They Were Wildflowers A Book By Lynne Moncrieff

 Hello

I found myself drawn to the Craft o'clock Vintage Photos. As I studied the images, I was entranced by a group photo of women.  There was something about their faces that made me sure they each had their story to tell and that their story possibly didn't quite match with the more somber feel to the photo as a whole.

Maybe they were all wildflowers in their own way!

Supplies

That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Dried Botanicals Set 1
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Dried Botanicals Set 2

That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Nature's Gatherings Set 2
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Scribbled Words Set 2
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Affirmations Set 1
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Affirmations Set 3
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Affirmations Set 4
That's Crafty! Surfaces White/Greyboard Journal 3 x 5"
That's Crafty! Stencil A4 Circles TC40002
That's Crafty! Medium Acrylic Liquid Wax
That's Crafty! Medium Walnut Ink Crystals (substitute with Walnut Ink Powder)
Craft o'clock Vintage Photo Set II
Finnabair Mixed Media Tissue Paper Carte Postale 
Archival Ink Pad Potting Soil
Archival Ink Pad Jet Black 
We R Memory Makers Crop-a-Dile 
Kraft-tex White (Substitute with Tyvek) or Stamperia Stone Paper

Instructions

I often work with That's Crafty! Journals and there are several reasons that I reach for them and one is the versatility of their design.  Although they are supplied with book rings, it is easy to form them into a bound book. Using tape, the pages were bound together.

Sorry for poor quality of photo but it gives a little idea of tape placement. 

Finnabair Mixed Media Tissue was then applied to all pages. At this stage the tape appears to be too visible but it really does become less obvious once the pages are worked on. 

For the cover, a piece of Kraft-Tex was cut, with an allowance for an overlap. This was then also covered with the Mixed Media Tissue Paper. That's Crafty! no longer stock Kraft-text but having a look for substitutes I would suggest Tyvek or another idea would be Stamperia Stone Paper. Although I haven't used this product, the description would be suitable for a cover. 

Returning to the pages, walnut ink had to make an appearance to bring an aged appearance. 

Placing the book aside, I turned my attention to the images I would be using from the Vintage Photo set, using the A4 Circles Stencil to stencil around the faces.

Although the tissue paper design is lovely and I didn't really need to add more to it, I had a narrative in my mind about the young women and the Dried Botanicals stamps would support this story. 

With Potting Soil ink, stamping onto the pages.  Now I will be honest here and say the stamping isn't always 100% sharp and that is due to stamping directly onto pages which I could not open flat due to the binding. However, I am okay with this because I like the aged effect it brings.  If I wanted sharp images I could have stamped onto plain tissue paper first.

This is a gathering of some papers, etc. I like to gather elements into a small plastic box and although often many items will not make an appearance, I like the freedom of choice to audition particular pieces.

Here there are:

found papers such as recycled packing papers

eco dyed lace
buttons
eco dyed papers coated with Liquid Acrylic Wax
previously stamped elements.
marks made with Pearl Inks onto paper scraps
shipping tags stained with walnut ink
walnut ink stained muslin

A walk through the pages

Affirmation from Set 1 stamped onto deli paper sits above the focal image of the young woman, layered onto a circle (using Circles Stencil), with stamped element from Nature's Gatherings below along with the teeniest of scraps of Scribbled Words stamped onto walnut ink stained paper.

Affirmation from Set 3 was torn so that it appears on this spread and the following pages.

The women's faces rest upon a strip of walnut ink stained muslin. 

The larger Scribbled Words circle becomes an area for a vignette,

with more Scribbled Words stamped onto a stained tag before layering with the image and scraps.

On the facing page, a cluster on the stem of the stamped Dried Botanicals including the smallest tag from the Nature's Gatherings set.

The butterfly wings from Affirmations Set 1 were stamped onto rusted teabag paper which was coated with Liquid Acrylic Wax prior to stamping. 

An image of the young woman would be layered onto the stamped wings before layering to stained muslin scrap and piece of old torn book page sprayed with walnut ink. 

The final spread ... Quiet Strength (from Affirmations Set 4 - Quiet strength, takes courage).

Returning to the cover, one hole was punched, allowing stained twine to be threaded through which could bind the book closed.

I will be sharing a wee video of this book on my Instagram but hopefully the photos above give you some idea of the elements brought together in this book. 

Thank you for your visit, I appreciate this is a lengthy post.

Wishes

Lynne