INFUSIONS MINI-ALBUM – SUCCESS AT LAST!
After all my recent struggles to attach the mini-books inside the binding, I am very happy to report that I have succeeded at last! I should have gone with my initial plan (apart from the slipping-under-the-belly-band idea) – MAGNETS!!
Magnets
I did a little experiment a couple of days ago to test the strength of two different powerful glues: Fabritac and Ranger Glossy Accents.
Both held up equally well on the lever test and the straight up test. None of the magnets came off. I felt confident that this solution would work.
I had to remove all the Velcro from the back cover of the book, and this proved to be quite a struggle, as the glue I had used (Fabritac) is pretty strong. I eased the Velcro dots away carefully with the aid of a blade. I then painted over the mess left by the removal of the Velcro, and once this was dry, I stuck the magnets down.
I opted for the Glossy Accents for this, even though both glues seemed to stand up well in the test. In the end, I am very glad I did this, because I removed the magnets from the test pieces to save for other projects, and the ones stuck down with Fabritac came away cleanly, leaving all the glue on the mountboard. The Glossy Accents ones, though, lifted the top layer of the mountboard as I prised them off, proving that this bond was ultra-strong. In my experience, if you ever want to adhere anything metal to card or paper projects, Glossy Accents is the very best adhesive.
I made sure that the Glossy Accents came up the sides of the magnets as well as being just underneath, to ensure a complete bond. Once everything was dry (again I left it overnight), I touched up any visible Glossy Accents with a gold acrylic marker.
You can see from the above photo that I have also stuck down the small flowers on the right-hand side of the cover, over the fancy yarn. These were stuck down with tacky glue.
Here’s a detail shot of the flowers and magnets.
I am not worried that the magnets are silver and the other metallic accents on the project are gold. When you look at it, unless the light catches it in a certain way, the silver really isn’t that noticeable.
Adhering the magnets to the backs of the mini-books
There was a bit of a mess on the back of the mini-books where I had prised off the Velcro dots. I painted over this with some more black acrylic paint.
When everything was dry, I put a dot with a white acrylic marker on the centre of the magnets on the cover, one pair at a time, and carefully lowered the mini-book into place and pressed it down. When I lifted it up, the white dot had transferred to the back of the mini-book, indicating where I should place the magnets. I stuck them down with Glossy Accents and made sure the sides were covered as well, as before. Once it was all dry, I touched up any visible Glossy Accents with a black Posca pen.
They don’t look very symmetrical on the backs of the mini-books but that can’t be helped, and it really isn’t too important unless one is going to be a super-perfectionist!
The acid test
Now came the moment of truth. Would the magnets be strong enough to hold the mini-books in place?
THEY WERE!! Success at last!
They slip into place with a satisfying click and locate themselves perfectly. Of course, if you lift the album into a vertical position with the cover open, the mini-books tend to flop open and droop downwards, but they do not fall off. Once the cover is closed over them, they stay in place perfectly. They are easy to remove and replace when you want to look at them.
Here’s a view of the top of the closed album, showing the edges of the first mini-book, perfectly located.
Satisfaction!
It is a huge relief to have got through all the difficulties and achieved success at last. This stage of the construction of the album should have been simple and straightforward, and completed in a single short session. As it was, it’s taken me days to get it right. One bonus is that I now have a good supply of ultra-grungey Infusions flowers and some great backgrounds for future use. I have also learned what works and what doesn’t, and confirmed that Glossy Accents are the best adhesive for metal.
I am now working on the spine embellishment and should have that finished fairly soon, barring accidents!
