Joy Christmas mini album

The more I make Christmas mini albums , the larger they get and the more techniques I try.  Of course I often refer to Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas series going as far back as 2008.  He outlines every step of the techniques he uses on his tags in his blogs and even has a 30 something page pamphlet you can print out for some of the more recent years.  My second treasure trove of ideas are the You Tube videos of other altered paper arts crafts folks who also give lots of info and come up with some amazing concepts about fold out and accordion pages, waterfall photo spots, journaling spots.  I'm still learning like crazy and may be at the moderate range of trying some of these.  They can get complicated but are so beautiful and offer more space for those treasured memories.

So my newest album, The Joy Christmas mini album offers 14 chipboard pages which feature many photo mats, tags and journaling cards in addition to pockets, fold out photo mats, library card holders, and a present which opens into a photo mat.  There is also mini scrapbook, which adds further record keeping. I used open stock Christmas papers that I found at Michaels and A.C. Moore this time since I was focusing on reds, greens and blues.  In addition I made some of the photo mats from the mini paper pak from K and Company's Christmas paper pak of this year.  They are the perfect size. My chipboard embellishments and some of the papers came from the Once Upon a Time line, items form the dollar baskets at Michaels' from years past, 7 Gypsies journaling tags. The entire book is accented lavishly and embellished with Prima pearls, faux Swavorski crystal, chipboard accents, handmade papers and handmade flowers. This photo album is a 6 1/2 X 5 1/2 inch mini album and is bound by two metal rings accented with ribbons and handspun yarns.And of course, I used my Sizzix Tim Holtz edge dies to make the edges more interesting and then repurposed the cut off pieces.  And to finish off some of the pages, I added color to the edges with Ranger Distress Inks in green, red and black. The gorgeous matte copper cardstock I found at a wholesale paper supply house in Raleigh a couple of years ago for use in my book printing business, Shadow Archer Press. But they may be available this time of year at local office supply stores like Staples and Office Max.

On the cover I used some K and company chipboard elements, copper cardstock numbers cut with my Tim Holtz Sizzix Vintage Market alphabet die (I love making my own letters and numbers), a handmade flower, Prima bling, vintage Christmas postage stamps and large chipboard letters for Joy.  These letters I layered and layered with paint and pigment to get a more vintage look.

Christmas mini albums 2011

It seems I can't stop making mini albums1  so now that Halloween is over, I turned my attention to Christmas.  This will be the first time making Christmas albums but once again, I have a stash of items from making Christmas cards for many years.
The first one I tried was a Christmas Memories album perfect for capturing those magical holiday moments. I decidewd to make one that would be appriate for the entire family.  The five chipboard pages are combined to feature layouts for both young children, older children, adults and even extended family.  Each page has either a photo mate or journaling square or tag and the snowman book on the last to second page is the perfect place to write up memories and gift lists, whatever suits a family.
There are handmade papers and flowers, chipboard and metallic embellishments sprinkled within the album along with faux Swarvski crystal bling, pockets, tags, and photo mats.

I used my Tim Holtz edge die cuts and a number of different K & Co. paper paks and embellishments, as well as vintage stamps.
I hope that these albums will be keepsakes with writings and personal touches, be handed down from generation to generation!
I've made six of these approximately 6 x 5 inches to 6 x8 inch albums so far.  Four of them will end up on Etsy and I've made one each for my granddaughters including the one which will be born within the next two weeks!

More Halloween mini photo albums

Here's the second installment of my Halloween mini album frenzy.  What a great time I had inspired by all the artisans and scrappy crafters on Etsy and You Tube.  I learned some new techniques and enjoyed reviving some old ones from my cut and paste layout days on  The Howling, a Gothic magazine I published in the late 1990's and early 2000's!
Of course once again, I used techniques learned form Tim Holtz and altered artists and used materials from Holtz, 7 Gypsies, K and Company, Martha Stewart as well as vintage items from my Halloween stash (you can't take the goth out of this woman, even if she does enjoy steampunk now).  Since these mini photo albums are meant for young- to pre-teen Halloween Trick or Treaters I didn't pull out all the heavy gothic, but tried to make them more fun and whimsical.  We all have to break out of our regular zones from time to time and I guess having a new granddaughter on the way and a nine year old granddaughter, that helps.  (although she will be a gothic fairy for Halloween - I can't wait to make her album!) 
I start out cutting my pages from cereal boxes.  To cover the pages I sometimes emboss colored heavy card stock with Sizzix or Tim Holtz embossing folders and texture fades using my handy dandy Sizzix die cut machine. I love that thing.  I use it all the time. And glue them onto the cereal box pages. o
Next step involves gleing on adding scrapbook papers in Halloween colors to each page and I always use Golden matte gel as the glue because it sticks and stays - a little messy because I use my fingers but it is the best adhesive for paper and embellishments in my eyes.  Once both sides of the cereal pages are covered I cut the whole sandwich with Tim Holtz edge die to create beautiful interesting edges.
For my photo mats, I sometimes I use the background cards from the packing of scrapbook embellishments s because they are just the right size. Or I use heavy card stock for photo mats or more cereal box pieces.
I often make my own tags now using heavy cardstock in parchment or tan colors, just tracing one tag and cutting them out and then adding the hole with a hole punch or gromet punch.
  I love distressing the edges with Ranger inks in Distress colors to make the pages look more finished and vintage. And then the fun starts with embellishments!
I make an insert lots of photo mats and tags for journaling so parents can go back to previous Halloweens or add photos of more than one family member.  I love adding lots of photos and writing in my journals for posterity - wondering how my  grandchildren will view these when they're grown up and hopefully share their stories and memories with their own children.

For the last album I tried a different approach and made a vertical album which will stand up as it's own display with the pages and photos being changed from time to time.
This was fun but I had to remember to flip the back pages upside down - took me a few tries to pull that off, I'll tell you!  Good for the brain though and it's always fun to try a new technique.  I did make a steampunk vertical album for my friend Cindy last year around the topic of The Orient Express but had already forgotten how to pull off a vertical album.  Now I have it down, I need to make a few more.
I was also lucky to find older goodies at Big Lots and other odd places.  As much as I love to use the new lines of my favorite altered arts designers - I also like to include items that aren't currently popular. And after Halloween I will stock up on as many half price items as I can to combine with next year's new designs.
I have already sold the Boo album from the last post so perhaps I'll make a few more on Sat., not sure.  I'm eager to make some baby girl and baby boy albums after making the baby girl one for my soon to be granddaughter!

Book Making Again - Bird mini album

I've mostly been writing lately, but did have some time to make a mini photo album with a bird, butterfly, magnolia theme for my friend Mark for Christmas. Her house is called Magnolia Cottage so that's why this particular southern flower is predominant.  I'm still working on taking photos - the first set came out blurry because I had to shoot inside during the snow storm, but I'll add more later.  I used a lot of new techniques on this one, including the Perfect Pearls from Ranger inks and beeswax collage.  It was a lot of fun!  She and I both love birds, both in the wild and in art so it was a fun theme to try. 

Like my other books, I made my pages from cereal boxes etc and the front and back cover from the hard cardboard found on the backs of paper packs.  I used a lot of Botanicabella papers from Graphic 45, one of my absolute favorite paper companies. K & Company, Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies are also featured throughout as their styles fit right in with the kind of vintage look I want in my books.  This book is a bit more whimsical than most of my books but birds are like that, aren't they.  I've filtered in some of my own sketches as well as photos of my garden to give it a more natural feel and I've already started putting photos in of Mark and her husband Mike, who is a Harley rider, so there's even a page with a Harley theme in here!  Quirky I know but Mark and Mike are a very unique couple. There are also some ocean themed pages because Mark and I spent time together on Folly Island, off the coast of Charleston, SC.