Karen Bearse Designs: book binding

Hello Blogland, I am here today with the Mix Media Monthly Challenge for February! We gals will be playing with the Love theme this month!!

Creativation 2018 Journal Book

I decided to do another Bound Book, this little die is so addictive!! I just got back from Creativation 2018, the AFCI (Association For Creative Industries) annual trade show. Meeting up with designer & manufacturing friends from all over the world is the best part! I decided to make a book to house my pics & memories from the show.

Here is the challenge prompt for this month, February the month of love. Please join us! The prize this month is a $25 gift certificate from Topflight Stamps.

I don't have a lot of love stamps but these Carabelle Stamps Doodle Art by Zorrotte fit the bill. I used the smaller heart stamp on the fabric background & then the larger ones were stamped & colored with Infusions. More on that later.

Here is Part 1 of the video.

Here is Part 2.
*I am brand spanking new to video so please subscribe to my channel!! Very excited to make more.

I started by sandwiching fabric on both sides of DecoFoil Foam Adhesive. It comes in 6x12" or the Rebekah Meier brand comes in 9x12". Using the passport die, cut 2 pieces for the front & back covers. Next, using the Book Binding die cut the edges to create your book. The discs can be bought at Scrapbook/Hobby stores or Office Supply stores.

You can see my tutorial for this method of cutting here. My papers are a random assortment from my stash cut 4 3/4" x 3 1/4" then the corners were rounded. This is a great way to use scrap papers up!!

Pulling out my ancient Sizzix die I cut some hearts out of corrugated cardboard. I was very happy to see that I could still use them with the Vagabond. Then pull up some of the top layer of the cardboard & paint the hearts letting the board show through. Distress the edges with wax.

Wrap wire with beads around the hearts. Adhere with a strong glue like SuperTape. See the tucked in paper heart?

I stamped the larger hearts from the Carabelle set, with Archival Ink then cut them out. Next up, painted them in using PaperArtsy Infusions. Put a little dab of powder on the heart, activate the powder with a wet paint brush. Then it was just a matter of assembly.

Here is a peak at the inside cover & the 1st page. You can see where I took the word Special Delivery from the fabric, it was also mounted on the foam adhesive to give it extra lift.

The numbers were painted to get the color I wanted in metallique paint. This is also a good shot of Eileen's cute Tag & Pocket die in action. Thanks for joining me today! Please hop on over to Mix Media Monthly & join in our challenge!!

Supplies:
Topflight Stamps- PaperArtsy Infusions- Sunset Beach
- Carabelle Doodle Art
Eileen Hull by Sizzix: Book Binding Die
- Passport Die
-Bookmark, Tag & Pocket

Therm*O*Web- DecoFoil Foam Adhesive & SuperTape
Fabric by Tim Holtz
Prima Marketing-Art Alchemy by Finnabair- Metallique Royal Red
- waxes-Aged Brass, Red Amber

Hello Inky Friends, I am thrilled to announce I have been asked to join the Mix Media Monthly Design Team!! This is a wonderful group of designers who create amazing inspiration every month so I will have to bring my A game!! In case you are not familiar, Mix Media Monthly is a challenge site that has a photo prompt every month. You link your blog creation to the challenge & can win prizes! Please check out the rules to be eligible, they are on the challenge post below the Design Team inspiration.

Here is my project for the month of January. I made a mini art journal. As it is my first project with this team,I thought I should introduce you to my quirky side, as in interpreting prompts in unique and inspiring ways.

First to the January Challenge.

Silver & blue is a favorite combination of mine & I love the idea of "Ring in the New" this prompt of course can be interpreted in many ways. For me it meant MAKE A NEW ART JOURNAL!!! The snow, bells & ring naturally conjured up a vision of mermaids. Did I mention quirky? Just in a mermaid mood so stretched the theme a little, LOL. You will see as the post goes on just how much I was inspired by the challenge. I mean bells & mermaids = unique art!

Love All Things Art Journal.

I have quite a few in progress but really enjoy using different substrates in my journals. That makes it a challenge, so the idea of using a journal, that the pages can be added to, as they are completed is fabulous. Working on individual pages with a Gel Press for example is much easier then in a pre-made book. Eileen Hull has a new die out that allows you to do just that. I started with a piece of mat board cut 4 1/4" x 6", you could choose to make whatever size you want.

I started with a stencil, crackle paste & texture paste. Scrape the paste through a stencil on the mat board that has been pre-gessoed. Cutting the edges first leaves you a guideline to keep the mat board clear in that area.The Book Binding die is used to cut the edges of your project and works with binding discs. The bonus, because it is a steel rule die it will cut through heavier material like mat board, thick cardboard etc. You can see a video of this die on my Instagram here.

Bring On The Color!

Once my pastes were dry, color was adding using PaperArtsy Infusions. They are wonderful pots of powder that react with water. I stuck with blue/green as the theme.

Next up was to add in the silver. I used Prima waxes for this & just put some on my craft mat then used my finger to hit the high points & scuff up the background a bit. Some snowflake sequins were added, hee hee...

Time To Add The Pages.

I have stacks of Gel Press paper which were cut using the binding die. These are a great place to start. My pages are already to move on to the journal building phase.

All that was left was to put the book together & add some embellishments. My quote was inspired by the challenge. Pearl bling was added to the snowflakes to mimic the bokeh (white balls of light). A starfish charm was added, love charms!

The chain acts as a closure & opens in the back of the book. This worked better as I really wanted that starfish on the front. Bells are hanging from the chain. I may add some more small charms or beads.

Here is a shot of the back of the book. You can see how the binding just clips on & the fun thing is finding discs that match the project. I actually took these off a planner from last year- yay recycling.

Inside the book is paper cut from a 6x6 paper pad by Kaisercraft. I made a pocket and took some tags from the pad to insert in my pocket. Adding washi tape adds a little pizazz.

Inside the book is paper painted using a Gel Press. Some of the back sides are white which gives me a clean surface to add paint to.

Here are 2 pages that had paint on both sides so they are ready to turn into journal pages. This is a great book to have when traveling. All I need to bring is ephemera & journal pen, some stamps. Hum...

Lastly how about a close up of that luscious crackle paste with silver! Love the texture that adds. Well that is it for my 1st Dteam post. I hope you enjoyed it, if you have any questions please leave them in the comments section. Thanks so much for joining me today!! Go get inky.

Supplies:

StencilGirl- Mermaid Stencil & Masks by Jessica Sporn
Eileen Hull Bookbinding Die by Sizzix
Mat Board by Sizzix
Infusions by PaperArtsy -A Bit Jaded, Royal Blood.
Art Alchemy Wax by Prima- Brushed Iron & Turquoise Satin
Crackle Paste & Texture Paste by Ranger
Disc rings can be found at office supply stores, planner supplies or old planners
Gel Press 5x7 Gel Plate
Paint by DecoArt