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Welcome to part one of my Love To Stitch Mini Book Tutorial series.

I’ve got a mini-book for Creative Expressions to share with you and as I’m working with the Umount Vintage Sewing A5 Stamp Plate I thought I might go for a sewing theme – it seemed logical!

And, well, sewing does hold a special place in my heart.

My mum is a stitcher, both her mum and dad were stitchers, it is just in my blood.

I’m altering this mini book over the next few weeks and sharing the steps of this stitching-dedicated journal with you guys. 

What You Will Need:

Eco-Green Crafts Board Book 4″ x4″

Umount Vintage Sewing A5 Stamp Plate

Eco Green Acrylic Paints – Sand, Tide Pool

Ranger Archival Ink Pad – Olive, Jet Black

Acetate

Baker’s Twine – Red

Large Polka Mask – can use the That Special Touch Mask

Gesso

StazOn ink pad – Blazing Red, Jet Black

Old book pages

Scallop border die

Tools – Sponge, brushes

Golden Soft gel

Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue

Marker pen for writing on acetate

Before I start I thought I would give you a closer look at the Eco-Green Crafts Board Book:

The book is made up of six pages, so that is 12 surfaces to alter plus the spine. Each page is made of layers of paper to a thickness of 3 mm.

So the 4″ by 4″ book is around 3.5 cm thick and stands freely, which makes it nice and easy to photograph! (Yes, that is a jar of Marmite in the background, I’m working in the kitchen again).

Step One – Preparing the surface

I started by glueing torn pieces of old book pages over the spine and part of the back and front of the cover.  I also covered a strip of spare card too. Then let the glue dry completely.

Step Two – Some Gesso Texture

I then applied a layer of gesso to the cover, spine and sides of the book, only a light covering to blend the book page collage into the surface. Then once this layer was dry I added a thick layer of gesso through the large Polka Dot mask and let it dry completely, you can also use texture paste if you like.

Step Three – Adding Colour

Next stage is to add a bit of colour, I added a layer of the Sand Eco-Green Crafts acrylic paint with a piece of kitchen sponge and let it dry before adding the Tide Pool paint to the outer edges. I also covered the strip of card too.

Step Four – Adding Depth

Once all the paint is dry I then brushed the Ranger Archival Olive ink pad over the edges and the gesso texture of the mini book and the strip of card too.

Step Five – And Now The Stamping Part

First up, I stamped the row of dressmaker dummies with the lettering background on acetate with StazOn and cut it out to stick as the background on the front cover. I then cut a piece of white card with a scallop edge die and layered it with the old book page strip, wrapped with Baker’s twine, and stuck them to the front.

I stamped the sewing machine, buttons and sentiment, cut them out and stuck them to the front cover then finished with a touch of stitching stamped over the acetate background with StazOn and finished with a marker pen that writes on acetate.

Thanks for popping by and see you next time for Part Two!

Kim

Related Articles:

Love To Stitch Mini Book Tutorial – Part 2