DIY Notebook

Hello internet lovelies!! I've got another tutorial this week- DIY notebook, with an idea to "cheat" book binding without thread!

Before we start you will need a few things that you will probably find around the house in your craft supplies;

~Hot Glue Gun,

~Glue Sticks,

~A wad of paper (whatever size you would like I use A4),

~Cardboard (any thickness will do),

~Fabric of your choice (this will be the cover so choose wisely!)

~Embelishments of your choice,

~Large paper clip (not completely necessary but it helps).

So to begin take your wad of paper, this can be as many or as little as you want, and begin to fold in half. I used A4 sheets so my final notebook is aproxiamately A5 size- keep this in mind when choosing your paper size.

After that group the folded edges together and use the paper clip to keep all of the sheets in position. Make sure that you don't push the paper clip all of the way down, else the paper will scratch when it is removed.

After that take your glue gun and melt glue over the folded edges. This can be done by applying in a zigzag motion and then spreading out over all pages. Make sure that you hold the edges close as you do this to ensure the best final result.

If you would like a bookmark/page marker, glue a ribbon onto the spine. Make sure that the ribbon is quite long (at least double the length of the spine) to ensure that the bookmark reaches the ends of the pages.

Next measure your paper pages and cut out 2x cardboard rectangles. These should be approx 5mm bigger than the sheets as these will be your outer covers. Also cut a cardboard spine, about the same size as the glued one. Cut your fabric to an appropriate size leaving a large border around the edge.

After than lay them out, as pictured below over your fabric and glue into position. Fold the border of the fabric and glue to the cardboard rectangles.

Then glue your paper pages onto place by glueing both the paper and cardboard spines together, hold into place until dry and secure. This step may take quite a bit of glue and patience in order to keep in position, however the results are impressive.

Once you have finished the main body of your notebook, take some spare scrapbooking paper, cut to size and glue over the rough edges of the fabric boarder, and the first page. This just adds a more professional look the the final product, and also adds some strength. However it is optional.

Finally add your chosen embellishments onto the front cover and fill with all sorts of ideas and jottings! Enjoy! Hopefully you enjoyed this tutorial, if so please share and comment, it's really appreciated. Also tweet me some of your notebooks via my social media to the top left colomn of my blog, I would love to see some! Keep the creative juices flowing! :) 

DIY Polymer Clay Unicorn

Hello everyone!! I'm here with a new tutorial- make your own polymer clay unicorn! 

Before we start there are a few things you'll need;

~White Polymer Clay (Fimo or Sculpey either will do),

~Pink, Blue and purple polymer clay (these three colours can be any really, these are just the ones that I used in this tutorial),

~Acrylic paint white and black,

~Tools (eg. Exacto knife, rolling pin etc...).

Roll out a large ball of white clay- as this will be your main unicorn body. Also roll out three smaller balls from the other colours of clay that you chose.

Mix pink clay and white together in order to lighten the colour. Then cut another smaller piece of white clay and roll both out Ito a sausage shape. Twist them together like in the image above (this will be the unicorn horn) and cut at a point where the horn will look like a cone shape.

 

Next take about just under half of your white clay, roll into a ball and sculpt so that one end is thinner and more pointed than the other. Add your unicorn horn on top by pressing firmly (make sure you don't squash your creation at this stage).

After that start on the body. Take most of your remaining clay (leave enough for arms and legs) and shape so that, like the head, one end is thinner than the other - make sure that both ends are flat. Add the head to the top of the thinnest side.

Roll out the remaining white clay into a sausage and cut into 4 appropriate lengths. Position them onto the body as shown above.

Once you have done that begin to add hair strands of rolled up clay onto the head and gently curve round to give the impression of waves in the hair. Use your coloured clay to do so.

Once you have completed the hair your unicorn is ready to go in the oven and bake! Make sure your happy with it and follow the instructions on your packaging. Add eyes using acrylic paint and voila!! 

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, it's been a while since I uploaded a polymer clay tutorial! Sorry about the dust on the white clay on the pictures, it can't really be helped. See you next time, keep the creative juices flowing! ;)

Harry Potter Inspired Rings

Hello everyone, I'm back with another post- how to make your own harry potter inspired wire ring! Next month I will be visiting the Harry Potter Warner Bros studios in London.....As you can probably guess I'm very excited, and will be uploading a few more posts.

So, before we begin you will need;

~Wire of a decent thickness (any colour you like),

~Scissors,

~Round Nose Pliers.

Cut around 10-15cm of wire, you will have a lot of excess, however this can be used in future craft projects. After all it's better to have more than enough, rather than to run out mid-creation.

Take one end of your wire and produce a circular shape, by bending the wire twice around the thickest part of you pliers.

Next, take your pliers and bend the next length of wire half way around the smallest part of the plier nose- this will create the nose piece of Potter's glasses.

After that, make another circular loop by bending- try to keep it around the same/similar size to the first one.

Next bend the remander of the wire around to create the final ring shape. Then loop around the other side of the glasses and pinch into shape. If you want to add Harry's Scar simply twist and bend the wire as shown in the image below. (You can tell I got slightly carried away, as I also drew a smiley on my thumb!) :)

Hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial- it's been a while! Keep the Creative Juices Flowing and don't forget to add me on my social media, or comment on these tutorials, all support is greatly appreciated. Thanks again!x

 

(Also thank you so much for 3,000 page views! It's incredible! Had no idea, that my blog would ever get anywhere near that! ;) x)

Mehndi Inspired Patterns

Hello Internet world! It's been a while since my last post (very sorry), but I have recently had a huge creative block! :( 

Anyway I'm back with another fabulous idea. Recently I've been inspired by mehndi patterns and henna tattoos- so I took to Pinterest and found some inspiration to create my own.....

I started drawing out my design in pencil, simply so that it was easy to change and rub out any features that I didn't like.

Once my pencil design was complete I found my favourite fineliners and began going back over all of my lines (this made it a whole lot darker and contrasted with the page).

Here's how the black fine liner finished up, you could experiment and try different colours and textures of pen.

My next brain wave was to add colour- however at this point I loved the black and white colours so instead I photocopied it and coloured small parts that were my favourite! I really am very happy with the result!! I love how simple shapes and curves can result in beautiful patterns and designs!

Hope you enjoyed that little idea, sorry I will try to post more over the coming weeks/months however I would rather post nothing at all than something of bad quality! Keep the Creative Juices Flowing!x