My Creative Escape Alternate Project Instructions....

***Another version can be seen here.***

**ETA: Kits and Project Instructions can be found here.**

Ok...still sifting through emails that I have gotten about the book I made for Jake's 2nd Birthday so I am going to try to answer all of those questions in this post.

 

This book was one I bought at Half Price books (love this place) I go directly to the bargain books in the back and they range from .50 to $3.00 and I look for any book that is on a topic that I would want to create a book on for someone or ones that have colors that I am drawn to on the spine. This one had a great orange spine which is his favorite color so I was sold!

 

So I will try to take you through my process step by step...if I miss something and you are confused email me.

 

Remove the guts of the book with an exacto knife. This is not as hard as it sounds, it is actually quite easy.

 

 

 

 

Once you have removed the guts you will want to pick a coordinating paper and cover the spine where you have removed the pages.

 

 

Now you will want to insert your binder mechanism. You can purchase them online, just search binder mechanism. I know this store carries them. Just look under binder rings and make sure you look for the right dimensions to fit your book.

 

 

I purchased my screws, screw caps and hook from Home Depot. The hooks are ones that go on the back of a picture frame to hang it. And the screws and screw caps are in the nuts and bolts section.

 

Insert the hook on the outside and run your screw through the hook, spine and binder mechanism and cap off with the screw cap.

 

 

 

Ok...and now for the fun part, making the inside pages. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Make pages of any size, shape, or depth. I love "junking" mine up so that you get a nice layered effect when opening your book. Below are some of the pages I created for Jake's book:

 

 

On this page I used a badge or ticket holder from the office supply store. I then printed a contact sheet of photos on an inkjet transparency, cut them to size and inserted them into the holder. Really anything you can punch a hole in can become a page, I used this cute August label since that is his birthday month.

 

 

More of the photos printed on transparency and you can see I left the white strip along the bottom of the transparency and added a vintage math card...anything in my studio that had a two on it was in this book! The large two here was a number I bought at Home Depot that would go on a mailbox and I cut the reflective part off.

 

 

Journaling Cards make great pages as well. Love the orange vintage ticket sticking out at the top of the page. Got those at this fabulous online store.

 

 

This is my favorite photo of the day so I had printed it several times for the grandparents when I decided to adhere them back to back and make them a page since there was such great space on here for journaling. Don't forget that with a white sharpie you can journal directly on your photos for a cool effect. And of course what is cooler than grungeboard?? Painted this 2 and then distressed it a bit. Rubons are from Jenni Bowlin Studios.

 

 

And the cherish on this page is from the packaging that comes with the Heidi Swapp clear stamps...all of them have one and I save them and use them as embellishments on my projects. On this one I stamped "moments like this" and then stitched it in place at the top of the sheet protector.

 

 

Again, on this one I used a cute cardstock label, stapled at the top that I will journal and then added a metal "2".

 

 

The spine of the book all junked up with vintage rhinestones, hardware from Tim's Idealogy line, beads, a metal J...just all kinds of goodness.

 

 

So that is it...if you made it this far you are dedicated. ;)

 

Hope this answers a few of the questions you have had...if not, post them here and I will answer them.

 

Thanks!

Comments

[Viki]

Half Price books is one of my favorite places. I too go to the back first. Find lots of books to use for mixed media projects.

I really like the binder idea!
I have in the past used a book (or box) to sew in pages to hand bind a book. I love the binder idea and think it would go over well even for my teen to use for school! Cool!
Viki

[Sue]

Really cute. Fab idea..

[Viki]

Love this idea.
Showed my teenager who thinks it would be great to make Binders for school. She is a little worried that the English teacher would have a fit about her "ruining" a book though.
Viki

[Alimom4]

Awesome projct! TY so much! Saving this one!~ Ali in Nova Scotia

[Vianna]

I found you via Scrap Scene (I love that website!)
http://www.scrapscene.com/

Thank you for tackling a very useful project in a creative manner. I have been lamenting the lack of binder mechanisms in stores (and even on the internet) for a number of years. They arent available in art-supply stores either. Personally, I have been looking for a 6 inch, 1/2 inch capacity mechanism for what seems like YEARS ... I'm still searching and prior to reading this post, I hadn't found even the 7.5 inch ones. My project is making purse-size notebooks/organizers with binder mechanisms as gifts so that address pages, note paper, etc can be added and arranged as desired by the recipients. The loose hardware rings that everyone winds ribbons around aren't suited. Permanently binding the pages to the covers takes away the flexibility. So if anyone knows WHERE I might be able to purchase the smaller, 6-inch binder mechanisms, please email me a link or a name:
SweetOrange54@gmail.com
I may have to rethink the size to use the 7.5 mechanisms that your source carries.
Many thanks again for the very informative, detailed instructions and warm wishes from a Florida gal!

[Michelle]

SO cool, girl!

[Sandy]

This is great! Can't wait to try it. Thanks so much for sharing!

[o]

Holy cow! This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while! So creative & what a great use for old books. I've saved some old books just for a purpose like this but didn't know how to convert them into a useable binder/album. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I found you through Ali Edwards' blog, btw. Have a great day :)

[Rachel Tucker]

OMGoodness this is just a fab idea. Thank you so much for sharing this. Bet I can't buy the binder thingy in NZ. But i'll look and see !! thanks

[Natalie]

Hey - i'm wondering if you could take the binder part out of an older 3 ring binder - i have a few of the smaller ones around the house...and then do this.

LOVE the idea and the inspiration. THANKS

[Brooke]

Okay I made one for my December album, I'm THRILLED with how it turned out!!!

http://brookesummer.blogspot.com/2008/11/december-2008-book.html

[Heather]

Janet-
Hey! I love Jake's book. If you don't mind me asking where did you find the metal J? Also where did you find the chipboard pages? If I were to take one of your classes is it Mac friendly? Also do you include where to find the materials?
Thanks for your awesome ideas!

[tammy]

this is just amazing...thank you so much for sharing! I have always dreamed of making my own notebook! Hate the plastic covers of regular binders. This will be perfect...thank you, thank you!!

[Kristin]

FANTASTIC!!!
I've been pondering a new system for memory storage that is less expensive that buying albums (would rather put money into the insides of my albums!)....thank you for this fantastic idea!!! Thanks also to Kim for the encyclopedia idea! I'm so excited, just the scrappy mojo I was looking for! tfs

[erika melnychuk]

Thank you! Such an incredibly fun looking project!

[denise f]

Love this! I wrote down the directions. would make great address book for a gift. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Kimmie]

I'm obsessed with notebooks & I can not wait to give this a try!

[Sally Penning]

This is so stinkin' cute I can't stand it!