A Celebration of Friendship

Hello all!  It's August, and that means a new challenge at Mini Album Makers, so here's a handmade accordion tag book to give you some inspiration to come and play along.  As always, there's lots more inspiration from my fantastic team mates to be found at the Mini Album Makers Challenge Blog.

I actually made this a couple of months ago to commemorate six decades of a very special friendship between my mother (known to many of you as Cestina - owner of Small Worlds dollshouse museum), and her German friend, Inge... hence the figure 60 on the front cover.









The simple rustic exterior opens up to reveal an accordion of summer meadow delight - inspired by the quotes gathered by Cestina for the occasion (though I already had several of them in my quotes collection) and the lavender theme of the gift she herself was preparing for Inge.










So I had my brief - including that it needed to be flat enough for me to post to her in the Czech Republic so that she could hand it over when they met up in southern Germany - and this is what I created.

Cestina had originally asked for something similar to my Inspired by a Song tag, but a) that wouldn't have been very mail-able and b) I found I couldn't whittle down the offered quotes that far.

I figured that if I made an accordion book, I could whittle down to a shortlist rather than having to pick just one to work with.  Problem solved!






So I started with six tags and some Distress Inks and Oxides, smooshing in my favourite wrinkle-free distress technique.














I included the lavender tones of Shaded Lilac and Dusty Concord along with the blues and greens which always make me happy.














I added some of Lin Brown's beautiful PaperArtsy grasses, stamped in Olive Archival, across the panorama of tags, alternating between letting the grasses take centre stage and keeping them to the lower edges.






I sought out Paper Doll pairs of friends in the right size, and started positioning them on the alternate tags, between the giant grasses.

And - hallelujah! - I was able to lay my hands on the delightfully delicate Scrapiniec lavender chipboards I knew were hiding somewhere in my stash.  The other problem with only getting into the craft room occasionally (aside from craft withdrawal symptoms) is that I start to forget where things are!





I printed the quotes in a couple of different sizes to find the one which worked best, and then cut, backed and trimmed them before giving them just a touch of inky edging.  I also inked the edges of the tags - got to have that touch of brown distressing!











For the six tags on the reverse side I went for crackle... of course.  I used the DecoArt chalk paints and crackle glaze - dark green for the lower layer and white on top.

There are some more of the PaperArtsy grasses to give a little taste of what's inside, a touch of Peeled Paint smooshing to create the impression of more meadow grass surrounding the stamped images, and plenty of inking around the edges, highlighting that fabulous crackle texture.











Once I was ready to assemble my accordion book, I laid the six crackle tags face down in order and stuck wide bands of double-sided sticky tape all the way across them.












At the final gap at each end, I made a little slit in the tape and slid my burlap ribbon through so that it would emerge on the outer side.

I then peeled back the tape coverings and stuck down my meadow tags in the right order, pressing them firmly into place.














Now, as it stands on display, you get the pairs of tags facing each other...


















... a Paper Doll friendship and some tall grasses...















... along with some lavender stems and two quotes to enjoy.

I rather like having the authors of the quotes tucked away in the corners.















When you fold the book away, the burlap ribbon emerges from between the tags...















... and wraps around twice for a simple fastening.  This is the back - so no number 60.














These are just some Idea-ology metal numbers altered with Distress Paint, and (over)heated for a touch of extra texture. 







When you look at the whole thing in one direction along the accordion you get the impression of a lovely flower meadow...

... and in the other direction you see all these pairs of friends, enjoying one another's company.

Just a few close-ups for you to finish off...  the quotes, the lavender, the inky meadow and, of course, the friends!  By all means, click on the photos for a larger version.

I'm happy to say that Inge was delighted with her card.  The trouble is Cestina didn't want to give it away, and now wants one of her own to match!  Well, there will probably be time for that some time soon, I guess...

I hope that gives you some inspiration to come and play along with us at Mini Album Makers this month.  If you feel in need of some more prompting, just take a look at the glorious creations made by my amazing team mates over at the challenge blog.





Our sponsor this month is the lovely Eileen Hull, and she is offering up a wonderful prize package of her Journalling Cards Hearts die to our lucky winner, so do come and play along.  As always, we'd love to see any handmade book or mini-album - all genres and styles and levels are welcome.

After the long silence, it's all go again at the moment.  I'll be back in the next couple of days with another new offering for you... In the meantime, I hope you're all having a great week, and I'll see you soon.





One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Since I'm in my favourite world of the meadow, with wild flowers and grasses, I'd like to play along at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, where they are looking for Wild Things