Kwick Books: The Pamphlet

Look at me, all avoiding copyright infringement and whatnot...

Alright, so one of the most versatile and easy little books is the pamphlet.  It does not require any gluing and it is perfect for joining just a few pages.  I use this binding for programs, menus, a long card (you need multiple pages in your note), and invitations.

1. paper interior:  you need your pages folded and you will be sewing along the fold.  While you should always keep your grain running parallel to the spine, you can get away with not doing that here because this is a glue-less binding.
2. cover material:  could be just about anything...cloth, paper, whatever.  I am using yellow paper and then a paper doilie.
4. binding string:  again, you can play around here and use thread, yarn, ribbon, or just anything that can hold a knot.  I am using some bamboo yarn. 
5. sewing needle
6. bone folder
7. awl
8. paper knife or scissors
9.  self healing mat (or some surface that you doing mind poking holes in)

Use the bone folder to fold your paper and assemble the spreads (your folded sheets) with the interior spreads on the bottom and your cover on top.

Use your awl to poke holes through all paper layers along the spine fold.  You will need three holes total, one in the center and then one towards both the top and the bottom.  There is no set rule for where these need to be, so use the placement as part of your design.

Thread your needle with your yarn/thread/ribbon and go in through the center hole (cover towards interior).  Leave a tail of at least a few inches.  This tail will be part of a knot or a bow, so leave as much as you need for your knot.  After you have gone through the first hole, bring your needle to the top hole and pass through back towards the cover.

Now bring your needle down along the exterior of the spine and enter in the bottom hole, towards the interior pages.  Now that you are back on the inside, go back up to the center hole.  Go through the center hole, back towards the exterior cover of the book. 

 

You will want to have the tails of your thread running out perpendicular from the long piece of thread that runs the length of the spine, but you want those tails to be running out on opposite sides, away from the spine.  It will look like you made quadrants.  The reason for this is you will want to tie these tails together, making a knot that is on top of the spine thread and this will anchor everything in place.

Just make a pretty bow and you're done!

You could also do everything in reverse, making your tie on the interior of the book.  Normally when you do this, you don't want the bulk of a bow in there, so you would make a little knot and then trim down your tails.

Suddenly... SHEEP

I was making a sheep as a baby present and then the baby came early... so it looks like it's going to be all sheep all the time for the next few days.  No complaints though.  Making toys is always really gratifying.  Even though all the crocheting is giving me the very attractive 'sausage fingers' look.

Feel free to make a Godfather reference.  Okay, so I always start with the limbs and work towards the trunk.  Right now I am finishing up the head.  I love this awkward time when it looks really ugly and un-cute.  From here, everything that you add to it, makes it look more attractive.  It is interesting how faces look so strange when certain features that we expect to see are missing.  It's like looking at someone sans eyebrows.  Just a little detail that when missing triggers a, "burn it, burn it with fire!!!" response.

Fast forward an hour or so, and a little floof on top of the head makes a big improvement.

So I am going to go back to crocheting.  I just need to settle on a show marathon.  I have been flip-flopping between Top Gear (BBC) and River Monsters lately.  The end result is I want a Jag and I am developing a fear of fish.  Maybe I need to find something more pastoral...something bucolic and sheep-y?

Paper Grain: The Long and Short of It

That was a little paper humor, emphasis on 'little'.  Anyway, as I sat there watching my paste paper curl into a contorted mess whilst drying, it reminded me to talk about paper grain.

To keep things simple, paper has a grain.  It is made up of fibers, greater in length than width, and these fibers have settled into a more or less uniform alignment in a sheet of paper.  There is much, much more to be said about the types of fibers and methods of paper making.... but each of those factors will make for long posts, nay, for textbooks (yes, I have those textbooks and no, they aren't terribly exciting).

Paper grain is important because it has the potential to ruin any paper project you are working on.  Those fibers that make up the paper will absorb water and swell laterally.  So basically, the grain direction on a piece of paper is like an expansion joint.  The paper will expand/contract along this orientation as it experiences changes in moisture.  If you look at the drying paste papers (above), there is more curling along the length of the paper than the width because the grain is running along the length of the sheet.

You can clearly see the directionality and how paper always wants to do things along its grain when you tear a sheet of paper.

Most commercial papers are grain long, as in, the grain is running down the length of the paper.  When you tear it this way, it is very easy.

But when you try and tear it against the grain, it will want to self correct and run back with the grain.  I started tearing at the top of the sheet and the tear promptly took a turn.

So why does all this matter?

Well, if you put glue, decoupage medium, or just moisture from humidity on paper, you will get swelling and possibly wrinkles if you did not leave room (or just not attach down the far end of the sheet) for the expansion.  If you are making invitations and are mounting things, your invitations will be warped if you do not consistently layer things in a parallel grain direction.  If you are making a book, the grain direction is kept parallel to the spine because glue (i.e. moisture) is applied to the spine and this allows the pages to expand out without wrinkling.  Just something to keep in mind as you start a paper project.

Making Paste Paper

This is one of my favorite projects.  The end product is much more than the summation of the humble materials.

Materials can vary, but you need paste and paper.  I am using a medium weight cold press Arches because I am going to use the paper for soft-cover notebooks.  Technically, you could use whatever paper you want.  If you plan on using this paper for art purposes, then use something archival.  If you are making gift wrap, then maybe some butcher paper or craft paper is the more economic option.  The one thing to keep in mind is that a light weight paper will curl and wrinkle like crazy when you put the paste on it and more so as it dries.  So plan accordingly.  For paste, you could use a regular, cooking flour and water slurry, but I like my nice wheat flour because it makes for a less goopy and more translucent paste.  But again, if you are just making up gift wrap, do yourself a favor and go cheap on this.

The funny thing is that I always forget how far the paste goes.  I always think that I have just enough for a few sheets and it turns out that I have enough to mural the house.  So a morning project always morphs into a whole day of painting and messy hands.

The last component to the process is pigment, or some form of color.  You can use anything water-based to tint your paste.  Today I opted to use some leftover tubes of watercolor and gouache (from years ago, before I started making my own paints).

I am doing all of this on a tarp.  Well, it is my shower curtain.  It is due for a wash and the naturally water resistant nature of the fabric makes this very easy to clean.  You really will need to put down some type of tarp.  No matter how clean you are, you will always have a bit of paste on the edges of the paper and then this will transfer to other things.  Try to use a dark fabric, just because pigments like cadmium (bright red) never seem to wash out of things.  So yeah, my shower curtain now looks a bit like a Psycho throwback.  Can't wait to explain that one to house guests.

I also have extra containers for mixing, brushes for mixing, water for thinning the paste down, a paint knife for well, whatever, and then anything that might make an attractive mark in the paste.  Stuff like stamps, combs, etc.

The procedure is pretty foolproof.  The only hard part is that you don't want chunks of paste in your mixture.  If you have ever made any instant food product from a powder, you know the way to avoid this is to slowly mix in fluids or to pass everything through a sieve/strainer.  Make your choice on this.  Personally, I just try to slowly add in fluids. 

So I add in pigment and then mix until I get paste that is the consistency of runny yogurt.

Then, just start painting.

You can do multiple coats so you have different colors.

Once the paste starts drying, you can start stamping.

If you stamp while things are still really wet, the stamps tend to be loose and undefined.

Of course, this can be a nice look sometimes.

You can also combine stamps with drawing.  Just use something a bit blunt as a stylus, otherwise you risk tearing up your damp paper.

Same thing goes when you use a comb to make marks.  It is so easy to rip up the paper if you aren't careful.

Or you can just play around with your brush strokes.

Once you are done 'painting', let the paper dry.  It should be ready for art or crafting within a few hours.  There might be some curling or wrinkling of your paper once it dries, but this should relax as the environmental humidity rises or after you lightly dampen (via the back) and press/stretch the paper.  Or if you just put glue on the back as you use it for a project, that will flatten things right out.  The heavier the paper you use, the less of a problem this will be.

I hope that you have some fun with this.  As long as you keep your paint/pigment non-toxic, this can also be a kid-friendly project.  Just use a reeeeaaallly big tarp then.

Picking out Adhesives

While I am waiting for the paste papers to dry, it seems like a good time to talk glue.  I'm going to try not to use too many puns in this post, but I will have a hard time sticking to that.  And so it begins...

Alright, so there are a bunch of adhesives out there and they are all geared for different applications.  Honestly, you can get through most projects with just a few things.  This is my wonder team:

The wood glue is self explanatory.  It is for wood.  In all seriousness though, it is pretty great.  When it dries, it holds as strong as a nail.

The ATG gun and ATG tape are fabulous.  I use this for all my present wrapping and for assembling invitations.  It is a very sticky pressure adhesive that will hold many different materials AND you can rub off extra bits of this tape, like you would with rubber cement.  Really good stuff.

The bag of flour is going to become paste.  Paste is reversible.  That is its main selling point.  It will hold delicate things together and you can soak it off if you want to undo the process.  I mostly use it for paste papers, decoupage, and lining documents for conservation/restoration.

And now my favorite: PVA.  Polyvinyl acetate is just essential.  It is water based, archival, dries clear and flexible, sticks to just about everything, and you can reactivate it after it is dry with heat.  Many commercial branded adhesives and decoupage products are PVA based.  For instance, if you wanted to make up collage medium (a very popular product) it is just PVA mixed with an acrylic gel.  You can mix this up yourself way cheaper than buying it.  PVA is often marketed as bookbinding glue.  This is the main glue that I use for bookbinding and art making. 

You can get ATG products at many places.  I tend to buy mine through Blick and just wait until they are having one of their crazy sales.  I can tell you from personal experience that this tape becomes less sticky after it has been sitting around on the roll unused for a few years.  So don't buy a life time supply in one go.
http://www.dickblick.com/
It can be expensive to buy PVA unless you are getting it in large quantities.  I get it from Talas.  They sell PVA as 'Jade' and I use their 'Jade 403' formulation.  It should be noted that they also give you a more concentrated glue (less added water) than other suppliers.  I also get my paste ingredients from Talas.
http://www.talasonline.com/
Wood glue is from wherever it is cheapest.  Or just purchased in the middle of an emergency.

A Hot Mess of Paste

Today is a a good day for paste... mainly because I am going to make up paste papers tomorrow.

The first thing to know is that making paste is easy.  It is basically a loose-cooked-dough-thing. Entomologically, the root of paste is from 'dough' and even earlier from a porridge made from barley (yay for years of Latin).  Paste is ALWAYS plant based.  It could be made from many things, but mostly it is cooked up rice or wheat flour.  The higher quality (finer ground, naturally uncolored) the flour, the higher quality the paste.  To this, you just add water and then cook it.  It is kind of like making a curd.  If you wanted to make this archival, then use distilled water... but for general craft stuff, I just use tap water.

I am using Zen Shofu Wheat Flour.  It is nicer than necessary for making paste papers (i.e. it is super expensive) but this is the stuff I keep around for restoration projects when I need an archival and reversible adhesive.

Get ready, this is really complicated. 

Put about equal parts flour and water together in a pot and heat the pot while stirring until it thickens.  That's it.  A quick disclaimer though... while 1:1 is the ratio, by definition, I generally use a water to flour ratio closer to 5:2.

 You can buy special pots that will simultaneously cook and stir your paste for you, but I just use a non-stick pot and whisk the slurry over a med-low heat until it thickens and turns sort of translucent.  It takes 10 min. or so.  Because I am using this paste tomorrow, I am not worrying about it rotting before I get to use all of it.  If I was going to keep this around for a while, I would stir in a 1/4 tsp. or so of thymol right after I finish cooking.  BUT this is stuff that you really don't want to ingest.  So.... If you do plan on adding in thymol, buy a designated 'paste pot' and 'paste wisk'.  Otherwise, just use your normal cookware.

And yes, that is a metal whisk in a non-stick pot.... yell at me all you want.  I buy cheap non-stick pots just for these occasions.  I feel no guilt.

I should also mention that this basic 1:1 paste ratio will cool after cooking to make a rather firm gel.  You can mix in water later (slowly cut it in and eventually stir it in) or you can mix in some more right after it is done cooking.  There is no set consistency for paste; you thin it down until it is the correct thickness for the current project.

Also, store your paste in an airtight container until you are ready to use it. Of course, if it does dry out, you can just dissolve it with water.  Which is great, because it means that all messes are fixable.

My source for wheat paste and thymol:
http://www.talasonline.com/
And I get my sacrificial non-stick wear from Ikea.  And then I get meatballs.  Good times.

Smoked and Fired and DONE

Well, here it is:

It isn't that I thought it wouldn't work, it's just that I didn't think it would work so well on the first try.  Granted, my plan evolved as I worked, but I feel confident that I can troubleshoot and reproduce this process again.

You can fire anything you want to a middle cone without a true kiln if you are very careful with your temperatures and moisture.  You want your 'fire' to mimic a kiln.  Things need to slowly heat up, hold a temperature, and then slowly cool down.  AND EVERYTHING MUST BE  BONE DRY BEFORE FIRING.  I had my greenware in a foil bundle and that bundle was placed directly on top of smoldering coals.  Honestly, I think that the foil/detritus bundle that surrounded the vase was enough insulation to allow for a gradual heat up/cool down.  If I didn't want the the vase to be colored by the smoke and burning material, I would just need to make sure that no oxygen would get into the bundle (no oxygen, no combustion... plus no airflow implies that no smoke from the outside will get in).  Once the ceramic has become as hot as the coals, which it should heat up to within an hour, you can put burning material directly on it.  That is basically what I did; at several points after the vase had been heated, I burnt things directly on the surface.

When you have achieved the desired coloring or temperature, put the lid on you kettle to suffocate any remaining combustion, and once everything is suffocated, open up the lid to allow for faster cooling (otherwise it will take days to fully cool down).

This smoke firing technically was a combination of oxidation and reduction firing (if the lid was on or off) and, depending on how traditional you are with you definitions, this was a modified raku process.  I will certainly do more of these home firings and I think there will be a few more posts to explain the different types of firing (oxidation, reduction, raku, etc.)

I should also mention that you will reek of smoke after this.  And since I was doing this in the vessel that I cook food in, the vase smells a bit like steak.  I think you should pay extra for that...

To finish off the vase, I added a bit of gold leaf and buffed on some micro-crystalline wax.

This is the wax that I was using.  I use this particular one for just about anything as it is archival and removable.  You can get it from a few sources but I order it from Talas:
http://apps.webcreate.com/ecom/catalog/product_specific.cfm?ClientID=15&ProductID=17865