I love it because... for Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. Over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog we are embracing the Spring season and all it brings. It's my turn to host and I've called the challenge 'I love it because... '. How often do you create something just for you that makes your heart sing? Doesn't it feel great when you do! My challenge to you is to make a vintage or shabby chic piece of art, be it a journal page, a tag, a card, a home decor project etc, that fills you with happiness and makes you smile - don't forget to tell us why you love it so much.

As ever, the Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive Top 3 badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

The passion for creating small bound books continues here and I love that this one combined stitching and using up scraps as well as a junk journal text block.

In the tutorial shared over on the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog HERE I showed how to use Eileen Hull's 'Notebook' die as the basis of a bound book, covering the whole book with sticky back canvas. For this version I cut a strip of the canvas 2 3/4 inches wide by 10 1/4 inches long and stuck it to each inside cover edge 3/4 inch in from the edges as shown below. I didn't measure the gap between the covers and the spine piece, just centred it knowing that the size of the strip would ensure a 1/4 inch either side.

With the basic cover assembled a piece of plain calico larger than the finished book was cut. I would recommend leaving a minimum 1 inch border for this.

Here's where the scraps came from; I used pieces of the gel plate printed paper created HERE, some of the embossed packaging paper, pieces from the edge of the calico fabric, torn book page from THIS project, and even some of the gel plate printed card used on THIS box. Having stuck them onto the calico a simple zigzag stitch secured the strips and also made the piece more flexible.

Having stuck it firmly onto the outside of the book cover, bending the edges over and securing them onto the inside with strong tape, I added even more detail with Venise lace and Design Tape (some from the 'Journey' set as it coordinated with the colours on the printed pieces really well).

With the outside of the book covered I bound the inside with a text block (made from various tea stained papers and cards) using the method shown in the Frilly and Funkie tutorial HERE. More of the gel plate printed paper was used to decorate the inside of the book cover and the outer pages on the text block.

To complete the front cover a Lace Baseboard Frame was coloured with a mix of 'Pearl' Mixative Alcohol Ink and Dina Wakley Media 'Gilt' Acrylic Paint. The 'Large Stems' were cut from mountboard and painted with Dina Wakley Media 'White' and 'Evergreen' Acrylic Paint before 'Sublime' Alcohol Pearl Ink and more 'Pearl' Mixative were applied over the top to add a beautiful shimmer to the flowers. A Big Chat Sticker was mounted on more card and added to the frame, whilst Transparent Wings were fixed onto the flowers with Glossy Accents and then anchored more securely with 'Brass' Liquid Pearls bodies.

For now that's my take on the theme 'I love it because... ' for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge. My talented team mates have created lots more amazing projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE. And remember to link up your own shabby chic or vintage projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

All the products used to create this notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix ScoreBoards L Die - Notebook

Tim Holtz Ideaology Baseboard Frames - Lace
Tim Holtz Ideaology Transparent Wings
Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz L Die Large Stems
Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearls

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Eggplant	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - White, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Guilt, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Fuchsia, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Ancient, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Evergren, 1oz Bottle	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journey Design Tape
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Chat Stickers TH93192	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide	RANGER LIQUID PEARLS 1/2 OZ BRASS	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents GAC17042	Ranger Gel Plate 9 x 11 inches	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Pearl Mixative TIM22114