Sep 1, 2018

Blog Hop for Mini Album Makers Blogaversary!


Hello friends and happy September!  Today we begin a new challenge at Mini Album Makers.  This very special challenge marks our first Blogaversary!  We are so excited to have shared the last year with each of you! To celebrate our Blogaversary, we've organized a blog hop this month.  We're giving away a $25 gift certificate to Blitsy.com to one lucky reader whose name will be chosen at random from all of the comments on the Design Team blogs.  In addition, Lindy's Stamp Gang will give a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant in our challenge.



This month I'm stepping off of my beaten path and away from my grungy, vintage norm.  I've been itching to get back into art journaling with paints and doodles and decided to make a cardboard junk journal to help me get started.  I had seen a tutorial for this type of book years ago and do not know where, but remember that they used cardboard and water activated packing tape to join the pages.


I decided to use this roll of athletic tape I picked up from the Dollar Tree.  Make sure to check out my other Dollar Store Paper Craft projects HERE.  I cut my pieces of double-ply cardboard down to 5x7".  You will need an even number of pages no matter what size.  I used eight and my book is 2 1/4" thick but this will vary depending on the number of pages you use and the thickness of your cardboard.  I butted the long ends of two pieces of cardboard together and joined them together with the tape.




Once I had two sets of pages joined and folded, I butted the sets together and joined them with more tape.


Once I had four sets of pages, I butted them and joined them with even more tape.


Now with this super sticky tape you will need something to cover the spine to adhere to the sticky exposed parts.  I tried using more tape as shown above but changed my mind and used sticky back canvas instead.  I had some that was black with a white dotty pattern, but you could use Ranger's plain sticky back canvas and paint it if you like.


Now the whole beauty of this book is that the pages are super heavy to withstand wet mediums and the pages open flat because of the binding method.  I chose the 5x7" size because I could open the book pages and fit the entire spread onto my 8x10" gelli plate.  Happy day!  See how beautifully the tape accepts the paint print!


Here's my book being printed.  Notice how easily the pages open and lay flat for printing.  If you have a smaller gelli plate, you could do mono prints by laying your book down and using the gelli plate to "stamp" your backgrounds on top of it.


Here's a better shot of the improved spine.  I added some vintage neon pink trim to wrap my spine and concealed the edges beneath a smaller layer of cardboard for my cover.  My doodling was done with a LePen permanent marker.  I love this pen because it's not shiny like a Sharpie.  I used some $1 alphabet stamps and the Tim Holtz Storybook Bigz XL alphabet die to cut the word "joy."  Blitsy has a great deal on Tim's Bigz XL dies, so make sure to check those out HERE.


I made these journal pages three years ago when I was into art journaling more.  Since today's book is a work in progress, I thought I would share them again so you would get an idea of how I will fill my cardboard junk journal.  (Click to enlarge.)







That's all for me!  Again, make sure to visit each of the following blogs and leave a comment for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Blitsy.com.  Please share a comment with a link if you create your own journal following this tutorial.  :)

Nancy Wethington - Art-From-The-Heart
Jennie Atkinson - Live the Dream
Anne Redfern - RedAnne
Maria Lillepruun - Magic Attic Design
Alison Bomber - Words and Pictures 
Autumn Clark - SewPaperPaint <<< That's me!  You are here.  :)
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
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42 comments:

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

HUGE Congratulations Autumn on your First Blogiversary of Mini Album Makers. I've loved every creative minute of inspiration yourself and the team have brought to us. This creation is outstanding, love the chunkiness and layers of colour showing just how much fun you can have playing with those paints.
Beauty within every flick full of unique art marks. A stunning piece of creativity, Thank you as always for sharing.. I'm off to join the others on the blog hop.
Creative hugs & wishes Tracey xx

Redanne said...

Autumn, your chunky cardboard journal is delightful and I just love how it will fit onto your Gelli plate! The cover is beautiful with the neon coloured binding too and the word 'Joy'! Your pages from last year are all beautiful too, I am sure you will have many happy hours filling in your new junk journal! Hugs, Anne xx

kiwimeskreations said...

Looking forward to seeing this Joy journal filled in - the colours are wonderful just as it is!
Blessings
Maxine

Nancy Wethington said...

Athletic tape! You are a genius! What a very clever way to design an art journal. And the finished pages look beautiful.

Neet said...

Never thought of doing a journal with card like that. What a fantastic result! I just love your pages and the idea of how strong each one is to withstand as much paint as i want to throw on it.
Thank you for sharing.
Neet x

Words and Pictures said...

What a rainbow joy of a junk journal! I've got cardboard boxes coming out of my ears (can never bear to throw good cardboard out, even to the recycling bins) so I'm definitely going to give this a go. Just have to find some nice wide tape to work with. Love your gelli print pages, and it's lovely to dip back into your art journalling past to see how they're likely to develop. Congratulations on the one year anniversary of your amazing creation - it's been a joy seeing Mini Album Makers grow and flourish.
Alison x

SD pooja said...

I am loving this bright and colorful creation !

Sylvia/LittleTreasures said...

Oh Autumn, what a fun post. Loving this chunky cardboard journal. The colors are cheery and inspirational. I just got a Gelli plate so will be fun to experiment. I appreciate the step by step, I always pick up little new ideas.Today the "tape", I love the $ stores ! Congrats on the 1st Blogaversary and thanks for all the inspiration.

gibonik said...

great idea! so simple and brilliant! would have to make my own book like this for art journalling ;)

Unknown said...

Very beautiful, colourful and original project!!

Isabel Gonzalez said...

Wow!!!! What an inspiration!!!! I've been itching to get back into mixed media and you have totally inspired me to try this method for getting started again. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome ideas!!!!

Elena Martynova said...

WOW! So great idea for art-journal!!!!

Craftyfield said...

Beautiful cover Autumn, and a great tutorial to boot! If I get time it's one album I could actually make and cardboard is also something I have rather a lot of! I love these colours too, a change from Vintage but a change is good!

Gail said...

Truly a work of art Autumn - inspiring and love that mixed media

Olga Scraplady said...

That's an amazing art journal!!!! 😍😍😍😍 You inspired me to create smth colorful))) Thank you for sharin

Astrid Maclean said...

First of all, congratulations on the anniversary!!
Your colourful junk journal, is so cleverly put together, a real delight!

Marilyn McLeod @ Pink Paper Cottage said...

I've always wanted to make a journal out of cardboard and use my Cinch machine. This looks awesome.. love all the colors and you are ingenious to use that kind of tape!

Julia Aston said...

What a fun thick cardboard album Autumn! love how you gelli printed the pages and the fun smaller layered piece on your cover - love this! congrats on your 1 year anniversary!! Julia xx

Lisa said...

Huge congrats on your first amazing year, Autumn!! I've been so inspired by the stunning albums!! This one is spectacular!! I love the gorgeous colors and all of the amazing details!! You are such a huge inspiration, my friend!! I adore this!! Have a great weekend!! Big hugs :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

Kate Yetter said...

Wow, Autumn! The inside pages are beautiful. As I was reading what you wrote about not art journaling as much, I saw those gorgeous pages and thought, "Why, not?" You certainly have the knack for art journaling. But I guess we all go through phases where we like certain types of art better. And some of it has to do with time constraints. What ever you make, it is always stunning!
Kate

Helen Wallace said...

A fascinating post, full of ideas and prompts to recycle and repurpose more than I already do. Love the gelli work and the use of that tape. Especially love the little butterfly baby balanced on the edge of the circle. TFS

Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith said...

Autumn, this has got me so excited! Simple, yet genius! My heart is beating faster and my hands are itching to try this! Totally my thing! Can't believe MAM has already been running for a year! Many happy returns - I'm looking forward to another year of amazing inspiration from you and your team! Well done and thank you, Girls! xx

Mirabelka said...

I love its simplicity and junky feeling. It leaves a lot of space for creativity

Lys said...

Congratulations, Autumn, for the blogaversary and for this joyful journal. What an idea to use thick cardboard and athletic tape! I love the result.

Helen said...

Absolutely stunning journal! LOVE your process! Thanks for sharing with us!

ann barnes said...

Autumn, I could not be happier for you, seeing how successful the mini album makers blog has become! Happy blogaversary and CONGRATULATIONS!!! Now, I just want to say how much I love this junk journal you have created! What an awesome binding technique that allows the pages to lie flat! Ive got this bookmarked so I can refer to it in the future. Love seeing your pages you created in the past and look forward to seeing the evolution of your style. I love seeing all the inspiration that your blog has to offer. Thank you and congratulations again, what a wonderful journey to celebrate!

Mary Brack said...

I love this journal, Autumn! And your return to art journaling. It's beautiful!

Jen said...

I honestly never would have thought to use first aid tape from the discount store to put together such a fun art journal? Well done! All the bright colors have truly transformed the cardboard into something worth keeping. Lovely!
Thanks for sharing.

Jackie PNeal said...

Autumn, first up, HUGE HAPPY Anniversary!! Holy Moly I can not believe it has been a whole year already! And wow girlfriend,congratulations on having such an awesome challenge blog! I have seen the growth with some many new people joining in along the way!
And I am working on one now, and hope to finally join in. And how fun to be joining in on your 1 year blogiversary!
Your journal is fabulous and it is so awesome that you created it from cardboard and athletic tape.
I just love those pages,each is a masterpiece i itself! My favorites are 2 & 3 and all of them!
Hope your day is beautiful and best wishes for continued success!
Jackie xo

Cocofolies said...

Wow!!!!
Absolutely amazing book dear Autumn, I adore this one and your way of creating it.
Thank you so much for your tutorial, great seeing all the photos!! wonderful mini-book, and all your pages are really fab!
Hugs,
Coco

MaryH said...

Congratulations on this 1st blogaversary. It's fascinating to read the process & see the pictures of the steps of your journey in making this journal. Your ideas are so creative and inspirational, and reflect your personality. Great that you were able to get some supplies from the Dollar Tree too. We venture in there from time to time, but I'm not great at 'seeing' what can be done out-of-the-box. It's so interesting to see what others find and how they've used it for another purpose! TFS & Hugs

Michele said...

i'm really inspired by this as it feels like something i could make. what a gorgeous bright colorful beautiful journal! i'm going to gather up my tape and cardboard and get to work! xo

Cindy Vernon said...

Beautiful album.

Mari said...

Love it, it's so clever and creative way to make an album!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on a successful first year! This challenge blog is truly inspired, and each and every designer brings something unique to the table. I love this creation, and using items from dollar tree is right up my alley;) Big hugs from Kentucky!

Margaret Mifsud said...

This journal is absolutely gorgeous Autumn!! So clever of you to make it out of cardboard and it is simply brilliant in its construction. I really enjoyed seeing how it all came together and am bookmarking for future reference!! Love this .. it is absolutely awesome!! hugs xx

Nora said...

Dear Autumn, I love the natural vibe of your book!!!
Your art journalism is fantastic too!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Hugs!

Annie said...

Huge congratulations on your first anniversary at Mini Album makers Autumn x Love this journal and the pages are beautifully pieced together and I love the colours that really lift your mind

TFS and best wishes
Annie x

Jennie Atkinson said...

Your creativity is boundless Autumn! What a wonderful idea to use the boards and I love the way you created the "hinges" between each page so they lay flat. I do adore chunky books and this is just a super one! so beautifully colourful too.

Sorry to be so late in visiting - I am still catching up from Norway!

Jennie x

Paper Profusion said...

Major congratulations Autumn on Mini Album Maker's 1st anniversary. You and all your very talented team have made it a brilliant success and terrific inspiration source. This is a fantastic and happy journal - just think of all the packaging that we readily throw away. Love your previous pages too. Have a lovely week. Nicola x

Jane Elizabeth France said...

Oh my word Autumn, I just adore your chunky journal, and even more beautiful knowing it is all recycled materials. sooo cuuute. Your art journals are so inspiring, full of colourful layers. Congratulations on your first blogaversary. X

Anneke said...

I really love your little book. It’s so colorful and there is so much to see!
Thankyou for showing us how you made it with your step by step pictures!
Very inspiring! Thankyou for your kind words on my blog. Greetings Anneke

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