A little bit of inspiration

Hello all, Alison here... Very happy to be back at eclectic Paperie to share another project with you.

This one is a very simple little ATC book (I seem to have a thing about handmade books), with lots of little pockets - brilliant for using up paper scraps when you really want to make the most of every last little bit of your favourite papers!

It's a tiny book of uplifting and thought-provoking words and phrases, so that you can turn to it for a little bit of inspiration when in need.  And of course you can add more phrases, or other memorabilia, pictures and ephemera as time goes on... plenty of room in those pockets.

I started with six of the Inkssentials natural canvas ATCs.  One of the great things about these is that they are sticky-backed, so you get all the great canvas texture and you can apply it really easily to cardstock or chipboard to create a really sturdy, dimensional ATC.

I adhered my six ATCs to some kraft cardstock, and then started juggling with my papers.  These are from the Basic Grey Serenade set.  I worked out I had enough to do a couple of ATC-sized pages and a couple of "pockets" out of each of my selected papers.

I wanted to leave plenty of the canvas on display, and also to keep things pretty minimalist, so I kept my pockets nice and simple: a plain rectangle, alternating (mostly) between vertical and horizontal positioning.

And I gave the canvas a good going over with the Vintage Photo Distress Ink to really highlight all that lovely texture.

I thought about doing some stamping on the canvas, which I always love the look of, but I was quite enjoying the clean lines of the whole thing (couldn't bear to leave out the distressing though!)... it's probably the nearest I'll ever get to a CAS project!

All the sentiments - from the fabulous Donna Downey sets, Empowered Words and Art and Possibility - are also stamped onto paper scraps, so they look pretty cute either way up, and they've also had a touch of the Vintage Photo DI of course.

On each facing page, the design paper side, I've added one of the larger sentiments, stamped on plain white cardstock and inked to tone in with the rest of the look.

I particularly love this Picasso quote... and I've tried to match the quotes in the pockets with my "main" quotes each time - I've tried to create satisfying groupings that "speak" to each other.

Another sentiment stamp serves as the title on the front cover (in the picture at the top of the post), and I've stamped some of the Hero Arts Serenade Music Background to surround the title, and all over the back cover.  This stamp is designed to coordinate with the Serenade music paper that I've used on the inside, so it fits in with the overall look beautifully.  (Sorry, I think it may now be sold out at eP!)

Finally I added the little corner pieces cut with the ATC and Corners die by Tim Holtz onto the front and back covers.  I love the "finished" look it gives.

The binding is incredibly simple too (seriously, you can knock up a whole little album in well under an hour) - just some crinkle ribbon dyed with Vintage Photo Distress Stain, and tied through the punched holes to give a pretty bow at the front.

I had to do a little bit of retying to get the tension right, so that the pages would turn easily without the whole thing flopping about uncontrollably, but that was about the hardest thing in the whole project - and, really, what's so hard about tying a bow a couple of times!?

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I do hope my ATC inspiration album has given you a little bit of inspiration to go off and create something yourself.  See you again soon...

Alison xx
Words and Pictures

Ingredients (click on the link to go straight to the product):

Inkssentials� Surfaces Natural Sticky-Back Canvas ATCs	Basic Grey - Serenade 6x6 Paper Pad	Hero Arts - Serenade Music Background	Unity Stamp Company - Empowered Words (Donna Downey)
Unity Stamp Company - Art & Possibility (Donna Downey)	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Crinkle Ribbon 10 Yards	Distress Stain - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo
Archival #0 Pad - Coffee	Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool

Taking Flight

Hello - Alison here!  I'm delighted to be offering my first official post here at eclectic Paperie.  Since joining the team, I've so enjoyed discovering new crafty goodies and ways to use them.

I'm sharing some details today of the steps in creating one of my altered canvases - so I hope it will also serve as some extra inspiration for the brand new eP Get Altered Challenge - Using Canvas as well then!

I started with a blank 5 x 7 inch canvas, and gave it a coat of gesso. While that was still wet, I started layering torn pieces of the beautiful Serenade paper collection from Basic Grey.  I'd edged the pieces with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink so that they had some definition against the pale,  textured background.

Once they were in place, I brushed another light wash of gesso over them (gesso diluted with a little water, to make it less opaque, so that the designs will continue to show through) to give the papers a distressed, shabby chic look.  When I work with a canvas, I love to take the design over the edges, to make the most of the dimensionality.

I added some stamping using the co-ordinating Serenade music stamp from Hero Arts.

The next stage was to apply some stencilling using the beautiful Crafter's Workshop template, Mini Mariposa.  I used Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks, and tried to position them so that they covered both paper and naked canvas so that there would be different textures under the ink.

I also used the Mariposa template with some texture paste to create dimensional butterflies on the canvas.  You smear the paste on with a palette knife, make sure all the areas you want filled are filled, and smooth away any excess before carefully lifting the template away.

Once the paste was dry, I applied some embossing ink and then added the beautiful Liquid Platinum embossing powder to it.  I love the shimmer of it, and the subtle glamour it brings.

I also used the Liquid Platinum on one of the Idea-ology bookplates as my centrepiece.   I cut the large pair of wings from the Layered Wings Die, using Grungeboard, and blended Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs DIs onto them.  Then I stamped a flourish in embossing ink, and brought the Liquid Platinum back into play - I love how it catches the light.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope this piece inspires you to try out something new... and if you incorporate canvas in your project, then you can play along with the brand new Challenge here at eclectic Paperie.  

And have fun playing!

Alison x

Project supplies:  

Guest Designer Post - Happiness

Hi, my name is Godelieve Tijskens, also known as Stampingmathilda, living in Belgium.  I'm happy to be asked as guest designer for January here on eclectic Paperie.  Thanks Kim!

Today I made two cards, using Hero Arts stamps and Echo Park papers from the package Kim has sent me.

 The first card was stamped with Brilliance Ink #Graphite Black and colored with Distress Ink and a damp brush.

 I stitched around the image and added layered buttons.

 Gingham paper is from the Winter Wishes paper pad by Echo Park.

 For my second card I used the small stamps from the Pocket Watch set to stamp a collage background with Memento ink on another sheet from the paper pad.

 I stamped the sentiment on a strip of the same paper, machine stitched it onto the background.  I added a Basic Grey button to the other end of the strip.

I also cut a heart.  I distressed the edges and embossed the heart using one of my good old embossingfolders.

I stamped another butterfly from the set, cut it out and glued it onto the embossed heart.

Have a great day!

Product Spotlight - Hero Arts

Do you love Hero Arts stamps? How about Basic Grey paper and embellishments? (I'm ga-ga for both of them!)  What do you get when you merge the two of them together? One amazing product line that's now available in the eP store!

We're excited to be offering the most recent release of the following Hero Arts stamp sets, background sets, and coordinating Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads:

Aspen Frost
Clippings
Lucille
Paper Cottage
Serenade
Soleil

And...you know there's a bundle deal in there somewhere! This week only order a stamp set and background stamp and receive the coordinating paper pad, which retails for $5.99, for FREE! Use code FREEHERO when checking out! Don't forget to check out all of the coordinating Basic Grey buttons and mixed brads too!

Enjoy!