Just Playing! (with beer mats!!)

I sometimes find that I get so busy creating for everyone else that I forget to find time just to sit and play. It has been a while since I have made a beer mat (that's a coaster for those in the States) book and the other day ... I just got the urge :0) I grabbed some beer mats ... some scrummy Graphic 45 papers ... my favourite Wendy Vecchi and Dark room door stamps and set to work. These little books are cheap to make and a great opportunity to experiment with different techniques ... try out those stamps that you haven't got around to using yet ... you know which ones they are ... the ones that have been tucked away since you bought them :0)

I started mine by covering both sides of 7 beer mats with the papers and then sanding the edges to produce a nice smooth finish. I always paint around the edge with an acrylic dabber at this point before placing the mats in the Bind-it-All. Another great thing about the beer mat book is that they are the perfect size for just one punch on the BIA ... so it just couldn't get any easier. I bind my book at this point too ... and then the playing really starts and I set about decorating the book with all manner of stamping and embellishments.

For this particular book I added lots of ribbons and Tim Holtz doodads stuck to distressed tags down the spine. I used Dark room door stamps for the main images and Wendy Vecchi stamps as accents. These were all made using grungepaper and coloured with aged mahogany and spiced marmalade distress inks.

I added glossy accents to all the words and to pick out things like the bicycle in the image ... just to add a bit more interest and dimension. I can't create anything without a bit of bling and some beads so I added those too. One of Tim's idea-ology frames looks great on any book and pair that with an adage ticket and some crackle accents and you have a really eye catching embellishment.

Have I made it sound simple?

I do hope so ... it was great fun and easy to do ... give it a go ... you know you want to :0)

Zutter Zister DT Member Linda Elbourne