Valentine's Day Book Decor - Sizzix 3-D

Today I wanted to share some Valentine's Day Decor I made using Tim Holtz Sizzix 3D Texture Fades and Impresslits and Dollar Tree Books.  These are messy but fun to make and they go together pretty quickly once you get started.

I started by purchasing three hardback books from the Dollar Tree and the only thing I took into consideration when purchasing them, was the size of the books I wanted a small, medium and large book to stack on each other. Then I needed some Distress Collage Medium, a brush and some black cardstock.

You will do the following steps on each of the books one at a time. I put an even layer of Collage Medium onto the front cover of a book.

I had previously cut a piece of cardstock big enough to cover the front cover of the book, with enough hanging over to be able to wrap it around the edge of the cover. You want to press the paper onto the surface of the book and use a bone folder to make sure there are no air bubbles and that it completely adheres to the surface.

Then open the cover. Cut the cardstock on a diagonal across the corners so that when you put some collage medium on the overhanging pieces of cardstock and fold them in, the corners will meet and not be too bulky.
Do the same thing to the back cover of each book.

Once both the front and back covers have black cardstock on them, cut a piece of cardstock long enough and wide enough to cover the spine and to fold over equally onto the front and back of the book, as seen above. Adhere this to the book with Collage Medium and again use a bone folder to smooth out air bubbles and be sure it is completely flat and adheres to the book spine.

Cut three of the 3D Flourish Impresslits, two of the 3D Trellis Impresslits, and one of the Roses 3D Texture Fades.

Tear around the roses and adhere them onto the front cover of the smallest book. Cut the end roses from one piece of the Trellis Impresslits, and adhere them to the top and bottom of the spine. Cut a word you like from your favorite alpha that will fit on the spine and adhere it between the roses on the spine. Then cover the entire piece with Collage Medium.

To smooth out the brush strokes, just use your fingers to move the Collage Medium around on the surface before it dries and you will feel the brush strokes smoothing out.

On the medium book I added two of the Flourish impresslits in each of the right corners and two more of the end flowers on the second piece of Trellis Impresslits.

Add words on the spines of each book. On the spine of the largest book, trim the remaining Flourish Impresslit into two scrolls. Adhere each scroll on the ends o f the spine.

Once the Collage Medium is dry, paint the entire book in Spun Sugar Distress Paint.

Rub the paint in with your fingers, getting the paint into the crevices of the texture fade and impresslits.

I should look like this when you are finished.

At this point I took the opportunity to run my Tonic Scissors up and down on the outside edges of the  book. I wanted them to look old and worn.

Then I poured some Old Paper Distress Stain into a small cut and brushed it all over the edges of the books. I added water as well and made sure to dry them. This step adds to the aged look of the new books.

Then I used some sanding paper and lightly sanded the edges of each book and over the top of the raised letters and embossed texture fade and impresslits.

When they look like the pink paint had worn off, I wiped them down carefully and added a layer of Distress Collage Medium over each book. When the collage medium is dry, scribble some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges of the books and other raised areas.

Rub the scrobbled crayon with your finger, working it into the paper and softening the aged distress look.

When I wast finished with the Distress Crayons, I would gently wipe each area with a clean, dry cloth to make the ageing even more subtle. (don't you wish it was that easy in real life? hahahahahahahah!)

Make sure you highlight the awesome designs on each book with the Distress Crayon.

When that is finished with each book it will probably look something like this above.

In the photos above and below you can see the florals cut from Trellis and then the pieces cut from one Flourish.

The letters I used were some of the original Alphanumeric.

I tied some thin jute twine around the book and tied it in a bow.

Here you can see the aging on the sides of the book pages. I brushed on some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon on the edges of the pages as well to make them not only look olde but a bit dingy as well.

That's it! Set your book decor out on a coffee table or book case and enjoy!
Thank you --
Tami

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