Masculine Mixed Media Notebook Tutorial by Maria Lillepruun

Hello! My name is Maria Lillepruun, I am the owner of the Magic Attic Design blog and live in Estonia.  I am a mixed media artist, a paper crafter, an educator and a museum conservator. Most often I create notebooks, sometimes photo albums, cards, layouts and various art objects.
My favorite styles are vintage and grunge. Hereby I want to thank you for inviting me to design for your brilliant educating blog!

I made a masculine mixed media notebook and recorded the whole process on film. The notebook was a gift to my colleague, a male metal objects conservator at the museum I work. He was really delighted to get such a thoughtful gift and promised not to write in this notebook but to treasure it as a piece of art :( That was not what I wanted, of course! I prefer my creations to be used, but this was his decision :))

And here are some closeup details.

Thank you for viewing and I invite you to my blog for more inspiration.  Perhaps you are inspired to join the February challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Lindy's Stamp Gang shop?

Tim Holtz Fabric Valentine Tag Mini Album Tutorial and GIVEAWAY WINNER!

Hello makers!  Autumn of SewPaperPaint with you on this lovely Saint Valentine's Day!  Sending hugs and love to each of you sweeties!  I truly hope your day is special and filled with love from family and friends.  <3  I'm overwhelmed with the response for our Facebook and Instagram launch and will announce the winner at the bottom of this looooong post.  So grab a cuppa and enjoy!

Since this tutorial was scheduled for Valentine's Day, I pulled out every single red and black paper from my years of collecting Tim Holtz paper stashes.  For my binding and cover concept I turned to THE mini album queen, Elena Morgun.  I saved THIS pin a long time ago and have been anxious to try the soft, curved spine.  My finished album measures approximately 5 3/4 x 4".

First I cut 6 pages to 5 1/2 x 7 3/4 and scored at 3 3/4 and 4".  I used cloth washi tape to strengthen each spine section.  Next, I glued the backs of the pages together to form my book.

I folded muslin and glued the edges down so that it was exactly 5 1/2" high and a bit wider than the gathered pages.

Next, I added tons of wet glue (Beacon 3 in 1 or Mixed Media is my favorite, but any sturdy wet glue) to attach my fabric strip to the spine sections.

I cut my cover boards to 5 3/4 x 3 7/8" and my spine to 5 3/4 x 3".  I scored the spine at every score mark on my scoreboard for flexibility.  Then I glued one half inch of each side of the spine to the cover boards, using my ruled mat as a guide.  I chose a heavy brown card for the spine (to match the covers) because my fabric was gauzy and I wanted a brown base with no white showing through.

Next I tightly wrapped a piece of cross stitch linen nice and taught and glued the inside edges to my covers from top to bottom, then snipped my corners and glued the left and right.  This way no glue will show on the outside of your book and what shows inside will be hidden when you assemble the pages.

I glued the fabric flaps to the back of my pages and then glued the front, then the back of the pages (NOT TO THE SPINE) to the inside of my covers, allowing a slight 1/8" border.  Look at that lovely curved spine!  :)

And now a flip through the book pages.  I've used tons of Tim Holtz die cuts by Sizzix and Ideaology findings, paper dolls, stamps and embossing.  If you have any questions on the specifics, please leave a comment.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial!  Please pin the graphic for future reference and leave a comment with a link if you create your own version.  <3

Now, onto our giveaway winner...

I'm pleased to say we now have 88 followers on our Instagram page, and 141 followers on our Facebook page!  In addition, we have 314 followers on blogger and 115 email subscribers!  Remember to tag us when you share your albums on Instagram and post your projects to our Facebook page after you've linked up.  :)  And the winner is...

  

That's Jackie P Neal who followed us on Instagram!  Woo hoo!  Congrats Jackie!  Please email Autumn at teamclark@rocketmail.com to claim your prize.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for supporting this blog.  Happy Valentine's Day lovelies!

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Winners Post for January 2018

As we wrap up our January challenge, I want to say a special thank you to each participant.  Thank you so much for your support during this busy time of year.  If you have yet to review the January challenge entries please visit the post for inspiration overload.  It's never an easy job to narrow down to a few winners, but without further ado...

The overall design team favorite badge goes to Nuneka of Meraki Spirit.  Nuneka, we would love to invite you to be our guest designer for the month of March.  Please email Autumn at teamclark@rocketmail.com to discuss further.

We've seen many beautiful exploding boxes, but turning this one into a mini album is genius!  The 7Dots Studios paper is so beautifully displayed!  Make sure to check out the full video tutorial below:

Our top five entries are equally stunning.  Each of you, please take our top five badge and display it proudly on your blogs.  In no particular order...

First we have Anja of Happy Scrappy with this beautiful flip fold album.  This amazing album will hold tons of photos and be such joy to look through.

What a fabulous way to adorn the covers of the book with these two patterns.  

Next, a beautiful entry from WuWu of Zatoka Wspomnien with so much luscious texture and creative embellishment.

The belly bands used to store tags are such exquisite details.  

Then we have Gibonik of Wieczna Jesień who shared this beautiful junk journal.  The cover came from a gift bag!  So clever!

Page after page of this journal inspires and delights.

Cindy of Creating with the Heart shared this amazing album with beautiful flips and folds.  Check out the adorable pom pom!

Find the first video of this three part series below with the others linked on her blog:

Last, but absolutely not least we have Maria of MakaArt.  Maria created the most beautiful winter mixed media album with so many incredible layers and details.  

Each page and wonderful layout are in harmony.  WOW!  

Thank you all very much for playing along.  And now, the announcement of the winner of the $25 gift certificate to Lindy's Stamp Gang.  

And the winner is.....

Anja of Happy Scrappy!  Biggest congratulations!  Anja, please email Autumn at teamclark@rocketmail.com to claim your prize.

We hope you are fully inspired and will play along with our February challenge for another chance to win.  Join us on Valentine's Day for our next design team tutorial and the winner's announcement for our current giveaway.