A Gentle Journal

Hello all!  After all the excitement of the Get Wrapped Bloghop - thank you to visitors old and new for all your lovely comments on my Wrapped Meadow Journal - I'm back with another exciting post...  Believe it or not, Mini Album Makers is celebrating its first birthday.  Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?!  To celebrate, we are also hosting a bloghop this month, and there's a prize on offer for hopping as well as for participating in this month's challenge.

If you're already hopping, you should have arrived here from the amazing Maria, and I'll point you in the right direction for your next hop at the end of the post.  If you've arrived here mid-hop, you can find the full itinerary at the foot of the post.

As inspiration for you for this month's Mini Album Makers challenge, I've got another version of Eileen Hull's wonderful Wrapped Journal.  What with all this excitement, I was in need of something calm and gentle, so here's the gentle journal I've created for you this month.

I think maybe it's the journal belonging to the woman from yesterday's Thy Sweet Love Remembered tag - another gentle, calming creation.  It's not only the blog-hopping that's left me in need of peace and calm, but also the show I've just been working on.



I'm happy to say that Tamburlaine, which has just opened in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, has had great reviews (both local and national) but it's nobody's idea of a relaxing night out - an "epic, entrancing bloodbath", according to the Guardian!  Not to mention that tech/dress/previews/press is always a really intense period however light-hearted the show.

(You can see lots of production photos here, if you're interested in what's been keeping me away from you all for so long.)








I arrived back home needing to do some urgent making and blogpost-writing to meet various deadlines, and it wasn't even a conscious decision to reach for the gentle neutrals... it just happened! 











In very quick succession I made this journal and then yesterday's Tag Friday tag, and felt very calm and relaxed, despite being up against those deadlines.

This is really the simplest of makes, and I'm afraid I don't really have any process photos, since it wasn't a difficult process - just cutting and sticking.  If you have Eileen's die or some die-cuts of it (thank you Anne - though I'll confess I've since given in and bought the die!), then you're not far from a special handmade book.











I cut pieces of Tim Holtz paper (I suspect it's from the French Industrial Paper Stash) to cut the main panels of the matboard die-cut, the two front panels and the back... 

















... and used strips of Design Tape on the spines.















This allows the scored spine to stay nice and bendy for when you are wrapping the journal.
















Inside there is some more of the Tim Holtz paper lining the interior...















... and then some of my Canson Mixed Media paper signatures.












Usually I'd have been inking all the edges of everything in sight, but I really just wanted to stay light and airy and bright, so instead I just did some simple sanding and added a couple of swipes of white paint.













Again, the signatures are held in place with some fine twine, and I've left them unstitched so that I can remove pages to work on if I want to.














The holes are cut by the die, of course, but having added the layers of Design Tape I used a hole punch to cut through again in the right places. 














I really kept the decoration to a minimum - I was in a minimalist mood.  So there are some of the lovely Tim Holtz Wildflower Thinlits, but just in plain off-white card, no altering.

And I used a Calico Craft Parts Word Elements piece to create both my focal point and fastening for the journal.

I just rubbed some white paint onto the laser-cut MDF, keeping quite a rough, weathered look...












... and then threaded some crinkle ribbon through it, checking I had the right lengths to tie the bow where I wanted it...














... before gluing down the Word Element, with the ribbon stuck down behind it.  That's the only place where the ribbon is glued - I've left it free-flowing otherwise.

It's plenty to hold everything in place when the ribbon is wrapped and tied.

The ribbon has been distressed with some Pumice Stone Distress Ink and a bit of white paint leftover after all the splattering. 

And that really is it - simple, quick, but oh, it makes me happy!

I hope you enjoy hopping on round to see the rest of our Mini Album Makers birthday creations.  Your next port of call is with the wonderful Inna.










Be sure to leave a comment on every post, and you will be put in the draw for a $25 gift certificate generously donated by Blitsy.  This will go to one lucky reader whose name will be chosen at random from all of the comments on the Design Team blogs.

In addition we have our usual prize for participating in the challenge itself.  Our sponsor this month is Lindy's Stamp Gang, so there's a $25 gift voucher up for grabs for their fabulous products.




I hope, as well as hopping, you're inspired to come and join in with us at Mini Album Makers this month.  As always, any handmade books/albums/journals are welcome, in any style, and remember to add our badge to your post.   Thank you so much for all your amazing contributions over the last year.  We are always completely blown away by the incredible entries each month, and here's to many more! 

Isn't it mysterious to begin a new journal like this? I can run my fingers through the fresh clean pages but I cannot guess what the writing on them will be.
From Betsy in Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace

Mini Album Makers Blogaversary Bloghop

Nancy Wethington - Art-From-The-Heart

Jennie Atkinson - Live the Dream

Anne Redfern - RedAnne

Maria Lillepruun - Magic Attic Design

Alison Bomber - Words and Pictures... you're already here! 

Inna Bronnikova

Autumn Clark - SewPaperPaint