Background Swap Bound

Well it took me all day, but I got the Byhand Artists Background Swap pages bound yesterday, and I did it all myself. I was going to ask for help, but I slowly cut my way through the chipboard covers. I had an extra piece of my background technique set aside with the metal letters just waiting for the rest to arrive. I chose the cover paper from a Glorious Glitter package of handmade scrapbook paper and covered the front and back covers with the same paper. I glued the letters on my swap sample with No More Nails glue. This was then glued to the cover. For a design detail, the small piece of black and silver paper from the Dark Shadows handmade paper pack was added to create a little glamour. I fastened all the instructions to their respective pages and created a title page, dedication and table of contents.Another design detail of a torn paper on the inside back cover was added for a bit of a rustic touch. I like glamour and rustic together. Now came the big challenge, could I use my wonderful Zutter Bind-It-All, available from Quietfire Design, with my left hand? I love the Zutter, it was a breeze to use even left handed. That is except for one little glitch, all the layers of decorative paper and the corrugated made the covers too thick to go into the Bind-It-All. I couldn't waste all that effort and materials, so I cut a small piece of the corrugated and pealed a layer of paper off the two cover pieces. Success, it went in and the holes were punched like going through butter. So here come the design details, otherwise known as cover up your big mistakes and end up with a finished book that is, in my opinion, even better than planned. For binding I used 1 inch silver wires. I am very pleased with my book and thanks to all the artists who contributed it will be a valuable resource and inspiration. I think it will live near my creative space in the attic.