Jah, Jamaica, mon!

I recently had a customer request a custom mini album as a gift.  Her son is taking his girlfriend to Montego Bay for Valentines' Day.  How cool is that??  This was so fun to make. It was really nice to delve into warm, tropical colors while the temps outside were so chilly.  :)  Here's a peek...

I can almost imagine myself sitting in a hammock, palm fronds rustling above in a warm, tropical breeze, sipping on an icy cold rum punch...

December Daily 2014

Greetings!

I am (was) so pleased with myself.  I had my December Daily album all ready to go 2 weeks ago.  So ready in fact, that I kind of forgot about taking pictures the first three days of December (oops!).  I'm usually frantically trying to put together pages each day so I am completely unprepared when not in my procrastinatista mode.  :)

Here are a couple of quickie shots.

I'm going super simple this year - patterned paper, washi tape, a few laser cut wood shapes.  I'll try to post pics of the completed pages as I go.  

Happy Holidays!

Mini Albums!

I love making mini albums.  I get distracted with making cards and mini albums take a back seat for a while but then an excuse comes up to make one (in this case the auction for the preschool I teach at) and I wonder why I don't do this more often.  I had a lot of fun with these.

This first one is a library pocket album.  I tried a new type of binding on it (concertina) and really like it.  I may need to tighten it up a bit more next time, but as it is it definitely allows enough room for added photos and such.

I picked up the enclosures at a teacher supply store ages ago.  The pockets themselves I cut with a die out of patterned paper and solid cardstock (alternated them in the book).  I like the whimsical designs - reminds me of summer.  They are by Colorbok

The next mini album started out for the auction but I think I may end up either keeping it for myself or putting it in the shop.  The more I worked on it, the more I fell in love.  Lots of texture and little added bits in this one.  I love the teal, black, grey and red color combo too.  I bought the paper pack, Celebration by Authentique, a while ago.  So glad I finally put it to use.  (UPDATE: I decided to put it in the shop.  You can find the listing by clicking HERE.)

 

See the little charms on the spine?  One is a camera and the other is a word charm that says 'Laugh'.

Love the bumpy texture and the red rhinestone on the star.  I attached the sentiment so that a photo can be slipped underneath it.

I used a few of the grey shipping tags in the album.  The size is 2 3/8" x 4 3/4" which makes them a great place for small photos or some journaling.

The page on the right is one of two pages in the album that are not 6"x6".   I designed it to fit the tag comfortably; it is 4 3/4"x6".

The page on the left is one of my faves.  I think it's because of the bumpy clouds.  :)

The left page is the second one that is not 6"x6"; it measures 4"x6".

Now I need to go crack the whip on the elves (as in Elves In The Attic) and get to work on some orders.  Thanks for stopping by today!

December Daily: Dec 1 & 2

Every couple of years I decide to create a December Daily mini album/journal to document our December adventures.  It's always amazing to me how much I forget until I look back at these little shapshots of time. Each day I try to take at least one photo of something.  Then I write a little something about it.  It might be a snapshot of cookies, one of my kiddos, a favorite decoration - could really be anything.  I meant to get it all set up and ready to go this year, but being the procrastinator extraordinaire that I am, yesterday found me in the studio cutting, inking, etc.   (As luck would have it, I reached into my Christmas stash and pulled out the one I started last year but never finished.  Still have the pictures though so we're all good....)   Here's this year's cover:

To make the mini I took 8 sheets of solid 12"x12" cardstock and scored them down the middle.  Next I cut them in half.  After folding this gave me 32 6"x6" sides to work with.  I like doing it this way in case I want to staple, sew or use brads; that way it won't show on the other side.  When I've got the pages all filled in I'll bind them with a wire binding and add it to the December Daily collection.

In hopes that I'll stay on top of it this year I collected all of my Christmas-y stuff in a a couple of boxes - stamps in one and other embellishments in another.  Since the pages are all cut out and ready to go it should be pretty simple to whip something up.  I'm using the calendar in the background to jot notes about each day so that when I get the photos printed (once a week) I can refer back to it to know why I took that photo.  If I don't get a photo that's okay too.  I can just write about something (or have a family member add their 2 pennies!) - a favorite memory, something one of us said or did, plans we have, whatever strikes my fancy.

Dec 1st and 2nd are ready to go...

 

Better get off the computer so I can get Dec 3rd done.  Ciao!

Halloween goodies and a mini Mini

My work space is a sea of kraft,  black, orange, purple and green I tell ya'.  I've been whipping up lots of little tags and things for Halloween festivities to put in my Etsy shop.  Here are a few I've added over the last week or so:

Disgusting Tags

Good To Eat Treat Tags



Halloween Sweet Treats

Sinfully Delicious


Harvest Moon & Spooky Tree Tags

Taking a break from Halloween yesterday I whipped up this little gem of a library pocket mini album. 

All About Me Pocket Mini Album

I used to make these in a bigger size and they were really popular with my customers.  Unfortunately the local scrapbook store where I die-cut them went out of business a couple of years ago (SAD day!) and I just didn't have it in me to cut out all those little pockets with scissors.  I recently found a die that works nicely and these are so fun to make that more of these might be popping up in the near future.  Here are some more peeks and you can get more info here in the shop.

Maybe I should make one for Halloween!!

Welcome Baby Mini Album

I just finished packing up a mini labor of love.  One of my customers requested a Baby's First Year Mini Album for her little boy.  She wanted one based on the design of this one in my Etsy shop, but with brighter colors.  This is what I came up with (beware - photo heavy!):

I had a blast creating this and have so many ideas floating around my noggin for more. 

In other news we had a wonderful 4th of July celebrating with my sister and her family.  The grey and drizzly skies of the past few weeks brightened miraculously to make a perfect day for a summer celebration and we had a great time playing badminton, grilling up some goodies and watching a traditional fireworks display over Commencement Bay.  Couldn't ask for a better 4th.  I hope yours was wonderful as well.

Cheers!

It's a Jungle Out There!

I've really enjoyed working on mini albums again. My family loves to look through them and reminisce. When I made this Our Wildlife Adventure mini album I was thinking about a trip to the zoo, (or here in the Pacific Northwest we also have Northwest Trek), but really this could be used for all kinds of adventures - tropical adventures, Africa, Asia, South America ...

This 6" x 6" scrapbook is in the accordion style which makes it great as a display piece (I change mine out frequently depending on the time of year or what's going on with us). Photos can go on both sides - lots of room - and of course, I added pockets and flaps to make it interactive.

* Click on the photos for a better view. *

I glued bits of raffia along the bottom of the left page to simulate dried grass.  Torn strips of paper and rugged burlap ribbon adorn the top of the flap on the right-hand side.  Lots of room inside for both journaling and a photo or two.

The right-hand page here also has burlap ribbon across the top.  I made sure the words 'Nature' and 'Untamed' lifted off the page so your photo can slip underneath them.

This pocket on the left has two tags which pull out for journaling or photos. I distressed the headings 'Journey' and 'Adventure' to give them appearance of aged leather.

The tag on the right is tied with raffia and a decorative brad.    The base is embossed with a really cool, rugged pattern and then I rubbed some walnut ink over the top to make it stand out even more.

I love the way this pocket turned out.  It is a glassine envelope that I stained and scrunched to give it the appearance and texture of worn leather.  It's embellished with pattrned paper and a decorative brad.  Inside is a tag reinforced with a brass eyelet and tied with hemp twine.  The background also has hand-sewn embellishement using the hemp twine.

In total this mini album has 8 pages for photos and journaling.  Get more information on it here in my Etsy shop.