Friday 4 April 2014

New Beginnings 2 for Country View Crafts

Hello everyone and welcome to my second DT post for today, if you've missed and would like to see a little shadowbox frame for the new Vintage Journey A Little Bit French challenge please pop over HERE.


I thought I would design and make a little book for you today for my second piece for New Beginnings at  Country View Crafts challenge and I took inspiration from my friend Astrid, who late last year made a positivity journal in which she is adding fabulous quotes and each page is in her amazing mixed media style.
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1. To start cut  a piece of card 22 x 10.6 cms and score as in the photo below.
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2. To give it some strength but also to give it a shabby style I covered it with Decoart acrylic gesso. I particularly like this make because it gives the card some pliability. Dry it – I used a heat gun.
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3.Cut a second piece of card 20 x 10 1/2 cms and again cover with gesso, this is going to become a small masterboard from which you will make front and back panels for the book cover.You can see I am not worried about this being a smooth surface as I want textured effects.
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4. When the gesso is dry add in textures with masks and texture paste. Leave to dry out.
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5. In the meantime stamp your chosen images onto white tissue paper and any you want to layer up to create dimension, stamp them again on white card. I used a mixture of watering can, cornflower blue, coffee and black archival inks with Tim Holtz Nature walk stamps. The little eggs were over stamped with the mottled egg stamp using picket fence distress paint.
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6. By now the front cover was dry so I set about introducing some colour and distressing around the edges and down the two side spines. I chose picket fence, antique linen and frayed burlap distress paints. I dabbed them all round randomly and then took a stiff paintbrush and used the stippling motion to blend them together. The wet paint makes the card crinkle but don’t worry it will all add to the shabby effects.
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7. Next I introduced colour to the masterboard dripping and drying stormy sky, tea dye and frayed burlap distress inks watered down. When happy with what I had achieved I cut the panels to size and distressed and inked the edges with walnut stain.
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8. Time now to ‘tear’ the tissue paper images using a paintbrush , water and something to pull the wet paper apart.. In fact having now got the designs of the panels in my head I only did two of them, the nest and the feather. I also cut out all the other images I needed from the card and made myself some chatty words to fit the theme of the challenge.
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9. The nest and bird were painted with distress inks and layered over the tissue paper which was adhered to the textured surface with matte medium and the quote added.
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10. I followed the same process with the other panel and I covered the bluebird with glossy accents and left overnight to dry.
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11. Next I needed to make the note book to go inside. I cut a piece of paper from the Wallflower paper stash (if you have seen some of my recent projects you will know I am in love with these papers). Cutting  and scoring it the same as the cover then trimming a couple of mms off each side so it would fit in. Ink all the edges and stamp/mask randomly over it. This will be the inside cover.
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12. Cut the pages – I made mine 19 x 10 cms, scored each one in half and really creased the edges well with a bone folder. The number of pages is a personal thing and dependent on the thickness of the paper/card that you use.
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13. With bulldog clips clip the pages and the longer cover together – making sure all the creases line up and it is perfectly flat - and mark an odd number of sewing holes down the scored line – mine are at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 cms from one edge. With an awl pierce the holes right through. (Usually I would add some book scrim to the back to stop the thread pulling through the card but I couldn’t find it when I needed it, but even a piece of thin strong fabric would do).
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14. From the back start sewing the pages together moving up and back down the crease again tying off the thread at the back.
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15. The edges of the pages will now need trimming, I used a ruler and a knife.
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16. Time to glue the cover onto the base, you can use strong tape or wet glue – I used matte medium.
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17. Adhere some ribbon to the front and back cover.
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18. Then adhere both the front and back covers and I also cut a panel from the Wallflower stack for the little side-panel.
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19. A birds-eye view so you can see the pages in place.
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20. I decorated the first page to get me started and used one of the gelli prints I had made recently for A Vintage Journey Destination Inspiration post.
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21. The finished booklet.
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Phew a long post but lots of detail and process steps. I hope you find it useful.

Do pop over to the CVC blog to see the amazing projects in the initial challenge post and to get some inspiration to come and join us this month and don't forget that Susan has her fabulous on-lineshop with the most amazing prices and free P&P in the UK. You might well be the winner of a £20 voucher to that shop.

Hope you've got some lovely things planned for the weekend. I am off to teach two full day workshops to a craft club near Abergavenny in Wales. I have been looking forward to this for a long time, so I shall be on my way later this morning. I'll let you know how I got on next week and if I can get a signal on my phone I might well be on Face Book over the weekend. (But me and FB have a difficult time together on the phone lol).

Take care.


hugs Brenda 

32 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful little book, with so many gorgeous details to see and enjoy. Hugs, Valerie

Dagmar said...

Oh it's so beautiful !!!! I love it so much! It's realy springtime :-)

Paula Whittaker said...

wonderful creation.

Redanne said...

If this was mine I would not want to use it, I would just want to look at it (and yes, stroke it!). Your tutorial is so clear and instructive Brenda and the finished booklet is simply gorgeous! Hugs, Anne x

Claudia N. said...

This is adorable, Brenda! Thanks for sharing the how to as well!

Claudia x

Unknown said...

Woweee! What a fabulous project Brenda and so beautiful! I'm in awe of your artistry! Chris xxx

Sophie said...

Mein Gott, Brenda....
was für eine tolle Arbeit.
Ein richtiges Meisterwerk!
CHAPEAU!
Unglaublich, da bleibt mir der Atem weg :-)

Sophie xx

Unknown said...

This is a fabulous book. Love it and the birds and feathers give it a spring feeling. I wouldn't be able to use it. Enjoy the weekend xx

ElizabethR said...

Gosh that's just gorgeous, the cover is amazing with all that texture, love it! Elizabeth xxx

Mary Elizabeth said...

I cannot thank you enough for the step by step on this project. I've had a minibook in mind to celebrate a friend's new baby girl. This is exactly what I needed for inspiration. Gorgeous colors and I really need to get brave enough to use gesso to add more texture to my projects. Love the burlap stenciling you did her. Thanks for sharing this with us Brenda. You really are an amazing artist. -- Mary Elizabeth

Mary Elizabeth said...

Wow! I was as charmed by the story of Cecile as I was by this shadow box project. It was such a fun read! I love the layered postage stamp die cut that created the shadow box. Genius idea. And the fleur de lis charm looks so incredibly rustic. What a fabulous addition to all the layers of Cecile's life in this project. I truly believe her beau returned and they lived happily every after! -- Mary Elizabeth

1CardCreator said...

This is stunning and I was mesmerized reading all the steps and techniques used to achieve this. ~Diane

sally said...

Great step x step Brenda! Such a pretty result too :-) I'm book-marking this for when I get home! 14 hours to departure!!!

Sally

Daniele said...

so loving your mini book Brenda, lots of wonderful texture and details
hugs

Karin said...

gorgeous booklet, love the stamps you used! Have a lovely weekend!
Groetjes Karin

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Lovely book Brenda, I adore the imagery and colours. Love,your design too, a really lovely piece. Tracy x

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous book Brenda!
Thanks for the great tute!
Alison xxx

Meggymay said...

An awesome book, its a super detailed step by step post.
Yvonne

debby4000 said...

Wonderful mini book and love how you showed us how you've made it.
luv
Debby

Juls said...

Fabulous!!!! Love seeing all the stages of your make!! Hugs Juls

Jenny Marples said...

What a joy of a project! Going to have to bookmark this one to have a go at it. Your use of paste and stamping make this so beautiful to look at. Glad you're having a great time in Wales. Jenny x

Sandra said...

Fabulous book, so inspiring. Have had a brilliant first day with you here in Wales and looking forward to day two!
Sandra

Martina said...


Talent dear Friend Brenda,
Oh this book is perfect, I love it!!
Your unique art is always something special for me.
Biggest Hugs,MARTINA. xoxx

Words and Pictures said...

What a fabulous make, Brenda, and a wonderful tutorial taking us through with such clarity and great tips along the way. Thank you!
Alison xx

Lucy Edmondson said...

So beautiful, Brenda! Thank you for the excellent tutorial,

Lucy x

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

The texture is fabulous!!! Great design and love the length!!!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Wow Brenda, that's breathtaking - such a gorgeous project.

nefertiti said...

Gorgeous creation!!!!!I love the texture!!! bizz

Terry said...

Steve takes time off and then with house things and I could have missed this beauty! OMG, Brenda this is gorgeous and so detailed with fabulous texture! I seriously have to come back and make an attempt at this! Beautiful and thank you for sharing the steps! Hugs!

Sandy said...

Brenda I appreciate your tutorials so much. The burlap texture stencil looks like old stone to. This indeed is a fabulous project and thanks again for such a good tutorial!
Sandy xx

Cocofolies said...

That's a wonderful project, thank you Brenda for sharing it, I really love this it's so beautiful! Hugs, Coco xx

Jools Robertson said...

Wow! What an amazing tutorial
I'm inspired to have a go a making this, just love the finished effect
So many textures and fabulous colours and details
Brilliant Brenda, Thank you

Hugs

Jools x