly at the decorative initials and borders as I am sure many stitchers will find these great inspiration and sources for designs.

Friday freebies is a regular series in which I highlight free resources online, free patterns and links that are of interest to fiber folks.  All posts in the series are in the  Friday Freebie category I hope you enjoy them.

Two tutorials to play with

  By sharonb | January 28, 2013 - 5:07 am | , ,
11 Comments

It was Australia Day on the 26th but it is a public holiday today so happy holiday to all my Aussie readers.

Poking around Youtube I have discovered a couple of video tutorials I think readers might enjoy.
In this first video from LittleCanvas demonstrates how to make an art journal from paper scraps. I also like her storage system!

This second video tutorial also from LittleCanvas demonstrates a layered altered paper technique which produces a rich visual texture.

Make books from recycled packaging

  By sharonb | January 18, 2011 - 7:48 pm | ,
3 Comments
 You can make books from all sorts of recycled materials. One of the most obvious is clean packaging.
Over on Exploring the Wonders of Life, Shari has written a clear well illustrated tutorial on how to make a book from a cookie box. 

 

The equipment required for simple bookbinding is minimal and bookbinding is not difficult. 

As a tip if you are just wanting to try book binding and not spend a lot of money to see if you like making books use a the back of a spoon as a bonefolder substitute. When I first started to bind that is what I used.

Any large needle will work as book binding needle. Use a strong thread like a perle #8 to stitch with. If you have beeswax in your sewing box wax your thread.

I use an old phone book as a paper punching cradle. I simply open the phone book and the middle valley is the cradle. Many people don’t do enough book binding invest in special equipment or store it! However if you get the book binding bug you can then buy the equipment you need knowing you will use it.

That said, Sandi’s Cookie Box tutorial is a great place to start