Crackle Window Album Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today I have another tutorial to share with you, made for this month's Art With Heart challenge, over at Eileen Hull. The challenge is 'Red, White and Beautiful'. I hope you can join us, as every month, there is a prize to be won. I made a mini album.

 

I thought the Window Box die would work great as the cover of a nautical mini-album. I used the window once to add journaling to a layout, and since then I've wanted to use it for an album. Or you could use it as the front of a card, or to hide journaling on an art journal page. I thought Graphic 45 By The Sea papers would work great, just the right colours for the challenge theme. I made this as a gift and haven't yet developed the photos I was planning to use, so the album is not quite finished yet. 

 

Die cut the window from white or cream mat board and cover it with a layer of Wendy Vecchi's Crackled Texture Paste. Love this stuff, check out my tutorial from yesterday for more idea, and these Grungy Tall Houses. Vary the thickness slightly, the thicker the paste, the larger the crackles.

Leave to dry, and crackles appear magically.

Mist the window with water and paint with Antique Linen, followed by Pumice Stone and a little bit of Frayed Burlap. You can wipe some of the paint off with a wet cloth.

I used acetate as window glass, and stamped it with a scrip stamp and Cotton White Stazon ink.

 

I used a piece of cheesecloth for a window. Here you can see the detail of the crackle better, perfect for an old window worn by salt sea winds.

The flowers were made with the Fringed Flower die, a favourite of mine. Die cut flowers from different patterned paper and cheesecloth. Mist the paper with water and scrunch them up a bit, to give them shape and life.

I also used the Seed Packet Envelope, die cut from patterned paper, for additional journaling and photos. The little cards will go into the envelope.

For the inside pages, I used a mix of kraft cardstock and patterned paper. The cardstock was stamped with various Hero Arts stamps, using Archival Inks. To add more texture to the pages, I also stamped them with Colorbox Frost White ink, using different background stamps.

More of the inside pages. It is always fun to just sit down and stamp.

I used a mix of sentiment and image stamps, picking stamps that fit with the maritime theme. The patterned papers were also stamped here and there.

For the back cover, I simply cut a piece of mat board, same size as the window (4 x 6 in) and covered it on both sides with patterned papers.

Layer the flower pieces together. I had leftovers for more flowers.

The smaller flower at the top of the album.

I like the way the white text looks over the sweet scene outside the window.

For the title - translating 'the sea' - I used letter stickers. There is also a piece of linen ribbon and some shells.

Use a Crop-a-dile to punch holes in the covers and pages and bind with rings.

The first page without the stamped acetate in front.

I don't want to spend too much time on each page in a mini-book, and a mix of stamped kraft paper and patterned papers work well for this. All that needs to be added are photos and journaling.

On some of the pages, two kraft pages face each other.

Or a kraft and a patterned page facing each other. Sorry about the photos not being added to the album yet. I don't print my photos at home and didn't get a chance to print them before doing the album, since I only decided what the album was going to be for when I was busy making it.

The back cover. These papers are really pretty.

 

Thank you for looking!!

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Dies: Sizzix: Window Box, 3-D Fringed Flower, Seed Packet Envelope

Surfaces: Sizzix Little Sizzles Cream Mat Board; Graphic 45, Bazzill kraft; acetate; cheesecloth

Stamps: Hero Arts: La Lettre K5344, Spring Dream K5540, Take Time to Savor G5374, Tall Circle Flowers K5581, It's a Parade G5469, Bird D5890, Calendar D5791, Each Moment F5579, Lacy Background CG457, Friend AC022, Postcard AC023, My Notebook AC027, Remember AC028, Time AC029, Favorite AC030, Travel AC031, My Words CL695, Fish and Shells CL486

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Red Geranium, Cornflower Blue, Saffron, Jet Black; Colorbox Frost White

Paint: Distress Paint: Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap

Medium: Stampers Anonymous Wendy Vecchi: Crackled Texture Paste

Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Linen Ribbon; Basic Grey letter stickers; shells