The Gentleman Crafter & the Archivist Journal

I'll warn you now that this is a photo heavy post, so grab a seat and your favourite cuppa and enjoy.......  actually it isn't as photo heavy as I planned because for some reason I couldn't get some of my photos to re-orient themselves...dooooough!!!

 I was lucky enough to share one of Jim's workshops to make this STUNNING Archivist Journal at AFTH in Harrogate recently. Isn't it amazing!

Yes, that's a little tin on the front.

My album turned out a little more chunky than
the original as I added a few extra inclusions.

Jim was truly wonderful. His name is so apt too. He is every bit a gentle gentleman and both he and Caesar were infinitely polite and patient.   The workshop was great fun, filled with little treats and give aways. All the supplies and embellishments 
were excellent quality, the written instructions were explicitly detailed and there were oodles  of goodies left over.... definitely value for money.  The whole day was fantastic....  I  can't enthuse about it enough. 

My only regret was that I hadn't booked on to the other three  workshops that Jim was doing that weekend.

Here are a few pics of my finished album...

This is the opened journal; pages on the left secured in place with a ribbon and a pocket in the back inside cover

The first page opened out.... couple of plain black tags in pockets.... touch of white Stigno pen writing in the margin.

This is the back of the first page opened out.  One huge pocket and tag on the main back.  Over the main pocket there is another couple of flaps, the first of which I embellished with a SU die cut layered with a Ranger tag label and ring fastener.

The LHS flap has a vertical pocket in which I tucked a plain black journalling tag and a little flip open booklet. Peaking out from behind is a Ranger word band.

Second page with a pocket.  The flap was secured with a black circular tag and brad.

The back of this page has a simple horizontal pocket at the bottom with a black journalling tag.

Jim did a very ingenious, nifty ring binding system using garment pins and brads. I decided to cover the plain brads with Ranger number brads. I cut off the metal spikes at the back and secured them in place with a little Glossy Accents. 

 This is the inside of another page in the journal. The tag at the top sits inside the vertical pocket on the LHS flap.  The centre has just a plain black envelope which I lined with the same paper as the back of the page. The envelope is secured with a circular tag, covered in the same paper and a ranger number brad.

 This is the front of the piste de resistance page in the journal.. there are two horizontal flaps. The lower  flap has a Ranger file tab on the edge and a small diagonal pocket with a gorgeous chipboard clock popped on the front. A  couple of black journalling tags are tucked inside. 

Jim alternated his tags between Ranger manilla and black tags, the pages in the journal too but I decided I liked the look of black tags that I used them throughout.

 Et Voila!   This is what is tucked away inside when you open those two horizontal flaps..... four gorgeous little tins.  I've popped some of the left over chipboard pieces inside. The black oval circles are there for me to add details of what's inside the tins.  I also added a couple of pockets layered with more chipboard goodies on the inside of each flap.

These are what goes inside those pockets.... a wee salary envelope with a magnatised Ranger metal word tag and a wee plain black journalling tag. I'll probably be doodling on my pockets a tittle when I come to journal on my tag

 This is the reverse of the page....just a large pocket.  It has a gusset so can take one or two tags or a booklet.

 I decided to make a simple booklet out of this absolutely gorgeous 7 Gypsies Archivist paper

 This is the very back cover of the journal.  You can just see the ribbon peeking out from behind the envelope.  Adding the ribbon is a nice touch as it holds the pages securely in place inside the journal and will take pressure off the binding when the inclusions are full.  Looking at it now, it looks a little clean and needs a touch of Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I added just a plain black envelope which I layered with another chipboard piece on the flap and more of the paper on the inside and outside lower section.


 This is the other section of the inside back of the journal.  I added a black vertical pocket (Why?  Just because I could...lol)  which I layered up with  more of the paper and the  huge chipboard Paris piece.

 Then having made the pocket I needed something to fill it..... oh, and use up more of my pad of paper (have I mentioned how much I ADORE this paper!) 

As you can see just a very simple booklet with comic binding and lots of pocket and flaps to write on. I really love the look of white ink on black paper and this paper is just beautiful without any emblishment.

Here's just a very quick flip through the pages.......

So there you have it..... The only thing left for me to say is thank you Jim for such a fun day.  If you haven't found Jim's website yet, you're in for a real treat. 

Happy crafting and thank you for stopping by, 

Carol. x