Friday 1 June 2018

One stamp and hidden bookrings, a mini for the MAM challenge

Hello friends and welcome to another post for MAM or the Mini Album Makers challenge blog.
It's the first of the month, so that means a new challenge is starting and like always we would love you to share your albums or handmade books of any kind. Our sponsor is no other than Stencilgirl with a fab prize to win, so do come and check it all out!
The idea for this album came when I noticed that the old Sizzix Vintage Cabinet Card Bigz die, was just a little larger than the new stacked thinlets dies of the same shape. So that meant I could cut the covers from mount board using the Bigz die and then the inner pages using the largest of the stacked thinlets.
The next idea I had was to just use one stamp (I chose the Glorious Bouquet by Tim Holtz). It is very large, so I could use different corners and colour in different ways. I also decided to use book rings to make it possible to add pages to the album over time if I want to.



Here you can see the front and the back. As I don't particularly like the look of large bookrings sticking out of the spine, I was delighted to find a video showing how you can construct a book where the bookrings are hidden. I adapted the way I made mine, but if you are interested, HERE is a link to the original video I saw. And below a short desciption of what I did:
Line up your cover with the spine in the middle as shown. As you can see I had cut holes in my covers already before deciding on the different binding, but as they are going to be covered with design papers anyway, that did not matter.
I used small 20 mm book rings, make sure your holes are just over half the distance apart (so in my case 10 mm), for the rings to fit through easily.

Here you can see the rings in place just to show you, before I attached the covers with the help of double stick tape and design tape as shown in the video.
the outside once covered with paper and tape

the inside


I used papers from the Memoranda paper stash by Tim and cut the papers using the same Bigz die obviously.
Now to the inside pages, they don't need much description, I stamped different corners of the stamp in different coloured Archival Inks etc and then coloured the flowers mostly with my Prisma coloured pencils and then used distress oxides and normal distress inks, plus some background stamps and stencils for the backgrounds. I'll let the photos tell the story...








And here a double page in situ, - there is a bit of a seasonal theme going on here, which was not necessarily planned, but the stamp is so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. I have more pages pre stamped, but I thought this was plenty to show you for this time.

Now for the spine: To cover the rings, I simply added some additional design tape and lace over the rings on the outside, made a couple of little charms to add and that was pretty much it.

Well, that's it for today, - hope you will have a wonderful month of June with lots of sunshine in it anad do head over to our challenge blog to see the amazing books my teamies have created and get all the details of our challenge!

26 comments:

Brenda Brown said...

Oh Astrid this is a beautiful design of album, I love the shape and the way you have hidden the book rings and if course your fabulous pages. Pinning this for future reference xxx

Valerie-Jael said...

What a beautiful little book. Love all the wonderful designs on the pages. It has such a gorgeous, soft and vintage feel. Hugs, Valerie

chrissie said...

An amazing mini book and the way you added the rings is so inventive..

Always inspiration here Astrid

Love Chrissie xx

Words and Pictures said...

That's a great binding with the book rings - the covers look so good. What a lovely idea to put the large flower stamp through its paces... so many variations. That's exactly the reason I bought it so I'm glad to see I was right, even though I haven't got round to inking mine up yet! The page with the moon and berries and little girl is wonderful.
Alison x

Carole Pollard said...

So clever thts an amazing project Love and hugs Carole x

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Brilliant Astrid! I have these dies including the old one sat on my desk wondering what to do with them but you've given me an idea now. I already had the old one so of course had to get the new ones even though I hadn't a clue what I was going to do with them! Have a great weekend, Angela xXx

Nancy Wethington said...

Such a pretty book. Love the binding system with the rings going through the spine. And the way you decorate each page - WOW!

Redanne said...

What a fabulous idea it was to marry up the two dies, they really do look beautiful together. Hiding the rings is a brilliant way to make an album, I will have to check out that video! All of the pages are beautiful, it is hard to tell that you used the same stamp, I love the frosty blue page, it is stunning! Hugs, Anne xx

Dorthe said...

So masterly a creation, dear Astrid-
Marvelous pages inside, and the cover simply gorgeous.
I love the idea of using the one stamp, in different ways for all the pages, and the extra details and different tones, makes each unique - I would not be able to say which page I love the most, - it is a fantastic mini album , friend.
Hugs, Dorthe, xx

froebelsternchen said...

What a fantastic way of binding and I love every single page ... you are stunning Astrid - you never cease to amaze with your gorgeous projects!

Annie said...

So now we have the project planned for our next crafty day Astrid !!! xx This is so wonderful and a perfect size x I have not invested in that TH stamp but you may have convinced me xx

Love every page and the way in which you have hidden the book rings...amazing x

TFS and have a great weekend x
Annie x

Mrs.B said...

A fabulous mini album, love the way you have hidden the rings with the binding.
Gorgeous pages using the same stamp, very creative.
Avril xx

Meggymay said...

Its a fabulous mini book and such a great idea to hide the rings.
The stamp you used looks great and so do the pretty selection of papers and details.
Yvonne xx

Helen Wallace said...

Another fabulous mini from Chez Astrid. I love the shape and the hidden rings. Also the beautiful blooms and the vintage images. TFS

Jennie Atkinson said...

This is just such a wonderful mini book Astrid - such a clever idea to hide the spine and all those beautifully stamped and decorated pages make for such a stunning book. I absolutely love it x

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Love the shape Astrid. What a clever idea to add those book rings within the spine and your created pages what can I say.. ! Full of summer flora, the washi strips add great detail. I need to flick through this as there is so much more to see sigh!
Hugs for a super weekend Tracey xx

Anneke said...

This looks amazing Astrid! I really love it. Thanks for showing very inspiring!

Freddie Bubblescrap Sleijpen said...

Absolutely stunning!

Unknown said...

Very nicely explained and it is a beautiful project. Well done!

Diana said...

simply stunning and i love the colour palate used!!! some of my favourite things!

Candy C said...

Truly a beautiful mini book, Astrid. I love the hidden book rings. Each page is so beautifully done. Love every Tim element you’ve chosen. I adore the soft colors as well. Another work of art, Astrid!

Margaret Mifsud said...

Ooohh!! I love this booklet Astrid!! I love the design and how clever to hide the rings .. will have to keep that in mind for future ref. I love each page .. you have stamped and coloured them so beautifully. Absolutely stunning!! hugs xx

Paper Wishes said...

A beautiful album Astrid. The shaped pages look great, so inventive to use the dies that way. The colours are lovely such a subtle palette and the details you have added blend so well. Thanks for the detailed post and links. x Amanda

sarascloset said...

Holy smokes! This is a beautiful album loaded with gorgeous pages! It looks like an awful lot of work went into this journal, but from my viewpoint it was well worth it! I really thought that stamp would not be needed, but I love how you've used just parts of it here, and it's proving more tempting! Hugs!

Jackie PN said...

WOW!! This is absolutely Gorgeous Astrid!!
Where do you find the time to create these beautiful works of art??
Your pages are so beautiful, I enjoyed looking at each one in the close-ups!
Thanks so much for sharing!
hugs,Jackie xx

SewPaperPaint said...

Astrid, sometimes I'm just dumbfounded at your creativity! This is such a genius idea for a mini and I adore it! Sadly, I don't have that Bigz die, but I do have the thinlets. I will have to hunt it down. ;0 I love how you used the flower stamp in so many creative ways on your pages. This truly is an incredible piece of art! Thanks for your hard work and sharing each month. It's truly an honor to have you on our team. Hugs, Autumn

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