ID: ABC - XYZ Alphabet Book

Journal  (closed): approx 4.25"w x 5"h x 2.75" thk.

This is the results from a bunch of mistakes...

These covers were originally made for an alphabet fat book swap (Oct 2006), but it wasn't until after I finished decorating the outside and inside of the covers, that I realized I had made them in portrait mode rather than landscape mode, so they were put to the side thinking one day... I was also making this book with an open spine concept, but that was the second mistake I made. I had put my tabs level to the top and bottom edges and only made very thin tabs. It really lacked strength and the position was off since I always make my pages slightly smaller than my covers. OK this needed rethinking.

I cut out some book board the width of the tab and the height of the cover, then cut out a portion of the tab and a portion of the new inset piece and glued them together (splicing technique). Reinforced all this with some adhesive backed linen hinging tape. Painted it with black acrylic paint to match the covers. Voila, you'd never know the difference. Used my Crop-A-Dile to punch my holes and added long neck gold eyelets (available from Quietfire Design), they're indispensible.

The covers are done on book board, using a grid brass stencil and embossing paste. Also used a swirl stencil. It all created a lot of texture. I then painted it with acrylics in beiges and browns.

The letters are made from large clear plastic which I then painted in reds and gold, and distressed them.

The inside covers are very whimsical. I have this weird, but beautiful wrapping paper that has clowns and other humorous things on it. I took the concept and and a bit of the clown idea and worked them into my initials. One on the front and one on the back inside covers. The letters themselves are crackled with a couple of layers of paint.

That ledge on my "G" just asked for a cat to be sitting on it. He is just so superior. Couldn't resist.

The book is made with LBS single folio cream colored end sheets from Columbia Mills.  I straight cut the to and bottom edges and tore the for edge. There are 28 signatures of 2 pages each. So there are enough for every letter of the alphabet and a front and back section for misc. info.

The Front of each spread is colored using Pan Pastels which I sprayed with Krylon workable fixative. It set the colors but is still erasable and can be worked on top. I used a rectangular piece of cardstock to create a frame on each cover page. the back of one spread and the front of the next match in color. I did many different combinations of colors. The very first and the last page are done as a full page rather than a frame.

I did a "coptic a la Yogi" for the stitching and added a header and footer detail. I used 2 ply black waxed linen thread.

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