Drawspace Forum Friends,
I have been thinking of hosting/teaching a sculptural book-making class here. Since Sculptural book making has many faces, I wanted to introduce it and begin by walking through making a journal. This journal would be easy to make with relatively NO cost involved. It is the kind of project that can be finished in an hour or so, and can be used for a wide variety of purposes. I have two that I just recently made, (one for sale on my etsy account) and the other I use for ATC card collecting.

I am wanting to know how many of you would be interested in walking through a book making process with me so that I can get a feel for how I can host/teach a class using this forum.

A little history . . . I am an ART teacher in the public school system teaching middle school students. I have taught almost every subject, every grade level, and even tutored ESl students from Korea and China while living in Los Angeles. I have an undergraduate degree in art with an emphasis in commercial illustration that I got back in 87. I went on to receive a M.Ed. in Cross-Cultural Teaching that I did mostly in classes, but finished up long distance online.

This online class would help me to start the process without a huge comittment on either yours or my part and would give me some experience to help tailor subsequent classes.

Please let me know what you think. If you would like to see the journal I am talking about you can visit my etsy account and view it. The address is gfout.etsy.com

Here's an thumbnail image to view as well.

garth

sure..what do we need for materials to get started? I shall start gathering

me too

To begin with, three materials and some tools.

Materials: 2 cardboard pieces. I like to use the type of cardboard that is shipped with tissue paper, or the ones inside new shirts you buy at the mall

Next you use paper of your choice. I use a 80lb drawing paper that I buy in 18 x 24 sheets. Any paper will do though.

Hemp cord for binding. You can also use recycled string, yarn, or cord that is extra.

Tools: Single hole punch. I use a small hole punch. The hole is around a 16th of an inch
One Upholstery needle for sewing. Wal-mart has a pack of different sizes for less than a dollar.
Ruler
Xacto blade knife

Great. This will be fun!

cool..so are you going to give a few days for ppl to sign up? I have all those supplies..I do have to find my hole punch though..hmmmmm...its been a while since i last seen that lil bugger.

You're hilarious!

I guess I'll give it a day or two. I am not sure how it normally works, seems like I just wait it out and see who joins in. However, I think as long as one person is interested the information is all the same. I'll see by the end of day tomorrow and then ask you for your input as to begin or not.

This looks good, count me in, no Art classes this week (I sound like a student) as it's what we call Half Term in the UK. Actually it's when the schools all close to give the poor little darlings a break

Any way count me in

John GOB

I'm in!
I'll have to shop tomorrow, today is a holiday here.

So . . . that's five of us thus far. Consensus time. Do we want to wait a day or two to let others in on it or should we start Tuesday? Whatever works best for all involved.

In addition, since this is my first try at teaching in this forum, I am going to experiment ALOT with ways to get information and images out. You can help with feedback on what works best, and what doesn't.

That depends on how big you would like your first lil class to be..we have plenty to start whenever you are ready, but paulette still needs to pick up some things so maybe tomorrow pm would be better..I'll keep checking to see what you decide to do.

This is a test. I uploaded a WORD doc. and am checking to see what it does!

nope....i cant open it..well i can open it but it is just a bunch of characters and shapes...gobbledy gook

Kay,

Right click the title and click "save file as"

You will have a choice in saving it. Leave the title the same, or rename it if you want, and make sure the lower box "save as type" says Microsoft Word Document. That worked for me.

Sorry, it is "save link as" not "save file as"

ok..thank you ..i have it now..

Now that I know that works, I am putting together a small POWERPOINT presentation to upload. I think I want to give the information through other programs that I can write out and then use the forum for feedback, questions, and comments. And of course pictures!

I have the next set of directions written out, and I will wait till tomorrow evening to post it. This will give the others a chance to get the materials and read the introduction. I just remembered that I did not list a ruler as a tool needed. OOOOOPS.

Now that I know that works, I am putting together a small POWERPOINT presentation to upload. I think I want to give the information through other programs that I can write out and then use the forum for feedback, questions, and comments. And of course pictures!

I have the next set of directions written out, and I will wait till tomorrow evening to post it. This will give the others a chance to get the materials and read the introduction. I just remembered that I did not list a ruler as a tool needed. OOOOOPS.

Garth

Download worked for me, just double clicked it and it launched in a new window which enabled "Save as" to save it to my hard drive.

I will get the materials together tonight ready to start.

If you look at my profile you will see that I am a bit of an old geezer. However I remember one of the projects in my school day art classes was book making, I don’t think they do it these days because you can by note books etc for a few pence. I don't remember to much about the detail but I enjoyed tremendously. So, looking forward to this a lot.

Regards John

Old Geezer,

I am glad you joined. Making books is not threatening and quite useful. I never had bookmaking in school, and now I really enjoy making them. My students at school are currently working on them. It is a way to get in Three dimensional work that is somewhat functional.

Tonight I will upload the first set of directions then give a day for everyone to finish that part. It should only take a few minutes to do it. Then we will bind it together. That will take a little more explaining.

Once again, I am glad you joined in my DEBUT class.

garth

It downloaded for me no problem.
Unfortunately I did not get out for supplies.(needle, hemp and hole punch)
Will do it tomorrow.

Paulette- I am glad to hear that it downloaded easily.

I tried uploading a PowerPoint presentation. I waited on it for an hour, and it was still loading. Long story short, I'll send it to my school and upload it from there to see if it will upload quicker.

Here's the next step in our journal making. Download the the PowerPoint presentation (2 slides of text and pictures) and then open the document. Click on View Slideshow to view the directions. Please let me know if you have trouble downloading it, or do not have Microsoft PowerPoint software and we will figure out a new way to get you the information. If you are not familiar with PowerPoint, please let me know. After a short bit, you'll be an EXPERT!

Sorry for posting so late. We are down to one computer (this laptop) until I get my VIRUS free home computer back.

thanks garth...but guess what?? I do not have the ppt. I am sorry

oh you know what else would make the most beautiful cover.(sturdy too) Sculpy..you could actually impress images, make 3d flowers, etc and the holes for the string punched out before baking..unlimited ideas with sculpy cover..but i will stick to the cardboard for now..just tossing some ideas for the creative

Sorry, When I get home after school today I wil cut/paste the info in a reply. I will also add the pictures there.

no need to bother garth..i checked on hubbys computer and he has it..so I have it now..

nice presentation too

Good. I guess those Implementing Technology in the Classroom classes helped.

Garth

Iv’e got it to, good clear presentation. One point however, if you wanted to print out the slides you would waste a lot of ink on the blue background. I (at work) always use a white background as it doesn’t use any ink and is faster to print. Hope this is helpful.

I will do my homework tonight and report back tomorrow


Regards John

Ack..my hole punch is amongst the missing i have searched boxes and trunks both upstairs and down..

i am going to try to use an awl

You're right. It would be a WHOLE bunch of ink waisted! I am glad you thought the presentation was clear. It is always hard to determine what to put in one when writing out directions.

An awl is great to punch holes. Even a nail works good. I like the uneven textural effect when using materials like that.

Are we all ready for the binding part yet?

I'm sort of ready.
I have everything done to this point.
I have to find a bigger needle, before I can bind.

Sometimes I use a paper clip to sew with. I know, sounds crazy but it works. I just bend it in half and leave a little loop at the end as the eye. I usually use a pair of pliers to get it to be fairly flat together. If you have used a larger hole punch you can also get away with putting tape on the end of the string you are using. . . or dowse the end of the string with Krazy/Super glue to make it firm (it acts as its own needle). This is making me sound a little low budget huh? Truth be told, I AM low budget!

I am working on a video to show the next steps. For such a small project I could just explain how to do it with text, however, I am trying to see the different ways I can post in this forum.

yep..im ready too..

Hey all,

I finished the video and uploaded it to my art blog. Just click on the link below and it will get you right to it. It is 16 MB and a little too large to upload in this forum. I am playing around with how to condense it to fit this format. If you have any questions about the directions, please post them here. In addition, take an image of your journal when you are finished so I can see your work.

http://theartroomarchives.blogspot.com

Garth, Very clear video. I will try it out and let you know



John

Click to view attachment

Here is my book.
Black paper, cardboard and red cord.

As to low budget, I am there too. Of course sometimes that causes problems.
I went to the dollar store and bought twine, embroidery needles and a hole punch.
The needles were too small, so of course the twine was too big and the hole punch actual bent and deformed.
So-o-o I tried a wood awl for the holes and they left too much material behind, because I wanted bigger holes since I found the cool red cord in the junk drawer. So then I used the three whole punch, one at a time, which worked great. Oh, my book is about an inch short because I cut off the first set of holes. Now that I was using cord the needle was way too small, so I tried tying thread to it and the needle, which worked until the last hole, where of course it broke. But my husband was ready, he had some rubber shrink wrap stuff, something left over from bike stuff, that when fitted over the cord and steamed allowed me to get that last thread through!

PS. excellent video, loved the music.

Your journal looks GREAT. Good job. You are truly the Rennaissance woman!

The music is Celtic. I really like Celtic music.

your journal does look great paulette..garth i shall try to get mine done tomorrow a.m.

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

here is my finished journal..it was fun..i spray painted the cover green, then i made some beads from sculpy quite a while back and i dug those out, i knew i made that clay hand for something..and i decorated with those..it looks quite nice, i frayed the ends of the twine a little..oh and i sewed it together with a christmas ornament hook, i used a pair of sharp needle nose pliers to punch holes that was time consuming, but in the end it came out fine..

Your journal looks really "cool"! Even though I am a little too old to be using that term. I am glad you painted it. Did doing that make you think of a MILLION possibities concerning journal making?

omg..you have no idea..i want to try one with a real sculptured cover out of sculpy..the designs that could be put on it are limitless..

i think i am going to use this one for shoe drawings..starting with the cover..i put like 30 pages in it

thanks for hosting garth i enjoyed it

You are welcome. I actually enjoy this kind of teaching more than what I do at school.

I think I'll take a break from the ATC thing for the next month and host another class. This next one will be more sculptural (with paper) and include using some different mediums. I think I will begin with a Layered Book. Here's a link to my own children's school website. They made a Layered Sculptural Book last week.

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=...1&gallery=y

awesome..it is like a 3d pop up kind of thing..? that is what the pic looked like..it looks like another fun little venture..i shall be happy to join in that one too

Kay . . . I think you will enjoy it!

John . . . Did you finish your journal yet? If so, are you interested in making another one but more sculptural?

How about you Jangra? Did you end up following along?

i even bought a new hole punch.. course now my other one will turn up. it looks like the next project will need one too

I have several hole punches of different sizes. I also have a leather hole punch. I love having the options,