Bees and Butterflies, Books and Boxes

I think in the insect world nothing is more drawn, photographed and generally admired than bees and butterflies.
If you're a human, that is.
I suppose if you were a dung beetle another dung beetle would look like a supermodel.
I could have made a book on dung beetles, but I don't think they would care. They're pretty busy as there is a lot of shite in the world right now.
Also, they are not photogenic.
Moving on...
Lora here for the wonderful Alpha Stamps! Today I am all about Bees and Butterflies and accordion books and boxes.
I'll start with my favorite: Bees.
I love them and it is a dream of mine to become a beekeeper.
Seriously.
But for now, here is a Book of Bees.

A view of the other side:

I started this by painting the Wide Letter Box Accordion Book black, back and front.
I covered the front side and flap with paper from the Butterfly Garden 6x6 Pad. On the inside flap and inside the cover I put a couple of pieces of lined tape where I knew I was going to screw in the little 'handles', giving the book more strength. Then I used an old G45 French Country paper to cover them, but any pretty black paper will do.
Front:

Inside showing the linen tape and before I glued the inside papers on. NOTE: Before I painted the inside of the book cover, I also added some linen tape on the folds as reinforcement, then painted it. You don't have to do this. My book will be handled a lot and strengthening the folds gives it a longer life.

Everything is covered and you can see in the photo below the little Mini Hitch Fastener Knobs I used as openers. I punched holes into the book cover where I wanted the knobs to be and screwed them in place.

Next I began working on the Accordion Book Folder.
I glued a pretty stripey ribbon down the center of the book and started composing how I wanted the pages to look. It looks a bit of a mess, but it's how my brain rolls.

In the end, this is the finished first tow pages I started above.

The last thing I did was to glue ribbon to the back page that would be glued down to the book cover. I let that dry and glued the accordion book in and used clamps to keep in place while it dried.

And since I was on a roll, I made a butterfly book with the same type of accordion inside, but with an open sided box, we call a Tall Letter Box Book as the folded book inside folds out vertically instead of horizontally.

The interior techniques for this book remain the same as the Bee Book, but here is a quickie tutorial on putting together the exterior:

I pre-cut my paper before I taped the covers together:

I used lined hinging tape and left about 1/8 inch of space between the pieces. Make sure they are lined up straight or your book will be wonky!

I glued my papers on, trimming carefully any excess off the sides.

I inked up the edges and then made the inside. A fun couple of projects that I hope you will try!

For a link to all the supplies for both projects, click HERE FOR BEES and HERE FOR BUTTERFLIES.

SUPPLIES LISTS:
Bees Accordion Book:

Wide Accordion Book Folder
Wide Letter Box Accordion Bk
Antique Mini Envelope Set
Butterfly Garden 6x6 Scrapbook Paper Pad
Birds and Bees Collage Sheet
Antique ATC Pockets
Sunflowers Collage Sheet
Bees Collage Sheet
Bee Banners Collage Sheet
Mini Hitch Fasteners or Knobs
1 Inch Bronze Bee Charm
Graphic 45 French Country 'Sunflower' scrapbook  paper (for the cut-out sunflowers)
Black Seam Binding 

Additional supplies:
Black Acrylic Paint
Gold Acrylic Paint
Ribbons
Gold Stamp Pad

Butterflies Box Book:

Tiny Scalloped Fleur Dresden Borders-White
Tall Letter Box Accordion Book
Tall Letter Box Book
Butterflies Dresden Scraps
Antique Mini Envelope Set
Stickles: Diamond, Waterfall, Lime Green, Gilded Gold, Tropical Pink
Linen Book Binding Tape
Double Dot Vintage Pear Scrapbook Paper
Double Dot Vintage Passion Fruit Scrapbook Paper
1 Inch Verdigris Butterfly Pendant

Gold Stamp Pad
Green leaf Washi Tape 

Thank you for stopping by!