My Other Creations: Altered Board Book Ephemera File

No one has to twist my arm to "put a number on it," which is this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme.  While math is my eternal nemesis, I do love numbers in an artistic sense.  For my project, I altered a board book by turning it into a folder to hold ephemera.  

My toddler has a special talent for destroying board books (my librarian side has to take calming Yoga breaths when I see that this has happened).  So I decided to take a broken board book and break it further.  I cut all the inside pages out, which left a hollow folder shell.  I traced the cover of the board book onto Strathmore Mixed Media paper so I'd have the correct size of cover art to make.  Then I made a collage out of patterned paper, Washi tape and paint.

I added blue and black paint around the edges.

I added a bit more white here and there and then glued on the decorative elements.  Then I got ready to glue my cover onto the broken-open board book (which you can see behind my cover).

Onto decorating the inside!  More collaging.  This is the inside left page...

And here's the inside right cover.  On this side, I punched holes and inserted eyelets so that I could lace some elastic ribbon through.  I used two strips of elastic ribbon to be able to hold my ephemera in place.

And here's how it looks in action as it holds some scraps and cards and paper pieces:

At the end of the day, my librarian self felt heroic for saving a broken book and my artsy self is excited to have a place to stash more stuff.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Strathmore Mixed Media Paper	Doodlebug Deck The Halls Washi Tape	Tim Holtz Idea-ology TISSUE TAPE SYMPHONY Music Self Adhesive Vintage Paper	Bo Bunny Believe 12 x 12 Paper	Bo Bunny Life in Color 12 x12 Paper Pack
Illustrated Faith Reminders Washi Tape	Illustrated Faith, By Grace Washi tape	Stamper′s Anonymous Tim Holtz Numeric Stamp Set	Tim Holtz Bouquet Findings	Tim-Holtz-Idea-ology-QUOTE-CHIPS
Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Garden Patina	Fiskars Acrylic Blocks	Crop A Dile Big Bite Hole Puncher	We R Memories Eyelets	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints
Dina Wakley TANGERINE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley MAGENTA Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley LIME Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley LEMON Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Fuchsia Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley LAPIS Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley TURQUOISE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Ranger Night Acrylic Paint

I'm sure you will find all sorts of easy ways to "put a number on it" this week, so be sure to upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

And speaking of Simon, if you're in the Ohio area this weekend, don't forget that Simon Says Stamp is having its fabulous Create event.  The tickets to the event have sold out, but they will have an on-site store and wonderful "create and takes" that are ready to go!

And it's always good to shop 24/7 online at Simon Says Stamp, too!