Friday 14 March 2014

Faux Leather Books

Hi Everyone,

So sorry, I have been AWOL from blog land for a whole month, but back now to show you my little faux leather note books.  I spent a crafty day with Anne a couple of weeks back now and one of the things we were playing with was Kraft card, glycerin and water to make faux leather sheets.  The step by step for this technique is put together really clearly by Sheena Douglass  Here.

 
These two books are made from just one A4 sheet of Kraft card, and I still have one more piece to do another one.  The books vary slightly with the way they are kept closed. 
With the larger red butterfly one below I have sewn a wooden button onto the front with hemp and then pulled it through and  attached a couple of beads and leather charms on the end.  
 
 
 
You can see from the photo below that I have covered the stitches from the front with a hand made with love label. Obviously by doing this you can see the button was an afterthought and maybe it should have been under the fabric, but I think the label would still be required to cover the small bulge made by the stitching.   You can also see the pages themselves a little clearer here, I made them from cartridge paper and put together 3 sets of 4 held together with hemp sewn through to the back.  The cartridge paper is really nice quality so was nice and strong to take the hemp.

 
Below is the inside of the smaller brown book, don't you just love that owl fabric, I picked it up from a really nice fabric shop at Lady Heyes Craft Centre near Frodsham.  The fastener for this book is just elastic cord threaded through a button and tied together.  As you can see this is detachable from the book and just simply wrap around the book and the button to close. 
 
 
This one is not the best of photos, but it shows the back of both books, the owl on the back of the brown one is so much better than the one on the front, doesn't that always happen? I attached a couple of beads to the spine of this one, I think they look quite nice.
 
 
So there we are two little books very little cost, and both quite different.
I am off to Harrogate tomorrow with Anne for a mooch around the craft show, and of course we can't go to Harrogate without paying a visit to Art from the Heart.  I have a wish list as long as my arm, and I just know it will get longer the more I see, ooh! I can see my bank balance suffering already.  
Thank you for your visit today, I promise I will be back soon bbfn. Hugs Mo x


6 comments:

  1. Hi Mo,

    These are amazing! I do love the owl notebook.

    Hugs,
    Kay

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  2. Hey Mo...your little books are darling. I love inexpensive projects that turn out looking like a million bucks! :) Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving such a nice comment. So glad that you loved the Friday Tags. Enjoy your weekend! <3 Candy

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  3. Love your little books Mo, and wonderful to see you have been bitten by that particular bug too. Great to see them in different colours too and I love how you have done your closures!

    Hope you and Anne have loads of fun in Harrogate tomorrow and if I said I was not green with jealousy I would be lying....

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  4. Your little books are fabulous Mo, I love both. It is such a clever technique and looks so effective when completed (still have not done anything with mine....). Really looking forward to tomorrow, Art from the Heart have loads of new Tim stuff in........ my bank balance is going to go the same way as yours! Hugs, Anne x

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  5. Hi Mo - I do love these books - I made one and helped some ladies start theirs off on Monday - we all enjoyed the fleathering. I'm very jealous of yours and Anne's latest trip - but look forward to seeing you both at Port Sunlight - have fun tomorrow! Big Hugs xx

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  6. Well, I've been AWOL from visiting for most of that time, so I forgive you!! Fab leather look you've created here - and the binding and charms look just gorgeous.
    Alison xx

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