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Tuesday 1 May 2018

Clockwork Notebook






Hello all!  I simply can't believe that it's May already, but here we are starting a new challenge at Mini Album Makers, so I suppose it must be!

As always, we'd love to see any handmade books/albums/journals that you create this month.  My lovely team-mates are sharing some inspiration to get you started, and here's my offering.

Our sponsor this month is Lindy's Stamp Gang, and I've been playing with some of their wonderful sprays to create this journal.

The basic structure of the book is made with the brilliant Eileen Hull Journal Die - it's so incredibly useful if you like to make books at all.














I used it to cut some sturdy cardboard and covered that with plain white cardstock, also cut with the die.














I started with some spritzes of the new Distress Resist Spray (done inside a large cardboard box so that the sticky spray wouldn't contaminate anything nearby).














Over this basic resist splatter, I applied three Lindy's sprays - a Flat Fabio spray in Danny Zuko's Denim and two Starbursts (full of shimmer), Creme Brulee Cream and Tainted Love Teal.













For the inner covers, I simply mopped up the leftover D.Z.'s Denim and T.L. Teal by dabbing the journal covers down into the spare ink.













I started to play with adding some gears to the cover, and decided I'd like some ink spray which would echo those colours more closely...














... so I added some droplets of a Moon Shadow Mist in Incandescent Copper.













The large clock face is a Tando chipboard piece which actually used to be part of an old ATB project, now dismantled.  It was already almost the right colour, but I added some of the same Lindy's sprays to make it tone in fully.










I also smeared on some additional coppery shimmer with my fingertips, dipped into DecoArt's Worn Penny Metallic Paint.














One of the hands is a Tando hand, and the smaller one is a metal addition, and there's an actual watch part right in the centre.















Once I'd glued my chosen copper gears into place (some Idea-ology, some from cheaper sources like Ebay)...












.... along with the fabulous little ART bolt, which is one of the Prima Mechanicals...














... I still thought I'd like just a little extra something going on, so I reached for DecoArt's Liquid Glass and used that to add my little bubbles around the gears.















It starts out slightly cloudy, but as it dries it becomes completely clear so you get these wonderful little waterdrops which catch the light beautifully.













I spent some time trying to decide on the best Quote Chips to add to the cover, and once I was happy with the size and the sentiment of each of them...











... I used Sepia Archival ink to add a little framing colour to the words, and edged them with the Worn Penny paint.

By the way, isn't the shimmer from the Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays amazing?














The ribbon was already a reasonably good colour for the project, but a little more gold than copper, so I gave it a good spritzing with the Incandescent Copper spray.
















It's a satin ribbon rather than my usual seam binding, so it didn't hold the colour completely, but enough to allow it to tone in properly.














I applied double-sided sticky tape underneath the ribbon to keep it in place, and simple bow fastens it at the opening side.













There's no tape holding the ribbon down at the spine - it needs to be free to move as you open and close the notebook.













My signatures are made up of cheap(er) watercolour paper, and I've used some dark fine twine to fasten them into the journal.












The pages are still free to slide in and out to be worked on, and more can be added very easily.

It's a simple, elegant binding, and I rather like how it looks.

I hope you like it, and I hope you'll be inspired to create a handmade book of your own this month.









As I said, our sponsor this month is the fabulous Lindy's Stamp Gang, who will be offering a $25 voucher to our winner, so come and play along if you'd like to get your hands on some of these magical sprays (or any of their other amazing products).



Any style is welcome at the Mini Album Makers Challenge, and do check out the inspiration provided there by my fabulous team-mates.  We hope to see you there some time in May.






I'm leaving you with double trouble - two final photos of my Clockwork Notebook, because I couldn't decide which lighting I preferred!







The clock always ticks.  There are times you don't hear it, and there are times that you do.
David Levithan

I'd like to play along at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme this week is Time Out
And there's also just time to squeeze it in at That's Crafty Challenges for the Going Round in Circles theme

29 comments:

  1. Happy May!! A delightful book in your go-to colours!

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  2. A lovely journal cover Alison, very you! Thanks for the reminder of the liquid glass, I quite forgot about that and the effect looks wonderful!

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  3. Fantastic album, love the colours, too. Have a great May, hugs, Valerie

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  4. Loving those colours Alison, there is something about them together that makes me so happy.. So alluring. A very handy book that will hold lots of inspirational works of art inside without a shadow of a doubt.
    Thank you for sharing.
    Creative Hugs Tracey xx

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  5. Brilliant journal cover and especially love the addition of the liquid glass
    Love
    Amanda x

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  6. It's stunningly beautiful :-))) xx

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  7. An amazing journal Alison, lovely colours. You’ve reminded me that I have some liquid glass somewhere in my stash, I’ve had it ages and think I’ve used it once.
    xxx Hazel.

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  8. Oh my , Alison, this is an amazing way of creating your stunning journal, or mini album- as you can imagine, I totally love your color scheme , and the play with them on the lovely background. The watch part and gears looks amazing , and so sweet you tied it with a bow.
    Writing also as DT for That`s Crafty , - thank you for adding this beautiful art piece to our challenge .
    Hugs from Dorthe , xx

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  9. What a beautiful journal Alison, everything just works so effortlessly together! Have a very happy May, Sue xx

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  10. Love that you made this from cardboard and love the size!!! The cover and all the elements on it are fabulous! So wonderful every bit, and I can't wait to see the pages inside.

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  11. My colour so a firm favourite of mine before I began reading all about it. Loved the reveal of how you built up this wonderful effect on your covers - and the ribbon is just beautiful and works so well. Must add my praises to the DecoArt liquid glass which compliments everything about this cover.
    Wish I could see what you do with the watercolour papers inside - bet you fill it with some stunning work.
    Hugs, Neet xx

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  12. Hi Alison, hope you are well. Gorgeous journal and I love that moon shadow mist. Perfect combination of colours and textures. Love, Love, Love. Tracy x

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  13. I love your colour choices, they are gorgeous (and right up my street!). Adding the touches of copper was a brilliant idea and those water droplets are really beautiful. And of course, I love the die too! Anne xx

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  14. Another beautiful sample of what we can do with this journal die!
    Your cover is scrumptious!!
    For the little story, after a long time full of temptation and hesitation, I finally coud not resist to it anymore :-)
    So despite I really wanted not to buy this die at first, I finally have it in my stash... I just hope that I will not be disappointed, and that I will use it for my workshops! I must give this a try and create a project with it following your gorgeous samples and ideas, thank you for the inspiration as usual and tips dear Alison :)
    Hugs, Corinne xx
    (and please, sorry if I don't visit you regularly at the moment, I'm so busy. Moreover blogger don't advertise us anymore of new blog posts (I don't know why!!!), so it is even less easy...).

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  15. Its an amazing journal , I love the metal cogs and the clock you used on the cover. The water drops look good really realistic.
    Yvonne xx

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  16. gorgeous little note book, dear Alison! I love the colors and the clockface and cogs!
    Have a wonderful May!
    Evelyn xx

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  17. A really beautiful book! I love the colours! Sometimes two photos are better than one as you see things in one that you dont see in the other! Hugs,Chrisx

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  18. I love this die Alison and your journal cover is fabulous. I really love the background and the colors. Steampunk is always a great theme.
    Beautiful!
    Kate

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  19. Another beauty Alison and love the sprizted background (need to dig out my under used sprays!) as the effect is gorgeous. The glints of copper look fabulous with the misty blue.
    Fliss xx

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  20. What a delightful way to start the month of May! I really must make an effort to get the Eileen Hull die
    ....

    Sally xx

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  21. A fabulous cover, love the look of the Liquid Glass.
    Avril xx

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  22. Clocks, gears, and blue...all my favorite things all in one journal! This is fabulous! I love it!!!

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  23. I love everything about this , Alison . The colours, the clockwork/ gear and cog elements, those little bubbles of liquid glass, the gentle shimmer and shine......
    An A real beauty
    hugs x

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  24. What a lovely journal. Those "water drops" are really nifty. Love the colors you've used, as usual.

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  25. wonderful Journal - your cover it fantastic! Just beautiful xx

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  26. Fabulous journal Alison!
    Don't you just love Lindy
    s sprays! I do!
    Yes, Happy May day a bit late! Are you home again? Hopefully the spring has sprung for you!
    Sending hugs,Jackie xo

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  27. What a stunning notebook, love that you've made it from scratch and the cover is so very pretty, love the splattery effect. The gears and clock are amazing. Thank you so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Hugs, Sandra

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  28. Simple, beautiful and so effective! I love it to bits, Alison! I'm missing making some Midoris , lately.
    PS: the picture on the left best light, for me :-)

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  29. Hi Alison, I'm catching up and am here to say how much I love this gorgeous journal! The resist spray is amazing on your cover! I love how you added the ribbon closure and it blends with your clock composition. It's truly a beautiful use of Eileen's die and such an inspiration. Hugs, Autumn

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Thank so much for taking the time to stop by. It's lovely to hear what you think - every comment is so much appreciated.