Sunday, November 13, 2011

so knotty tutorial - faux spiral notebook card

hello gypsies and welcome to the first "so knotty" tutorial. today i'm showing how to make a faux spiral binding. the project i used this for was a card, but this can also be used in page layouts - think "back to school" - and smaller minibooks as binding instead a coil binding.

so are you ready? well here we go!

 
first i chose something rosey and bright - it's been grey and rainy for days here, and i needed some bloominess. i chose authentique's "uncommon" papers and the twinery's "stone" twine - perfectly matched!
now if you're new to my caravan you should know that i hate clean untouched edges. so after choosing a paper and cutting it to 4"x6", step one is sanding! i sanded down the edges of the papers and the "unique" element. don't be intimidated by sanding - authentique papers are very thick and take a lot of abuse so grind away. {i use a mat to protect my table.}
next i pierced a row of holes along one edge of the card. tim holtz's acrylic ruler is great for this - did you know it has a line of holes along one edge just for this kind of work? i didn't until he told me! for the spiral binding look you'll want to pierce at 1/8" increments.
next i used my biggest paper needle and threaded the twine through, and sewed. i kept the twine very loose, and occasionally adjusted the loops as i went. you can also use a pencil for this part - lay the pencil along the card's edge and sew around it to maintain your "coil".
now that the spiral binding is done, it's time to build the card. i lightly inked the edges of the "unique" element and all of the card papers with "worn lipstick" distress ink.
i selected 2 more pieces of paper for the card's base - one striped piece cut to 4 1/4" x 6", so a little piece of striping shows below the top layer, and one piece 8"x6" folded in half to make the 4"x6" card base. i layered all the papers then set the "unique" element with a double stack of pop-squares for extra height.
final touches are stamps - these are cut from a 12"x12" sheet from the "uncommon" collection, with the edges sanded and inked, of course!

i hope you've been inspired by today's "so knotty" tutorial. make sure to leave a comment below and come back for the next "knottiness" on november 16 - the "loop-d-loop" card. remember, every time you visit and leave a comment, you're entered in the drawing for this fabulous prize!
so enjoy your journeys this week, and see you back at the caravan!

14 comments:

  1. Love this fun accent with the twine- love the whole project!

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  2. Isn't this great?! Those papers are so gorgeous too.

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  3. Super cool, I love the balance of the project! It's really is great!

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  4. Oh how cute! Don't you love twine? The papers look really cute, too!

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  5. So unique and so fun!! Hmmm...don't have this collection... ;0P

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  6. OHHH! What a clever idea--love those papers with the grey (or gray) twine! LOVE!

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  7. Now that is super cool!!! I will hafta give this a try soon.

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  8. That's clever and original! Love it!

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  9. That is so cute. Loved your tutorial and looking forward to visiting here alot! I sure need some of that twine and that paper! lol
    Janelle

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  10. I enjoyed the tutorial. Also thanks for the description on distressing w/sanding edges, I definitely need to try that.

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