Alphabet Altered Notebook

Hello crafters! Today I have an altered notebook tutorial to share, made with one of the new large embossing folders by Tim Holtz / Sizzix. 

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

The new large texture fades from Tim Holtz make it possible to emboss a much larger surface in just one go. I have many times wished for larger embossing folders and it is fun to just see such a large dry embossed paper. The design was just large enough for the A5 notebook I altered (5.8x8.3in). I used the Large Typewriter 3-D Texture Fade.

Start by embossing a piece of watercolor paper in the Large Typewriter folder. I misted the paper with water before embossing, since that gives a better result. 

Next, I painted the paper with white gesso.

Paint with watered-down Distress Paint and mist with more water to blend.

When the paint is dry (it will take a while), apply white paint to the letters to make them stand out better. Don't aim for a perfect result.

Splatter the background with some more white paint.

Stamp the background here and there with the alphabet stamp from Tim's School Desk set. 

Stamp the Tim Holtz Sign Painter letters with Simon Says Stamp Tidepool Pawsitively Saturated ink and then die cut with the coordinating Simon Says Stamp Sign Painter Letters set. I also die cut the letters from black cardstock.

I stamped sentiments from Tim's Tiny Text and also added strips of Design Tape Trims.

The larger butterflies were die cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitching Butterflies and the smaller with Tim Holtz Vault Boutique set. The were die cut from left over inky and watercolored papers. The bodies were die cut from Simon Says Stamp Black Glitter cardstock.

Glue the title as shown, off-setting the black die cuts to create a shadow. 

The background is very textured and I like how the paints blend.

If you make a card or tag, you can add more shape to the butterflies, but since journals are meant to be used, carried in bags and so on, I left them fairly flat.

I really like the Thoughts & Theories sentiment from Tim's Noble Gents set.

For the background, I used Distress Ink in the same shades, applied them to a non-stick craft sheet, misted with water and pressed watercolor paper into the ink. You can use watercolor paper, gesso and Distress Paint instead. I just wanted a quicker background.

I glued Design Tape to the spine of the book, to cover up the black cover.

Add some glue under the tape to make sure it sticks well.

 I glued everything down with Simon Says Stamp craft glue. If you don't want to alter a notebook, you can also used the embossed panel to make your own notebook, or to create an A5 card.

The notebook happened to match in color to one of my favorite pens. 

Thank you for visiting! See you again tomorrow!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Narnia December Daily Journal

Hi everyone! It is time for one of my favourite posts of the year, my December Daily journal. I really like Ali Edwards concept of a December Daily and this will be my sixth year of documenting our month of December in a journal. I do a kind of a mini version, where I focus on the words, and only add a couple of photos here and there. 

The Narnia winter scene below, as well as the techniques, work for many other types of projects. It would for instance look great on a canvas, or you can make a smaller version on a card. 

I wanted to do something different on this year's December journal and when I started thinking about a winter forest, I got the idea of making a Narnia-themed journal. I love the Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis, and did a scenic stamping piece on the lamp-post scene (when Lucy first goes through the wardrobe into Narnia) some years ago. I wanted to create the image of a deep snowy forest and used lots of layers of die cuts on the cover, and a bunch of fun techniques to create snow. 

I was planning to have posted this earlier och I was planning to have done a video, but time just ran out, so it's a step by step tutorial instead, with lots of photos. This is a Sizzix tutorial, using dies by Tim Holtz. Let's start, this is a pretty long post. 

All my December journals, except the first one, are done in different Tim Holtz worn binders, and look pretty nice together side by side on the bookshelf. This is the Tattered Worn Binder. This time, I wanted to paint the cover, and started by coating it with layers of gesso. The cover really soaks up the gesso and you'll need at least three layers, letting it dry in between. I think I did four layers. 

Paint the cover with white, Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans and Blueprint Sketch, starting with the lightest shade. Add white to blend the colors. As you can see, I used more blue on the back cover, because I knew I was going to cover that same area up on the front cover.

Apply Grit-Paste through the Speckles stencil to form snow in the sky.

Die cut the Tree Line at least six times from watercolor paper. Also die cut a couple of small trees from the Home for the Holidays set. From that same set, use the rolling hills die and die cut two hills from watercolor paper, varying the direction of the die. Finally tear the edge of a third piece.

Distress Micro Glaze works great to create a resist effect that looks like snow, and it is fun and quick too. Apply the glaze with your finger along the branches of the trees and at the bottom of the tree line. Press Distress Ink on a craft sheet and mist with water. Use just one ink per tree line die cut. I also used Tumbled Glass. The different shades creates a sense of depth in the finished forest.

 

Repeat on the three snowy hill pieces. I planned where my lamp post was going to do and applied a larger oval of glaze there.

Use a yellow Distress Crayon to add yellow, for the warm light of the lamp post.

When all the pieces are dry, I smeared a thin layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles over everything. This gives the look of snow glistening in the light, as you would see on a very cold day. If you can't get hold of Rock Candy Stickles, use another 'white' Stickles, such as Frosted Lace.

Die cut the lamp post from mat board or chipboard, and the deer from brown Sizzix Paper Leather. The deer are from the Winter Wonderland set.

Paint the lamp post by dabbing it with a Silver Paint Dabber. Repeat when dry. The dabbing motion gives a bubbly look to the paint.

When dry, add a little Crazing Medium to the lamp post, as well as Grit-Paste as snow.

Smear a Black Soot Distress Crayon on the lamp post, avoiding the snow (or add the snow later - I wanted to speed things up by letting the Grit-Paste and the Crazing dry at the same time). Wipe most of the crayon off with a slightly moist cloth.

To finish the lamp post I cut a piece of acetate to place behind the opening and colored it with alcohol ink. I also applied a tiny bit of Glossy Accents along the edges and sprinkled with dry Rock Candy glitter. Cut a piece of white cardstock and make markings with a Distress Crayon, looking like a bulb.

Here you can see the finished look of the lamp post, and you can spot the glitter, which is supposed to look like ice.

 

Die cut a bunch of other shapes to add details to the scene. I actually die cut a lot more shapes than what you see here, but forgot to take a new photo. I die cut some from white paper too, and some from glimmery blue paper, using the Festive Greens and Home for the Holidays sets. Adhere the silver Deco Sheet to paper before die cutting. 

Plan the scene and start gluing the tree lines, from the top. When the tree lines and three layers of snowy hills were glued down, I started adding smaller die cuts here and there, such as the branch tree that you see here.

 

My Lucy comes from Tim Holtz Christmas Paper Dolls and I think she fitted pretty well. She was colored lightly with Distress Markers.

Here's a closer look on the Grit-Paste snow. I also smeared a little Grit-Paste here and there on the trees and the ground, after gluing everything down.

As foreground, I added more trees and branches, as well as snow. The sentiment was printed, and I also printed a bunch of quotes which I will use on the inside.

Here's a better look at the texture of the glaze resist snow.

The deer were inked slightly with Ground Espresso and placed in the forest.

Here are the other two deer, and I added some snow to them too, from snow falling from branches.

 

The lamp post has an interesting old metal look and is also uneven to the touch.

There are also three Beaded Berries.

There is lots of dimension on this cover, but it will still fit into my bookshelf since none of the pieces stick out too much.

For the spine, I die cut the year using Tim's new Storybook die and silver kraft paper. Sand and scratch the paper before inking it with Black Soot.

The back cover is decorated too, although less elaborately.

 I added a fun quote from the book on the back cover.

This forest also consists of a bunch of different types of surfaces and die cuts.

I will finish the journaling tags that will go on the inside tonight, and will try to post them tomorrow. My December journal is ready to be filled with memories.

If you want more inspiration, check out my previous December Daily journals:  

2016 - Winter Village December Daily video

2015 - Believe December Daily

2014 - December Daily

2013 - Christmas Daily

2012 - December Mini-book

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at this long post!

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin 

Supplies:

Sizzix Thinlits Die - Tree Line [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Bigz Die - Lamp Post [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Thinlits Festive Greens [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 12PK - Home for the Holidays [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Winter Wonderland [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Bigz XL Alphabet Die - Storybook [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board [ SZZ | SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter ROCK CANDY [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology TATTERED Worn Binder [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Layering Stencil SPECKLES [ SSS ] Tim Holtz 8.5 X 11 DISTRESS WATERCOLOR CARDSTOCK [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology DECO SHEETS [ SSS ] Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 40 Sheets NH80LB40 [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Paper Stash METALLIC KRAFT STOCK [ SSS ] Sizzix Paper Leather Sheets - 8 1/2 [ SZZ ] Simon Says Stamp Cardstock GLIMMERY DEEP SEA BLUE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology CHRISTMAS PAPER DOLLS [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology BEADED BERRIES [ SSS ] Tim Holtz DISTRESS MICRO GLAZE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz DISTRESS GRIT PASTE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium CRAZING [ SSS ] Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE [ SSS ] Ranger Paint Dabber SILVER METALLIC [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Flip Top Distress Paint BLUEPRINT SKETCH [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Flip Top Distress Paint FADED JEANS [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Flip Top Distress Paint TUMBLED GLASS [ SSS ] Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon BLACK SOOT [ SSS ] Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon FOSSILIZED AMBER [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink BUTTERSCOTCH [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad BLUEPRINT SKETCH [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad FADED JEANS [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TUMBLED GLASS [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad GROUND ESPRESSO [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology TAGS Page Pockets [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Markers BROKEN CHINA [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Markers TATTERED ROSE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Markers VINTAGE PHOTO [ SSS ] Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE GESSO [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium MATTE [ SSS ] Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White & Gray) [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Accessory - Multipurpose Platform, Standard [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Accessory - Precision Base Plate for Intricate Thinlits Dies [ SZZ ] Sizzix Accessory - Cutting Pads, Standard, 1 Pair (Purple w/Silver Glitter) [ SZZ | SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress 3/4 INCH COLLAGE BRUSH [ SSS ] Ranger MINI ROUND INK BLENDING TOOLS [ SSS ] Dina Wakley Ranger PALETTE KNIFE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology SANDING GRIP [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology SANDING GRIP REFILL [ SSS ] Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET 15 X 18 [ SSS ] Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAYER [ SSS ]

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.