Inspired By... Vol 6/2018

10th of the month means another Inspired By post! Inspired By is something sweet Marsha and me have been doing for years now. Until 2018 it was that we chose a subject to be inspired by and then did something inspired by that theme, a piece of art or a book. The inspiration could be anything but we both turned that into some kind of project and blogged the creation on the 10th. You can browse the past "Inspired By" posts from here (link).

Inspired By is a playground, a concept we can use to explore, to play and to discover. We can do as much or as little we want and have time for. I guess it's not a surprise then that we both enjoy Inspired By very much but after doing it the same way so many years, we thought to change the things a bit.

This year, 2018, we both just post on the 10th with some source of inspiration we found that month. Or rather on a period from the 10th of previous month to 9th of the current month. It can be a series of photos, a book we read, an artwork we saw, just a pebble on the street or a new product we bought. We can make something using that source, but it's more about sharing just the inspiration. Consider it as a window to our creative minds!

I knew exactly what I'd use for the source for this month's creation the moment I saw it. I was really blown away and inspired by this journal spread by Jaine Drake, a fellow Wow Embossing teamie (link). I loved the collage feel of the spread, the different materials and textures it has and even the colors. Such a perfect piece! I could have studied and stared it for hours! The spread also reminded me about a cabinet of curiosities (link) somehow. 

I naturally didn't want to copy the page but use it as a jumping of point. Thinking what I would actually do, I got browsing Jaine's blog (link) and decided to use this tutorial (link) for a mini book as a jumping of point as well as I remember doing similar books with 12x12" papers years ago. I actually tried to find the mini albums I made like that from my blog but maybe they were so long ago, I might have even deleted the posts. 

I got so excited about the project again and it was such a pleasure to create! I used one 12x12" sheet for the inside pages. I also used two pieces of coffee stained paper to each end of the album to get inside cover pages. I cut these a bit longer than the actual pages and then added a fold to the other side so I could sew the pieces to the inner pages.

Before folding them and using double sided tape to secure the folds and spreads, I sewed all the details to the pages. I followed the idea of the original spread and mixed fabric with the paper in the spreads. I also added some lace in the mix and also used a striped washi tape.

I really liked the inside pages but I think the best part was making the cover! I browsed through my paper stash but nothing seemed to be just right. So I thought of using old book paper but as it's old, it's also very fragile so not the best material for cover. Then I got thinking about a craft I did for Craft Stamper (link) collaging tissue paper on top of cotton. As it worked so well with tissue paper, I thought it must work with book paper as well. 

I used Soft Matte Gel as the adhesive and glued several pieces of book paper on top of coffee stained cotton. It looked good, but the contrast was too high. First I thought to add gesso on top but then thought about even a better solution - I adhered a pale beige colored sheet of tissue paper on top. That was perfect for the job! It got rid of the high contrast and turned the fabric almost like leather. I also added another sheet of tissue to the inside part of the cotton. After drying I cut the fabric to the right size, added the elastic band and stitched around the edge. 

I used the inside cover parts I made of coffee tinted paper to attach the mini album to the covers. As you can see from the previous photos, I made the back cover longer so that a piece wraps around to the front, making the album a bit like an envelope. The shape of the mini album is almost like a traveler's journal this way, too! 

I'm not totally sure what to do with the finished mini. I finished the spreads with inspirational words or mini stories anyway. I used a 7 Dots Studio word sticker on each spread and then found a piece of text from an old book that would somehow add to the phrase. There's "some regular passengers, put your cape on and fly" for example or "dare to dream - most satisfying". 

I really love how this piece turned out! It was fun to make and I like the end result as well. I also really like how this project also continues the series of adding more textile into my crafts! It seems to be an ongoing trend with my inspired by creations this year! 

Now it's time to go and see what Marsha has been inspired by this month (link)! I'm so in awe about her posts as they contain a thousand seeds for inspiration! I love how she adds things she's done during the month, things she has seen and other sources. Really amazing - I love how you're able to peek inside her mind a bit with the posts! 

So thank you for stopping by today! Wishing you a lovely Sunday and an inspiring start to the new week! If you haven't already, be sure to participate to this blog hop (link) and be in for the giveaway draw as well! Ta ta for now! 

Materials: 7 Dots Studio, Prima Marketing, Varalusikka, Teippitarha