Hi! It's Heather from Thicketworks and today I'm going to share with you my
process for making do-it-yourself miniature books! These little beauties
are fully functional and have marbled endpapers. I've prepared a set of free
downloadable printables so that if you want to replicate this project you can
do so easily. The mini book covers should be printed on cardstock, but the mini
book endpapers should be printed on regular printer paper. Print one copy of
the book covers and two of the mini book endpapers. In addition you'll want to
print scads of the mini book pages on regular printer paper. I recommend at
least 10 copies. You can print this project with either a laser or an inkjet
printer - either way I recommend that you coat the mini book covers with a
good-quality clear spray sealer before cutting them out. Once the spray sealer
has dried it's time to begin cutting. Each row holds three book covers; so
you'll be cutting vertically and horizontally in order to separate each
of those rows into the three covers. In total you can create 18 mini books from
this one printable! Next, we need to cut out the tiny marbled endpapers to
complement the covers. Each tiny book requires two matched endpapers, so once
you've cut all these beauties set them aside we'll be coming back to work with
those a little later. Now, of course, you don't have to have a paper trimmer in
order to successfully complete creating your mini books - but because we're doing
so many intricate precision cuts, I really love using my paper trimmer for
this. Especially since I can load up like five sheets at a time and cut them in
bulk - it's a huge time-saver! You'll want to cut a lot of these mini pages for
your books. This stack of book pages represents 15 sheets individually
printed and cut out, and that's just about enough to complete 10 books.
Set the book pages aside for now - we'll be returning to create text blocks from them
in just a few minutes. For now, let's continue preparing our book covers. I'm
using a straight edge and a ballpoint stylus to help create creases on either
side of the spine. Now, as you bend these you're going to see that the toner or
the ink from your inkjet printer may begin to crack and allow some of the
white cardstock to show through - that's not a problem, and we'll take care of it
a little later on in the process. To give the spines slightly more dimension you
may want to roll them against a bamboo skewer - that helps create that
characteristic rounded shape. At this stage I like to add some rubber stamping
using metallic embossing powders. You can totally do this later on in the process
as well, but frankly it's a lot easier if you do your embossing before we add the
text blocks and endpapers. Heat embossing is such a fun way to add interest and
diversity to these little book covers. Next, let's focus on creating the text
blocks. Gather a group of mini book pages and test them to see if they will fill
the spine of your chosen book - and then place a single page facedown on the top
of your text block. Hold the pages together with a binder clip and apply a
good-quality PVA along the spine. Set it aside to dry thoroughly.
While the text blocks are curing you can touch up those areas that
reveal white cardstock with a simple brown acrylic craft paint. I find that a
single shade of brown works well with all of these book covers - there's no need
to use more than one tint. Next, it's time to adhere the endpapers to the book covers.
Apply PVA glue along either the front or the back cover and then align one of the
endpapers against that glue. Press it in place and then fold it back so that the
fold matches the crease at the edge of the spine. Fit the text block into place
and then apply PVA glue to the upper most page. Press everything together and
now you've glued one half of your text block to one of your endpapers. Repeat
the same process on the other cover. Congratulations - you've just created a
"perfect bound" mini book! Very cool. Once the adhesive has had a chance to set up
for a few minutes, take a pair of very sharp micro tipped scissors and trim
away the excess endpapers along the outer or fore edge of each page and also
along the top and the bottom of each page. This trimming can be a little
tedious, but it goes relatively quickly... and with a sharp pair of micro tip snips
like this it's actually really fast and very easy to do. That's fundamentally all
there is to this method: you've created a "perfect bound" text block and you've
enclosed it within marbled endpapers and it's all surrounded by your custom
mini book covers - so cute! To help these tiny volumes retain their shape and to
open and close properly it's a good idea to place a nice solid weight on top and
allow them to cure overnight. Once your miniature books have cured
overnight you can consider what other decorative treatments you'd like to give
to the covers. I'm going to be adding some simple embossing with clear
embossing powder to give a more dimensional feel to this little mini
book cover. I'm using a very finely granulated clear embossing powder rather
than something thick and heavy like Ultra Thick Embossing Powder to maintain
the delicate scale of this project. I just love that subtle effect: so pretty!
You can use the same type of embossing powder to create a sort of faux leather
texture on your book covers as well. Apply a single layer of the embossing
powder and heat it up and you'll be left with a nice nubby leather like texture -
very cool. I love the look of gilded spine ridges on antique volumes, so I'm
going to create a faux version using a rubber stamp that has a simple line
pattern and gold embossing powder. This simulates those little raised
gilded ridges and adds just one more touch of authenticity and vintage charm
to these little volumes. Embellishing the covers is so much fun...and it's super
easy to add a "gilded" edge with just a touch of gold embossing powder. Next I'm
reaching for some Dresden Trim...now, by trimming down these intricate designs
you can isolate perfectly scaled embellishments for the corners of your
books if you so desire. Dresden is so easy to work with. I love that you can
isolate components and let your imagination go wild! There are so many
ways to use Dresden trim - not just with mini books, but in all types of mixed
media work. This tiny strip of metallic Dresden is exactly the final touch this
volume needed. Once it's dry, I'll just clip that back to size. Now, the
Dresden is beautiful - but it's really too shiny to be in keeping with these aged
and vintage volumes. A quick layer of brown craft paint just added and then
quickly wiped back with a fingertip helps everything harmonize. I had some of
these incredibly delicate brass stampings left over from a previous
project, and they work perfectly on the front of this volume just embedded in
some PVA glue. To intensify the depth of color and to seal and protect the front
and spine and back of each of these little volumes, I'm adding a layer of
Triple Thick Gloss Glaze and allowing that to cure.
There are so many ways to make miniature books! This is just one among literally hundreds,
but it's one that I adore. The combination of the "perfect binding", the
marbled endpapers and the personalized covers results in tiny volumes that have
the look and feel of well-loved vintage books! Perfect for stocking a lilliputian
library! I hope that you found some of these techniques and ideas useful or at
least interesting. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today! Until next
time...Bye!
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