I hope all of the people visiting my blog today who live in the US had a wonderful
Fourth of July celebration! And Congrats to Andy Murray for finally bringing the Wimbledon Championship back to England! It was a fantastic match!
It's Monday and time for another Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge! This week, it's all about stamping; SMALL stamping to be more precise. What a perfect opportunity for me to use one of my favorite Tim Holtz releases from this past Winter CHA ... Tiny Things.
I so love this set! Twenty-Six vintage images all between 1" - 1 1/2". Perfect for ATCs and small detail work on your projects ... and perfect for a domino accordion book!
I had so much fun making this little book. The dominoes are regular size dominoes measuring 1" x 2".
I applied Caramel and Ginger Alcohol Inks in a way to achieve random splotches of color on my dominoes by adding a little alcohol ink to my ink applicator and pouncing it over the smooth surface.
Next, I took a strip of Ranger's Metal Foil Sheet and dry embossed it with Tim Holtz' Damask Texture Fade. I wanted the metal strip to look old so I covered the embossed metal with Pitch Paint Dabber, added a few spritzs of water and then patted it into the design with a paper towel (also removing the excess paint). Then I added one of my new favorite play things, Renaissance Treasure Gold Guilding Wax (using my index finger). Next layer, I added a little Gold Paint Dabber followed with a little Juniper Paint Dabber for an added patina look. When I was happy with my metal strip, I cut it into 3/8" strips and attached them around the sides of both dominoes.
The metal sheet foil already has an adhesive backing but I added a little Glossy Accents to the sides of the dominoes, just to be sure I got great contact. I burnished all of the edges with a Bone Folder and set the dominoes to the side.
I cut a strip of manila cardstock in a 1 7/8" x 7" strip. I scored every 7/8" to create little pages for my accordion book. Each page is slightly smaller than the domino covers. The 7" strip enabled me to have 8 pages, including the each end that would cover the inside of the dominoes.
I distressed both sides of the cardstock with Vintage Photo followed by Broken China, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge. Then I added a little more Broken China and aged the edges a little with Gathered Twigs and a touch of Black Soot.
I decided on a tiny stamp image for each of the pages and stamped them in place using Jet Black Archival Ink. Then I colorized them with a Detailer Water Brush and various Distress Ink colors listed below. It was so much fun to bring each little image to life with those Distress Ink colors; and coloring with the Detailer Water Brush is so easy. I love the results! When I was finished with all of the coloring, I added "travel" and "fly" from Tim Holtz' ChitChat. "Look Within" on the mirror page is from Tim's Words Remnants Rub Ons. Those little rub ons are great! As a final touch to the interior pages, I added a touch of Renaissance Treasure Gold to all of the edges. That really popped the images even more!
Now that the interior pages were finished, it was time to do more stamping on the alcohol inked dominoes that would soon become the covers for my little book. I chose the hot air balloon and the globe for the covers of my book. I stamped them right on to the alcohol ink surface with Jet Black Archival Ink. You have to be careful not to slide the stamp on the smooth surface of the dominoes. It is easy to do; but thankfully, I had steady hands and didn't smear my images. I heat set them with my Heat It Craft Tool and then began filling in the colors. First I used various Distress Ink colors and heat set each one. Then I followed up with Fired Brick, Broken China and Mustard Seed Distress Paints that had been cut with water to make them more translucent. Then I heat set them again. I love the results...color but not too bright. A perfect vintage look! Then I added two more sentiments from Tim's Words Remnants Rub Ons ... the perfect size for such a small area that I was working with.
Now to assemble my little accordion book...I applied 1/4" Scor Tape along the center of the back side of one of the dominoes and added a 12" piece of waxed thread to create a closure for my book. Then I added 1/4" Scor Tape around all of the inside edges of the back side of the dominoes. I attached one side of the interior pages in place and then I attached the other side; being sure that the dominoes lined up and were straight.
I almost had an oops moment! To close my book, I had decided to wrap the cord around the book but I had no way of attaching it to anything. I decided to remedy that by adding two Long Fasteners as little knobs to wrap the cord around; but how to attach them? I pulled out my drill and using a 5/64 drill bit (a very small hole), I drilled two holes in the center of what would become the front of my little book. I didn't have to drill very far; just far enough that I could hot glue and stick the cut off shanks of the Long Fasteners down into the holes I'd drilled. Worked like a charm!
I almost had an oops moment! To close my book, I had decided to wrap the cord around the book but I had no way of attaching it to anything. I decided to remedy that by adding two Long Fasteners as little knobs to wrap the cord around; but how to attach them? I pulled out my drill and using a 5/64 drill bit (a very small hole), I drilled two holes in the center of what would become the front of my little book. I didn't have to drill very far; just far enough that I could hot glue and stick the cut off shanks of the Long Fasteners down into the holes I'd drilled. Worked like a charm!
I added a little winged heart charm that I had sitting around to the other end of the thread and my little domino book is complete. What a fun way to spend a day in the studio...stamping, coloring and playing!
Why don't you join us at Simon Says Stamp and Show by using your small stamps and creating something fun? Then enter it in our challenge where you could be the lucky winner of our weekly random drawing for ....
a $50.00 credit voucher to Simon Says Stamp. You could also receive special recognition for being one of our top artistic entries with our new feature ...
So, put on your creative thinking cap and let's see what you can come up with!
So, put on your creative thinking cap and let's see what you can come up with!
Here are all of the products available at Simon Says Stamp that were used in creating this little accordion domino book:
