Nicecrane Designs Sponsor Spotlight No.1

Servus and welcome back to Our Creative Corner!

Claudia here today to shine another spotlight on one of our generous sponsors' products! This month one lucky winner gets a $20 voucher to spend at

for some lovely digital images! Yay! All you have to do to get eligible for this awesome prize is join in our actual challenge and enter a project. Random.org will help us select one lucky winner after the challenge has closed (which is on November 28th 23:55 o'clock).

I decided to use some of the gorgeous images from the "Gabrielle Ray Vintage Photos II" - bundle.

You know me: I am usually not the very lady-like or girl-ish crafter, but I really love and adore old photographs and these are just so magical! And you also might know by now that I love to do mini-notebooks (as one can never have enough notebooks (either to use or to give away as little presents)...so here it is (with a full tutorial of course):

It's a small "leporello" (which is the German/historic term for accordion-fold) notebook that is closed by four ribbons which you simply tie to a bow.

You will need:
- two of the lovely photographs from Nicecrane Designs (printed onto some heavy printer paper and of the same size. Mine are about 3 1/2 inches wide and 4 inches high)
- some cardboard left overs from packaging material  (I love to re-cycle the thin amazon parcels that come with the books ;)
- some DecoArt Decou-Page or Mod Podge (which we will use as a heavy duty glue and a sealant)
- white Gesso
- ribbon
- Distress ink (vintage photo and one with a colour that should match the designer paper and/or printed image) and blending tool
- designer paper
- gauze
- scissors, soft brush
- die cut label and letter stamps (the ones I use are from HeroArts)
- two old book pages
- white paper for the pages


Ready? Great!

1. Distress the edges of the printed out and cut to size images. You can use the distress tool or simply the blade of a carpet knife. Your images should be the same size!

2. Browse your stash for matching designer paper, ribbon and cardboard. Cut two cardboard panels that are slightly larger than the printed out images.

3. Use the cardboard panels as a mask and cut out two more panels of the same size - this time from designer paper. Blend the edges of the designer paper with Distress ink.

4. Cut off some gauze. Make it slightly larger than the printed out image...but also slightly smaller than the cardboard panels. You don't have to be very exact as we want to create a shabby vintage look.

5. Glue the gauze to the backs of the print outs. I used some of the new DecoArt Decou-Page brands and experimented with them for the first time. Those who really know me, know that I am "the Decou-Page Girl"...lol. I love this stuff and when I saw that DecoArt have released some new brands, I had to have them all ;)

There's a "paper" version (that is a bit more liquid than the Decou-Page you already know - and therefore perfect for glueing stamped tissue to a surface), a "fabric" version (which I used to glue the pompom ribbon in place), an "antique" version (which I love as it has a slight brown tint to it which gives the glued on and sealed papers and images a decently aged look) and a "satin" version. But enough glue-ish blurb - here's he gauze, glued in place (with the paper glue as the fabric is meant for glueing fabric to fabric mainly):

6. Tear some of the fabric's fibres off the edges to "distress" them and glue the vintage photographs with the gauze backing to the designer paper pieces:

In this case I used the "antique" Decou-Page as it tones down the bright white of the picture frames. Seal the whole front with the Decou-Page or Mod Podge.


7. While the front and back panels are set aside to dry, use one of the cardboard panels as a measure for creating the pages for the leporello:

I glued two long, folded strips of white paper together to form a long accordion, but you can do more - it depends on how thick you want your notebook to be.


8. Glue the first page of the accordeon to one of the cardboard panels.

Cover this side with an old book page and let dry. Flip over and cut off some of the book page's excess as shown with the next picture:

Fold in the excess and glue to the cardboard as shown below.

This will make your book covers more sturdy and cover up the cardboard edges.


8. While left to dry, apply some white Gesso to the prepared covers using a palette knife. Be daring and smudge it right on. As the whole cover was sealed with the Decou-Page, you can easily wipe off anything you don't like with a damp cloth as long as the Gesso is still wet!

9. You're almost there! Die cut a label, blend with "vintage photo" Distress ink, stamp "notes" on it , distress its edges and glue in place. Add some more ribbon if you like. I found this lovely pompom ribbon which I added to the bottom of my front cover.

10. Time to assemble the prepared covers and leporello! Make sure your ribbons are put in place before you adhere the covers to the cardboard! They're simply two pieces of long ribbon, each centered and glued between covers and cardboard.

Yay - you're done! You could put a heavy book on top of your booklet while it dries (put a piece of paper inbetween - to protect the book from glue residue). This will not only apply pressure to it but also help even it out.

This is how your finished notebook could look like:

I hope you liked and enjoyed my tutorial! Don't forget about our actual challenge and the announcement of the winners from the previous challenge (which will be on the 8th of the month as usual). Make sure you check back to find out if you are among them...and for some more spotlight inspiration of course!

And most important - Our Creative Corner is having a DT Call! More details can be found over HERE! If you are eager to join a relaxed and artful team and to rise up to new creative challenges, this might be the call for you ;)

Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia xxx