2018 #13 Mint, Sage, Claret & Gold with HP {by Nikki Acton}

2018 Topic 13: Mint, Sage, Claret & Gold (Colour Topic)

I can see why Nikki is addicted to making mini books, the gold accents to the page edges, and on the cover are just beautiful! What a pretty idea this is! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Nikki from Addicted to Art with you today, and I'd like to share with you a handmade book I have made.

Making little books is my latest obsession! On a recent visit abroad I knew I would have a little spare time in a hotel in the evening so took paper and needles to practice my binding techniques! 

The covers for my book are PaperArtsy Grey board 100mmx100mm. This is a great surface to take loads of paint and stamping. I began with a layer of Fresco Finish Acrylic in Sage. I then took some scraps of watercolour card and added Fresco Finish Acrylic - Hint of Mint before then transferring to the surface. This is a wonderful technique to build up subtle layers of colour. Hopefully the photo below shows the addition of the Mint, the Fresco Finish Claret and finally Fresco Finish Gold.

I stamped onto the painted surface using archival inks - Watering Can for subtle stamping and Black for the images. I took a small brush and added a little water to the Claret paint and loosely painted the flowers and butterfly before adding gold highlights. Love the gold dots on the flowers(use the end of the paintbrush for this)! I have used Hot Picks stamp set HP1109 and also the script stamp from HP1501.

 PaperArtsy Hot Picks Set 1109 (HP1109)

 PaperArtsy Hot Picks Set 1501 (HP1501)

Love these little tags on the stamp set! I masked off the numbers before stamping onto some Sage / Mint coloured card and cut them out to make little tags for my book. 

The inside page that attaches the signatures to covers was also stamped. In hindsight I could have made these pages a little more interesting! 

I added gold paint to the edges of the signatures to age the pages a little.

I took a little canvas sheet to cover the spine and also stamped with the flowers from HP1109 - and added Gold paint with my finger all round the edges of the covers.

I found some Sari Silk ribbon in my stash that holds my book closed.

As you can see on a couple of the photos - I also made a much smaller book with the same colours - it really is a great combination. There are lots of tutorials out there for bookbinding techniques, it is great fun and they make cute little gifts.

Nikki

Blog: Addicted to Art
Instagram: @A2Acardscraft
Pinterest: nikacton

To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 gift voucher:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 13: Mint, Sage, Claret, Gold will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, August 12th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy gift voucher. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!