Furry Friends Mini Book

Last year my aunt would go into the hospital every month or so with her health issues.  She had gotten quite close to some of the nurses.  It's really sweet of them to spend extra time with her.  One of the nurses gave her a canvas "hootie" owl bag since my aunt asked where she bought it because I LOVE OWLS.  Jennifer just gave it to her - such a sweet gesture - so Auntie could give to me.

I decided to make Jennifer a mini book so she could put pictures of her dogs in it.  

I really like the book look & feel of these modified accordion minis I've been making lately.  The fact they have no rings or coils gives a clean look.  To add stability I sandwich each page in between front accordion fold & then glue together the backs of the empty accordions so they are not flopping around.  It looks more like a book spine.  The paper covering the outside is slightly loose and not adhered to the spine so it opens easily.

Since the cover is chipboard and pages are actually pocket/envelopes that I made using thick cardstock folded & there is a piece of cardstock inside for journaling so I wanted to use thinner scrapbook paper to cover each page.  I found a beach themed tablet at Walmart from Colorbok that was very un-themed and versatile.

 The cover is just a collage of different Unity Stamp Co stamps from my stash & the letters were cut with an old set of Sizzix individual letter dies I picked up on clearance at Michaels for 90% off years ago.

most pages have a photo mat for 4x6 picture along with minimal embellishing 

(diecuts, stamped images & tape) 

I didn't know her well or what style she likes so I went with clean & fun

A reason to use one of my favorite old Jenni Bowlin 

dog journaling spot stamps

Here is one of the full size kraft cardstock journaling cards

pulled out of the book.  It can easily hold more photos.

There was dog theme stamping at bottom of each.

I used the Martha Stewart button punch that embosses & punches

to make a "tab" at the top of card to pull out easily

Note the half circle punched out of each side of envelope page

it allowed the "tab" cardstock button to fit perfectly in the page.

More of the pages.....

I tried to keep it simple & uniform throughout.

Envelope for more ephemera or photos 

Don't you love these cute dog brads that I found at

Scrapbook Expo last July? 

There are 4 different dogs scattered thru the book

They really made the rosettes fun & appropriate for a dog book.

I made them with Tim Holtz rosette die - so much easier than scoring board & a scallop punch

The back page has another eyelet and ribbon knotted thru

it so it can be tied closed 

Forgot to take a picture of the top & was delivering to hospital

lol sorry for blurry car photo but you get the idea. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope I inspired you to make a mini book gift for someone special in your life.

Teresa Collins Modeling Paste Review

Anyone who has followed my blog knows I LOVE Teresa Collins products.  The past 5 years my love of scrapbooking has evolved into mixed media art journaling and I even use those techniques on my pages & mini books.  I love being the messy artsy girl.  I've never considered my self an artist just artistic if that makes sense.  I can't draw but collage with lots of layers & textures I almost feel like an artist.  The best way to get texture on anything is Modeling Paste. 

(note sorry for the iphone not well staged photos.... I was so excited to share my new favorite modeling paste with you)  I was in no way compensated for this review.  I purchased the paste at EMI Scrapbooking store in Cumming GA for my personal use - I'm just a user sharing my opinions.

 I've tried a lot of them & always come back to Golden brand. 

I know Teresa really strives for quality in everything she does so I was excited to try her Basically Essential Modeling Paste.

Opening the jars to compare them I noticed that the Golden is much thicker than the Basically Essential which seems more creamy.  Comparing the color Basically Essential is noticeably whiter as the Golden has more grey undertones.

I used a Teresa Collins Basically Essential stencil set. (This release contains 2 different 8-1/2x11 inch sets that contain 3 stencils & 2 12x12 inch single stencils)  These are good quality intricately cut stencils & gotta love the pink color!  By the way make sure you clean your stencils immediately - especially with modeling paste it can ruin them quickly.

I applied Basically Essential to a small section of the stencil.  I noticed it was very creamy & glides on very smoothly.  It's a little thinner than Golden brand so I was concerned that it would seep under the stencil a bit. Upon removing the stencil there was a small area top row second from right but it would be fine if I had taped the stencil down - I was just holding it.  I was pleasantly surprised that it held so much of the texture from the pallet knife application since it was a thinner body paste.  The paste levels out perfectly & holds sharp edges.  It dries a nice uniform white that is perfect to use straight out of the jar on any project.  The thinner consistency allows for some flexibility which is really beneficial on a scrapbook layout or mini book that will be viewed by turning pages.

I applied the Golden brand in the same manner.  It is noticeably thicker & seems to have a measurably thicker emboss for each of the stencil openings.  When applying it really fills the stencil opening well & as I did that final sweep across to even out & remove waste more of the paste seemed left in the stencil openings.  I didn't stir my jar very well before application but you can slightly see the variance of color which has very grey areas especially viewing in person.

Most of the time I have added a paint or ink to the Golden modeling paste when I'm creating a project.  So let's see how the Teresa Collens Basically Essential holds up to products I usually use.

First I like acrylic inks since they have a very intense color.  Liquitex make some pretty colors.  It mixed very well but the bright white color of the paste did act somewhat like white paint toning down the color of the ink.

The watery consistency of the ink did thin the paste somewhat but didn't effect the integrity of the paste to hold it's shape.  The color dried true & even.

Next I tried my favorite Golden Fluid Acrylics.  They are also a bit thinner consistency but the colors are very intense & mix well with many mediums & paints.  

 Again the paste & paint mixed very well.  The paste acted slightly as a white paint toning down the color of the fluid acrylic.  The paste still had the ability to hold it's shape & pallet knife texture lines.  It did have a small amount of seeping under the stencil but again that was because I didn't tape it down.  It seems like with the thinner paste I can't skip that step as easily as I can with a thicker paste.  I really like the areas where I  didn't have a lot of paste left & it created holes in the stencil negative.

Finally I used some Blick Artist Acrylic paint.  It's a very thick creamy paint.

This thicker paint mixed very easily & thoroughly with the modeling paste.  It made the paste a thicker consistency without losing the creaminess.  I love all the texture lines that held & the uniform color.

You could easily just use craft acrylic paint & it would most likely be slightly thinner in texture but have same effects.

I'm most impressed with the color of Teresa Collins Basically Essential Modeling Paste when it is dry.  The white is very clean & uniform.  I have not seen this in any other modeling paste that I have tried in the past.  Golden is on the bottom & you can see the color is not as vibrant & bright.  I would use the Basically Essential modeling paste alone & be very pleased with the color of the dried application.  I normally add white paint to the Golden paste to get the true bright white that comes straight out of the jar with Teresa's paste.

So let the trumpets sound........

Sorry Golden Modeling Paste but you have been dethroned as my favorite modeling paste..... I will be buying Teresa Collins Basically Essential Modeling Paste from now on.  (If I want heavy texture I think I will still pull out the Golden but for overall usability I loved Teresa's paste)

Summary:

Pros:  

Love the white color straight out of the jar dries beautifully, creamy consistency

self leveling so very even application in the stencil with sharp edges

bend ability without cracking

ability to mix well with different mediums.

Cons: 

Have to be mindful of seeping under stencil due to the thinner consistency

if texture is what you are looking for this paste can do some but since it seems to self level you don't get as much as you do with other brands of paste.

I encourage you to give Teresa's modeling paste a try it's perfect for paper crafters to try a new technique and add some texture & elegance to your page.