Art Journal Spooks

So I'm a few weeks late getting this Halloween book posted, but better late than never, eh? ;)

Here is a Halloween-Gothic-Spooky art journal I made from a paper sample book.

I love working in these books because of the different textures, sizes, and weights of the papers inside.

Unfortunately, these little sample books are hard to come by if you don't know someone in the printing business. I'm working on making some myself and will put them in my shop as soon as I get around to it (and you know how THAT goes!!).

I burned the edges of the "bewitching picture" with a lighter to get a ragged, darkened look. Take care when doing this technique that you don't burn the house down! I keep a fire extinguisher in my studio just in case.

I used a lot of hand carved stamps to decorate this book. The flies, bats, and thorny briers in the photos above are all stamps I carved myself.

I'm not sure what happened to the black cat paper...it bunched up there. It looked fine when I glued it down but it must have shifted when I closed the book. The glue must have still been slightly damp.

Another reason I like these little books is that they're great for themed journals because they're just the right size. If they had too many pages I'd run out of ideas for the theme before I got to the end of the book!

I hope you enjoyed viewing my Spooky Art Journal! It was a lot of fun to make and I can hardly wait to get started on another themed book! I'll let you know when I get some blank paper sample books of my own design listed in my shop.

A Happy Mistake

I'm putting a positive spin on the fact that I screwed up one of my books! At least it was one I was making for myself and not a customer's order.

I'm not sure how this happened, but the punching holes were off on one of my templates. I didn't discover this until I got ready to sew the book and the holes didn't line up.

I was able to fudge the center holes but the two outermost holes were significantly off and had to be re-punched, leaving me with an extra set of holes.

I sewed the book anyhow, trying to ignore the extra holes but when I was all finished they were screaming at me for attention. I decided to run a thread through them to make it look like I meant to do that! It adds a unique look to the book and you'd never know I screwed up except for the fact that I just told you!

New Designs- Name Plates and Monograms

Okay, so these really aren't new, exactly. I've been doing name plates and monograms for a few years now, but this is the first time I've listed them as an a la carte item!

This monogram I did almost two years ago now. I'll be doing some new samples in the next day or two. Provided my nice natural lighting cooperates with me (it's cloudy right now) I should have new pictures of my monograms to show you.

Note 12/1/10: Here they are, ready and listed on Etsy!

My Poor Thumb

I have been making books for sale for over two years (for myself, much longer) and this is my first major injury. Up until now I have prided myself on being so careful.

Mr. Bump by Roger Hargreaves 

One of my favorite stories from childhood, most likely because I can relate to him!

I work with a lot of sharp tools--rotary cutter, utility knife, guillotine style paper trimmer, needles and awls--and aside from the time I stabbed myself in the hand with the awl, I have been limited to paper cuts. Until now.

I was cutting some book board (for no one in particular, just stocking up, lest any of my customers feel guilty!) and one piece in particular was giving me trouble. I tried cutting from a different angle and WHOOPS, got my thumb. Thank God for fingernails or I would have cut the entire tip off!

It feels a bit tingly and is getting in my way something terrible. I can't tie ribbons, I'm having trouble punching holes in my text blocks, and sewing books is quite a challenge. Every night I'm so fed up with the bandages I unwrap it just to get some relief (and air to the wound). And wouldn't you know my shop has been busier since the injury than it's ever been! I like to be busy but prefer the full use of my digits!

New Beginnings

I have a momentous announcement to make...After much thought I have decided to open a new shop.

...introducing Emerson Bindery!

My new shop has actually been open for a month now, but I've kept it quiet except for a few friends. I wanted to wait until after Christmas to make my grand annoucement.

I will be transitioning all my books into Emerson Bindery but plan to keep UberArt open for other projects.

Why you might ask, after over 200 sales and the numerous front page features, would you decide to start all over again?!

One of my front page features from June 3, 2009. My book is the first item at the top left.

When I first opened UberArt in November 2007, I chose the name because it would encompass anything I wanted to do. I had no idea what exactly that was though! I tried books, jewelry, note cards, and polymer clay flower pots (!!!) before I stumbled upon the guest book market. In December 2008 the guest books hijacked my store and things took off!

I have thoroughly enjoyed making books and will continue doing so, but I also want to explore other art forms. I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to lump them altogether in one shop, so I considered opening a new shop. But then, what to call it??

UberArt seemed to fit the bill for the new items but wasn't very descriptive of my current line of guest books. Instead of opening the new shop for the art, I decided to move the books instead. Thus, Emerson Bindery was born!

I will let you know when I introduce new items in my UberArt shop. I have big plans there!!

Your Assignment...

...should you accept it...

1) Go vote for my French Lace Journal in the Etsy Back To School Poll! You must either sign into Etsy or register to vote if you don't have an Etsy account.

French Lace Journal

2) Vote for your favorite Red, White, and Blue themed summer project on the ACE team blog. Of course, it would be nice if you voted for my journal, but at least vote for your favorite item! And you don't have to sign in to do this one!
Steamer Trunk Travel Journal

Thanks!

**this message will self destruct in 5 days**

Secret Belgian Binding

Between custom orders, latest project has been to learn a new binding technique. Someone on my Etsy Bookbinding team (BEST) mentioned Secret Belgian Binding and it peaked my interest. I'd never heard of it before--maybe because it was so secret! Ha ha!

This is my first book using the new technique I learned from Annette's tutorial on Secret Belgian Binding. It's an interesting pattern of weaving thread to attach the front and back covers to the spine.

It was challenging because I misread the instructions, so I had to improvise when I got to the stitching. The "1/2" and "3/4" showed up as a blank box in my browser, which I just ignored for some bizarre reason. After things weren't lining up as they should I realized my mistake.

The inside isn't as pretty and clean as Coptic stitch, but it's still pretty cool looking. Very unusual and handmade looking! No one would mistake this for a store-bought book!

If I can find the time to perfect my technique, maybe you'll see some of these books in my Etsy shop. In the meantime, practice, practice, practice!

New bindings

So here they are, in order from top to bottom: Spine braid, crossed snowshoes, chain stitch. As you can see from the top one, my holes are rather rough. This is where the Japanese Screw Punch would have come in handy. STILL waiting on that to arrive **sigh**. The other two I used a spring-punch, which is very loud, to make the holes. They turned out a lot neater than the first.