Trash to Treasure

I've never watched the television show, "Hoarders", but I've heard all about it from Facebook comments and Yahoo headlines.  Being a fairly tidy and relatively organized person, I'm nowhere near eligible for the program.  However, there is one little pile in my craft room that might make the casual observer think that I am only one step away from a show appearance myself.

For awhile now, I've saved boxes from things like cereals, teas, macaroni and cheese, Skinny Cow ice cream treats (yum!), coffee filters, butter, and, yes, Nerds candy. 

I figured that one day I would get a book binding machine, and all these boxes with their interesting and colorful advertising graphics would make great book covers.

And, of course, that day has arrived!  With my Cinch, I am a little bookmaking cottage industry.

When I made my second book, for drawing while on vacation, I cut papers from a 9x12" pad of drawing paper.  The resulting pile of leftover papers gave me materials for three additional little notebooks, and I decided to pursue a "tea theme":

They make happy little notebooks, don't you think?

So now, I've turned my kids' outgrown clothing into gift tags and magnets; old jeans into a ring, bracelet, bookmarks, and magnets; and now I've taken boxes that would get tossed into the recycling bin and turned them into notebooks.

'Fess up:  What's the craziest thing you are "hoarding" right now?  What do you think you might do with it someday?

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Chris, of Parabolic Muse, was kind enough to blog about some things I sent her way recently as a thank-you for her own arty generosity.  Check out her post here!

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It's a Cinch!

I am loving my new Cinch binding machine!

I am taking a trip soon, and I went looking at the store for a little drawing pad that I could take along with me.  The only small notebooks they had were filled with sketch paper, which was thinner than what I was looking for.  And the only drawing notebooks they had were larger than what I was looking for. 

Cinch machine to the rescue!

I bought a notebook of 80 lb. Strathmore drawing paper, and cut it into 5x5 inch pieces.  Then I cut a piece of heavy cardstock for a front cover and a piece of cardboard for the back cover.

I ended up with a custom-made notebook for drawing while on vacation--just the size I want, just the paper I want. 

And, to make it even better, I followed the machine's directions more carefully, and achieved almost perfectly round wire rings for my notebook!  That had been one of my greatest concerns after using the Cinch for the first time, but I think I understand how to achieve the circular shape that makes a notebook look professionally bound.

Paper-taped cardboard back cover

You know I won't be able to resist book-making now!  My Cinch is going to get a pretty good workout in the coming months.

My New Toy

For quite awhile now, I've been wanting a binding machine to create my own books.  I love the idea of using old book covers--both paperback and hard cover--to create new books, and of putting together all kinds of interesting papers to create a book that is almost a collage itself.

Rather than waiting around for someone to pick it from my Christmas list, I decided to treat myself to the Cinch. 

Two fun packages arrived over the past two days...

binding wires from JoAnn, and...

the Cinch v2.0 from Amazon!

Normally when I get a new toy like this, it sits around for awhile.  I shove it from place to place, eyeball the instruction booklet, and put a million other tasks ahead of figuring it out.

Not this time!

Maybe because I had a few dozen things I ought to have been doing (to get ready for my craft show tomorrow night, and my daughter's birthday party the next day), I decided to mess around with the Cinch immediately.

It helped that I had watched a couple of videos on YouTube to compare the Cinch with the Bind-It-All, as well as the original Cinch with the version 2.0.  I recogized how all the parts worked, and in what order things needed to be done.

I found an old book of Mark Twain short stories that I bought at a library book sale, and decided to use its cover and some of the interior pages.  The most tedious part was cutting papers for my book, using Strathmore drawing paper that I raided from my kids' crafting cupboard.  I am definitely putting a guillotine-style paper cutter on my Chrstmas list now, because my Fiskar's paper trimmer and X-acto with a straight edge got old fast!

Debris from my project, and from testing out my new Cinch

Overall, the book came together more quickly than I expected.  One of my character flaws traits is the desire and expectation that I will be able to do everything perfectly the first time.  It quickly became apparent that this would not be the case with this project.  There were a few issues with my hole spacing, as well as with the cinching of my wires.  But here was the result:

Front cover

Back Cover

              
                       

Spread with text page

The reviews I read and listened to for the Cinch mentioned that it is difficult to get the wires to bind with a perfect circle, and I found that to indeed be the case.

I am hoping that with some additional practice, I can get a better shape to my wires.  I think it would be fun to create books to sell, and I don't think I could sell something with this much distortion to its shape.

I like the circular holes that the Cinch punches better than the rectangular holes of the Bind-it-All, and my pages turn very easily on these wires. 

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase, and I look forward to playing around with it some more.  I might even make a few Christmas presents with it, if I can get the hang of it a little better!