Sunday, June 21, 2009

Reusable and Adjustable Book Covers


As I have mentioned before, I love to read. And I love to collect paper. Recently during one of my hunts for vinyl bookmarks to display some of my paper, I ran across these adjustable vinyl book covers. I had another AH-HA and thought they would be perfect to display an even larger section of paper than my checkbook/passport covers and the business card holders.

They come in tons of sizes, but after doing some research on the sizes of mass market books, I settled on two sizes 7"H and 8.5"H. Once I got my book covers and cut the paper to size, I discovered my idea wasn't so great. I had no way to secure the paper so every time you removed the book you'd have to deal with the paper inserts. "That's not cool", I thought. "No customer is going to want to have to deal with that."

So I toyed with brads and other embellishments. The brads were awesome looking on the outside. I have tons of brads for scrapbooking, so I could choose from hearts, stars, flowers, squares, etc. I liked that idea, but the more I moved the book in and out of the cover, I could tell the brads were not sturdy enough to permanently hold the paper inserts in place.

I finally settled on grommets (some people call them eyelets). I could use a tool to set the rivets and they would be permanent. I utilized my 'test' cover over and over again to see if they would hold. I wanted to make sure that the covers would really be reusable again and again with the paper insert.

SUCCESS!! I love these book covers. They just fit all the requirements I have for a project. They are super fun to make, beautiful and most of all practical and affordable. And I can pick a book cover to fit my mood.

Not too long ago, I had to travel regularly for my day job. I spent hours in an airport/airplane. I always hated nosy onlookers judging me by my Stephen King novel! I cannot tell you how many people would make snide comments or worse, want to talk about my book while sitting on a plane. People, I'm reading!!! On purpose - so I don't have to talk!!!! I so wish I'd had these book covers back then. Then, I could've just kept them guessing!

All that to say, now introducing Tattered Tapestry's vinyl book covers. Here are the specs:
  • Reusable
  • Adjustable to fit different book thicknesses
  • Affordable
  • Antimicrobial (that's right, unlike the paper of your paperback novel)
  • Practical
  • Have a built-in bookmark
  • Currently comes in 2 sizes for mass market paperback books 7" (most popular) and 8.5"
  • Decorative card stock or paper is backed with 65# card stock to take the usuage abuse. This helps keep the decorative outside staying pretty.
  • Vinyl exterior protects your paperback and keeps nosy onlookers guessing about what you're reading!


4 comments:

  1. that is such a good idea! and I love that paper.

    you make me laugh "people, I'm reading!!" only because it is sooo true~!

    ~Amy

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  2. I love the way you cronicled the creative process behind this product.

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  3. kelley
    i love stephen king! my husband and i listen to audio books all the time while we are arting or on the computer. if i still had time to read i would buy a bunch of these. i still might get some for my mom and her bodice rippers.lol

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  4. Very clever and I too enjoyed reading about the process

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