Summertime Configurations Book

Hello everyone! It's Monday and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is up, and a favourite theme of mine this month - Botanical Bliss. I just got a Tim Holtz Mini Configurations Book, which I was really looking forward to altering.

 

I love Tim Holtz new botanical papers, stamps and embellishments and since they fit really well together with memories from childhood summers at my grandmother's, I decided to use that as the theme for my book. She loved birds, flowers and plants, and had a shop and a post office, - all of these aspects are present in these papers. Lots of details in this project, and I have many close-ups to share.

 

As my main photo, I used a photo from a Midsummer's Eve celebration, which is why we are wearing flower wreaths. Since I wanted the two birds to show, I planned the design according to the paper. The 8 x 8 papers are a little too short to cover the whole cover, so I added a strip from another paper at the top. There is also a Trellis Frameworks, with the frame die cut from grungeboard and painted with Victorian Velvet. The inside parts were die cut from mirrored sheet, cork and patterned papers.

 

I stamped the patterned paper with different text and image stamps, picking stamps that fit with my theme. There are also die cut Butterfly Frenzy butterflies here and there.

 

If you plan the placement carefully, you can add dimensional items to the inside cover and still be able to close the book. Just make sure that there is space inside of one of the boxes for the item. I made roses with the Tattered Pinecone die, inked the and smeared some Antique Linen Distress Stickles on top and there are some mica flakes in the centre.

 

You can move the boxes around to fit your project. I had such fun filling these boxes with meaningful items and memories. Every time I work on something like this, I am amazed at the amount of memories that appear, things I thought I had forgotten brought to life by the process of creating. I painted all the boxes and edges with Victorian Velvet, and when dry, sanded them slightly and inked with Gathered Twigs.

 

I measured patterned papers to fit into each box, stamped the papers and then glued them down with matte multi-medium. I planned the placement of everything so that I wouldn't cover up parts of the patterned papers that I wanted to be able to see. In this first box I placed an 'f' letterpress letter (for 'farmor' which means paternal grandmother). I painted it pink. There is also a Tattered Pinecone rose, Mirrored Star and gold mica flakes.

 

These new monocles are such fun to work with. I placed a photo of my grandmother and an uncle behind it and added a rub-on to the front. I used a ring fastener to hang it and removed the jump ring that comes with the monocle, in order for it to fit into the box. There is a strip of tissue tape in the background.

 

One of my strongest memories from summertime at my grandmothers was walking in the forest (and sometimes encountering angry cows). The tree was coloured with Distress Paint. There is also a mini gear in the background and the paper with all the vintage adds fit well because of the shop they used to have. I am lucky to have some of the stamps from the shop, and they still stamp perfectly. You can spot one of them in the background here.

 

While I was working on the project I typed a list of words describing my memories, in no particular order. I needed a place for them, and die cut a matchbox. The cover was made from thin chipboard and the inside drawer from patterned paper. It was painted brown and a Ephemera piece, rub-ons and a pen nib was added on top. At the sides, there is tissue tape. The box can be removed.

 

Inside the matchbox there is a mini ticket booklet, with my journaling words.

 

There are journaling strips on both sides. I bound the tickets together with a strip of tissue tape.

 

Next to the box there is another rose and a Corked Vial filled with gold mica flakes and with a rub-on on top. All the leaves on the project were die cut with the Spring Greenery die.

 

There is more stamping and rub-on sentiments on the background.

 

There was a really old homemade swing hanging from a branch in the garden and I wanted to include that memory somehow. This swing was made from grungeboard, painted, sanded and inked and tied with two pieces of wire.

 

In the largest box there is a photo of me taken in her garden. Just like my grandmother, I like birds, and this metallic one is so pretty. I coloured it with Distress Paints.

 

I really love these letterpress letters, and would need a whole box with just 'A's (it is probably my most used letter, not only do I have three in my own name, my son's name also starts with an 'A' and he likes to collect them from my stash).

 

In this box there are also more frameworks pieces, a little bow and a tiny piece of ruler fabric that was a leftover from another project.

This is the front cover of the Configurations Book, with a really pretty paper as my base, again stamped here and there. At the top, I added a strip from another patterned paper.

The bird is another ephemera piece, with a rub-on and mirror stars added to it. I also used another piece of trellis frameworks.

 

This metallic rose was coloured with Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage.
 

This is the back cover, consisting of another pattered paper, with an additional strip at the top.

I covered the side pieces with patterned papers too. On the spine, 'memories' was stamped with Archival Ink. The shiny piece is a mirror piece, which is hard to photograph. 

At the base of the spine is this little dog, cut from one of the patterned papers. 

On the other long side I used one of the papers with vintage adds and at the top and bottom there are strips from the pictorial alphabet paper.

Here you can see the base of the book too. I love that this project can both be displayed open and that you can close it up as a book.

 

Join us this week in our great challenge and it might be you who wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

 

Thank you so much for looking!!

Happy crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Mini Configurations book, Menagerie 8 x 8 paper stash, Mini Collage Paper stash, Mirrored Sheet, Grungeboard, French Industrial Paper Stash
Dies: Sizzix: Matchbox, Trellis Frameworks, Bow-Tied, Tattered Curvy Banners, Butterfly Frenzy, Spring Greenery, Tattered Pinecone, Tickets
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Tiny Things, Postcards, Worn Text; Stampers Anonymous: Classics #5, Classics #17
Ink: Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs, Victorian Velvet; Archival Ink: Jet Black
Paint: Distress Paint: Gathered Twigs, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage, Broken China, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Forest Moss
Glitter: Distress Stickles: Antique Linen
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Game Pieces, Words Remnant Rubs, Letterpress, Alpha Chips, Woodlands Trees, Mini Sprocket Gears, Monocles, Mirrored Stars, Nature Adornments, Elements Tissue Tape, Symphony Tissue Tape, Arrows Adornments, Thrift Shop Ephemera pack, Expedition Ephemera Pack, Ring Fasteners, Corked Vials, Pen Nibs, Life Quotes Remnant Rubs; Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements Fabric; Stampendous Gilded Mica Flakes