I love when materials that aren't generally used in a craft are featured in such a cool way as this strip of gold leaf on polymer clay to decorate this book cover. This polymer clay book is just one of the unique and fun tutorials in the new book Adventures In Bookbinding: Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books.
This book is so pretty with all the details. My favorite was this cool technique for applying gold leaf to polymer clay. When you run the polymer clay through the pasta maker rollers with the gold leaf, it causes it to crackle a bit. I think it's such an elegant technique! I want to try it against other colors of clay in addition to the black that is shown here.
If you like book making and want to try it with all sorts of different and unusual materials, you will love:
Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books
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Each project in this book combines bookbinding with a specific craft such as quilting, jewelry making, or polymer clay, and offer levels of expertise: basic, novice, and expert. Illustrated step-by-step instructions and photographs demonstrate how to construct the cover pages, and a unique binding technique, easy enough for a beginner to master.
Each project also features two other versions with the same binding geared to those with more or less experience. The novice version is for those who have no knowledge of the craft and want shortcuts, but love the look. For the quilter's book, for example, vintage quilt pieces become the covers so all that's needing in the binding. Or if you're interested in wool felting use an old sweater. This offers great opportunities for upcycling.
The expert version is for those who have a great deal of knowledge and proficiency of a certain craft - the master art quilter, for example. For this version, an expert guest artist has created the cover and the author has created the binding. This offers yet another creative opportunity - the collaborative project. Since crafters often get involved with round-robins and other shared endeavors, this will show them yet another way to combine their skills.
No other craft book offers the possibilities and challenges that Adventures in Bookbinding does. Readers will return to it again and again to find inspiration and ideas.
Jeannine Stein has been making books for more than fifteen years, exploring bindings, mediums, and techniques. In addition to teaching book-binding, she is an award-winning journalist, and she has written extensively about paper crafts-artists' books, scrapbooking, rubber stamping, and letterpress. She is the author of Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books with Recycled and Repurposed Materials (Quarry Books 2009).
Thanks for featuring this book! I'll be looking for it in bookstores!
Posted by: Barbara Hagerty | May 20, 2011 at 02:35 PM
That's a gorgeous book and stunning technique. I can't wait to read the entire book. Thank you.
Posted by: Eileen | May 22, 2011 at 06:02 AM
Ah, if only there was enough time to do all the crafting I want to do. I love book art!
Posted by: Tammy | May 22, 2011 at 04:10 PM
What a tribute to the beauty of books. I can't wait to try some of these techniques - have ordered the book. So glad I discovered this blog and your book!!!
Posted by: Aunt Pea | June 24, 2011 at 10:17 AM