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Friday, 15 August 2008
Augusts Albums
These albums were created with further personalisation in mind.I've left tags and pannels less complete so as to be completed by the individual themselves.I do however, love making them more 'bespoke' on behalf of someone else.....its making them truly one of a kind like each person that makes these a real joy to continue to create...
Making a paper bag album
I hope this makes creating a paper bag album a little clearer, especially for the lady who contacted me via ebay.Instructions are not a strength of mine I'm a bit of a freeflow creator but here we go!
Gather all your bits and pieces together...well the basic ideas about what you'd like to include like favourite stamped images, tags, diamonte's flowers.You can sketch out the design of your album before you start this can be very useful for larger albums.I often do this if creating an album for someone and it is to be highly personlised.
Cut out pages to the dimensions of the paper bag.I often cut out firm cardstock pages on which to put simular sized decorated paper/cardstock this makes a very sturdy book almost like a board book and ideal for younger children's keepsake album(they'll tolerate being handled a lot and this makes revisting and adding more photo's and memorabilia even more pleasurable).Alternatively you can make a pretty good album just adding either decorated cardstock or scrapbooking papers (slightly firmer than your average A4)directly to the paper bag.
Here I hope to be showing you the general way the pages and the paperbag work together..does it help?
Stick your decorated pages to your paper bag with double sided tape.You can embellish further once the pages are stuck but any slots and brads or eyelet decoration has to be completed before you stick.I leave plenty of space on my pages as my hope is that they will be personaised with photographs and personal memorabilia.
Remember to stick your pages on to your bags with the paper bag opening is the outer side to the page and allows the owner of the album to store all sorts of bits in the album.You can alternate the open and closed bag ends in your pages if you wish.
Once your pages are are decorated and stuck to your paper bag with double sided tape you are ready to bind them together.
Punch holes for bindings on each page.This can is time consuming..but is quite relaxing to do..simply measure out carefully the front page hole markings and then punch this first.Then use that page as a template for positioning of the holes on the other pages.I have all sorts of tools for binding but you know a simple single hole punch from the stationers does the trick well.
Finally use ribbon to bind pages together through punched holes,add fibres and co-ordinating ric rac of choice.
Gather all your bits and pieces together...well the basic ideas about what you'd like to include like favourite stamped images, tags, diamonte's flowers.You can sketch out the design of your album before you start this can be very useful for larger albums.I often do this if creating an album for someone and it is to be highly personlised.
Cut out pages to the dimensions of the paper bag.I often cut out firm cardstock pages on which to put simular sized decorated paper/cardstock this makes a very sturdy book almost like a board book and ideal for younger children's keepsake album(they'll tolerate being handled a lot and this makes revisting and adding more photo's and memorabilia even more pleasurable).Alternatively you can make a pretty good album just adding either decorated cardstock or scrapbooking papers (slightly firmer than your average A4)directly to the paper bag.
Here I hope to be showing you the general way the pages and the paperbag work together..does it help?
Stick your decorated pages to your paper bag with double sided tape.You can embellish further once the pages are stuck but any slots and brads or eyelet decoration has to be completed before you stick.I leave plenty of space on my pages as my hope is that they will be personaised with photographs and personal memorabilia.
Remember to stick your pages on to your bags with the paper bag opening is the outer side to the page and allows the owner of the album to store all sorts of bits in the album.You can alternate the open and closed bag ends in your pages if you wish.
Once your pages are are decorated and stuck to your paper bag with double sided tape you are ready to bind them together.
Punch holes for bindings on each page.This can is time consuming..but is quite relaxing to do..simply measure out carefully the front page hole markings and then punch this first.Then use that page as a template for positioning of the holes on the other pages.I have all sorts of tools for binding but you know a simple single hole punch from the stationers does the trick well.
Finally use ribbon to bind pages together through punched holes,add fibres and co-ordinating ric rac of choice.
The Tilda and Edwin Challenge- progress!
Lou set myself and Linz a wee challenge to get us creating with a bit of focus! I've managed 5 of my 10 cards here's my favourite Edwin... but ccreating with these stamps is such a pleasure they're adorable.I've made a couple of albums as well I couldn't help it!
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Cards ..what do you think?
I am becoming a little more confident in creating cards..We are meeting this weekend and the plan is to create some cards as well as scrapbook..here are some very simple beginnings from myself..Linz and Lou will be coming with some stampin up luxuries...thankyou girls.
'Wishes for you' keepsake cards lovely to create
I adore the shape of this template! I keep creating small albums and keepsake cards with it.I've a couple more creations coming with the beach in mind!!I'm hoping a trip to Saltburn and Whitby will inspire me to complete my beach and seashore projects I've had them cut out and prepared for a long time!The annual leave coming up will enable me time to scrapbook some family memories and complete these beach albums..a big thankyou to Tasnim for putting to use my first keepsake card in this Lily Kate cardstock by basic grey..it is so delicate with soft and subtle shades..I have to admit I've had a little stash of it but the 6 x 6 is now coming to an end, I'll be surfing the net..or perhaps have to use my 'two scoops!' (Basic Grey cardstock fans will know where I'm coming from on this)
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Immaculates album ....
Immaculates album is completed, packed and ready to be shipped to Uganda.God bless her and all at Watoto.
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Discovering Tilda!
I've become attached to little Tilda! how crazy this stamping is..I have completed my first ever Tilda creation with Immaculate in mind this is the progress with her album...I have made it bright and breezy with room for her own pictures and will show the finished product later as it will be completed and sent to Watoto by the end of the month..I received a letter from her teacher some months ago and am so desperate to reply but wanted to complete her album first..
mums words of wisdom
Read this today....needed a little reminder ..that life is what you make it...as some aspects of life feel pretty rotten at the moment.In my teens mum always sent me some clever and kind prose for birthdays...and you know you always need a reminder of those comforting words some weeks..this is at the back of my first ever scrapbooking album entited 'you can only give to others what you have inside yourself'
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Workshops...workshops...
My pal Louise and her stampin buddies and myself and a couple of my buddies ...and a lovely new buddy Joy... met last week at a Stampin up workshop in Leeds.I am starting to get into these products they're gorgeous the colours of paper and ink pads co-ordinate and the stamp sets are lovely! visit Lou's blogspot for more info www.louiseedwards.blogspot.com. Linda and I carried on creating this weekend workshop..with baby in mind ... and the next workshop here is Saturday 2nd August 1p.m 'till 4 or 5 ish..I'm hoping to look at making cards as inspired by Lou. Linz and Stampin up of course!
I'm also a little happy as I sneaked a craft session in with a group at work! it covered all agenda's of course.. but this felt like a real achievement and pleasure ...it was a little bit under the radar though!
The mums loved creating keepsake boxes and some chose books...sometimes its so much easier to talk and support each other when doing something with your hands.. and the items were all so lovely to take home and call your own! More of this please!
I'm also a little happy as I sneaked a craft session in with a group at work! it covered all agenda's of course.. but this felt like a real achievement and pleasure ...it was a little bit under the radar though!
The mums loved creating keepsake boxes and some chose books...sometimes its so much easier to talk and support each other when doing something with your hands.. and the items were all so lovely to take home and call your own! More of this please!
Celebrating graduations
I recently created two albums and my friend snapped them up it's lovely to find that something you created was just what someone wanted! Here's a glimpse of these two graduation albums.
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Sunday, 22 June 2008
Celebration albums
I've recently made som 6 x 6 albums for a friend to celebrate girls and boys 18 th's and 21st's...thanks for this as I've enjoyed putting them together..I forgot to photograph the first album it was a burst of prima flowers, diamond brads and pages and photo mounts created out of cardstock from Basic grey latest range Two scoops. However, I made this masculine album and am just about to bind it so took a couple of snaps.It has less fancy panneling and simple but roomy pages for photographs to celebrate a young man's coming of age! I have another two on the go so will post piccies of these later.
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Watoto tags for the Album
All tags can be finished with complimentary inking and 'tag hole reinforcer' as shown in the second picture.
Celebrating Dad
I rustled up this 4 x 4 album for my Chel for Father's day ...I consider him to be a great dad to our son..Yesterday the boys spent a couple of hours choosing Mel's first shirts..a small thing but something that wouldn't have been the same if I'd been the one to do it!It's not cool to be seen with parents, and especially your mother when your 15!! especially not in town.. Anyway this little album was quick to create using a making memories 4 x 4 ready made inner pages/cover, textured Bazzill cardstock, some photographs through the years of dad and son and some sentiment stamps (alongside a few dad themed embellishments. Colours where greens, mustards deep reds and browns.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Gypsy diary keepsake
I've had some lovely feedback from some lovely people about my keepsaking and some of the items I've passed on.. thankyou I feel encouraged and inspired by there kind and positive comments..love and thanks to you.
I loved creating my 'boundary less gypsy diary'.The template used is so very simple.
I've used some cardstock and embellishments from K and Co's Sola range for the front but a medly of other stamps and embelishment ideas for the inner pages.
1.The cardstock template was copied by hand and cut out by hand a simple square or perhaps round shape could also be used but i chose to use a bracket album by Basic Grey as my template.I love this shape and have collected complimentary shaped journalling blocks and embellishments and used them in other albums for a more co-ordinated look.I slid tags in between the pages because i had diary comments I couldn't fit on the pages. You do not have to purchase dies cut tags it is easy to use high street clothes tags as templates to draw around and cut out or even use them if they are plain.. in the early days I simply made the shapes myself .. my buddy louise introduced my to the glorious world of die cutting later on.
2.The template is approx 6 x6 in size.I think this is a good size it is big enough to get one or two decent sized photographs on.However, I love to tell stories and express myself with my little keepsakes so I went for four of the mini photo's you can print at home (or the small ones that often come if you order triple prints)
Pretty double sided cardstock certainly makes the albums easier to decorate but single sided cardstock enable you to experiment with stamping or pigment ink sprays to build your own backgrounds if you'd like. I experimented with pigment sprays on the white side of my cardstock with this one and built up a gorgeous warm shimmering copper gold finish.Inking around the page edges is a must as it adds that fuzzy vintaged look.
3.Decorating the front of the album isn't difficult, or a precise art.Torn paper, inked die cut flowers, some diamontes and a touch of glitter are good components.I discovered that using contrasting cardstock from a simular range for a torn top and bottom looked nice.One piece covers approx to 3/4 of the front surface and a smaller contrasting piece 1/4 of the surface. A strip of ribbon with words or a printed phrase on placed along the torn edges of the two pieces also seemes to look effective.Then let your imagination free and dabble with the flowers, glitter and diamonte's.You could keep in mind balancing the weight of the embellisments on the page and giving some symmertry tends to be easier on the eye but anything goes and there are no boundaries this is owned by the person making it and can be as elaborate as desired.In the past i have used the sewing machine to stitch a wavy line of stitching across a larger piece of cardstock on which I placed diamonte flowers...
4. The album pages are held together with a jump ring through a single hole in an outer corner.Jump rings are reasonably priced and a large pack of them can be purchased from Staples for under 2.00 (I've my friend Dawn to thank for that discovery.
5. I used what i 'experienced and felt' to generate themes for the pages.For instance we were having some giggles and the pages with a PLAY theme seemed appropriate for some photographs; i remember the moments quite vividly as being 'playful'. With it being a 'nomadic gypsy diary' I used lots of word stamps to do with travel,discovery, routes and journeys were a must. Favourites are my Heidi Swapp range of stamps for this and I am a 7 gypsies range addict but there are many others available.I chose not to mount my photographs and used journalling block stamps alongside writing comments around my photographs. You can creating the same effect without fancy equipment..draw small squares with lines or journaling line dots are just as effective. Also an alternative to using stamps is to express yourself in your own words or use phrases you have seen on stamps but write or word process them onto card and cut them out.
6. The most important thing is to enjoy what your doing.This diary is not perfect..I love looking at it as it tells the story of my holiday, its purpose was to remind me of the fun and experiences and it does that every time i look at it.....enjoy.
I loved creating my 'boundary less gypsy diary'.The template used is so very simple.
I've used some cardstock and embellishments from K and Co's Sola range for the front but a medly of other stamps and embelishment ideas for the inner pages.
1.The cardstock template was copied by hand and cut out by hand a simple square or perhaps round shape could also be used but i chose to use a bracket album by Basic Grey as my template.I love this shape and have collected complimentary shaped journalling blocks and embellishments and used them in other albums for a more co-ordinated look.I slid tags in between the pages because i had diary comments I couldn't fit on the pages. You do not have to purchase dies cut tags it is easy to use high street clothes tags as templates to draw around and cut out or even use them if they are plain.. in the early days I simply made the shapes myself .. my buddy louise introduced my to the glorious world of die cutting later on.
2.The template is approx 6 x6 in size.I think this is a good size it is big enough to get one or two decent sized photographs on.However, I love to tell stories and express myself with my little keepsakes so I went for four of the mini photo's you can print at home (or the small ones that often come if you order triple prints)
Pretty double sided cardstock certainly makes the albums easier to decorate but single sided cardstock enable you to experiment with stamping or pigment ink sprays to build your own backgrounds if you'd like. I experimented with pigment sprays on the white side of my cardstock with this one and built up a gorgeous warm shimmering copper gold finish.Inking around the page edges is a must as it adds that fuzzy vintaged look.
3.Decorating the front of the album isn't difficult, or a precise art.Torn paper, inked die cut flowers, some diamontes and a touch of glitter are good components.I discovered that using contrasting cardstock from a simular range for a torn top and bottom looked nice.One piece covers approx to 3/4 of the front surface and a smaller contrasting piece 1/4 of the surface. A strip of ribbon with words or a printed phrase on placed along the torn edges of the two pieces also seemes to look effective.Then let your imagination free and dabble with the flowers, glitter and diamonte's.You could keep in mind balancing the weight of the embellisments on the page and giving some symmertry tends to be easier on the eye but anything goes and there are no boundaries this is owned by the person making it and can be as elaborate as desired.In the past i have used the sewing machine to stitch a wavy line of stitching across a larger piece of cardstock on which I placed diamonte flowers...
4. The album pages are held together with a jump ring through a single hole in an outer corner.Jump rings are reasonably priced and a large pack of them can be purchased from Staples for under 2.00 (I've my friend Dawn to thank for that discovery.
5. I used what i 'experienced and felt' to generate themes for the pages.For instance we were having some giggles and the pages with a PLAY theme seemed appropriate for some photographs; i remember the moments quite vividly as being 'playful'. With it being a 'nomadic gypsy diary' I used lots of word stamps to do with travel,discovery, routes and journeys were a must. Favourites are my Heidi Swapp range of stamps for this and I am a 7 gypsies range addict but there are many others available.I chose not to mount my photographs and used journalling block stamps alongside writing comments around my photographs. You can creating the same effect without fancy equipment..draw small squares with lines or journaling line dots are just as effective. Also an alternative to using stamps is to express yourself in your own words or use phrases you have seen on stamps but write or word process them onto card and cut them out.
6. The most important thing is to enjoy what your doing.This diary is not perfect..I love looking at it as it tells the story of my holiday, its purpose was to remind me of the fun and experiences and it does that every time i look at it.....enjoy.
Friday, 6 June 2008
Remembering my great Tunis adventure
Its coming to the end of my first week back at work...and I'm wallowing in a glow of remembering and reflecting on my Tunisian experiences..there were many and they were pretty varied!I enjoyed it all and have to say felt it was a cosseted baptism back into the adventuring spirit..thanks to Kelle, Charity and Mose. I used to tumble through two or three travelling adventures a year as a young woman! and now with less of an adrenaline rush,going at a slower pace, taking in the sights, sounds and valuing the people that make the experiences so real, adventures are just as colourful and refreshing! loved it.Here are a selection of snaps and I am creating a small adventure journal out of a very simple template that I'll be posting later to inspire any keepsakers eager to capture the energy in any life adventure!
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