This is one of those things we dread doing: cleaning our scissors from the sticky leftovers of our adhesive tapes. What we commonly do is, get a piece of masking tape and repeatedly use it to peel off the gunk. The thing is, I'm not as patient with this activity as I would have me believe.
Then I remembered that, back in those days when I was still working as scale model maker and we're using quick-dry glue, we use acetone or nail polish remover to clean our hands of the adhesive. So I thought, why not use it to clean my scissors. And it worked! Just take a cotton ball, wet with acetone or nail polish remover, and slide off the blade. It works really, really fast.
Removing Adhesive Gunk from Your Scissors
Search for Bookbinding Thread
For so long I've been doing my amateurish way of binding books, I used any string available because, as long as they're stitched together, it doesn't matter, right? Then again, I started taking the craft a bit more seriously than I've ever previously done. I learned about linen thread and it's the one being used in binding books traditionally.
I researched about them online and what did I find? A 200g spool of thread costs $100. Oh man! I'm not in the US so I'll convert: that's Php4,800.00!!!! Almost 5K for a spool of thread. That's professional-plan-internet for a month with lots of long-distance calls thrown in. That's a very comfortable, air-conditioned studio for a month. That's rent money. *sigh*
So I looked for alternatives. First, the readily available crochet thread, but it's made of cotton and it stretches, and if you stretch it a bit more than usual, it breaks and frays. Second, nylon thread. I have black and white here. Unfortunately, the three strands that make the thread separate each time it passes a hole. And it knots at the slightest move. Not good. Yesterday, I was on a hunt again to find a more acceptable substitute and there at the topmost corner shelf, behind the spools of ribbons, at Carolina's in Megamall, almost hidden from the casual customer, I saw: "kite thread". I had to look at it and feel it between my fingers. I pulled, tugged and tried to smoosh it up to see if it would fray and it didn't. Today, I tried to pull it into punctured holes on paper and it went smoothly. Yay for the find! And for the girl who assisted me there, thanks so much for your patience. She's genuinely helpful.
I haven't given up on that linen thread. I found another one that's $31 for a 50g spool of raw linen string. I might buy it someday, if I so decided to close my eyes, add it to cart, enter and never look back.
For the Love of Bookbinding
Hello everyone!! It's the beginning of the -ber months and we know what it means: Christmas is just around the corner. The weather, though, isn't helping us setting the mood. No matter. In a few days time, it will be better.
Of all the papercrafting that I dabbled in, bookbinding is my most favorite. I love them all, don't get me wrong, but there's something about making books that hold so much appeal to me.
I've been doing a lot of this for quite awhile but Coptic stitch binding had eluded me for so long that when I got the chance to really sit down and learn it, it was such an accomplishment. So here are my first couple of coptic stitch-bound books. I truly enjoyed and loved the process I went through to get to these two.
I wanted to post this a long time ago but haven't gotten around to do it. It's Gerry's copy of the Elmer boxset and slipcase.
I'm planning on making a few more books for personal mini-albums that I've been planning to do for the last three years that I haven't gotten around to doing because, well, other things take priority. This time, I'm making it a priority. This house is distinctly lacking in albums! The irony of it is very glaring, I know. But I'm planning on rectifying that.
Dividing Your Paper in Equal Parts
This is something my father taught me in Grade 5 and it's such a very useful tip since then!
Sometimes, there are sizes of paper or canvas that we want to divide in equal parts but have difficulty doing so because the measurements of the paper are not divisible by the number of parts we want to get. Example, we want to divide a 4" x 4" paper into 3 parts, but 4" is not divisible by 3. Or 6" into 5 equal parts. Normally we would reach for our calculator and end up with an infinite X.33333333333 as the answer. But there is no .333333333 visible on our rulers. So, I present to you a very simple technique which, I think, is loosely based on the Complementary Angle Theorem in Geometry... but whatever. You are most welcome to correct me if I'm wrong about that. :)
Here we have a 5" x 5" cardstock that I'd like to divide into 3 equal parts. The problem is, 5 isn't divisible by 3.
The nearest number to 5 that is divisible by 3 is 6 and so, I twist my metal ruler so that the 0" mark is on the left edge, and the 6" mark is on the right edge like so:
6" divided by 3 parts is equal to 2" and so I mark my first part at 2" with my trusty No. 2 Mongol pencil
... and the second mark at 4"
Well, assuming your paper is a true square, meaning, the corners are 90 degrees to each other, you may easily use your T-square and draw your first line based on the mark you made. If not a true square, your lines will be askew. Here I'm using a tiny T-square I bought from NBS. It's only Php28.
And draw your second line based on your second mark... 
And voila! You have a 5" paper divided into 3 equal parts without your calculator. 
If for example you have a 6" paper that you'd like to divide into 5 parts, just twist your ruler and find the number that's divisible by 5. In the inches part of your ruler the nearest would be 10" but if you look at the centimeters part, the nearest to 6" would be 20 cm. By all means, go ahead and use that. It's ok.
So, I hope that helps!
"Oh, The Dread That's My Handwriting!"
It is a common affliction: the dread over one's handwriting on a scrapbook page. Many believe their handwriting are just atrocious, that they don't deserve to be recorded for posterity. I'll tell you what: the less you use it, the more uncomfortable you'd be with it in the long run. So, practice is the only answer.
One of the things I love about old documents are the handwriting of the officials who prepared them. The seeming uniformity of the angle by which the letters lean to; the size and shape of each character; the clever use of either a fountain pen or a ballpoint pen; and of course, I love, love the fluorishes for the capital letters and the final letters of a line or sentence. They are simply beautiful! But you know, if you look at them very closely, they are far from perfect. And that fact makes them one. Granted, they had no choice because there's no computer back then and, therefore, they had more practice with it.
This tip is for those who want to improve their handwriting and have that personal touch on their journals or scrapbooks. This is not really for those who want to be a professional calligrapher, because honestly, I don't know how to teach it.
First tip is to work on the slant of your letters. No matter how weird you think your letters look, if you have a seemingly uniform angle for your words, sentences or paragraphs, they'd look smashingly awesome! A cheat suggestion: instead of just lined paper you use as guidelines at the back of your writing surface, try adding diagonal lines (about 45 degrees) that run from end to end. Or lines perpendicular to your guidelines, however you'd like it to be. Follow that angle when you write and when you get the hang of it, try to write faster. The slower you write, the wobblier your lines are. The faster your strokes are, the better they look.
This won't happen overnight, I'm telling you now. So, if you really want it, try to be patient. Part that makes a beautiful handwriting is the confidence by which you do it and that only comes with constant practice. Like all skills, it requires practice, practice, practice. Remember also, that it is HANDwriting. It doesn't have to be 'perfect' like our computer fonts.
Your handwriting is part of the story you're telling in your journal or scrapbook. I certainly believe that it is a story on its own.
Till next time!
There Was A Time...
... when we called it 'letter transfer' or 'transfer tones' in college. We used them for labels and titles and rendering in mixed media. When I got into papercrafting full time and was exposed to scrapbooking and cardmaking products, I learned that they call it rub-ons and they have lots of designs too! And transfer tones now refer to transferring ring tones from computer or mobile to another mobile phone! How things change. :)
I bet, those letter transfers at National Bookstore and SM Stationery are sorely neglected because I can see them stacked and rubber banded and shoved up the corner shelves. I hope some of you notice them when you go visit.
Martial Law... Again?
I know I said that this blog is all about papercrafting but I thought this is too important an information not to be disseminated: Ex-envoy to US confirms military rule plan.
We cannot go there. We should not allow ourselves to go there again.
