Artbooking Made Easy - Episode 5

********* Video is posted above *********

Posted by Jeanette Lynton

I hope you’re ready for more eerie education on the Artbooking cartridge, because this time I want to talk about making simply spooky mini albums. Don’t let this feature of the Artbooking cartridge scare you—there are so many tasty treats in store for you once you’ve learned a few tricks. Let’s start with a few from this video:

The Halloween-themed mini album keys, found on pages 54 and 55 of the booklet, are full of wonderful shapes, pages, and embellishments. Something I love about mini albums is that they give lots of opportunity for getting artistic! The pages themselves are shapes, and embellishing them is a lot of fun when you’re a “detail person” like I am. Let’s look at some of the tasteful tricks of these albums together.

Did you notice the fun use of a little glitz on many of these pages? The eyes of the bats, cats, and spiders are all done with green Glitz™ glitter gel, which coordinates perfectly with the shapes cut from green glitter paper. I especially love the way the glitter gel has been speckled across this haunted house, giving the feel of an eerie something lurking inside.

Getting a little crazy with your colors is very fitting for a Halloween project. You’ll notice that where some elements would normally be cut in black, they’ve been cut in a color that makes them pop. This spider web, for instance, as well as this spider.

 

There are several techniques you can try that will add a whole lot to these pages: stitching, sanding, inking wooden shapes to give them darker color, and using markers to color in stamped images are amongst my favorites. Don’t forget that inking the edges of several shapes, like the moon and ghost shapes, will add a shadow effect very appropriate for this theme.

Once you have the pages of your mini album cut at a linked size, play with real dial size to get some unique shapes. These rat shapes are overlays, as listed in the booklet, but with real dial size set at 1" or 1 1/2", you can make these mini shapes as embellishments and pop them up with 3-D foam tape.

 

The time you save cutting the shapes for your mini albums with the Artbooking cartridge can be used to embellish its pages as creatively as you desire. Have a whole lot of fun bringing to life your own creation this Halloween season!

Recipes:

6" Neighborhood Halloween Party Mini Album

Z1906 Cricut© Artbooking Cartridge
Z1771 Green Glitz™ Glitter Gel
Z1847 Green Glitter Paper
Z1829 Black & Grey Glitter Paper
Z1754 Black & Grey Sparkles
Z1817 Slate Polka-Dot Washi Tape
Z1799 Silver Shimmer Trim
Z1864 Slate Striped Twist Ties
Z1802 Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon
Z1882 Base & Bling Word Accents
Z1806 Green & Blue Epoxy Bubbles
Colors: Slate, Goldrush, Smokey Plum, Crème Brulee, Sweet Leaf, black

6" Happy Halloween Mini Album

Z1906 Cricut© Artbooking Cartridge
X7171B Sarita Paper Packet
X7173B Babycakes Paper Packet
Z1854 Laughing Lola Assortment
Z1771 Green Glitz™ Glitter Gel
Z1847 Green Glitter Paper
Z1829 Black & Grey Glitter Paper
Z1754 Black & Grey Sparkles
Z1817 Slate Polka-Dot Washi Tape
Z1799 Silver Shimmer Trim
Z1864 Slate Striped Twist Ties
Z1862 Black Mini-Medly Accents Collection
Z1781 Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Colors: White Daisy, Gypsy, Goldrush, Pear, Slate, Honey, Sunset, black

Pasted from <http://www.jeanettelynton.com/search/label/Artbooking%20Made%20Easy>

 

**** Extra pics of mini albums created by the CTMH Art Department ****

 

 

(thanks Noreen for the extra pics :)

 

**** Tips for re-creating the artwork from the video ****

 

Halloween Mini-Albums from Artbooking page 54-55

All shapes have been cut at 6" to proportionally fit together

 

Happy Halloween mini album:

Snip welded titles (like "Halloween") to bend along a circle

Use real dial size to create a smaller page to allow room for overhanging embellishments

 

Haunted House mini album:

Use haunted house as cover for this book

Cut page twice in Smokey Plum & Slate and once in Goldrush

Use cut elements from both to create different parts of house with Goldrush sandwiched in the middle

Use Real Dial Size key to 'shrink down' elements designed for 12x12 layouts such as the castle

Snip out the bracket frame from inside the spiderweb page and layer for an extra accent

To make a shadow on the jack o'lantern face, offset black behind the Goldrush, then trim off the overhanging excess

 

Princess Layout:

Use elements from Halloween keys to create a completely different look

This haunted house is used to create a princess castle