Smash Books!

Hi Everyone :)

Spring has definitely been here at last :) Ive been loving these sunny days with a gentle norwest wind and all the flowers beginning to bloom again - definitely my favourite time of year!

I was thinking about that while deciding what to do with my latest DT kit, and ended up channelling those spring, flowery days.  Smash books and me don't really connect, I wondered what all the hype was really.  Im not into ecletic, artsy styles, Im a bit too anal for that :) well I thought I was til I started this album, but I'll let you decide :)  While I was deciding what to do with my smash album I did a bit of net surfing and came across a host of ideas and discovered just how different they can be, even for those of you as anal as me! :)
Whenever I start an album I have to do the cover first, and I can't seem to move forward until its completed. I thought I'd have a go at trying something a bit different, and use some of the techniques I'd learned at retreat with Cindy Porter.  I had also come across a technique I had come across Janine Kocswara's blog and wanted to give that a try too - my plan is to incorporate that into the book as I go.
But firstly I needed a theme!  The album itself is a travel album, but by the time I'd finished with the cover you would never know, so I thought I'd make it an album about me, about all my little quirks, the things that interest me, things I love, and things that I don't like - you get the picture :)

So heres my front cover.  I used mod podge as my sealer/adhesive  for the base, adhering 7Gypsies tissue paper on first, and then separating a paper napkin and layering random pieces of it on top, then sealing the lot.  This was Janine's technique :) I love how the napkin looks like its part of the tissue paper design!  On top of that I used a Prima mask and texture paste and when dry inked over the design in black archival ink. I then just organised the items I wanted to use to decorate the front, and sprayed Glimmermist over the whole lot, and inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink.
The key word for me here is BELIEVE which is on the wooden ticket. Because Im not much of a believer in my abilities, and Im not just talking about scrapping - Ive been told Im like a caramello, hard on the outside and soft and squishy in the middle :)  So for me this book will all about trying to believe.

And a few closeups :)

Each time I post on the blog I'll be showing you the next lot of pages Ive done, and share what techniques Ive used to create them. I hope you join me along the way, and share your thoughts :)

Products Used:
Prima Mask
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Walnut stain
Lily Pad Glimmermist
Peacock Glimmermist Chalkboard
7Gypsys Tissue Paper
Prima Flowers - Soubrette
Prima Wooden buttons and Tickets
Melissa Frances Resin Frame
Prima En Francais chipboard stickers
7Gypsys Gaffer Tape

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