Thursday 1 February 2018

Techniques Journal for the Mini Album Makers challenge blog (a project in progress)

Hello lovely visitors and happy February!! Today sees the start of a new challenge over on the Mini Album Makers challenge blog, and here is my book. The blogosphere no doubt will soon be filled with Valentines themed projects, and in fact I will be posting one later today, - but here is something very different, a techniques journal.
This is obviously the cover and in a moment I will show you more about how I put it together. But the main part of my project are the inside pages, consisting of accordion pages with special inserts to keep notes.  I saw something similar on pinterest, thought it a great idea and so created my own version. The original I saw was made from one large sheet of watercolour paper, which I don't have, so I made mine from individual double pages which I made into an accordion by taping them together with washi tape.
So far so good, now for the inserts, - I cut separate double pages from squared paper plus drawing paper (to protect the notes from the other pages, which might otherwise rub off on them.
I then used the simlest of bookbinding techniques, the 3 hole one, to insert them into the accordion.
And below you can see how they were sewn into the main accordion, I put one little insert in every  valley, but oly on one side, the other side was left as a normal accordion.
With the main structure of the album in place, it was time to start working on the cover. I cut 3 pieces of thick mat board, slightly larger than the inside pages, for the front, back and a separate piece for the spine, covered them in some of my favourite scrapbook papers and then glued them together as you can see below
I did this by scoring the spine about a quarter inch from each side, glued the one side to the front and the other to the back and that was it, so simple. Here is the inside:
I put washi tape around the edges and then covered the spine and back page with black paper. The front inside does not need to be covered as the first side of the accordion is glued to that, thus attacching the inside to the cover. In order that the accordion can fold out, do not adhere it to the pack page, otherwise your accordion would not fold out anymore!!
To decorate the front, I first added some stenciling with transparent texture paste, highlighted the raised bits with some gilding paste when dry and then added some further embellishments:

First  I added some strips of bookpaper, a Tim Holtz metal plate with the word imagine inserted and a pen nib. Then I melted some Ancient Silver embossing powder round about and finally  added some flowers.
On the bottom half I just added some shadows to make the ink bottle that was on the paper (Blue Fern Collection) pop a little more.

Now finally to the inside pages. I have done 5 pages so far. They are all similar but subtly different and I will show you  photos of my notes in the inserts, so you can see te steps I used at the end.
page 1

page 2
page 3
page 4


page 5

And here is a picture of the notes describing how I put them together:

I am sorry, they are not easy to read, but if by any chance you want to know more, just contact me.

There are many more pages to be done, but below I show you a few pictures still of how I finished some of the pages so far:


I used a mix of collage elements, fussy cut stamps and die cuts.
Here is the next double page next to the first insert.
Creating an accordion with inserts like this, gives you tons of space, so far I have only done about a quarter of all the pages.
I attached a lable to the back of the spine still (the die is from the Eileen Hull Book Box die) and that was pretty much it.
Here you can see the accordion inside the cover, ready to fill with furher techniques.

Now, before I sign off, I just want to mention a super giveaway we have going on to celebrate the launch of our new Facebook and Instagram pages:
To read all the details of the giveaway, just click here

Well thanks for saying with me for this very long post and Happy February!
Please hop over to the Mini Album Makers Challenge blog to see the amazing albums my teamies have created and do join us by showing us your own books and albums!
Thanks for your visit like always,
xxxxx

22 comments:

Silkku said...

How beautiful! You are good :)

Valerie-Jael said...

Beautiful album, love the embossing on the cover. Hugs, Valerie

Maryann Laursen said...

Such an amazing and gorgeous album here again Astrid. You always make them sooo fabulous and is a huge inspiration to all of us, I´m sure. You sure are to me, just wiash I could make anything like you LOL.

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Fabulous cover..this certainly is another beauty Astrid, love the idea of keeping your techniques within it. I love how the inside is a work in progress, plenty of room to add more amazing ideas!! A work in progress very close to my heart. Warmest of wishes Tracey xx

Jennie Atkinson said...

Wow ! Your mini book is absolutely amazing Astrid and what a wonderful idea for recording techniques. I love how the pages fit into the accordion, such a wonderful idea and of course your cover is stunning !! Thank you for so much wonderful inspiration - it has given me an idea for all the little bits and pieces I keep in a box to remind me of techniques ! Jennie x

My name is Erika. said...

Great journal. I love the set up and how your journaling tucks in behind those beautiful pags. :) Erika

Pamellia said...

Another stunning project Astrid. I just love how you can combine different colours and patterns without your work feeling muddy or overdone. So much texture and everything is perfectly arranged. Stunning! hugs :)

Words and Pictures said...

I love the structure of this - the combination of accordion and signatures is brilliant. It's also lovely that you get such a rainbow variety as you turn the pages - and the composition of texture, stamping and embellishing is exemplary, as always.
Alison x

Dorthe said...

Oh my goodness, Astrid, so amazing a journal. I have to study your technique a little more, I think :-) Beautiful cover front with the silvery accents, and such lovely pages, of spring tones, with so many possibilities of having fun with the inserted pages, too .
Thank you for showing.
Hugs, Dorthe

SewPaperPaint said...

Oh good grief! Let me pick my jaw up off the floor!!! This is outrageously cool and oh so fantastic! I love that the accordion flips right outta those fab covers! What fun and how beautiful and perfectly detailed. Such a delight to see. Happy February! Hugs, Autumn

Gloria Stengel said...

The cover alone is swoon-worthy, let alone getting a peek at the inside art! I am like, Autumn...my jaw is on the FLOOR!

Art By Wanda said...

A beautiful book!!!

Kate Yetter said...

Your journal cover and inside pages are gorgeous! I especially love the steampunk man. 😀
Kate

HappyScrappy said...

Lovely cover and each and every page is so cool! Love the color combinations you used!

Nancy Wethington said...

Astrid, I am in love with this! That cover is amazingly divine. The techniques you used with the stencils turned out beautifully. And I love the inside pages and how you put them together. I'm going to have to try this one.

Karen said...

wow this is amazing, love all the stamped pages so much fun & inspiration

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, you have been busy! Your mini album is lovely, the cover looks wonderful with the texture paste and gilding paste, and the pages are so beautifully detailed too - amazing 😁. Happy February! J 😊

Barbara Rankin said...

Always amazed by your creativity, Astrid. I love the cover, and then I see the inside pages, oooooh, aaaaaaah, fantastic! Love the clear paste through the stencil then gilded. I want to try that one. TFS

Redanne said...

Astrid, I have been scrolling up and down for ages, just to take in all the wonderful detail of this so very clever album! The style is amazing, each page is an absolute delight, it must have been a real labour of love but it was worth every moment. This has just shot to the top of my favourites of your work, I love it so much! Hugs, Anne xx

Nora said...

Amazing work and explanation! Thank you so much for sharing! Hugs...

Inna Bronnikova said...

A fabulous cover, a great mini book, Astrid! Hugs, Inna

Margaret Mifsud said...

Have been meaning to come and take a look at this beauty for ages and finally remembered to do it!! This book is brilliant Astrid! The cover is simply awesome!! The colours and textures are absolutely stunning and the inside is so clever! I love the idea of having a book to record new techniques in and the design of this book makes that so easy!! Love, love, love this!!

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