Rotating Star Book

 

(I first came across this book through Scrapbookers Anonymous and More who called it a Kaleidoscope Album and then I found other videos on You Tube who called it a Rotating Star Book.) This is an amalgam of both.

Video: Rotating Star Book - Materials

Materials Needed

•          Paper

o   2 pieces of 8.5” x 11” paper in four different colours or you can use two solid colours and two eco printed papers/gelli printed/specialty papers.  The paper will display better if your eco prints/gelli prints/specialty papers are double sided.

o   2 pieces of eco-dyed/gelli printed paper for the cover decoration that are at least 4” x 4”

•         4 pieces of cardboard that are 2.75” x 2.75” 
•         Adhesive – glue stick or tacky glue, packing tape
•         Small, thin, magnets (I will have some available)

•         Thin ribbon for tie closure
•         Tools

o   Bone folder

o   Cutting tools – you are going to be precutting a lot of this at home

o   Scoring tool – anything pointy but not too sharp will work (tapestry needle in a cork would work)

o   Ruler

o   Cutting mat

 

Assembly

Video: Making the Sections

Making the Sections

1.  The easiest way to start is to do your scoring first.  With the short end of your 8.5” paper facing up, score down the length of the paper at .5”, 1.75”, 3” and 5.75”.  Do this with all four colours of paper.  That would be 8 sheets of paper in total.

 

 

 

2.  The next step is to turn the paper sideways and to cut it into 4 pieces.  Each piece will be 2.75” wide.  You need to have 6 pieces of each colour or pattern. Note:  you will have extra paper of each colour (save these in case you make any mistakes)

3.   After the paper is cut, you will fold each section.  The .5” tab is folded back and the 1.75” sections are folded into a V, the larger section is folded around the back to meet the tab, where the adhesive will be placed.

4.   I find it is very useful to put the folded sections under weight for a while.  They can be very bouncy when first folded.  The flatter they are before assembly; the better assembly goes.

5.   I put a strip of double-sided tape on the tab and then adhere the larger flap.

6.   When you are finished you will have a section that has a fold on one side and a V on the other.

 

 

Video: Adhering the Sections

Putting Them Together

1.    If your sections have an obvious top and bottom, make sure that you arrange them in that order as you stack them, ready for gluing.  Put them in four colour coordinated piles, folds pointing up, all oriented properly and in order so that you won’t paste any in upside down or out of order if you are working with text) (If you’re not confident about the text – you can always glue it in after the book is assembled)

2.   Place the first section with the fold to the LEFT.  Put glue on the entire surface and place the second section (next colour) with the fold facing the TOP. Rub it down well. Turn the glued pieces one quarter turn to the LEFT. (the fold will now be on the left)

3.   Put glue on the surface and place the third section (colour) with the fold facing the TOP. Rub it down well. Turn the glued pieces one quarter turn to the LEFT. 

4.   Put glue on the surface and place the fourth section (colour) with the fold facing the TOP. Rub it down well. Turn the glued pieces one quarter turn to the LEFT.

5.   You have now completed one colour change.  You need to repeat these steps until all remaining pieces have been used.  The most important step to remember is the quarter turn to the LEFT.  This is what will allow the book to rotate properly, and it is also the easiest step to forget.

Video: Creating the Cover

Video - Getting Better at the Cover

Creating the Cover

1.     You will need two pieces of 2.75” x 2.75” cardboard for each cover.  One piece of cardboard will have holes cut out slightly larger than the size of the magnets (this is to allow them to be inset into the cover of the book and covered with decorative paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.   The magnets are adhered (I used clear packing tape) to the bottom piece of cardboard and the second piece of cardboard is glued on top.  A mark is made to indicate top and bottom and Left and Right (so we can get the polarity of the magnets on the other cover right) 

3.   The cover for the other side is made in the same way.  You will want to make sure that you line up the magnets on the second cover so that the polarity of the magnets attracts. It’s not a problem if you take the time to make sure that all the magnets on the first cover are glued with the polarity in the same direction (but they can be jumpy things and accidents do happen)

4.   Once you are sure that your covers will attract, it’s time to cover them in decorative paper.  The decorative paper covers the magnets, and the plain cardboard is the surface that will be glued to your book.

5.   Put your adhesive (I used glue stick) around the magnet area and place the cardboard on the paper.  Miter the corners and glue. 

 

6.     Before attaching to the book, you may want to add a length of thin ribbon to the back cover to keep the book closed when not on display.  It will wrap around to the front and tie.  Place the ribbon along the middle of the cardboard before attaching it to the back of the book. 

7.   After attaching the covers, place under weight until the glue dries.

 

  

  

 

Explosion Book

 

Video: Explosion Book Materials

Materials Needed

• ·         Paper

o   3 pieces of 12” x 12” paper in a complementary colour for your specialty papers

o   10 pieces of eco-dyed/gelli print/specialty paper that are 5.5” x 5.5” (this assumes a 1/4” border for a smaller border cut the paper 6” x 6”)

o   2 pieces of eco-dyed/gelli print/specialty paper for the cover decoration that are at least 7” x 7”

• ·         2 pieces of cardboard that are 6.125” x 6.125” (6 1/8” x 6 1/8”)
• ·         Adhesive
• ·         Cutting mat, knife, scissors
• ·         Ribbon

 

Video: Step 1 - Building the Base

Assembly

1.    Take a piece of 12” x 12” paper and fold it in half in both directions. Pick up one corner and fold it diagonally in one direction only.  This should leave you with two 6” squares and two areas that are divided into triangles.

2.    Manipulate the valley folds so that the triangles will fold into the center.

3.    Repeat this with the remaining pieces of background paper.

 

 

4.   To attach the papers together, put glue on one of the square sections and overlap with the square section of the second paper.  Since the triangle on the first sheet opened up into the center, for effect, I like to have the triangles of the second sheet of paper open down away from the center, rather than up.  This is accomplished very simply by turning the paper over.

 

 

 

 5.      I then have the triangles on the third piece of paper open up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    Place your completed book under weight until dry.  Allowing the book some time under weight will allow the folds to be compressed.

 

Video: Step 2: Adding Decorative Paper

Decoration

1.    Once the base of your book is prepared, you are now able to create your decoration from your eco-dyed papers. Please note that the directions that follow are assuming that you have precut your eco-papers to 5.5” squares.

 

2.    The following directions assume a 1/4 “ border around your eco print paper. If you want more of a border you will need to adjust the dimensions.  If you want less of a border, you will have pre-cut the paper to 6” x 6” and trim paper now to your desired border size.

 

3.    You will need to adjust the dimensions for the triangles. Reserve 4 of the 5.5” squares for the full square sections of the book.  Fold the remaining six sections on the diagonal (to make a triangle) and mark 1/8” from the fold line.   Draw a line parallel to the fold. Trim along this line.  You will now have two triangular pieces of eco print paper that should fit the space in your book with the border that you need.  You will now have ¼“between the two triangular parts of your square – 1/8” on each side of the fold line.  You can always do it by eye and get the borders approximately even. You will need 12 triangular pieces.

 

4.    Decide where you are going to place your decorative pieces and glue in place.  Make sure that none of the pieces lie on a fold line or interfere with the smooth folding of the book.

 

Video: Step 3 - Making the Covers

Covers

1.    Use your 7” x 7” decorative paper to wrap your cardboard covers.  I frequently find it easier to apply glue to my cardboard and then place that on my decorative paper.  I then cut my corners on the diagonal leaving a few mm distance at each corner.

 

 

 

2.     Apply adhesive to opposing edges and turn in.  You can use your bone folder or thumb nail to tuck in the small edge of paper at the corner to make sure that the corner is covered.

 

 

 

 

 

3.      Repeat on the remaining sides.

4.    Before attaching the covers to the book, attach a ribbon closure along the middle of the back cover.

5.    The covers can be attached by applying adhesive to the front and back of the folded Explosion book.  The square section will be attached directly to the cover.  It is better to apply adhesive to the square and not the cover, because the cover is slightly larger than the square.  You want to try and center the square within the cover area.

Making Textile Cards

 Stitching on Paper

These cards are going to be made from layers of cardstock and stitched with embroidery floss.   You will be able to get two cards from a single piece of 8.5 x 11” cardstock.  They will fit a standard greeting card envelope.  I’ve used a sturdy mixed media or 90 lb./ 190 gsm watercolour to a 140 lb./ 300 gsm watercolour paper for the stitching base.  Regular cardstock, in colours of your choice, can be used for the mats and cards themselves.

Tools Needed

Cutting tools – cutting mat, paper cutter, (exacto knife optional), scissors

Ruler

Adhesive – glue stick or double-sided tape, masking tape or scotch tape, (archival if you are concerned)

Layering and Matting

5.5” x 4.25”  Card with Single Mat       5.5” x 4.25”   Card with Double Mat

5.25” x 4”     Mat                                   5.25” x 4”      First Mat Colour A

5” x 3.75”     Stitching Base                  5” x 3.75”      Second Mat Colour B

                                                             4.75” x 3.5”   Stitching Base

 

Here is a link to printable Dot Grid paper for making your own patterns.  You may find it useful to have a source of print on demand paper at your fingertips.  You can customize this paper to the spacing you want.  I’ve included a sheet in the handout. You can also find pads of paper at the Dollar Store if you want it in a small, portable size. 

PDF Viewer - Printable Dot Paper (stemsheets.com)

There are lots of free stitching templates available on the internet. I’ve included a few to get you started.

Free Patterns – Stitching Cards

Stitches for paper embroidery cards – Stitching Cards

Free Patterns – Form-A-Lines

Free paper Embroidery Patterns – Add Some Sparkle

Video - Creating A Stitching Template

Video - Making a Cross Stitch Card Template

Creating an Envelope to Match Your Card

Coming Soon

 New Classes Coming this Fall

I'm going to be teaching two classes this fall.  I'll be taking part in a team teaching effort in "Making Textile Cards" with Eleaner Noon and Jan Van Fleet.  I'll have the last two classes, one in November and one in December.  By adding stitch to paper you can add pizzaz to even the most simple card. 

I'll also be teaching,"Let's Make Artist Books" a three day course that will offer instruction in four different book structures that will let participants use up decorative papers they may have made in previous workshops or classes. We will be making a rotating star book (also known as a kaleidoscope book), a waterfall fold book, a maze fold book and an explosion or squash fold book.  These sculptural, interactive type of books are a good vehicle for showing off those special papers you would like to give pride of place to in your work.  You can embellish them with stitch before you attach them to the base structure of your book if you wish. The course will take place over a 3 day period, one day in October, one in November, and one in early December.  That will give you plenty of time in between to embellish your papers or take your time at any stage.

Preview video