Rubber Stamping

Books and Book Bindings Part 2 by Steph Schirmer

When people think of books, and making them, they become very intimidated by the whole process. Some people lack the confidence to sit down and just make a simple book. By simple, what I mean is folding a few pages, adding a cover and a few embellishments and thus you have a book. Books do not have to be elaborate, covered from head to toe and the insides decorated to the hilt. Here are some things you might use when making a simple easy book:

Cardstock or decorative paper for the cover
Text weight paper for the inside
Fiber, yarns, metal rings to hold them together

Just by using these three basic things you can come up with some great books just by punching some holes and putting them all together. What makes your book unique is what you add to it. Experiment with color by stamping, adding paint or layering different text weight papers on top of each other. Try adding beading or charms or chipboard letters or chipboard designs to them and before you know it your book will take on a life of its own.

In recent years there have been machines that have come out to help in the process of making a book. Here are a few that come to mind:

RubiCoil
Bind It All
Rollabind

RubiCoil binding is where you use coils to bind your project together. Not only can you make some wonderful books in all sizes and shapes, you can also make calendars, notebooks, and many other things. The coils come in many different sizes and the size of the coil is determined by how many pages you are putting in your item and the amount of embellishments. The coils come in some great colors. This machine will punch text and cardstock. This machine is very easy to use, and once you have punched your pages you lay them together and proceed to twist the coil thru. The coils run a variety of price depending on how many you buy at one time and the machine runs about $150.00 to $160.00.

Bind It All is a new binder to hit the market. This machine will cut thru paper, CD’s and chipboard. This machine is a dual-purpose machine, meaning it will punch the holes and when the coils are inserted close the coils too. It weighs about 4 pounds and it punch only six holes at a time you can add as many holes as you like. The coils run a variety of prices depending on how many you buy and the machine runs about $60.00. For more information about this machine check out www.binditall.com

Crafters Rollabind is a 12-inch metal desktop model that punches thru paper and uses disc as the spine of the book. The discs are what allow the pages to turn. They come in several different colors and sizes. The discs prices run from 5 to 6 dollars and the machine runs about $60.00. For more information on this machine check out www.rollabind.com

Whether you buy a book already made or make one yourself, books are a lovely gift for anyone. The insides of books can be used for journals, photo albums, organizers, calendars or writing down thoughts and ideas that come to mind. If you are intimidated by making a book, look at purchasing a book and personalizing it for the person. Taking a blank cover and adding embellishments makes a wonderful gift. Check out the stationary isle for spiral bound notebooks of all sizes, they make great gifts when jazzed up. The bottom line is don’t be afraid to try them you might be surprised.

Here are some great sites to add some inspiration to your perusing:

http://www.danielessig.com/

http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/
http://www.volcanoarts.biz/index.html

http://www.bevbrazelton.com/

http://www.zettiology.com/

http://www.susanlenartkazmer.net/other-work/transparentjournal.htm

http://4andtwentyblackbirds.com/book_gallery.htm
http://www.franticstamper.com (examples of the binding systems)

http://www.bonniesbest.com (examples of the binding systems)

Last but not least I want to thank the design team members for their help, I can’t do the column without it. I wanted to close with some random shots of books that we have done. I am not affiliated with any website I provided I am just passing along the info to help you make a better decision. As always any suggestions for discussion drop me an email.

I hope you get inspired to create some books no matter how big or how small!!!!

Steph Schirmer

sschirmer@stampersmall.com