Monday, February 23, 2009

New Project - Copic Marker Binder pages

Well, even though I haven't gotten to put together cards for all the challenges - I'm trying to figure out which challenges to try. Meanwhile, I've got another pot boiling!

I wanted to post about the new project I am working on. I was thinking about this all weekend while the kids and I were at my moms - and I finally was able to get started Sunday night.

It started as a piece of chipboard that I cut to fit inside a large binder I had. Originally I just stapled some elastic to the cardboard, but it didn't take long to realize that the staples would pry loose easily. At that point - I had measurements - but I needed a new plan!

So, second attempt! Embroidery thread (some folks call this floss - I remember we used to use it to make friendship bracelets back in the day), a realllly sturdy needle, elastic and chipboard. I started sewing the elastic on the cardboard. Did you notice how I said that - 'second attempt'? Yeah, I showed it to my husband after I had a couple loops sewn. He said that it was not a good idea to sew through the chipboard without "stabilizing" it more. He suggested I attach fabric to the cardboard.

Hence, my third attempt! This one seemed to be a winner. I sewed the elastic onto the fabric in loops (still hand stitching with the floss) and it seemed to be working great. All the knots and stuff were on the back of the fabric which was going to get glued to chipboard. The loops stand out, success, right? Wrong. I finished the first (front and back) page Monday night. However, when I started trying to fill it up, I realized that even though I measured each marker, I left very little space in between. So there was supposedly space for 23 markers per page, but I could only squeeze 22 markers on, and *gasp* nearly broke a nail getting that many. So, my hard work was for a prototype again.

My FOURTH (and hopefully FINAL) attempt.
Materials needed:
**This is all based on exactly what I did. If your chipboard, or binder, or markers, etc. are differently sized than mine, this will not be exact for you. Hopefully though, you will read through this whole thing and learn from my mistakes. Mine will be 4 or 5 pages (each page front and back)... the first three pages will hold 20 markers per side (total 120 markers) the last two pages will hold my "other" stuff. Other meaning - refills, spica glitter pens, my black tracing pens, etc. I'm not going to include measurements for my "other" pages on this post, but if you're interested, leave a comment or send me an email and I'll pass the info along!

Enough fabric for 5 double sided pages - roughly (over)estimated 1.5-2 yards
Enough elastic to loop for about 100 markers, refills, spicas, - roughly (over)estimated 200in.
Enough chipboard for 5 pages (depending on the thickness of your chipboard, 5-10 sheets)
Enough embroidery thread to sew your loops on (?????)
A nice zippered binder (I guess it doesn't have to be zippered, that's just my preference)
Glue that will attach fabric to cardboard (I used my xyron)
**OPTIONAL**One sheet of acetate (or transparency) to use as a mixing palette **OPTIONAL**One sheet of your good cardstock (to print a chart that inlcudes all of your markers so you can have that for reference as you color)
(stuff you probably have on hand - straight pins, a big sturdy needle, ruler, marking pencil)

STEP ONE:
Trim your fabric to size! I wanted one piece of fabric to go around the whole page, so I doubled my page size and added about 1.5 inches all the way around to tuck in the border. (My page size was 8.5x13)



STEP TWO:
Measure and mark your fabric and elastic! After all my trials, (THIS IS FOR COPIC CIAO MARKERS) I've settled on 1 inch loops of elastic sewed at every 5/8 inch.
*** Depending on the size of your pages, you might be able to do TWO (side by side) rows per page.



STEP THREE:
Get out those straight pins and start attaching the elastic to the fabric. I attach just above or just below where the two lines meet up.



STEP FOUR:
Thread your needle and get sewing! Personally, I put LOTS of thread on at the beginning so I can hopefully sew the entire page without having to tie off and start new thread.

STEP FIVE:
Attach your pages to your chipboard. Be sure to tuck your edges in - AND - make sure that the fold (unbroken fabric) is on the outside edge. You will be grabbing and turning the pages often - you don't want the fabric to pull loose or fray from usage, so the edge with the tucked fabric will be the edge you poke holes in.



STEP SIX:
Place your page in your binder to get measurements for your holes. I used my crop-a-dile big bite to punch the holes (on the bigger setting, I had to punch two holes right on each mark to accomodate the rings in my binder). After your holes are punched and the page is sliding easily on the rings, take it back off and put some glue on the fabric and chipboard to "seal" the holes so they don't spread or fray.



*While you are hole-punching -- I punched holes in transparencies to keep right with my markers for my blending palette. While you are waiting for the glue to dry, load that page up and bask in the glory of your pretty markers... and be happy that you're storing them horizontally, plus making them portable. My kids love when I bring my stamped images out (they get the blurry ones) and we all hang out and color together while watching a movie. The markers will be easier to take to crops or to the doctors office, or whatever. You could even add a pocket folder in the back filled with images that are stamped and ready to color!
Please contact me with any questions or comments!

1 comment:

Lisa T said...

Love it! I can see how much work you put into this! The results are worth it though.