Journal for AALL & Create

Hello Friends

My first project of the year as Guest Designer for AALL & Create is a journal, one of my favourite things to create!  AALL & Create has a new release of dies and stencils and I used

a beautiful new stencil - Abundance by Olga Heldwein.

The beauty of these new stencils is that they are large enough to cover nearly the whole of Eileen Hull's Notebook die (Sizzix  663635).

I was a little short on time so I literally cut the base from black mount board, took the stencil, some white paste and applied it to the journal cover.

I felt that the paste needed to look more blended to the background so I used crackle paste over the whole of the cover to tie the two together.  It is a very fine crackle (see below) and gives a lovely sheen to the journal.

To create a closure I applied some more paste to the central part of the stencil and when dry I cut out a circle, crackled it, punched two holes in and threaded my elastic through.

  I thought it looked like a fancy button so I made a few more for future use.

Here is a view of the back of the journal.

I did create a pocket and some inserts for the inside but I have shown the construction of those many times before, so I have not repeated them here.

You can find a list of worldwide stockists for AALL & Create products HERE.

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xxx

Focus for Mini Album Makers

Hello Friends

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I hope your year is filled with all good things!

It is time for a new challenge at Mini Album Makers, where as always, the challenge is to create any handmade book.

Each new year I am full of enthusiasm for making resolutions, some of which I do keep, but others fall by the wayside.  This year I am going to try and focus on what I want from the year, noting down any bright ideas I might have in this simple notebook holder.

I started by die cutting my cover using Eileen Hull's Scoreboard Notebook by Sizzix 663635 from black mountboard.

I wanted two pockets for the inside, pockets that would hold a notepad on one side and a little storage pocket on the other side.  I used the pattern below to create each of the two pockets from kraft card (shown in white card below so that the measurements show up more clearly).

This is how the pockets fit inside the journal cover.

To decorate the outside I die cut a frame using Tim Holtz's Bigz die Trinket Frame by Sizzix 664186 and used Tim's stamp set, Eclectic Adverts CMS372 to stamp onto the frame.  I used Tim's stamp set, The Professor CMS373 to stamp out the light bulb.

I stamped onto pockets and coloured elements and highlighted others, using pencils.

I used Tim Holtz's die, Alphanumeric by Sizzix 660056 to cut my letters out for the words 'Focus' and 'Ideas'.

I created a notepad by cutting down a large notepad to fit one of the pockets.

To complete the notebook holder I added a Tim Holtz Idea-ology clip and attached a monocle to highlight the one of the eyes.  I also added some doodling.

Our fabulous sponsor this month is AALL & Create who are offering a bundle of

stencils to one lucky winner!

Website: https://www.aallandcreate.com

EShop: www.aallandcreate.com/boutique

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aallandcreate/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/aallandcreate/

  We hope you will join us this month at Mini Album Makers, our rules are very simple.  Any Handmade Book Goes.  Enter any form of handmade mini albums, scrapbooks, journals and book arts.  Our focus is on completed works, so no layouts or journal spreads that are not part of a complete handmade book project.  Please ensure you read the full rules.

If you have time, please pop over to see what my lovely teamies have made over at Mini Album Makers, you will not be disappointed!

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xxx