Heart of Mine: Junk Journal Embellishments and Flip Through

Hi everyone 😊

I have pulled out my Graphic 45 "Love Notes" paper scraps and stickers, plus my other Aunty Vera  Scrap and Craft goodies for February to begin making the embellishments for my Wedding Junk Journal.  Keep reading to the end to see a flip-through of the completed journal!

 

First I cut a large tag from the "Musical Masterpiece" paper.  To embellish this I decided on one of the Nested Stitched Scalloped Heart die-cuts, some old book paper and a black photo mat cut from my stash of cardstock.  I inked all edges with "Vintage Photo" distress ink.

Some of my second-hand lace was added to the bottom front of the tag, overhanging just a little so you can see a peek of it from the back.  Another small piece was sewn on as a tag topper.

The photo mat was placed on the back of the tag with double-sided tape and vintage book paper was adhered to the heart as a writing spot.  The heart was then stuck down using double-sided tape again, leaving the top unstuck so a photo can be slipped underneath.

 Here is a process video on the tag:

Next I decided to make an altered paperclip.  I chose three of the "Nesting Stitched Scalloped" die-cut hearts and used two even sized ones - one was cut from plain red card stock from my stash and I slipped a large gold paperclip over this, and the other I glued atop the first to create the base of my paperclip embellishment.  I then placed a smaller die-cut heart on the front, added some black lace, a punched heart and a lovely saying ("Let me call you Sweetheart") from the "Love Notes" papers.  I slipped a piece of black eyelash trim up under the paperclip at the back and tied a knot in this - which I added a little glue to as it has a tendency to come undone!  All paper pieces were edged with distress ink.

Process video of the paperclip being made:

 

I wanted to make a small booklet to slip in under a belly-band I created previously, so I used the off-cut of a manila folder to freehand draw a love heart that I could fold out to see what it looked like opened.  I used this as a template to trace the outline onto a folded piece of "Love Notes" paper.  This made a gorgeous cover for my booklet.

I used the same technique to cut some pieces of tea-dyed paper and music paper, these were cut just a little smaller to fit inside the cover neatly. I grabbed a die-cut music paper heart to add a cute touch to the middle of the booklet.

I inked around the edges of all pieces then used my sewing machine and black thread to sew the page together down the center fold to create the book.

The final touch was to glue some black lace folded over the spine to add some flair and cover the stitching.  This has created much more room for journalling, or little love notes 😉.

I decided I would use two of the larger die-cut hearts as tuck spots on a journal page so I inked around these and stuck them down with glue so that the tops were open and ephemera can be slid in behind.  I found this beautiful die-cut tag that someone had gifted me and used a sticker from the "Love Notes" Stickers pack to embellish it, and another sticker for the bottom border.  Some pianola roll paper was placed on the back of the tag as a writing spot.  

A simple, yet effective and beautiful place to hold more papers, photos, notes or tags.

Process video on these here:

I found the perfect page for my paperclip but it needed something tucked underneath.  I scrounged around and found a blank craft envelope and used a border sticker and quote sticker from the Graphic 45 "Love Notes" sticker sheets.  The quote sticker was put onto one of the die-cut shapes.  I added a stamp cut from the ..........paper and finished it all off with a postmark stamp.

Process video here:

It was so much fun making all of these embellishments to fill my journal with and now to finish the final touches ready for a flip-through of my completed wedding journal!

Here is the final flip-through of this beautiful junk journal.  I cannot wait to give it to my friends!

Take care and have fun crafting!

Nat xxx

Valentine Wedding Journal - Adding Tuck Spots

Hi crafty people 😊
With my friends wedding coming up soon, I am continuing on with the gorgeous journal I have put together for them.  The next step is to add lots of pockets and tuck-spots where they can keep photo's, papers and other ephemera from their special day.

My first job was to ink the edges of all the tea dyed and music pages with "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink. I also lightly inked over the holes in the pianola paper to make them stand out more.

I went through my off-cuts of Graphic 45 "Love Notes" papers that were leftover from making the pages for the journal, and found a piece perfect for a tuck spot on the inside front cover.  I inked this with "Black Soot" Distress Ink and applied glue to three edges, sticking it down so it was open towards the inside of the book - enabling me to slip ephemera inside.

I cut a corner tuck spot from a piece of the "Musical Masterpiece" paper. I didn't need to measure this as holding it to the page enabled me see where I wanted to cut, and the pattern of the hearts helped guide me and keep my cutting straight.  This piece is glued and adhered along the bottom and left hand side.  I then used my fine-tip applicator bottle filled with Helmars 450 glue to add lace down the side of the page, overhanging just a little so it can be seen from the other side.

I had off cuts of the gorgeous starting paper of the pianola roll that I had made the envelope from so I used this to edge the pianola paper page.  It adds a beautiful touch. I love mixing the old and the new together to create something beautiful.

With more of the "Love Notes" paper scraps I punched some teeny, tiny envelopes out, inked around them and glued them together.

I used these envelopes to decorate a strip of paper and glued the top and bottom edges of this to the page to create a "belly-band".  On the opposite tea-dyed page I placed an off-cut of the "Romantic Rhapsody" paper that I had punched some hearts from for another project.  This was stuck down on three sides leaving it open as a tuck spot in the middle.  Then I added some vintage music paper and two pieces of ephemera cut from the "Poetic Postage" paper.  The stamp embellishment is backed on to a piece of frayed, tea-dyed bandage material.

Here is a video of this page being put together:

Next I fussy cut this gorgeous big rose from the "Floral Symphony" paper.  I used my Wink of Stella "Red" pen to put some highlights on this and all of the roses on the opposing page.   This added some beautiful subtle sparkles to the petals.

On the back inside cover, I layered some off-cuts from two of the "Love Notes" collection pages and put some plain black card stock from my stash on one as a photo mat.  I have a lovely picture of the cute couple to put here eventually.  I then added a cut out from the "Poetic Postage" paper.

Here is a flip through to show you the tuck spots added thus far:

I hope I have given you some ideas on how to use gorgeous papers, such as the Graphic 45 "Love Notes" collection to create handy spaces to keep ephemera in your own journals.  More fun lies ahead with embellishments to be made and the final flip-though........
Take care and have fun crafting,
Nat xxx

Valentine Wedding Journal

Hi everyone 😃
With my friends getting married in a couple of months, I wanted to make something nice for them to store notes, pictures, cards and wedding memorabilia. Therefore, I decided to create a wedding journal with the gorgeous Graphic 45 papers from Aunty Vera.  What better way to celebrate Valentines and this month's theme "Heart of mine" than to create something beautiful for others.
Firstly, I had to decide which papers from the "Love Notes" collection I would use for my pages and to decorate the cover of my journal.  My choices were:

• Love Notes
• Romantic Rhapsody
• Melodic Missives
• Musical Masterpiece
• Standing Ovation
• Poetic Postage  

 I also hunted out some tea dyed copy paper, vintage sheet music and pianola roll paper for my pages.

I decided to recycle an old book for the cover and set about removing the pages with a craft knife.  I then measured the width and length of the inside spine area and cut 2 pieces of recycled chipboard (or you can use cardboard) to these measurements, to fit snugly inside the spine area as reinforcement, making sure there was room either side of the board for the covers to be able to close easily.  Helmars glue was used to adhere one piece of board to the inside spine of the book.

I measured the width and height of the open book cover and cut my chosen "Love notes" papers for my pages ("Floral Symphony, Musical Masterpiece , Romantic Rhapsody, and Melodic Missives") about 1/2 of a centimetre shorter than these measurements (10" x 8 1/2"), so that my pages did not stick out from the cover.  I also cut two pieces out of the "Standing Ovation" paper for the inside back and front cover and two pieces out of the "Love Notes" paper for the outside front and back cover (approximately 5" by 8 1/2").  I then found some vintage music paper and a cut-out from the "Poetic Postage" paper for embellishing the cover.

I scored and folded my Graphic 45 page papers at the five inch mark.  I used pianola paper to back the music paper to make them both more sturdy and proceeded to put my pages in an appealing order to create two signatures (groups of pages) for my journal.

The start piece of many pianola rolls is absolutely gorgeous, and for that reason I have been hoarding them.  My friends wedding seemed like the perfect time to start hacking into one, so I found one decorated in black, cut it down so the width was the same as my pages, backed it with some vintage writing paper and folded it into an envelope shape.

Is it not amazing!!!!!  I used black cotton and my sewing machine to sew down the sides to form and strengthen the envelope.

I covered the inside front and back of the book cover with the "Standing Ovation" paper.

I found some calico, cut it the length of  the second piece of board and about 3 times the width, and stuck the board in the centre of the calico. I wanted to use a three-hole pamphlet stitch to sew my signatures in and knew I wanted to sew three signatures in to this journal (I was counting the envelope as one), therefore I would put the middle signature in the middle of the board. I proceeded to measure evenly spaced lines and put dots in the centre of these and about 2.5 cm away from either end - this would be where I would poke holes for my signatures to be sewn in.  Please refer to my video below for more detailed instructions.
I then used my awl to poke holes where each of my nine dots were.

I used one line of these holes as a stencil to create a template of the hole spacings on a piece of scrap paper that was about the size of the calico.

I bumbled and struggled to sew my envelope in to the middle set of holes in my card, as I had sewn it closed - it was a struggle, but I succeeded and the outcome was worth it!

The Inka Gold "Lava Red" looks amazing rubbed on the very edges of the Graphic 45 papers I used as pages. A cotton tip was used for this application.

I sewed a signature in each side of the envelope and my journal was starting to take shape!

Now I needed to adhere the board with my signatures sewn in, to the reinforcement board in the spine of the cover.  I saturated the back of the signature board with Helmars glue then carefully placed it atop the board on the spine and used my fingers and a ruler to press the boards together around and in between the signatures.

I then had to stick the fabric down either side of the signatures.  I put glue in the gutter in between the boards and the front and back covers first, and used a ruler to press the fabric down into the crease.  This prevents the fabric from becoming taught and damaging the papers or ripping off, and enables the cover to close better. Next I stuck the rest of the fabric down to the inside covers.

Now it was time to decorate the covers. I grabbed my chosen pieces and inked all the edges with "Black Soot" Distress ink, then set about deciding on placement and gluing them all down.

On the back I layered the "Love Notes" paper, a gorgeous cut-out and border piece from the "Poetic Postage" page.

I covered the book name on the spine with another border cut-out from the "Poetic Postage" paper.

On the front I layered more "Love notes" paper, music paper, little threads cut from some eyelash trim, a sweet "Poetic Postage" cut-out and a little "cherish" banner from the Kaisercraft "Rosabella" Collectables Die Cuts.

I sprayed the cover a few times with a matte sealant to help protect the papers.

My process video can be found here:

Take care and have fun crafting,
Nat xxx

Heart of Mine - Shaker Card

I must admit I was a little discombobulated when I found out the theme 'Heart of Mine' and core product I would be working with for the month of February, as it has been myself, the kids and the dog for so long - Valentines is quite the foreign concept!!!  However, thankfully I remembered that I have two very good friends getting married later this year, and thought how wonderful it would be to create something to celebrate such a wonderful occasion that I know they would enjoy.
As it is my very first project for Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft, why not undertake more firsts and make a shaker card.  
These are the items I will be using:
* Red and black card stock
* Glue
* Scissors
* Double-sided tape
* Foam mounting tape
* Kaisercraft Decorative Die 'Rose Stem'
* Kaisercraft Decorative Die  'Nesting Scalloped Stitched Hearts'
* Kaisercraft Clear Stamps 'Two Souls'
* Inka Gold 'Lava Red'
* Wink of Stella 'Red'
* White Uniball Signo pen
* Unique 'Confetti' hearts
* Red seed beads
* Acetate

First I used my Big Shot and some deep red and black card stock to cut out beautiful roses and hearts from the Kaisercraft 'Rose Stem' and 'Nesting Scalloped Stitched Hearts' decorative dies.  I always cut more than needed for use in future projects (and in case of booboos 😏).

Next I cut a piece of the red card stock 10" by 6" then scored and folded this in half to form a 5" by 6" card base.  Then I cut a piece of black card stock just a little smaller than the card base front so when stuck on the base the red edges will still peekout (about 1/8" each side).

I grabbed the second smallest heart die and centered it on the black card stock piece to cut a window for the shaker card.

The largest black die-cut heart was then stuck inside the card with double-sided tape to make a lovely spot to write a personalised sentiment on with my white Signo pen. I also used some of the 'Two Souls' stamps to decorate the inside front, and the back of the card - I love this stamp set!!!

A little washi tape was used to hold my card base and top still, to help me position my cute little heart die-cut in place on the card base with double-sided tape.

I removed the washi tape and set about decorating the black card top.  Firstly, I applied the Inka Gold 'Lava Red' with a cotton tip to the edges....

I used my white Signo pen for the sentiments.....

then I coloured the 'Rose Stem' die cut with my Wink of Stella pen to add nice subtle glistening highlights and attached it to the black card topper with a fine tip glue applicator.

And no, the Mrs and Mrs is not a mistake 😏! I flipped the topper over and stuck a piece of acetate to the back with double-sided tape to create my window.

Back to the card base - I stuck a whole heap of foam mounting tape around the love heart to hold in the confetti and seed beads for the shaker, and extra around the edges to help secure the top when placed.  I had previously coloured the side edges of the mounting tape with a black Sharpie pen so when looking at the card side-on the tape would not be so noticeable.  I added a pinch of the Unique 'Confetti' and some seed beads in to the little dam I created around the heart.

Finally, it was time to take the mounting tape backing off and adhere the top, very slowly and carefully placing it so that there were even margins of red card showing on each side.

I love how it turned out and am excited to give my friends something made by me and made with love - very fitting for the monthly theme 'Heart of mine'!

Please feel free to check out my process video on making this card which can be found here: https://youtu.be/3AiXCTa3_N4