Book Of Love Heart Mini Album

 

 Hello everyone.

Karolina here. I can't believe that it is June already. Time runs so fast, incredible!

During my exploring of the GSLC website, I saw a Book Of  Love Heart Mini Album. 

I thought it would be fantastic to work on this little piece.

Definitely, I will keep this mini album, because the finished project is very personal, probably because I added to this mini book important sentiments.

The first step was to coat all pieces of this lovely album with white Gesso on both sides. Then added some colours using distress oxide inks. In the end, I splashed some water on the surface. 

The next step was to add some texture. I used plenty of different stamps and inks.

I used a black crayon for all edges of the mini book. Then I made holes using the crop-a-dile punch and added a ring. I chose some ribbons to attach to the ring.

The last step was to stamp out different graphics using stamps, colour them and adhere them to the pages. I chose some inspirational sentiments, stuck them to the pages and used a gold distress crayon to add the final touch.

GSLC product used:

Book Of Love Heart Mini Album

Other supply used:

White Gesso, Distress Oxide inks, glue, sentiments, stamps, gold and black distress crayons, ribbons and inks.

I hope you like my mini book, and I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Please share it on the GSLaser Cuts Craft Group on Facebook.

Thank you for stopping by!

Karola

Make Beautiful Memories - Little Book of Happy Thoughts

Hello everyone,

Today I have this little heart shaped book to share with you.

Getting Started

I will be using this little heart shaped chipboard called Book of Love Heart Mini Album (D117K) and a lot of recycled/saved papers from my stash.



The first steps are very simple and are shown above.  I taped each pair of half hearts together to make one heart shape, using masking tape.  Then used the same technique to tape each pair of hearts to the other pairs of hearts to make the little book.  I was going to cover my book with watercolour paper so so before going any further I measured a piece of watercolour paper that was slightly larger than my heart covers, leaving a gap in the middle where my pages would be.  This is important to allow the book to open flat.  Next, I painted all the visible sides with white gesso to give me a white base from which to start.  No need to gesso to any parts that will not be seen in the finished book.

The next step is to look through your stash and select some papers you want to use for collage.  I keep mine in this basket because I can see them and because I can see them, I end up using them more than I would if they were hidden away in a box or a drawer.  I will also be using this soft matte gel for all the collage.

For my little heart shaped pages, I decided to make each page spread a different colour working vaguely in rainbow order.  So as you can see below, the first page is yellow, the second is orange, and then the third is red.  For some reason I forgot to take a red page photo but I do have a photo of the red/pink papers I used for the collage and you can see a little bit of the red page peeking out below in the bottom right of the photo.  Don't worry, I did at least remember to take photos of each finished page!

For each page, I chose papers from my stash, all recycled, and including book pages, magazine pages, gift wrap, tissue paper and some gelli prints I made last year.  Since I had some little bits of book paper, I decided to use them on all of the pages, to bring in some neutral tones and for continuity.

Following on from the red page, I have a green page then a blue page and finally two purple pages.  These two pages form the front and back covers of the book by using the back side of the end pages and the two covers.

Making the cover

Remember the watercolour paper we cut at the start?  Now it's time to use it and put our little book together.  I pulled out more potential collage papers for the outside cover and narrowed it down to just these few.  :)

Place your outside cover pieces on top of the watercolour paper and then put the stack of internal pages in the middle like a book.  This will give you a gap in the middle to leave room for the spine of the book.  There is a bit of adjusting at this point to get it just right, so take your time to get it just how you want it.

Check the size of the cover pieces against the watercolour paper.

Decorate the outside of the cover using the same technique.

As I did with all the inside pages, I also rubbed white gesso into some of the areas in the cover, to make it more cohesive.

There are several ways to attach the cover pieces to the rest of the album, but because of the way I created my book, I am attaching them with washi tape.  Both the front and back pages and cover pieces are purple, so I used purple washi tape.  This is the back page and cover.

Here is the front page and cover.

Make final adjustments on your watercolour paper by fitting the book inside and closing it up, making sure there is enough room allowed for the spine, so the book can open flat.

Additional Decoration

I rubbed some fluid acrylic paint in and around the white gessoed areas on each page and on the cover.  The colour I used was Quin Gold but you can use whatever colour suits your project and colour scheme.

When everything was dry, I also stamped some butterflies and text on the pages and cover. There are no photos of this step but it can be seen in the finished photos. This is really just adding more depth to the background and can be skipped if you don't want to do it. I did my stamping in black Staz-on ink.

Once everything was dry, it was finally time to attach the watercolour paper cover to the book.  Here's a quick look at the cover before I added the additional stamping but after the final measurements and adjustments - you can see I have cut straight across the bottom of the heart and also at the top in the centre.  I folded the watercolour shape in half, then measured the width of the page block, marked the edges and then folded them again, to make it easier to open the book.

Apply glue to the back cover (chipboard) and then line it up with the watercolour paper and press it firmly in place.  Place something heavy on it like I have done here.

When it's dry, repeat with the front cover (chipboard), lining it up again using the lines you made on the watercolour paper.  Trim any excess.

The Finished Book

Now that the book is "finished" what to do with it?   Well for me, I wanted to turn it into a little book of happy thoughts, so I used some word stickers to add happy, positive thoughts to each page and also the front cover.

The book is small enough that it could easily be popped into a handbag and pulled out at times when you might need some positivity in your day.  :)

As for those inside pages, here's a look inside my Little Book of Happy Thoughts.

That's it till next time.  Let me know what you think in the comments and I would love to see your own little book of happy thoughts when you make one, so please share in the Facebook group.

Elle
Empire of the Cat

Project Recipe:

Book of Love Heart Mini Album (D117K)  available to purchase from both shops
Collage materials from my stash
Watercolour paper
Masking tape
White gesso
Soft Matte Gel
Black Staz-on ink
Rubber stamps
Word stickers (Tim Holtz and Finnabair)
Washit tape
Black Stabilo-All pencil
Fluid Acrylic paint

all are welcome

Lately there seems to be unrest in so many aspects of life,
I felt the need to create a piece dedicated to unity.
This accordion book is made with a few different pieces from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

When I begin gathering pieces to create the accordion,
I envision many different types of neighborhoods and buildings.
I choose the house oddities box for its variety of building shapes that will become the "pages."
As my ideas for the finished piece become clearer, I decide on having the central panel unfold in the shape of a heart. The GSLC book of love mini album covers are perfect for this use.
I arrange all the pieces in a horizontal line to determine the final arrangement. Two of the accordion "pages" will comprised of multiple shapes overlaid and glued together.

The house oddities box contains a door panel, this becomes the cover of the accordion. I cut two pieces of scrap chipboard the exact same size as the door panel. One of these will become the back cover of the album, while the other will give reinforcement to the front door cover piece. I use inks and paints to color a piece of woodgrain cardstock creating the look of stained wood. When this is dry, I remove the inner panels from the GSLC door and the adhere the "wood" to the door panel with collage medium. I weight it down while drying to ensure that the panel remains flat.

Using an Exacto knife, I carefully cut out the open inner panel sections.
The raised panels of the door are created by adhering the remaining "wood" pieces to only the innermost rectangles from the door panel. When everything is put back into place, the panel "frames" painted with brown acrylic, appear to be recessed from the wood grained raised pieces.

 The back sides of all the pages will covered with patterned paper. Once I select a pattern appropriate for my theme, I trace all of the pages onto the paper, cut them out and label them. This makes it easier to distinguish which pieces go where during the final assembly.  Before adding any of the finishes, I paint the edges of all the interior pages with black paint, this creates a finished look when the accordion is complete.

Each of the building "pages" inside the accordion contain a different wall finish. I decide on wood siding, brick, stone, and stucco, then determine which building shape suits each finish best. 

To create the look of wood siding, I once again use woodgrain paper. Colored with various inks to highlight the woodgrain pattern, the paper is cut into strips which are attached to the house form in an overlapping pattern, mimicking siding.

The brick wall is created from a brick patterned die cut. Glue is added only to the back of the brick pieces of the die cut; when the die cut is placed upon the building shape, I rub lightly over the pattern allowing the bricks to adhere to the chipboard. The remaining paper is lifted off leaving the recessed mortar lines. These bricks are colored with inks and then coated with collage medium. The mortar lines are painted in with a fine paintbrush and acrylic paint.

The stone wall is created with texture paste through a stencil onto the chipboard building shape. When the texture paste has dried completely, the stones and mortar lines are painted in varying shades of gray to look like real stone.

The stucco finish building wall is created by covering the shape with grit paste.

When the paste is dry, acrylic paint is sponged on. Once the paint is dry, the surface is randomly inked with shades of brown ink to give the stucco a weathered and aged feel.

I work on the central heart panel next. Using a linen hinging tape, I secure the two covers from the book of love heart mini album together, aligning the pieces and allowing for the fold. I paint the front side of the heart with two layers of acrylic paint allowing to dry between coats. Knowing I want the heart to look like it has been graffitied, I use a font generator to select the desired style. I print the words "WE ARE ONE" and trace the outlines onto the painted heart. Then I paint in the letters and outline them. I ink the painted heart with black ink to created an aged look. Once complete, the heart is covered with one step crackle. This is set aside. A few hours later, I rub a dark glaze into the cracks and re-ink the edges.

Each of the pages contains various combinations of paper dolls, representing the many people in our world. I color the paper dolls with Copic markers, Distress crayons and ink. The paper dolls are attached to each page with collage medium and weighted down to dry.

The insides of the front and back covers are painted with brown acrylic paint.
A patterned paper of many different portraits is cut to fit each of the inside covers and attached with collage medium. This is then coated with one step crackle and when dry an antiquing glaze is rubbed into the cracks and allowed to dry.

With all of the page fronts complete, I attach the papers to the back sides of the pages and ink around the edges with black ink. Now it is time to assemble the accordion.

We are all tied together by a common thread, this is a loose and fragile connection. I decide to connect my pages with simple burlap string tied through eyelets. I align all the pages along the bottom and attach the eyelets. [Note: the eyelets would be easier to attach before adding the paper dolls.] When all the eyelets are in place, I tie the respective holes together creating the accordion.
Lastly, I add some small talk quote stickers to the interior pages to create a message:
replace fear of the unknown with curiosity
find joy
have hope
we are one
cultivate kindness
together is the best place to be
learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow

I understand that there is always knowledge to be gained and room to grow to further our understanding of the world and people around us.
I believe that we are all one;
we all deserve the patience and understanding that is required to live in peace with one another.
If there were no differences among us, what an unfulfilled life we would live.
Thank you for stopping by the blog, I truly appreciate it.
 Wishing you peace in these trying times.
~Ann

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:
book of love heart mini album
house oddities box