Tyger printable miniature book

There have been a few requests for more miniature books. I don't do them often, this one is made with a very special young lady in mind who loves poetry, and likes my miniature books. With that in mind, and since I've already done Byron, I chose William Blake's The Tyger.

You can find my original miniature book printables here.

These are assembled somewhat differently. The original project is all cut and fold. No tape or glue. I've been wanting to try a 1:12 scale accordion book, so it does call for tape. I used transparent tape and a glue roller for this. Masking tape and glue would work just as well, or transparent tape and double stick tape.

Print the page, it has 4 books on it, so you can make a set for yourself with 2 different covers and a set for a friend, or you could make earrings with them. 

Cut out the strip of page and the covers on plain paper. I used a semi-glossy paper for mine which is why the edges look a little worn. Score the fold lines.

Fold the strip accordion style, back and forth, with the first and last pages pointing up.

Close the book block tightly and put tape across the spine, using your fingernail to make sure it adheres to all the folded edges of the pages in the spine. (tape shown in blue)

Now score and fold the cover, and place the book block centered over the spine of the cover. Make sure it's all oriented the right way, so the cover will be on the front of the book with the spine on the left hand side and that the beginning of the book is on the left side and in the same direction as the cover. With the double stick tape, adhere the cover to the book block.

Fold the covers over the taped down pages, and use the double stick tape to tape them in place.

Fold the book closed, finish the rest of the books the same way, and weight them down under a book until they lie flat.

Click on the image for the full sized 300 ppi version.

The pages are the same in both versions, using Paul Lloyd's lovely Bolton font. The covers are different. One is a faux leather effect with end papers, the other is a digital collage I made a while back using photos of a bonfire and photos of a tiger that I took at our local zoo.

Pipe cleaner Shamrocks

Pipe cleaners were one of my daughter's favorite mediums when she was little. She still likes getting a pack every so often to make sculptures. Add that to the fact I'm a craft stasher, and I found a box of 100 green pipe cleaners while I was organizing the other day. Green, and it's nearly Saint Patrick's Day, so I thought "Shamrocks!" These can be hot glued to pin backs or hair clips. 

So I told Dea if she wanted to make some shamrocks, I'd post instructions. I made one as well. Mine wound up being a lot more complicated than her's. She made 3 and instructions for the other 2 are coming after she shows me how she made them.

First the basics- How to make a spiral.

Start by curving the end of the pipe cleaner around a pencil or pen.

Then you'll hold that circle flat between you'r thumb and index finger.

Hold the end of the wire with your other hand and turn the circle to spiral the wire around that center. Adjust your hold as necessary until you have a spiral the size that you want it. You can spiral as tight or as loosely as you'd like.

So now you know the basics of making a spiral. Let's start with Dea's shamrock.

Take 2 pipe cleaners, and twist them together in the middle. Spread the ends so they form an X shape at right angles from each other.

Now spiral 3 of the ends in the same direction. It looks a lot like a triskele.

Trim the bottom wire or use it to twist around something to create an accessory or gift. 

Mine takes 4 pipe cleaners. Bend 3 of them in half and open them out to about a 90 degree angle. Spiral the ends towards each other to create open heart shapes.

With the 4th pipe cleaner, starting about halfway down the sides of the hearts, wrap it around the sides of 2 of the hearts to join them together. Then form a loop for the stem.

Now wrap it around the sides of the heart on the opposite side and the middle heart.

You can trim the wire at this point, but what I did instead was bring the wire back down the stem, and wrap the stem.

Use hot glue or E-6000 to attach the shamrock to something. No pinches!

Shamrock Tea Box and coloring page

The tea box is in 300 ppi, and the coloring page is in 100 ppi. For the first time, I also put the art in my Etsy shop as a digital stamp at the original 8x8 300 ppi size. So if you love my coloring pages and want to use them for your own digital creations but at a higher quality than I post the coloring pages at, digital stamps are perfect. I chose the 1.60 price point which is the same price as most of my blank box templates.

As usual, the coloring page can be used for all sorts of crafty purposes.

The fills for the box were taken from close up shots of ice sculptures that I took last month. These are the images at 25%. I just thought they were so neat looking! I mirrored sections then recolored them for the box. Click on the images for a larger view.