Saturday Step x Step - Mini Book

Hi there! Suzz here to share a mini book created using old dictionary pages.

I was thrilled when Sara Emily challenged us with books. I love reading and love up-cycling damaged old books into a new piece of art to enjoy again.  

I decided to create a mini journal with lots of stamping. I started with the idea of a house that opens up to show you inside. I decided to use Tim Holtz's tiny houses die and trim off the edges.

Here are my original pages die cut: 

I cut down a the crease where you would normally fold the die to form the houses. I did this with multiple pages from the dictionary and from two pieces of chipboard.

After I trimmed off the excess sides from the die cut pattern I then punched four holes on the main house that was to be the back of my book. I then used that as my pattern to draw where the circles should be on my other pieces.

I covered my chipboard with pages from the dictionary. I kept two of the houses from the dictionary pages in the full house shape to attach to the front and back of my book. I cut all the other pieces in half along with one of my chipboard pieces for my cover of the book.

I used glue to attach my paper to the chipboard. I also cut cardstock houses for all my pages as I wanted the pages to be sturdier than just the dictionary pages. I attached them all with glue as I have found that using tape tends to show through in the stripes of tape behind the text paper. Glue can also do this if you don't give an even coat. I painted a light coat of white acrylic paint across all my pages to mute the text and allow me to stamp over the texty background. Let this dry before continuing on to the next step.

For each of my pages I used a different distress ink on the page. I first dragged the ink pad over the surface.

I then smeared it first with my finger to soften the ink over the entire surface. I then put brown dye ink onto my craft mat and  used a sponge applicator to sponge the entire surface with brown dye ink.  I then gave them all a lovely sprinkling of water and heat set the ink and water spots.

Then the fun began with stamping and layering images over the surface of the various pages.

For my cover I decided to die cut a heart image and follow the same process of covering it with the text background and the inky process. I stamped the word love across the surface with black archival ink and hand drew hears and outlined with a black watercolor pencil. I made a tiny bouquet which was attached on the right side but overlaps the middle. This allows the page to still open but looks like it is attached in the middle.

I stamped the text along the top and bottom of the house. I pop dotted the hear so it could overlap my holes on the top but allow the book to be linked with jump rings.

As I continued to sponge the pages you can see I picked up some of the previous colors used in the other pages because my sponge picked up the distress oxide. I liked the blended colors and didn't mind the effect. Heat set the archival ink as it tends to stay wet on the painted.

I used white highlighter to help lighten up where the inky pages got darker and waterbrush to help blend my watercolor lines.

I also sponged archival ink over the stencils and cleaned off my stencils with the ink cleaner. I added a touch of watercolor pencil on top of the inky background. I also took the silver glittery design tape and dragged the black archival over the surface to give me a black shimmery stripe along the top.

For my final page I just used the Wendy Vecchi stamp as my focal point. I framed the sentiment with a house and heart using black and pink watercolor pencils and a waterbrush. I splattered white paint and decided to add a moon along the top.

Next up was just layering on my pages with a jump ring in each hole. Lay them in order to make sure your matching pieces line up. :)

The finished album and how it looks opened page by page:

I didn't do it but you could continue your stamping on the reverse side to finish out your images on the main pages as well as coordinating the backside colors to match the center.

And the finale:

I hope you have enjoyed the mini house journal book and you are inspired to play along with us in the Read and Good Books Lately Challenge!  You have until Tuesday August 15th to join in the fun!

Suzz

Tim Holtz Ideaology Paper Dolls TH93555	(JULY PRE-ORDER) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Salty Ocean	DINA WAKLEY HEAVY BODY PAINT - White 2 OZ TUBE	Ranger Tim Holtz Ground Espresso Distress Ink Pad	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator, Stamp Handle and Felt
Tim Holtz Water Brush, Detailer Brush Nib	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black Pad #3	Stampers Anonymous Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stamps - The Beauty of Art	(February Pre-order) Sizzix Bigz L Die - Tiny Houses by Tim Holtz	Prima Watercolor Pencils Vintage
VINTAJ 4.75mm Jump Rings (Set of 24)	$23.95 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Correspondence	$23.95 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Perspective	(APRIL pre-order) Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Etcetera	(APRIL pre-order) Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Tiny Things 2
(APRIL pre-order) Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - On The Farm	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Stuff to Say	Rayon Seam Binding	(February Pre-order) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Snippets Ephemera	(February Pre-order) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Butterfly Design Tape
(February Pre-order) Tim Holtz Idea-ology Bouquet Findings	Tim Holtz Ideaology Clippings Stickers TH93583	(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Worn Lipstick	(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Wilted Violet	(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Fossilized Amber
(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Fired Brick	(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Faded Jeans	(February Pre-order) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad - Cracked Pistachio	Impression Obsession - Yvonne Blair Designs - True North	Yvonne Blair Small Compass
Impression Obsession - Yvonne Blair Designs - Seize The Day	Wendy Vecchi stencil Select a Stencil