Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Tiny Books

There's a brand new challenge out there - the brainchild of Autumn, of Sew Paper Paint.   The Challenge blog is called Mini Album Makers Challenge -  and it's all about making mini books, albums, journals etc!  There is a super talented design team that will be sharing tutorials and creative ideas each month.

So, I love miniatures - and I was looking for some book inspiration over on Pinterest and ended up on this wonderful ETSY shop - WeLoveMiniatures - by Annie Fryd Christensen from Denmark.   She sells miniature printouts of old books  - botanicals, shells, poultry, and she shows you how to make them into tiny books on YouTube.

So I immediately ordered 5 of her PDF files (they come to your e-mail to download as soon as you've completed payment!), printed them out and pretty quickly (two hours) made two tiny books and a box to put one of them in.
Here are photos of the process in creating these sweet little books.
Supplies:  
The PDF file of the Philipo Bonnani Shells 1684 book printed on computer paper - I've cut the strips of pages and the cover pieces.
Glue Stick
Tacky Glue
Die Pic or other pointed object to score edges for folding
a metal ruler
a brown or tan ink for distressing
Gold Leaf - Rub N Buff (or anything gold for lines on binding)
a small piece of white cardstock to glue book cover to
You glue the front cover to a piece of white card stock with a glue stick.  Then cut it out close to the edges.  Then you turn the cover over and glue the inside piece with the binding lines on it to the cardstock.
Then score along the binding lines with a Die Pic so it folds cleanly
 Leave to dry a few minutes then curve the binding around the pic to round it.
To age the cover, rub a brown ink pad over the edges, inside and out.
Score all the lines on the two strips of book pages.
Attach the two strips of pages at the blank piece using a glue stick
 Fold up the pages.
Reopen the pages and lay flat, face down.  Add glue using the glue stick to all the pages accept the first and last (they will be adhered to the covers).  Press each group of two pages together all along the folds so there's a front and back to each page - leaving the first and last free.
Add Tacky Glue to the inside cover along the binding lines and press the back edges of folded pages into the binding.  Let dry.
Add some Tacky Glue to the back cover and press the back page onto the back cover.  Do the same with the front cover and page.
Rub your brown ink pad on all the edges of your pages
Add some gold to the edges on the outside binding.
 I also purchased the PDF Miniature Scale Blue Shabby Boxes from Annie's Etsy shop. You just cut it out and assemble it!   One miniature book just fits inside one of them. 
 (The box has a soft pink roses pattern on it but it got a little washed out in the photo!) 
I added a piece of Tim's Tissue Wrap inside the box to wrap around the book.
I tied some twine around the box and the other book.
Here are some of the pages in the tiny books. 
The floral one has images in color, the shell one is black and white.
 (I should have washed the ink off my thumbnail!)
I wanted to make miniatures to sell at our upcoming church fair along with hand stamped cards - and wanted them to be fairly easy to put together but look professional -  and I think these really fit the bill!
I used the PDF files J. Duke Compleat Florest Botanicals 1747 and Philipo Bonnani Shells 1684 for my books.  I still have the Birds and Nests, Miniature Muses and Medical Bothany to make - and will no doubt soon purchase the Miniature Fruit and Poultry!  

 So what Mini Albums will you create for the challenge?   There is a prize of Seth Apter products to one lucky random entry this month!  You have until Sept 30th to link up!

I'm also linking my vintage tiny books to:


27 comments:

Christine Alexander said...

Julia the books are so cool. Now on my list to try :)

froebelsternchen said...

They are absolutely AMAZING!

SewPaperPaint said...

Oh Julia, what fun! I gave up jewelry making and bead work because my hands can't do tiny, but I so admire and appreciate these tiny works of art. I love the details on the little covers and the boxes to store them in. So much fun! Thanks a bunch for the shout out and for playing along with our first challenge at Mini Album Makers. Hugs, Autumn

Redanne said...

Julia, these will go like a storm at the Church fair, they are so beautiful and I love that you can actually read them and that the inserts are proper book pages. Fabulous work!! Thanks so much for joining in our first challenge at Mini Album Makers! Hugs, Anne xx

Gloria Stengel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gloria Stengel said...

These are so cool. I am at a loss for words! I cannot imagine making something so tiny and so detailed! I am super impressed!! Thanks for joining our FIRST challenge at Mini Album Makers Challenge Blog!

Sue said...

Oh my goodness, these are amazing! I wouldn't even be able to hold these, let alone make them. Really wonderful miniature works of art! xx

Bonnie said...

Oh my goodness! These tiny books are adorable! I love those tiny colored pages!

Brenda Brown said...

These are just so cute and gorgeous Julia. What patience you have but oh so worth the time and effort you put into them xxx

Nancy Wethington said...

Miniatures always impress me and yours is definitely no exception. Love that teeny book. Not sure how fingers work with something so little! Love how you formed the spine. Thanks for sharing your talent at Mini Album Makers Challenge Blog.

Ruth said...

Oh my, these are so cute and just delightful, artful mini marvels...love them!! xx

nancy littrell said...

Amazing tiny books for your mixed media projects, Julia. TFS your photos and steps too. You just continue to amaze me my friend with all your mixed media art. TFS Hugs..

jdmommy - Anne Harmon said...

Julia, these are just the sweetest little books......you have enabled me again!!!

Kim Heggins said...

OH my goodness...these are so darn adorable. What an incredible talent you have. All those tiny details, just love these.

Leslie Miller said...

Oh, my gosh, this is amazing! Pretty sure my fingers would fumble the heck out of this. So cute and tiny and vintage. Julia, it was nice to have you visit my blog. Thank you!

Sharli Schaitberger said...

Wow!!! These are incredible!
Nice work, Julia!

Mona Pendleton said...

Oh my Julia! How fun and creative! Thanks for sharing how you created them! So helpful and inspiring!

Words and Pictures said...

Miniature delights, Julia - and some dangerous enabling. I can see I shall have to check out those digi-files and get busy creating some extra special volumes for the dollshouses! Beautiful, delicate work.
Alison x

Words and Pictures said...

Forgot to say thank you so much for joining in with the Mini Album Makers inaugural challenge... they don't always have to be miniature "mini" - just so you know!
Alison xx

toni said...

I just love these miniature books Julia ! You've done a fantastic job creating these delightful books ! Xx

sarascloset said...

Can you hear me squealing? Julia, these are adorable and so full of tiny delicate details! How unique a project and that little box to hold your books is simply amazing! I'm pretty sure I'd be blind by the time I got done making one of these! Thanks for the inspiration! Hugs!

Astrid Maclean said...

Oh Julia, this is just so clever and what a fun way to put a tiny book together! So many beautiful details!! Thank you so much for sharing it with us on the mini album makers challenge blog!

Inna Bronnikova said...

Amazing tiny books for your mixed media projects, Julia! It's such a joy to have you share with us in our first challenge at Mini Album Makers

Belinda Basson said...

Good Grief! You have such patience! I would have gone mad working on something so small! That being said, I love it and all the attention to detail!

Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith said...

I can't believe how small these are! Thanks for the tutorial! I will sure need glasses for this!

Nora said...

These tiny books are gorgeous!!! I just adore them!!!

Cocofolies said...

Wow, this is awesome!!!!
I love love your tiny book!