Masculine/industrial for Mini Album Makers

Hello Friends

The first day of the month means that we have a new challenge starting over at Mini Album Makers and I have gone Masculine/Industrial, creating a mini sketchbook using my newfound skill of Coptic binding and adding some industrial covers to give a masculine feel to the book.

I have watched quite a few videos on the Coptic binding technique but my favourite tutorial, which shows the process very simply, can be found HERE by Sea Lemon.  I will admit, it does take a bit of practice but once mastered, it allows the sketchbook to lie flat, making sketching and painting so much easier.  I have not repeated the process here as Sea Lemon explains it so much better than I could ever do!

The difference between her book and mine is that I created a set of five bindings spaced 1" apart across the whole edge and I used 7 signatures (you could add lots more to create a thicker book).  However, I do suggest using a small number of signatures until you really get the hang of it.

The photo above shows how beautifully the Coptic bound book lies flat, perfect for a sketch or watercolour book.  My finished book measures 6" x 4" and for each signature I folded paper sized 8" x 6", one paper for each signature.

For the covers I cut 300gsm cardstock to just over 6" x 4", one for the front and one for the back cover, as I wanted to cover up the binding on the front and back.  I used Tim Holtz's 3D embossing folder (Mechanics) and embossed each of the covers.

I took silver gilding wax (Pebeo) and used my finger to lightly coat each of the covers and then used a soft cloth to buff over each cover.  I just love the industrial look this creates.

To decorate the cover I die cut Tim Holtz's Bigz die -  Steampunk Parts and pieced it together before applying gilding was again to the pieces, silver for the outer edge and gold for the 'propeller' to make it stand out a little more.

Below is a close-up.

Another view of the completed sketchbook.

We hope you can join in the fun at Mini Album Makers this month, it would be lovely
 to see you there.

This will be my last month with Mini Album Makers, I have taken the difficult decision to
step down from the team.  I would like to thank Autumn for giving me the opportunity to be on the team and my lovely teamies who I have enjoyed working alongside.

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx