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

Trick or Coin Book Treat by Betsy Skagen

I'm not ready for Christmas in July, but since we all know that crafts take preparation time, I can  at least muster Halloween in July (but just barely).

I am sitting lakeside on vacation this week, so I kept my project short and sweet. You can easily complete this in just one short evening.

I plan to add addition embellishments when I return home, but used what I had on hand up here in vacationland to create the main structure of this mini Halloween coin book. 

Tutorial: How to make a Mini Halloween Coin Book

We'll begin by making the pages. Prepare both sides of a 12" x 12" sheet of paper with lots of layers of acrylic paint. Add only two or three colors at a time, then dry with a heat gun so you don't end up with a muddy mess. 

Build up your paper with layers until you are happy with the results. I kept my layers fairly minimal for this projects--sometimes I go on adding layers for hours on end--it can be rather cathartic.

Next, cut two 12" strips of your paper that are slightly wider than the Artist Trading Coins. At one end of one of the strips trace around the Artist Trading Coin. Fold the strip back and forth so that each fold is at the edge of where you traced the coin. Then cut inside along the circle you traced, leaving an uncut gap on both sides where the folds are. Don't worry if the first or last piece is not a full circle.

This may sound complicated, but it is not. Think back to childhood when you likely learned how to make a paper chain of people. You are doing the same thing now, except with circles. 

Look at those yummy layers! 

Take the circle chain and adhere it to one of the Artist Trading Coins. With the circle pages folded, adhere the last circle to a second Artist Trading Coin so that you create a front and back book cover. Don't worry if these do not fully cover the the chipboard coins. 

On the second strip of paper, trace the Artist Trading Coin four separate times and cut out. Adhere one circle over each of the inside book flaps, covering where you glued the first page down. This also covers any areas where the circles were not big enough.

Glue the remaining two circles on the outside of the coins to create the outside of the book. Then use a blending tool to ink the edges of both sides of all the circles. 

Now cover the Halloween Trading Coin Covers with black ink. 

Add a layer of embossing ink and then cover with Black Magic Embossing Powder. Heat with heat gun. 

Adhere the coin covers to the front and back of your book. 

Stamp spooky images to your inside pages. 

Now that your book is complete, you can happily return to enjoying summer--because it always goes by much too fast. -Betsy

Great Stuff

Artist Trading Coins

Halloween Trading Coin Covers

Eileen Hull Black Magic Embossing Powder

Embossing ink

Black ink

Acrylic paint

Assorted stamps

Beacon Fabri-Tac

Mini Accordion Book

Hello!! Jennalee here today. I always love when a big box of inspiration comes from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. It's always so fun to dig through and see what really sparks an idea. In my most recent box, there were these fabulous Mini Trading Coasters (coming soon) and I instantly thought they would make the perfect covers for a small book of some sort. I have been wanting to try my hand at an accordion book so decided to dive right in. 

I got so caught up in making this project I forgot to take a bunch of pictures but I'll walk you through my thought process. 

These Mini Trading Coasters come in a 3 pack and measure 2.5 x 2.5. The possibilities for these are endless. 

I wanted to keep my book simple with a focus on textures. The cover has a die-cut pattern layered with a torn bingo card. Using a craft pic I was easily able to poke holes through the Mini Trading Coaster. I then stitched on a button and tied a length of seam binding around the stitching to act as a closure. 

 I started out by making my accordion insert first. Once the accordion was made I adhered either end to the Coasters. In design, I usually strive for odd numbers but for this particular book 6 pages worked the best. 

Wanting a mixture of textures I did every other page out of fabric. 

I picked all my pieces for the main pages and stitched them together on my sewing machine. Once the main pages were sewn together I went back and added any hand stitching or embellishments. 

This page is actually a baby wipe left over from making rusty ink backgrounds. I accidentally burnt a hole in while drying the page next to it. But it only adds to the texture and interest.

Keeping it simple by letting the textures of varying papers do the talking. 

A handstitched photo printed on muslin. 

I loved this piece of a vintage time card with the original bit of adding machine tape still attached. 

I kept the back simple but love the natural patina of the paper. 

I hope this simple project brings a small spark of inspiration. These trading coasters also come in a larger size so I think I see another book in my future. As always thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. 

Happy Creating ~ Jennalee