Tuesday 25 March 2014

Home made faux leather notebook

Hello everyone and wonderful to have you visiting. Hope you are having a good week. Today I am sharing another faux leather notebook with you. I created this for Spellbinders Paperarts as one of their International Blog Ambassadors.
This notebook, unlike my last one, for which I just made the cover, was made completely from scratch. I plan to make quite a few of these to give away to friends.

Instructions on how to make something similar, can be found HERE.  Info on how to make the inside pages can be found HERE.
For my version, these were the products I used:
 Valiant Honour die set
Persian Splendor 3D M-Bossabilities folder

I also used a piece of Kraft card, Glycerin, some white card, Cartridge paper, some charms and a piece of fabric, plus some basic craft items, like Mod Podge, Glue and Seal (glossy), Distress Inks Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain, a needle and strong thread, some gilding wax (I used Treasure Gold White Fire) a heat tool etc.

I started by cutting a piece of Kraft card to 5 x 7", prepared it in the way described in the video, by spraying with water mixed with Glycerin a few times, crumpling it, spraying again and crumpling once more. I then dried it with my heat tool and then embossed it with the Persian Splendor embossing folder.

Next I  swiped Vintage Photo Distress Ink all over it and spritzed some water to make it run a bit. This was followed by inking it further with an ink blending tool.. Below you can see the difference between the first and the second step of inking.
Starting to look a bit like leather already. Now to add some more interest I cut these pieces with the Valiant Honor die set.
As you can see, the pieces on the left were treated with the same faux leather technique after they were cut.

Time to put the notebook together. I folded the cover in half, cut 9 pieces of Cartridge paper to 6 x 4 3/8" to create 3 signatures. Then I covered the inside of the cover with a piece of fabric. I used Mod Podge to glue it to the cover and trimmed and rounded the edges:
Here you can see the fabric all glued on.
And here is the faux leather side, after I had covered it with Glue and Seal to give it that shiny leather look.
Next I pierced the holes for the binding as described in the video. Obviously there are many different binding techniques, so there are many ways you could do this.

Being me I pretty much eyeballed it, - I am not the neatest worker as you can see, but to be honest, this was my very first attempt at book binding, - so,embrace imperfection (yet again....)

Here it is, with the signatures all stitched in
And this is what the spine now looked like from the outside:
And closed up
And with the inside of the cover showing:

Alright, now for the decoration: I used the two extra brown bits to become like straps and glued them around the spine. I stamped and coloured a little butterfly and placed it on the label. Some of the raised bits were high lighted with some gilding wax first.
I added some charms to the spine still and that was it.


Hope you like my little notebook, thank you so much for visiting and I hope you will have some time to be creative yourself!

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautifully done Astrid. I love that you embossed the cover...looks amazing. Karen.x

Kathy G. said...

WOW! This is amazing. Thank you for the great tutorial.

Rita said...

Good Morning Astrid. Love your notebook. It looks absolutely stunning. These are such fun to make. Hugs Rita xxx

Unknown said...

Fabulous creation! Love the faux leather look!
Thanks for the awesome tutorials!

Stamps and Paper said...

Astrid this is amazing it actually looks like real leather...something I need to have a go at...

Anne

Marisa Job said...

This is just beautiful as always!! Love the embossed background!!

maria's knutselplezier said...

Wow Astrid what an amazing book , I really love it, you lade a real "Astrid" of it!!!I love all the details, and I surtainly will try it too!!!

Greetings
Maria

ike said...

Totally AWESOME !!! Thank you for showing us how you did this Astrid. This book is just amazing :-D

Hugz
IKE xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Valerie-Jael said...

Wow, really fantastic, love how you have made this. I do want to give this a try too! Have a lovely day, hugs, Valerie

chrissie said...

Stunning it looks just like real leather. A must try and thank you for sharing yours

Love Chrissie x

rachel said...

wonderful faux leather Astrid - yours looks far more substantial than mine - I tried binding mine and didn't like the result so will be having a cloder look at how you did it! Big Hugs xx

Annie said...

Love it......I sure do x the look you have achieved is stunning and it's not expensive to make, which is always a p,us. Gorgeous embossing and stunning fabric.

The embellishments turn it in to a treasure.

TFS and huge hugs Annie x

froebelsternchen said...

Astrid this is fantastic...an eyecatcher ... nobody would think that it isn't real leather!

Dagmar said...

Wow wow wow - i can't find words to say how fantastic this is!!!!! I love it so much - a great artwork!!! Hugs, Dagmar

Unknown said...

Brilliant effects Astrid and a super project, love it! Chris xxx

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

What a stunning result Astrid...amazing!

brenda said...

Fabulous Astrid and so much texture. I had a play at the faux leather technique but yet to actually use any of the pieces.

B x

Carol said...

Wow - love it :)

Susanna said...

You have such a beautiful and inspiring blog! Thank you for these instructions and freebies! Have a lovely spring and best wishes from Finland!

Suzanne C said...

Gorgeous!

Redanne said...

I am (almost) speechless Astrid! This is the best example of faux leather I have seen, you have made it look just like the real thing. The way you added those signatures is so professional too, I would not have thought it was your first time. This is absolutely stunning! It is no wonder you are an Ambassador. Hugs, Anne xx

Margaret Mifsud said...

Awesome!!! Love this book Astrid, so beautifully constructed. It looks just like a vintage leather bound book. I'm off to check out the instructions!! This is beautiful!!! ox

Ros Crawford said...

Absolutely fantastic!! I watched the video from the other one and it was brilliant ... so clever! I love how you even stitched in your own pages ... such a personalised beautiful gift!

Brenda Brown said...

A stunning make Astrid, the whole aged look has been achieved beautifully and I love the straps and hanging bits. xx

Maryann Laursen said...

WAUW this is so amazing Astrid, I absolutely LOVE this one here. You really did an outstanding job on this one here too, it looks soo amazing and beautiful. I´m really blown away of the beauty in this project, you are simply so clever. I better bookmark this page, so I can find it again later, when I hopefully have a little more time to play with these things, as it´s really something I would love to try some time. I love how it looks. Thanks sooo much for sharing the info about it here. Have a wonderful week ahead now.

Meggymay said...

A stunning book and a super gift idea.
Yvonne

Aquarius said...

This is fabulous - a technique which is on my 'to do' list. It is so effective. Sorry I've been a bit slack with blog comments lately!!

Candy C said...

Absolutely gorgeous, Astrid. I love Spellbinders new embossing folders. I have them on order but have yet to receive them. Your faux leather book cover is amazing! Thank you for the tutorial! It's wonderful! <3 Candy

Maryanne said...

Your journal is wonderful, Astrid! I love the faux leather technique! The cover is gorgeous and certainly looks like leather! Your bookbinding looks very professional and not like it's new to you! It's a truly wonderful journal that I'm sure will see good use!

Terry said...

Astrid, your faux leather notebook is gorgeous, inside and out! The transformation to the leather look is amazing! I am sure any of the receivers will be so happy! Love this and enjoy the week! Hugs!

Dorthe said...

Dear Astrid, your book is fabolous in every way. it really looks like an old leather photo album or diary,the straps are genius-like and the adds of wing charms so beautiful.
Thank you for the tutorial ,this has to be tried !!
Hugs and kisses,
Dorthe

artwolf2009 said...

what can I say that has not already been said... love your creation of the leathery structure, it Looks so much like the real stuff

Netty said...

smashing notebook Astrid and love the colours inside the front cover. Annette x

Paper Profusion said...

Absolutely terrific make Astrid - it looks so authentically leather and vintage! I watched that fab video before via Rita and used vaseline dabs on some recent small pieces as had no glycerine. Your end result is truly amazing - what a fab gift to receive. Perfect choice of embossing and dies too. Love all the dangling bits! Nicola x

May said...

Like it I LOVE IT Astrid....What a fabulous gift to receive...Love the embossing & added charms... AmAzing work as always... Hugs May x x

Anonymous said...

I love your little notebook, it's gorgeous! I love this faux leather technique, it's so effective.

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

It totally looks like leather! What a fantastic cover!

Words and Pictures said...

What a stunning leather look - it's absolutely brilliant, Astrid! Very tempted by those embossing folders... and you're not helping!!
Alison xx

Lys said...

A fabulous transformation! thanks to show the step by step process.

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow Astrid, I'm missing words - that's an outstanding project. The envelope looks like real leather.

Nan G said...

Awesome book! Loving the faux leather!

pjpem said...

Absolutely beautiful! Your work is amazing!

Mary Elizabeth said...

Absolutely stunning!! That embossing folder gives such amazing texture. And your distress inking gives it such a real-leather look. Incredible work Astrid. Love the binding too. Just adore the charms on the strap. Seriously ... Wow!! -- Mary Elizabeth

Dianne said...

Hello Miss Astrid that book is GORGEOUS, I seen a few but this is the most beautiful one, how you embellished it is superb, it's a brilliant make, thanks for sharing..

Jools Robertson said...

Absolutely brilliant, thank you for sharing the link
I need to watch the one on putting together the signatures
Love the finished effect and the fabric lining is lovely

Jools x

Jenny Marples said...

You've made a superb job of this Astrid. The Spellbinders die cuts are absolutely perfect embellishments here too. Jenny x

Cathy A said...

Absolutely brilliant project Astrid x

Marjie Kemper said...

Gorgeous, Astrid! Love all the texture and rich color. At the risk of repeating myself... off to pin!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for Sharing this nice information it is very informatics and Very good looking blog.
It is Very nice info.............
The Cobbleroad

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