Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime Mini Star Book

Happy National Craft Month!

As you may already know, this month is National Craft Month.  And all month long Graphic 45 is celebrating with TONS of awesome ideas! 

Each week, they will be focusing on a different kind of project.  Week one was Altered Art, week two Layouts, and now into week three, Mini books!

The projects that have been shared from the Design Team are AMAZING, and the inspiration just keeps on coming!

Rolling into day three of Mini books, and today I have a little mini inspiration of my own..

I have to confess that I am not usually a lover of creating mini books. I love looking at them, and all the great ideas that come from them. But they take me entirely too long, and I start to feel crazy finishing one.

I find I need a quick fix, something I can whip up fast, then spend days perfecting with all the little details!

But this little book was right up my alley with a love for fussy cutting.

Called a Carousel book, or Star book, this cute little book measuring only 5" x 4" packs a lot of punch!!

What makes this book so neat is that is it meant to be placed standing upright. 

As you can kinda see from looking at the bottom, this book was created by gluing LONG strips of paper together, then accordion folding them just right.  Creating two separate super long accordion folded strips, you then stitch them together at the seams. 

Also due to the accordion folding of the book, everything has to be able to lay completely flat, and there were absolutely NO pop dots used in it's creation! ( Such a Rarity for me)

Even the covers on the book cannot have any dimension, and have to be tied shut on both sides to keep the book closed.

Here you can see where the pages have been stitched together. 

Also once the book is set upright, the covers and be placed face to face opening the book up completely, revealing the inside!

And once completely open, you can see from the top, why this is called a Star Book. 

For my little star book I decided to play with Graphic 45's Once Upon A Springtime and Le Romantique papers.  Letting the papers be my guide I was driven to the idea of a Children's Book.

After all, don't you just love all the story book characters of Graphic 45?

For each page I designed mini "pop up" scenes that depict the seasons.

I then wrote a fun little poem to go along with it.

Each page is filled with tons tiny details, so look close you never know what you may miss!

(Pictures were hard to get with all the strange angles)

Spring

Fairy Tea Time, Spring is here...

Come and join in all the Cheer!

                                                                            Summer

Summer Days , Hot and free

Fairies take a dip in the Sea!

Fall

Leaves are Falling..

Autumn's here

Mousies gather what is near!

LOVE the little Mousies! (and my made up word too)

Winter

Winter's Here, ice and snow..

Fairies watch the Holly grow!

Here is a link to the original instructions used.  http://virginiabookarts.org/files/2010/08/Carousel-Instructions-VABC.pdf

I actually skipped over the first strip of paper.  If I had used it the book would have measured 7" x 5". 

The recipe calls for super long piece of paper, which I had some HUGE rolls of paper from the printing press.  However measurements may be scaled down to use 12 x 12 papers. 

If you have any questions about the creation, I would be happy to help out!

Supplies Used:

Finished project 5'”x 4”x 1.5”

Graphic 45 papers

Kraft Reflections: Bits and Pieces, Before your Time, Forgotten City

Le Romantique: Daydreams, Tender Missives, Enamored Embrace, Le Romantique

Once Upon A Springtime: Woodland Fantasy, Primrose Cottage, Spellbound, Pixie Post, Once Upon A Springtime

Steampunk Debutante: Ephemera Extraordinaire

Tropical Travelogue: Rainforest, Exotic Desitinations, Stickers

Magic of Oz: The Magic of Oz

Xmas Emporium: Tis The Season

Curtain Call: Top Billing

A Proper Gentleman: Timely Point Of View

Olde Curiosity Shoppe: Mercurial Masterpiece, Parlor Wall

Colorbox :Decades Inks -Triumphant Red, Chalk Inks – Rouge, Aqua

Hampton Arts: Cling Once Upon A Springtime 1

Coredinations: Signature Core Cardstock

Red Lead: Mushroom Stamp

Quickutz: Tree and branches

Spellbinders: Labels 8 Nesting Dies

May Arts: Ribbon

Ranger: Glossy Accents, Stickles –Waterfall, Distress Stickles- Rock Candy

Other: Colored Pencils, Chipboard, Sewing Needle, Thread, Printer

Thank you all so much for stopping by today!

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday!!

Nicki Chicky