Colorburst Indigo Moon Accordion Book

Hello and welcome to my first post for the new Ken Oliver Creative Team! I am so honored to be a part of this talented group, and I'm amazed at the many beautiful projects already being shared by my fellow team members.

I love handmade books, so for my first official team project I wanted to create a special accordion book featuring Ken Oliver's Color Burst. These gorgeous watercolor powders are highly pigmented, and with just a spritz of water they explode into gorgeously vivid hues! Here is a list of all the elements I used to create this project:

Ken Oliver Color Burst Earth Tones Assortment
Ken Oliver Color Burst Ultramarine Blue
Ken Oliver Click It Ink Pad in Lamp Black
Ken Oliver Pegz Uppercase Set
Spray Bottle Filled with Water
Vintage Book Paper
3" Circle Punch
Mica {Optional}
Rigid Wrap Plaster Cloth at Blick Art Materials or Amazon
Disposable Bowl of Warm Water
Paint Brush
Paper Towels
Plastic Gloves {Optional}
6 X 6 Khadi Paper Zig Zag
Adhesive
Glitter

Instructions:
The first step for this project is to remove the last panel from the Khadi paper accordion. Punch out or cut a 3" circle from this panel. Spritz the circle with water, sprinkle on some Indigo Color Burst and a bit of glitter, and then set it aside to dry.

Cut a length of plaster cloth the same size as the accordion pages and dip it into a warm bowl of water. Spread the plaster cloth on the accordion as shown and allow to dry completely. Be sure to do the same on the front cover. The plaster cloth should take about 15 minutes to dry.

*Please note that when working with plaster cloth it's important to use a disposable bowl. Use plastic gloves or wipe your hands with wet wipes or a damp paper towel. Never put the plaster down your drain or it will harden there. Instead, allow the plaster residue to harden in the bowl and then dispose of it in the trash. 

Spritz the plaster cloth with water and then randomly sprinkle on Indigo and Ultramarine Blue Color Burst along the entire length of the cloth. Spritz again with water and use a paint brush to move the pigment where you want. For the sky, I used a variety of colors from the Color Burst Earth Tones set. You can mask off the plaster cloth if you wish, but I had no problems with the colors bleeding into the cloth. Don't forget to apply the same techniques to the cover. Set the book aside to dry.

To embellish the front cover, use the Ken Oliver Pegz stamps and the Lamp Black Click It Ink Pad to spell out the words "Indigo Moon" or your preferred title onto the vintage book paper. Use a strong adhesive to attach the stamped title to the cover. For an extra bit of sparkle, add a piece of mica over the book paper. Glue the watercolored circle you punched out earlier to the second page of the accordion, making sure that it fits inside the punched out circle on the cover. I used Scor-Tape, a double-sided adhesive, for these steps because it's strong enough to firmly adhere to the rough textures of the paper and plaster cloth.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Thank you so much for stopping by, and be sure to visit Ken Oliver's blog often for lots of fun ideas and inspiration.