eileen hull's mini-album die with sizzix

Although I still don't have access to my art supplies while my studio 

is in its last weeks of construction (the painters are re-scheduled for next week), 

I bit the bullet and went shopping for a little more . . . 

not too much more, though, since I do have stacks of stuff,

all of which I'll have to move!  :)   

But enough to start a really quick and really easy project,
using a few papers and scraps, some twine, a knob,
and Eileen Hull's new 

Mini Album die from her Cherished Collection for Sizzix.

Eileen's Scoreboards XL die will cut through matboard (or chipboard 

or thinner leather) to make a nice sturdy cover.  

The die is also scored along the fold lines, allowing for several depths of spine.  

Plus the die has an indented space to hold any small magnetic die shape with which  

to cut a window in the cover, if you wish.

After die-cutting my cover from matboard, 

I cut a piece of wallpaper large enough to wrap the outside of the cover, 

gluing the wallpaper around to the inside for finished edges.  

Wallpaper is a fun book cover because it is so pliable.  

For the end paper, I die-cut and trimmed down a piece of patterned card stock,

then glued it in place to secure (and hide) the wallpaper edges.  

The cover then folds easily along the pre-scored lines.  

Since I wanted a thicker album, I folded on the two end score lines to make a deeper spine.

Next, using the same die and a collection of patterned scrapbook papers and 

smooth white bristol paper, 

I die-cut the pages for the mini-album.  

To do this, start with papers cut to measure approx 6x12",  then fold each one in half 

and place the fold along the appropriate score line on the die

(depending on the size spine you've chosen).  

Be careful to place the fold just to one side of the score line, so the fold stays uncut.  

For this album, I die-cut 16 papers for 8 signatures of 2 pages each.

For neatness, I die-cut an extra page the same size as the album,

folding it to match the spine, and used it to enclose the signatures.

To attach the die-cut signatures to the album cover, 

I threaded lengths of thick baker's twine through each signature 

and tied them along the spine.  So easy and colorful!

And I can still untie and rearrange the pages as I fill them.

To decorate the cover, I collaged a few scraps of paper, 

punched a hole with my Crop-a-Dile, and inserted a Tim Holtz knob.

The inside title page is white bristol paper on which I lightly gel-transferred

some blue sky in a couple wispy layers, yellow numbers to simulate the sun,
plus some random areas of type, 

all torn a bit haphazardly from some handy Time magazine pages,

then wrote the month, drew a little bird,
 and added my initial on a Dennison label.

During these last few weeks of studio construction,

I hope to fill the pages of my new mini-album with quotes of encouragement

and thoughts of patience,

as I anticipate building my creative "nest" in my new space.

Hope you are enjoying a lovely month of June!

EDIT:  

This hot afternoon (25th) included some waiting time in the car, so I came prepared for a quick doodle in my new journal.  Here's my encouraging reminder for the rest of June, including a serendipitous water-drip emphasis from my Starbucks iced tea cup.

studio restart button

Around here, the big news today is that I finally pushed the restart button on my "new studio" construction project.  The contractor has been fired (not a simple thing to do) and the head of the company, who remembers my original vision from almost a year ago, has taken over the endlessly-lingering schedule.  With grace and energy, he acknowledged the problems and has promised speedy solutions.  Finally, I can stop butting heads on every single design and materials decision!  It's been tough trying not to be pushed into a conformist square hole at every step, first by the county, then by the weather, and then by the exigencies of standard modern construction.

Until today, progress has been mostly one step forward and two steps back for months.  The contractor made several arbitrary decisions that couldn't afford to be undone.  Fortunately, others have been resolved.  For example, ugly lighting boxes built out from the wood ceiling have been removed, recessed and hidden; boxy cladding has been removed from the beams; standard fake-wood molding has been removed from around the windows and the windows smoothed into the walls as originally requested.  The real-wood baseboard-molding battle has gone on for weeks as I insist on my simple but not standard stacking idea.

But I'm persevering with my thinking-in-three-dimensions exercise, even as I try to relax and unclench my jaw.  Maybe the "only-three-more-weeks" refrain I've heard since January will now be true.  Here's a little photo update:

Front south-facing wall with Palladian-style windows and west-side entry

Raised wooden ceiling (a little like a Finnish church) and exposed beams

Back north-facing wall of windows

Back wall opened to the spring forest

Another view of the forest from the back doors

Vintage deco sink for my painting work space

Books waiting to be transferred to my new space

Let's hope this is the end of being tied up by delays and steps backward.  If my studio is really finished and ready to start moving in by the promised three weeks, you'll be the first to know!