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Hello friends...

Welcome to a brand new week here on my blog and a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, where this week we challenge you with the theme of FOOD AND DRINK! So, however you choose to interpret this tempting theme, we are ready and waiting for you to join us and play along!

For my project, I chose to create a recipe binder inspired by my Grandma. I have a very old recipe book that my Nan used to keep all her handwritten recipes in ~ it's packed full of wonderful old fashioned recipes but it had seen better days. So with this in mind, I thought it would be time to create a new one, (keeping the old one wrapped up in tissue and in a safe place for prosperity) and make a journal that I could transfer all those beautifully written pages into and that's exactly what I did and hope you'll join me in how I created this book.

So, let's get started because it's time for the new challenge!

To begin with I used Eileen Hull's Journal Die to create my cover which I cut from mount board. After assembling the sections that I cut, (Eileen provides full instructions with the die) I then painted the cover with a blend of Walnut Stain, Black Soot and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint and allowed this to dry before threading my elastic through the holes of the spine which will eventually hold my pages in place. Once dry, I added small hints of gold foil along the edges of the cover by running a Collage Glue Stick down the edge and then place the transfer sheet over the top of the tacky glue, rub with a fingernail and pull off to reveal the gold foil.

For this I started by creating my 'tea stained' paper and used Dina Wakley's Cotton Paper as a base. I cut to panels, which measure slightly smaller in size than the front and back covers so that I have a border around the outside once it's attached. I then applied Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, Iced Spruce and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide Inks to my Glass Media Mat, lightly misted the inks and paper with water and then smooshed the paper through the inks, picking up the colour. Heat dry the paper and if you need more ink, do a little more smooshing until you're happy. To create the layers on the paper, I then adhered some torn Symphony Tissue Tape using Collage Medium and attached this to the central area before scraping small amounts of gesso over the top. Allow the paint to dry and then I added some deeper colour tones by using Pumice Stone and Ground Espresso Distress Crayon.

After adding a few splashes of Black Soot Distress Paint, I then machine stitched a border around the edge of each panel before adhering my paper to the painted front and back covers.

Moving onto the cover, I used Tim's Tea Time die to die cut my teacups, which is another thing that I fondly remember from my Nan's house ~ her extensive china collection which was stored away in the cabinet in the dining room and only came out for special occasions.

I started by covering mount board with Worn Wallpaper and then die cutting each of my cups and a saucer from different patterns. I then inked the edges of the teacups and built them up by placing them inside one another. To add a little more detail, I used some more of the gold foil transfer sheets around the edges and then attached the teacups onto the central section of my cover, placing them over a bed of sisal fibres.

To complete the cover, I added the Quote Chips ~ Home...

...and Collection. Both chips are sanded around the edges and then inked with a little Frayed Burlap DI before being placed over the top of some randomly torn pieces of design tape.

Finally, I placed a Hex Fastener in each corner of the cover and pinned an Industrial Adornment and a Story Tag to the spine, attaching them where the elastic cord is pulled through.

Now for the inside...

...and to decorate this, I used some more of the Worn Wallpaper, just a different pattern to those I used on the teacups. I sandpapered around the edges to create a more worn feel and then adhered to both sides of the inside cover.

I wanted to add some pockets that would hold notes and created these using Linen adhesive sheets from Tim Holtz's Textile Surfaces pack, which I had attached to thick card stock. I then placed the covered card into the new Botanical Flourish 3D Texture Fade and embossed the surface. Once embossed, I inked the surface with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and cut it to form two pockets which I placed onto the inside covers. To give a nice finished edge to the pocket, I added some lace adn I also added a Clippings Sticker, "M. Tibbitts" just in the top right of the cover.

To complete the inside covers, I added some Silverware adornments, knife and fork on the left and the spoon placed over a milk cap, on the right ~ all altered with a little Mushroom and Rust Alcohol Inks.

Now to finish the book and for this, no book is complete without pages and for these, I cut from cotton paper and inked around the edges to create a more vintage feel. I then stamped some images from the Tiny Things 2 stamp set onto the pages and added some Remnant Rubs.

So, that completes my recipe journal and I hope you've loved how I created it and enjoyed the inspiration and story behind this piece.

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I'll see you very soon!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Tea Time
Eileen Hull Journal Die by Sizzix
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Stamps: Tiny Things 2

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Walnut Stain and Antiqued Bronze
Distress Crayons: Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone
Distress Oxide Inks: Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, Iced Spruce and Frayed Burlap
Distress Inks: Frayed Burlap

Idea-ology: Clippings Stickers, Quote Chip, Silverware Adornments, Milk Caps, Tiny Text Remnant Rubs, Symphony Tissue Tape
Alcohol Ink: Mushroom, Rust

Mediums: Gesso, Matte Collage Medium, Vintage Transfer Foil, Collage Stick

Surfaces:  Worn Wallpaper

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat
Big Shot Plus

Heat Gun
Sisal Fibres, Mountboard, Chipboard and Linen Textile Surface from my own stash