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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

Adventure Awaits...

Hello friends and welcome to a brand new week over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. This week our theme is called TAKE NOTE and the team are so excited to see how you'll interpret this fun challenge and what you will be making. We hope you can join us...

For my project, I created a journal that is perfect for anyone who loves to travel but the idea for this piece was actually inspired by a story I created in my head...this would be a gentleman's journal, filled with stories and photos of his travels around the world. So, using Eileen Hull's Journal die, I bought this story to life...

So, let's begin...it's time for the new challenge and here's how I created this piece!

To begin with I used some Sizzix Sizzles mount board and cut my two sections, back and front cover using Eileen's journal die. I then attached the two separate pieces together to create my cover. All the instructions of how to construct this die and how to create the binding for the papers are supplied, so don't worry if you think it looks complicated because it's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

I then applied gesso over the entire cover, front, back and on the inside before painting it using a combination of Walnut Stain, Black Soot and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paints. Heat dry each layer of paint before adding the next, as this will stop the paintwork becoming muddy and murky in colour. Once I was happy with the blend, I heat dried the cover and set it aside.

Using the gorgeous map paper from the Correspondence Paper Stash, I cut pieces to size to cover the front and back. I machine stitched a border around the edge and then adhered the paper using Matte Collage Medium. I even added an Ephemera Snippet piece in the corner on the back cover to make it look as if there is an address label.

Now for those embellishments and as my regular visitors will know, I LOVE dimension and layers so I created those on this particular project using some paper rolls which I made up from the leftover section of the map paper. All you do for this, is cut various sized pieces of the paper and roll them around a pencil. I then tore the edges of the rolls and inked them with Ground Espresso.

To create the frame that you can see behind the paper rolls, I used the smallest Vignette Frame. I then applied a coat of gesso to the frame before painting it with the same colours of Distress Paints that I used on the cover. To complete the frame and accentuate the beading I applied a small amount of Aged Brass Alchemy Wax over the top. Attach the frame to the front cover using Collage Medium, placing and layering some Snippet Ephemera pieces behind the frame. Once everything is dry and the frame is stuck solid, I then ran Black Soot Distress Crayon around the outside of the ephemera pieces to create a shadow effect.

I then attached my paper rolls to the frame, slightly offsetting each one.

For the next layer, I used the fabulous new Rosette die from Tim Holtz to die cut another piece of paper. I made up the rosette and added an Ephemera piece, the clock face to the centre before attaching this section over the top of the paper rolls.

As the finishing touch, I added a Quote Chip to the centre of the clock.

To complete the cover, I added some Nailhead Findings and a star adornment....

...then clipped a hinge clip to the side of my cover which I coloured with Antique Bronze and Tarnished Brass Distress paint and added a swivel clasp complete with a typed token, compass from the Souvenir Adornments set and a rusty gear.

Now for the inside and for this, I covered both sides with some more of the Correspondence papers. I then cut pieces of kraft card to make two pockets, embossed the card with the Tailored Texture Fade before lightly inking over the top of the embossing with Ground Espresso Distress Ink. Attach the pockets onto your covers.

The last thing that you need to do is create the stringing to hold your paper and for this, I used some elastic cord and again followed the instructions with come with the die. I added a button to secure my elastic cord on the outside of the spine of the journal.

To complete the inside I cut and folded some handmade paper, stitched the paper down the centre fold and then threaded this though the cord to create the pages and decorated them with some idea-ology products, including paper dolls, pocket cards and metal embellishments.

So, I hope you love the project I've created this week and it will inspire you to try this wonderful die to make your own journals...it really is so much fun to use and I can already see me using this a lot more in the future.

You can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and don't forget that 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 and Texture Fade: Journal Die, Rosette, Tailored
Distress Paint: Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Antiqued Bronze, Tarnished Brass
Distress Crayons: Ground Espresso

Idea-ology: Quote Chip, Sprocket Gear, Paper Dolls, Star Adornments, Snippets, Nailhead Findings, Typed Tokens, Vignette Frame, Hinge Clip, Swivel Clasp, Buttons, Souvenir Adornments, Pocket Cards
Prima Marketing Rustic Gears
Mediums: Gesso, Matte Collage Medium, Aged Brass Alchemy Wax
Surfaces: Little Sizzles Mat Board, Correspondence Paper Stash
Ranger Craft Sheet

Big Shot

Heat Gun