Karen Bearse Designs: Wintery Nature Mini Album Using the Mitten Die for Eileen Hull

Hello Mini Book Fans, I am here today with a winter journal for Eileen Hull. This month the teams are making Nature Journals with a hack. The idea is, to use a cool twist & use non journal dies to create journals.

I decided to use the mitten die cut and make a cinch album. The only challenge is I wanted more surface space to make my book. What better way then to create a gate fold book with acetate under the mittens. Got to love layers! This book is going to be a winter hybrid album filled with pages that can be used for scrapbook pages, art journal, & photo journal layouts.

COVER

Start by cutting out 2 mittens using mat board. Spritz with Distress Stains, Oxides & Dylusions sprays. Don't get the board too wet. I chose the darker blues for this. As always supplies are listed below. Once the sprays are dry take a stencil, scrape crackle paste through & set aside to dry.

Once the paste is dry Luster Wax was carefully applied to mainly hit the high points of the snowflakes. Just gently scuff the surface using a foam piece. That helps prevent the crackle from coming off and shows that cool crackle effect even more.

Once the wax was dry a coat of multi medium gloss was added to help prevent that crackle from coming off with handling. A bit of glitter was also sprinkled for fun.

The hinge was adhered but only after checking the placement on the covers. Hot Tip: Use a piece of lined paper for placement so you know the mittens are lined up correctly. Holes were punched through the mat board using a cropodile. The hinge was adhered with a strong wet glue 1st & then the brads were added. Redline Tape was adhered on the back to help the brads stay in the right spot.

Cut 2 pieces of acetate 6"x5" or whatever size you would like your book to be. I just used my Sizzix die cut packaging for this. My book is going to be 10" long x 6" tall in total. Cut the left hand side of one piece using the cinch. I also rounded the corners using the WeR corner rounder. It works on heavier materials like the mat board. Of course I went through creating my book & forgot to clip the corners of the paper & back cover. I can always do this as I build my book.

Cut the title.

I used card stock covered in the aluminum sheets. I love mixing metallic, so 2 colors were used. The letters were cut using the alphanumeric die set. Aluminum Metal Sheet on card stock, with Easy Cut Adhesive on the card stock, to make it a sticker. If you want your alphas to be super smooth make sure to use a clean cutting plate. Mine is super cut up but I don't mind the crinkles in the words... bonus texture! I also die cut a few images from Eileen's Wreath set while I was at it.

Audition the cover figuring out the placement, between the title, the mittens & the 2 piece cover. It is helpful to put the letters on the backing of the Easy Cut to see how much space you need.

Lined paper underneath the acetate will also help you to line the letters up. Peel the sticker backing off & add your title.

Cut out a spine for the right hand side of the book. I cut the spine from mat board using the Passport die. Then covered it with paper so the holes didn't show. You can also just cut one out. Cut about 5" x 2.5" & scor both edges at about the 0.5" score to create a spine.

Cover a piece of mat board front & back with card stock 6" tall by 10" wide. This will be the back cover. Punch the left hand side using the cinch. You can see from this pic how the cover is put together, keep in mind this is the back side, so the cinch is on the right hand side. Don't you love that paper & owl?!!!! I do!

Attach one side of the spine to the back right side back cover of the book. Adhere to the 6" right side of the cover acetate. Use Redline Tape to adhere. The spine is 1 inch smaller than the covers.

THE INSIDE

Assemble your favorite snowy papers. I decided that this book would be a hybrid of scrap booking, art journal & Heidi Swapp type pages. I grabbed scrapbook papers, gel prints, tags & envelopes. You can always add to this book as you build it. Just make sure the fixed spine on the right hand side is wide enough to allow expanding.

Using a cinch I punched the left hand side of the papers, deciding ahead of time which way I wanted them in my book. Be careful if you have directional papers that they don't end upside down. Some of the papers I left white on one side which gives me options as I build the project.

Some of the white pages were backed with another paper or gel print. You can also use double sided papers which some of mine were. This is a great way to use up papers from your stash. Layer the papers alternating full pages with tags scattered along the way.

Punch the left side mitten with the cinch. Work out the mitten placement and adhere to the left side acetate cover with Redline Tape & a wet glue like Glossy Accents. Choose your cinch coil & follow manufacture directions to put the book together. Only the left side is cinched to allow for the larger size pages.

Use a binder clip to hold the papers & cover stable. Adhere the 2nd mitten piece making sure the hinges line up.

TIME FOR SNOWFLAKES!

Using Eileen's snowflake die 4 snowflakes were cut out. They were cut from the aluminum sheets adhered to card stock that had Easy Cut Adhesive (double sided tape) on the back. This turns them into stickers which makes application much easier.

2 of the snowflakes were adhered to the mittens & a brad was stuck through the acetate to help hold them. Use a pokey hole tool to punch through the mitten & acetate covers.

Another snowflake was added in the middle of the title. It was adhered on the outside of the album cover & then the brad was added. A 2nd snowflake was adhered on the inside cover matching up as best possible. The brad tongs were hidden in between.

Pattern paper was cut out with the mitten die- being mindful of the thumb directions. These were adhered using Redline & Glossy Accents on the inside acetate cover. They conveniently cover the back tongs of the brads & all the glue.

Now all that is needed is to start working on my photos & adding art journal pages! Thanks so much for joining me today!

I hope this technique inspires you to make a book with any of Eileen's shaped die cuts. Make sure you check out what my teamies are up to, so much great inspiration! I can't wait to get playing with this book because...Winter Is Coming.

Supplies:

SIZZIX