Make your own art journal using Dolly Dimples Crafts Living Hinge die & A4 Ringer Binder Kit

I do love it when you can combine your crafty goodies to create a project. Today I am sharing an art journal book I have created combining a whole host of Dolly Dimples Crafts products.

I have used a mix of 

• my Shady Designs stamps
• Dolly Dimples Crafts Living Hinge
• Dolly Dimples Crafts A4 Ring Binder Kit 
• Dolly Dimples Crafts Strength - Sistors of Serenity stamp set

My handmade art journal

The Dolly Dimples Crafts A4 Ring Binder Kit comes with everything you need to create a fabulous journal: die to cut the holes, fixing posts, Dollyboard, 300gsm antique card, 350gsm white card & metal corner protectors.

Although the die is to create an A4 journal, it can also be used to create smaller books too. I have placed the die on my cutting plate to create just 2 holes instead of 3. I then die cut a range of pages & tags to fit my bespoke journal.

Using the Dollyboard from the A4 Ring Binder Kit, I have cut a piece down to fit. I have covered this piece with 350gsm white card as I wanted further rigidity to the curved spine. Next using the Living Hinge die I created my curved spine. Gotta say now that even with all those layers, the Living Hinge die worked a treat!

QUICK NOTE: If you are new to the Living Hinge die, it is a wonderful die that creates curved spines. This for me gives me greater scope to make a book bigger without having to create a traditional spine. Also the die is designed not to go through your card completely to keep the integrity of your card - hope that makes sense (lol)

The covers have been made using Dollyboard and because I wanted to use a range of inks, I covered the board in the 350gsm white card first - from the A4 Ring Binder Kit. I decorated the covers using my Shady Designs stamp sets: Encircle & Textures 1, plus Shady Designs Angle Leaf stencil. Combined together they create quick backgrounds.

For the front cover, I added additional decoration using Dolly Dimples Crafts Strength stamp set from Sisters of Serenity stamp collection. My new "in thing" is to leave some of my stamped images uncoloured as I think it adds another wow factor. I have used Phill Martin's Colour Radiance alcohol pens.

The pages are held in place with the post fixings which are placed through the die cut holes and screwed in to place. So far in my book, I have over 20 pages ready to decorate.

As a finishing touch I added some Shady Designs die cuts to add another layered/textural element. These I have left white but that does give me scope to decorate at a later stage.

I have created a few more albums for myself and will share those ideas on my blog too. There is also a Facebook Live showing how to use the Living Hinge which I am in the process of uploading to my YouTube channel. As requested, will also to a edited version too.

Do you make your own art journals or junk journals? Would love to see your creative process and how you use them once they are completed. Drop me a link below 😘

Happy crafting everyone and see you all soon,

Lou
xxx

Supplies

Below are the supplies I used to create my project. Click on either the photos or shop icon image to be taken to that product. Different shops are shown because we all shop in different places.