Welcome Back
In today’s post I would like to share details of how to create the Star Book, I showed you in February.
The star Book is a classic structure, with links to origami and also to book binding. It is quite simple to make and would be a very charming gift. With a different colour scheme this would also work as a hanging window ornament for Christmas. Would look wonderful in velum.
You Will Need
For the Construction of the Book
- 6 sheets of paper (100 gsm or less) cut to perfect squares. I used Plain Pearl from the Paper Mill Shop
- Craft Knife
- Cutting Mat
- 2 Pieces of Matt board or similar for the covers
- Bone Folder
For Decorating the Book Pages
- Rubber stamps. I’ve used Clarity Stamps CLNC24-E Ornate Corner and CLNC224-C Ornate Corner Small
- Inks compatable to your choice of paper. I used Brilliance Coffee Bean BD-54
For Decorating the Cover
- Versafine ink
- Perfect Pearls in colours to co-ordinate with the project. Iused Bronze
- Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabbers. I used Gold
For Assembling the Book
- Prit Stick, or glue compatible to the paper you used for your pages. A dry glue or double sided tape will prevent pages rippling.
- Ribbon. Colour to co-ordintate to your project.
Method
Here is my video demonstration, to show the stamping and assembly of the book. I was inspired by an original demonstration by Barbara Gray on Create and Craft TV of a very similar book to this one. My book features different stamps to the one Barbara demonstrated in the show, and I have modified her original stamping too.
Links
Clarity Stamp Barbara Gray’s excellent rubber stamp company.
Graphicus also stock the Small and large sizes of the Ornate Corner stamps.
I hope you have enjoyed the film, if you have any questions do leave me a comment.
Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon
Billie 🙂
Billie, So beautiful and such a good and clear film! Thanks. All my sisters have there birthday next month, I know what to give 😉
Hi Luna
Thanks so much, I’m glad you liked the film and I agree these do make original personal gifts. I’m sure your sisters will love them.
Look out for pear papers to stamp on, they really catch the light when used for a project like this.
Have fun and do post me a link if you post a picture of your finished book.
Best wishes
Billie 🙂
Hi Billie,
This is such a gorgeous book and I really like the way the stamped pattern connects through the whole book. Thank you for these videos, they are really clear and easy to understand, a great help!
I have recently been sewing quite a few books and I heard about a tool called an awl gauge to hep prick all the holes in the pages. Do you know of anywhere which sells one at a decent price?
Thanks again for the tutorial!
Candida
Hi Candida
For a cost effective and efficient way of repeated piercing and accurate hole placement try; my video tutorial for making a piercing template
If you are looking for the tool, which I think you mean; there is a Dutch manufacturer called Louet who make one. From their homepage, go to Products/Bookbinding and there is a dropdown menu of the tools they make, including the awl guide. To see if it is the kind of thing you are after, it is possible to download a PDF from their Instructions and Brochures tab. In the past they were sold in Shepherd’s. If you are based in the USA try Talas or Hollanders
For a comprehensive listing of suppliers around the world, check out my bookbinding tab.
So glad you liked the tutorial and thanks for your comment and question.
Best wishes
Billie 🙂
Hi Billie
Another lovely tutorial and using the gorgeous Barbara Gray stamps – I have quite a few myself and particularly like her clever corners. Will be having a try myself on my next day off!!
Well done again.
Liz 🙂
Hi again
I forgot to ask about setting up a blog and I’ve just read your blog tutorials. I like the layout of your blog and am wondering if its wordpress – would you recommend them?
Thanks
Liz
Hi Liz
Thanks for your lovely comments, it’s encouragement like this that makes the hours that go into this blog worthwhile. 🙂
Yes this blog is on wordpress. I LOVE WordPress, it is very versatile, has many layouts and so many options.
Which blog host suits you, is very much a personal taste. Eblogger, Windows Live etc are very simple to use but have very limited options. WordPress has many different styles available, and more options to personalise the layouts.
Visit http://wordpress.com/ to see the many styles available. This theme gave me the option of adding my own image to the area at the top of the page. I stamped the background photographed it and added text and other images in Photoshop. The colour scheme and text styles are locked to the style. But it is gentle on the eye and as my blog features lots of text it works for me.
I tried other blog hosts but found unless all you want to do is add one photo and some text underneath, that was about as much as you could do. The other hosts wanted the photo top or bottom and then text. They didn’t like multiple photos in a post. Since I wanted to add many photos to support the tutorials these other hosts did not suit me.
If funds allow at a later stage, I could go over to a paid website with wordpress and all that I have done so far would be able to ‘travel’ with me. A great advantage if I need to expand this idea at a later date.
If you need any help or advice, I’ll be happy to try and help you. Bear in mind though that I am not really a techie, so html and the like is beyond me.
I would recommend WordPress as an excellent blog host, their help pages are excellent and when I’ve posted a question or reported the problem I’ve had help within hours. Top marks on the back up front!
Best wishes
Billie 🙂
Hi Billie
Thanks so much. That’s really useful to know. I really like the layout of the wordpress blogs – they are really easy on the eye. I love your commitment to your blog .
Many thanks
Liz
Thank you, Billie. I’ve seen star card books before but not made with teabag folds. You’re a star. 🙂
Hi Rosa
Thanks 🙂 It’s not my own design but one I’d seen demo’d. It’s quite simple to make up though.
Best wishes
Billie
Thank you very much for this tutorial, the book is beautiful !
I made one for my Valentine !
You are most welcome, hope the person you made it for liked it.
[…] Pinterest. Ciaee listed two links with wonderful instructions for making a star book here & here. Both links are very clear, one has written instructions with lots of photos, the other is […]
Great work on your snowflake ornament, thanks to you both for linking back to me. Love Ciaee’s daisy book too. I’m so going to try and make one of those.
Best wishes
Billie
Couldn’t find the rubber stamps
The specific stamps that I used in the project have been discontinued. However the same process can be used with any corner based stamp that works well if it was stamped this way too. Test it on a blank sheet of paper turning 90 degrees each time you stamp to see if the pattern repeats well.