* AALL & Create: Book of Days

 Hello!

I am delighted to have been asked to stay a little longer as GDT with AALL & Create. Their stamps, stencils and washi tapes are top notch and such fun to mix and match between the very talented designers!

This week is mini book week and I have created a Book of Days for noting down those memorable dates that you don't want to miss. The main decoration is on the cover of the book as the pages inside are designed to be written upon. I also made some insert pages that can be threaded through elastic (like a travellers' journal) for those months where you have a lot to remember, or for if you want to make it into a diary or journal. 

Here are photos of the finished book. There are work in progress photos below with some explanations of how I made it.

These beautiful butterflies on their scripted circle backgrounds are classic stamps and will be used time and time again. The stamps are so beautiful, they do not need much else to make a project. 

I used 2 stamp sets for the focal point, #449 Through The Meadows and #458 Hibiscus.

I added an extra butterfly layer to give some dimension and some black thread too. A glass cabochon adds some more texture and dimension, along with the heat embossed glaze.

The back of the book has some layering of elements, but here they are adhered flat.

I really like how the book cover turned out. The cover is slightly larger than the inside pages, so to give it a bit of extra strength and durability, I used Bipasha's stunning new washi tape, #15 Twine, on the inside of the covers. This can be seen below:

There is a page a month to write down your important dates. Each page has some colour from stamping with stencil #96 Dandelion Fields. I added some borders and flowers (#44) in Versafine Clair ink and stamped the season (#455 Seasons).

If you have plenty to write there are some extra pages that can be inserted - I used elastic thread so that these can be slotted into place. Simple stencil stamping with #87 Totally Dotty and the doodle border from stamp set 44 finish off the inserts.

Work in Progress:

The covers started as gelli prints using PaperArtsy Fresco Acrylic paints and stencil #87 Totally Dotty.

I added some shading on the circles using Neocolour 11.

I stamped one of the beautiful butterfly stamps from #449 Through the Meadows and added a smaller stamp from # 458 Hibiscus at the base. I also used # 487 Reverse Semicircles to stamp along the edges of the gelli print.

Next I stamped #469 Scripted Semicircles and used Speckled Egg embossing glaze. I stamped my book title onto spare card using Versafine Misty Morning and I glazed that with Hickory Smoke. I stamped the butterfly image again and cut out some of the circles.

I have no WIP photos, but I coloured the butterflies with Inktense pencils and activated with a water brush. I added a second coloured butterfly on top of the first for dimension and added some black thread beneath it. 

The letters were fussy cut, leaving a thin white border, and were adhered onto the cover to spell the book title.

The white circles were glued in place and a glass dome was added to the top circle.

White paint was splattered over the page.

The inside pages were kept quite muted so that they can be written on. I smooshed ink onto the back of stencil #96 Dandelion Field and printed it onto card. I used various colours to represent the seasons throughout the year, as can be seen below:

I finished the inside pages by stamping the month (#455 Seasons) along with some flowers from #44 and the season. This stamping was done with Versafine Clair inks. I also used the doodle border lines from stamp set #44 to edge the pages and underline the month.

My insert pages are stamped with the #87 Totally Dotty stencil using oxide inks and the border stamp from set #44 was used. 

***

Thank you very much to Autour de Mwa and AALL & Create for this fabulous DT package. I am honoured to work with these newly released stamp sets for the next few months:

To see the stamps, stencils, dies and washi tapes used, please visit

AALL & Create Boutique. 

A list of stockists can be found here.

You'll find lots of inspiration on the 

AALL & Create Facebook Page, the AALL & Create Fanatics Facebook Page and on Instagram

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* A Perfect Time To Craft March AG 27/03

* Classic Design Challenge March AG 28/03

* TIOT Stencils 30/03 TOP 5

* Dare 2B Artzy March AG (#2) 31/03

Snarky Stampers #181 Layers 03/04 QUEEN

613 Avenue Create #3 AG 05/04 WINNER

* Crafty Creations #419 AG 05/04