Laume's Studio

A few months ago (or longer, I've been so busy I have a hard time figuring out how much time has gone by) Artsymama had a wonderful international tea party. It was the most fun I'd had online.... probably ever. I met a lot of new online friends and found a bunch of great new blogs to read. So,when Artsymama decided to have an Artful Blogger Party, I knew I had to attend.

The party is, in part, to celebrate the premiere issue of Artful Blogging magazine and in the spirit of that, to participate by posting a tutorial of some small artful activity. Well....SNORT! Those of you who are not new to my blogs or the craziness I call my life, know that I am in the midst of a creative reorganization of my mess..er, I mean my lovely home. That means all my crafting supplies are boxed up or, if not boxed up, inaccessible because there's a pile of boxes holding it all captive. I tell you all this to say - forgive me this small contribution. It's the best I can do at the moment.

Moving on. Those of you who read my Beach Treasure blog know how much I love to read. I love books. I think books should be accessible to everyone, no matter where you live, what your socio-economic level, or what your size.

Er, size?

First thing you need to do is decide what book to make available to your wee friends. I chose the obvious current favorite, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Once you've decided on your title, look it up online and find a small photo of your chosen book. (and since we're using copywritten images, of course the end result is for personal use only. Or you could also get creative and make your own jacket cover designs!) Copy the image and drop it into your word processing or photoshop program. Below you can see I've added a bit to it.

Matching the color, I extended the cover to the right to make the front inside flap and I extended it to the left far enough to cover the binding, the back of the book, and the back inside flap. I also rotated it vertically so I could add the title on the binding. Then I printed it. You can also see that I collected a piece of cardboard and some white paper. And hey, look at my coffee mug. It's even about books. I matched it to the theme on purpose. Okay, so it was just coincidental. Let's pretend that I did it on purpose, clever me.

Here you can see what a mess I made. I made an even smaller book a few years ago and I used thinner cardboard and I cut both the cardboard and the paper with my quilting supplies - a rotary cutter and mat. It was a lot easier. But my cutter and mat are behind aforementioned boxes, so I made it the old fashioned way, with scissors. Messy, but it worked. You can see that I've cut and bent the jacket cover , the paper, and the cardboard. Cut the cardboard slightly smaller than the jacket cover and cut the paper (the pages of your book) slightly smaller than the cardboard so that it's in the same proportions of a larger book.

I couldn't find my large stapler. Even if I could, I'm not sure I could get it to go through so many pieces of paper - after all, the seventh Harry Potter book is 759 pages! So I also bound this book the old fashioned way, with needle and thread. It's kinda a cool look, I might do it this way again.

After your book is bound together, slip the jacket cover over it, secure it with a tiny bit of glue or tape if it doesn't want to stay put. And voila! A wee little book for your favorite wee readers.

Like this young witch.

Or our Charlie Weasley. (He was trying to read our large copy but he was having a hard time holding up the heavy tome with his paws.) Oh look, he's at the part where Harry and Hermione are............. nah. Just kidding. No spoilers.

And if you didn't get here today from Artsymama's Artful Blogger Party, make sure you pop on over to have a piece of cake and visit with the other guests. I'm headed over there myself right now, why don't you join me. There's room on the back of my broom. Hop on.

Vrrrrrrooooooom!!!!!!