Mini Accordion Book

Hello!! I always love when a big box of inspiration comes from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. It's always so fun to dig thru 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 thru 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 thru the Mini Trading Coaster. I then stitched on a button and tied a length of seaming 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 

I am entering this project into the challenge over at Mini Album Makers. Be sure to check out all the inspiration!! 

http://minialbummakers.blogspot.com/

Open a New Page

Hello!! I'm here with my first post of 2018. I am sure like many of you the New Year is a new slate and offers a blank page for new dreams. And who doesn't love a nice notebook to jot down notes? As you may know, I love using houses in my art and thought of these simple but amazing Simple House Ornaments in my stash and got to thinking about how they would make the perfect covers for a book. This an easy project that is taken up a level with a simple Coptic stitch which was one of my goals to learn and practice in 2018, and believe me I definitely need more practice.

I started by painting both front and back of the Simple House Ornaments pieces with Raw Umber. I did one light coat and it offered a wood-like look to the chipboard pieces. 

On the front of one ornament, I did a simple collage with various pieces of vintage text and sheet music. I applied the collage with Distress Medium. Once dry I used a palette knife to add a few random swipes of Gesso to the collage. To add some interest I stamped this image of a postmark and French postage stamp and then layered a vintage French stamp on top. 

To make the pages I made signatures of 3 pages each folded in half. I then traced around one of the house shapes and cut out. I used 6 signatures in my book. I just searched YouTube for a tutorial on how to do the Coptic stitch. This was my first time trying it. It is a simple technique but one that I need to fine tune just a little more. 

To finish off my cover I heat embossed a key from the Keys and Plates Shape Set with Burnt Copper Leaves and adhered using Distress Collage Medium. 

I will probably use my little book to write quotes in. I can see many more of these in my future though!! I hope I have inspired you to try this simple bookbinding technique. If you do give it a try I would love for you to share. Wishing you a creative and happy new year!! ~Jennalee