To See The World - An Accordion Tiny Book for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team are sharing more projects, ideas and inspiration using her latest dies - the Tiny Book and Tiny Book Case. I'm really enjoying making mini accordion books with the Tiny Book and decided to incorporate some of Eileen's other dies to create the background and foreground of the six pages inside this one.

You can see on the photo below that the cover is the start of the 'story' which unfolds inside to reveal the words of William Blake (taken from a stamp set curated by Alison Bomber for PaperArtsy). For me though these are difficult times, it is also an opportunity to take more notice of, appreciate and be thankful for all the little things in life that surround us and enrich our lives.

Below you'll see how the accordion pages unfold from within the covers of the book to reveal the whole scene. They are backed onto cotton fabric so that they can open and collapse easily.

I've put together a short tutorial to show you how the book was made.

Tutorial

Start by cutting six pieces of card 3 inches tall by 2 1/4 inches wide and a Tiny Book die cut from white Matboard. Cover all of them with scraps of paper and leaves die cut from book pages using Eileen's 'Journaling Cards Flowers & Leaves' set. Paint over the layers with a wash of dilute 'Gold Rush' Fresco Finish Paint before dry brushing lightly with 'Chalk' Fresco Finish Paint. You may also be able to see below the circular images created by using stamps from Seth Apter's PaperArtsy stamp set ESA12 and the 'Chalk' coloured paint.

To make the leaves stand out more draw around them with a graphite pencil and rub over it gently (I used a paper stub) to soften the lines and overall effect.

Emboss the pages and cover with a swirly embossing folder (or just pick one of your favourites). Use a sanding block to rub gently over the raised areas to remove some of the paint from random areas. Blend some brown dye ink to the edges of the cover and pages.

Either pull some prints using a small Gel Plate and pastel colours (I used a mix of different PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints) or pick some unpatterened papers if you'd prefer.

Die cut a mix of houses and 'trees' using Eileen's 'House Ornament' and 'Spring Leaves' dies. At this stage you can apply a little brown dye ink to the edges to add some contrast.

Returning to the embossed pages and book cover rub an embossing ink pad over the raised areas and cover in clear embossing powder, heat setting each one. It doesn't matter if the embossing powder gets onto some of the other areas. I chose to run a silver permanent ink pen along the line at the bottom of the pages and cover. You can add highlights wherever you want depending on the design of embossing folder chosen.

Line up the pages and cover, then arrange the 'trees' and houses along them, spacing and overlapping as you like. Glue them down firmly in place, re-cutting in between the pages where you've overlapped the trees.

Tear a strip of cheap cotton fabric about 3 1/4 inches wide and stick onto the inside of the book cover using dry adhesive (like Sizzix Adhesive sheets). Then glue two of the pages onto the inside of the cover avoiding the spine area. Finally space the remaining four pages along the rest of the cotton strip leaving a 3/8 inch gap between each one (I used a spacer from Cool Katz Craft to make this easier). Trim at the end and fray all the edges.

To complete the cover and pages doodle in some patterns and images of your choice. I went with simple grass, flowers, spots and dots using black and white gel pens. Stamp the words from Alison Bomber's PaperArtsy stamp set EAB16 'Magic & Wonder' in permanent black ink onto white card before trimming them and mounting them onto the cover and pages.

Here are some close ups of the finished pages;

I hope this project has given you ideas for creating your own mini accordion books using Eileen's dies. Make sure to check out what the rest of the team have made by visiting Eileen's website.

And if you haven't already got your 'Tiny Book' and 'Tiny Book Case' Dies here are links to a couple of independent retailers;
UK - Country View Crafts
US - The Funkie Junkie Boutique

For now, thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx