GD: Anneke De Clerck Project #2 Holiday Memories

Hello, Anneke here.Tonight I have another recycling project to share with you. I altered an old book into a "Christmas Book". It could be filled with Christmas photos, text..... or it could be used as a December Daily. Documenting big and small Christmas memories is so important, so fun to do. Why not doing it in a handmade book.

This is the book I started with. Look for old books in a thrift store and try to score one with a linen cover. Books with linen covers are great to alter.

First I removed the cover from the text block.

Next I applied a few coats of gesso to the cover.

I covered the book cloth at the inside with gesso too.

This is how it looked like after three coats of gesso.

I cut a piece of handmade paper slightly smaller than the cover.

 I glued it on the inside with PVA glue and I removed air bubbles with a bone folder.

I put 4 eyelets into the spine of the book, approximately 1" from the head and tail.

For the inside pages I made gelli prints. If you are not familiar with gelli printing there are lots of videos on this technique on the internet. 

To achieve coherent pages I used mainly circle templates (by Prima and The Crafter's Workshop) and one text template (Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Christmas).

I made the gelli prints with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics. These paints work well on the gelli plate! I've chosen a red/orange/white/blue colour combo.

I had to cut the gelli prints to size and I used the scraps to make a tree on the front cover.

I glued the scraps of paper to the book with double sided tape. I did some stamping with stamps from the ELB10 stamp set and Archival Ink Jet Black.

ELB10

I love playing with text stamps. The words 'peace, love, joy' come from a quote out of the ELB12 set.

ELB12

I added a bird, some mini pompons and a piece of ribbon to finish it off.

I gesso-ed wooden numbers and glued them to the spine of the book.

The pages of the book have the same size as the removed text pages. I punched 2 eyelets in each page on a distance of 2/5" from the edge.

To bind the book I pulled some ribbon through the eyelets of the pages and through the eyelets of the cover. 

I tied the ends of the ribbon together at the outside and made a bow.

As you see there is enough room to fill the book with all kinds of keepsakes.

This book could be used as a Christmas card saver too. The possibilities are endless :)

I hope this post inspired you to create your own "Christmas Book" this year.

Thanks for watching! Have a nice evening!

Anneke

A huge thankyou to Anneke from PaperArtsy HQ. This is not just a visually stunning book but so useful too. The linen texture of the original book will make it feel slightly vintage which contrasts perfectly with the modern funky colours of paint. Brilliant gelli pages too!

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Nov 1st 2014 and Nov 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Nov 30th 2014