Background tip-in swap book

Today I completed yet another book made of tip-ins from two swaps. One was from 2003 and one from 2005. I was actually looking for the other set of Chinese New Year tip-ins when I found these yesterday. In a way, I'm ashamed at how long it took to deal with these, but in another way, I'm glad I waited because this is truly the way to go with large tip-in swaps.

Here's the completed book. I decided to keep it simple, since these were backgrounds. Therefore, I didn't want any fibers or ribbons on the bound side. I looked over the tip-ins before I bound them and remembered that everyone put their materials list and instructions on the back of the tip-ins. I echoed this in the cover.

Here is the cover before I bound it. I started with lightweight craft paper that I decorated with paint, color washes, ink, stencils (punchinella), glazes, and a rubber stamp. I kept adding to the paper until I was happy with the results. Then I glued it to two thicknesses of a recycled USPS flat rate envelope. I used UHU glue because the paper was thin and would buckle even worse than it had already if I used a wet white glue. I framed the cut covers using my gold leafing pen.
I wanted to complete this project quickly, so glued 2" squares to the inside covers before I cut it. I thought about swiping the finished cover with paint and glazes, but decided I liked the black and white effect. I think it would make a really nice background, especially with an image that had red in it.

Here is the book from the top. It is quite full due to the fact it has two background tip-in sized swaps in it. Contrary to how it looks in this view, it will lay flat.

This is the completed book showing the front and back covers after it has been assembled.