Hitting the Books

... is what we are doing this month at Our Creative Corner. I am hosting my very first challenge at OCC and I have chosen the theme

Hit the Books!

I adore old book paper and old books and I am always glad to be able to breathe new life into a dilapidated book which most people would consider throwing out. So to join us you just need to make sure that you give your book paper or books centre stage!

For my project I have used some papers from an old Penguin Classic Paperback which my friend was taking to the skip as it had missing pages and was looking very sorry for itself! 

I took out about a third of the book using the paper signatures as a guide and folded them in two. The edges of the pages were already beautifully aged so I didn't need to add any ink!

Then I needed a book! As I was working with a paperback I had to make my own book covers.

I used coaster board as the base and covered it with Stampin Up Crumb Cake cardstock - a favourite "go to".

And then time to have some fun decorating! I chose some old Shabby Chic Vintage Pages which I been saving for something special and managed to cut enough for each cover, but had to layer these on top of some more paper from the paperback. A little lace around the edges helped too.

I decided to hold my project together with dyed ribbon and used an eyelet covered hole to ensure the ribbon was secured.

All good so far!

And then even more fun as I layered these gorgeous blooms over the ribbon in order to pull it all together.

I am very pleased with the way this project has turned out. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time but finally got around to it without damaging a hardback book!

I do hope you will find time to join us in our challenge. Search through your stash for old book paper or books and create a project with what you find. You might want to use papers within your project or you might want to breathe new life into an old book by altering it in some way. I do hope I have chosen a challenge theme with huge scope for projects - small or large.

If you are looking for inspiration then DO hop on over HERE to see what the Design Team have created. 

Our sponsor this month is

Crafty Individuals

The winner this month will receive a huge bundle of goodies from our generous sponsor!

Thank you so much for joining me (again!) today - I really appreciate it!

Happy May Day!

Jennie x